Spurs, at Least, Look the Same

The great Laker experiment -- speed over size, flair over full contact -- took a turn for the worse Wednesday in Utah, where Keith McLeod, a longtime CBA player, had more assists, eight, than the Lakers did.

On the way to setting three team records for offensive futility, the Lakers showed they were certainly “a work in process,” as Coach Rudy Tomjanovich is fond of saying.

And tonight, the San Antonio Spurs are in town.

Once, the Lakers and Spurs were built to beat each other, power against power: David Robinson against Shaquille O’Neal, Shaq against Tim Duncan, Duncan against Karl Malone. Even Gary Payton was acquired in part to stop Tony Parker from penetrating Laker defenses.

Now, the teams could hardly be more different.

The Lakers are hoping to run teams off the court, having junked the triangle offense in favor of lighter, springier players -- Caron Butler, Lamar Odom and, of course, Kobe Bryant.

In San Antonio, the system is remarkably similar to what it has been the last couple of years.

Duncan controls the post, Parker plays hide-and-seek behind screens and there are many more victories than losses.

They’ve even added a shooter, Brent Barry, to fire from the outside, much as Robert Horry and Steve Smith did in recent seasons.

Not coincidentally, experts, analysts and assorted others believe the Spurs will linger near the top for a bit, while the Lakers could be fighting for their playoff existence come April.

No less an authority than Bryant declared the Spur-Laker rivalry dead.

“We have a lot to prove to make it fresh,” Bryant said Thursday. “From that standpoint, it’s us trying to catch up to them. It’s not a rivalry by any means right now.”

It’s only November, but this is the type of game that will test the Lakers’ new structure.

Can the Lakers somehow tire out the Spurs? Can Duncan’s effectiveness be limited by a quicker, more mobile defense? Will Parker be neutralized on the pick-and-roll by superior foot speed in the post?

Barry, lured from the Seattle SuperSonics with a four-year, $21-million contract, might be the player to push the Spurs back to the top. He made six of nine shots and had 16 points in their season opener, a 101-85 cakewalk Wednesday against Sacramento.

Barry even came equipped with his own thoughts on how the Lakers would stop Duncan without O’Neal and Karl Malone.

“I guess sacrificing live chickens is out of the question, but something close to that might be good,” he told reporters in San Antonio.

The Lakers will certainly need to be better than they were in a 104-78 loss to Utah.

Besides totaling only seven assists, the Lakers set team futility records in shooting percentage (29.4%) and field goals (20).

Bryant had one assist. Point guards Chucky Atkins and Tierre Brown combined for three points. Chris Mihm had 17 fewer points than his career-high 23 in the season opener against Denver.

The Lakers were pounded on the boards and gave up twice as many second-chance points, 18, as they scored.

Their defense was also a mess. The Lakers were so flummoxed by forwards Carlos Boozer and Andrei Kirilenko, who combined for 43 points, that they turned to a zone defense.

It actually seemed to work ... everywhere but in the pride department.

“We tried to play a zone, but that was a little bit embarrassing because we can guard these guys man-to-man,” Odom said. “Usually you play a zone when you can’t guard anybody. I know we can guard that team a lot better than that.”

They’ll have a better team to guard against tonight.

Forward Brian Grant has played only 20 minutes in two games, but the Lakers’ most physical presence could get more time against the Spurs.

“I always look forward to playing against guys like Tim Duncan. It’s a challenge,” Grant said. “It’ll be a tough game. It’s not like you’ve got Shaq down in the middle clogging everything up. Our defense will have to be very tough.”

The goal will be to avoid the rhythm of a half-court offense.

“We’re going to try to make them adjust to our style, instead of playing their style of basketball,” Odom said. “We’ll have to play our ‘A’ defensive game. Shooting the ball bad, that’s one thing.

“But when you’re playing good defense, you allow yourself to stay in the game and [Wednesday] we just didn’t play good defense.”

As if trying to soothe the sore psyches of Laker fans everywhere, Odom nodded and said, “We’ll be all right,” repeating it for emphasis, “We’ll be all right.”

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Rivalry

The Lakers and San Antonio Spurs have met in the playoffs five of the last six seasons, and, with the exception of last season, the winner of the series went on to the NBA title.

*--* Year Winner Series 1999 Spurs, 4-0 Western semifinals 2000 Did not meet; Lakers win title 2001 Lakers, 4-0 Conference finals 2002 Lakers, 4-1 Western semifinals 2003 Spurs, 4-2 Western semifinals 2004* Lakers, 4-2 Western semifinals*

*--*

* Detroit Pistons won title