Transition Game Isn’t New

Byron Scott sat back in a leather chair in a windowless office at New Orleans Arena and talked about another Laker team that had to adjust after losing a top-notch center.

Scott, once a sharpshooting Laker guard and now the coach of the New Orleans Hornets, recounted Tuesday how the Lakers coped after Kareem Abdul-Jabbar retired in 1989.

“We had a young guy in Vlade Divac at the time. We relied very heavily then on Magic [Johnson] to lead us and direct us,” said Scott, who played for the Lakers from 1983-93 and again during the 1996-97 season. “We had to change a little bit of our style. We went more to a post-up game with Magic, Sam Perkins, James Worthy. It took us a few weeks to really understand it and really comprehend everything we had to do at both ends of the court. It was an adjustment.”

Scott, in his first season as the Hornets’ coach, talked with Kobe Bryant for a few minutes in a corner of the court as the Lakers shot around an hour before the game.

“It’s weird to see them without a dominant big man,” Scott said in his office. “Can it work? Only time will tell. Kobe’s the driving force on this team. He is, in my opinion, probably the best all-around basketball player in the game, at both ends of the court. He’s going to give it to you every single night. Only time is going to tell if all these pieces that they’ve got now can work.”

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Slava Medvedenko is eligible to come off the injured list today, but Laker Coach Rudy Tomjanovich said it probably wouldn’t happen. “He needs to get some real practices in and see how he reacts,” Tomjanovich said. Medvedenko has been out because of a bruised heel.... Jumaine Jones strained his right calf while taking part in layup lines before the third quarter of Tuesday’s game. Jones, who had nine points by halftime, did not return to the game and will be reevaluated today.

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TONIGHT

at Memphis, 5 PST, Ch. 9

Site -- FedEx Forum.

Radio -- KLAC (570); KWKW (1130)

Records -- Lakers 3-2; Grizzlies 0-4.

Record vs. Grizzlies (2003-04) -- 2-2.

Update -- The Lakers are 31-4 overall against the Grizzlies but only 3-3 in Memphis since the Grizzlies moved from Vancouver. Small forward James Posey has been slowed by a sprained left foot, leaving power forward Pau Gasol as the main offensive threat for Memphis. Jerry West, the Grizzlies’ president of basketball operations, is out of the country on a scouting trip and will not be at tonight’s game.