Tomjanovich Accepts Predicament

The Lakers are 20-16, they can’t seem to win more than two consecutive games and Kobe Bryant is out until Jan. 31, in the quickest of return times.

What’s a coach to do?

“Talking to my daughter, who’s a psychiatrist -- she didn’t have to go to school, just be around the NBA and me -- she’s just sort of keeping me up as far as the way my career has gone,” Laker Coach Rudy Tomjanovich said. “I’ve never had a stacked deck. I don’t think I’ll ever be in a situation where everything’s laid out perfectly.

“It’s always been the hard road. It hasn’t been like a superhighway where I’m in a limo and I’m going up to the mountain. It’s like I’m in the jungle and I’ve got a machete and I’ve got to find a way through it.

“That’s how it was in Houston, that’s how it was in my career. That’s how it was in my private life. That just seems to be my calling, and I’ve just got to stay positive. I’ve got to give these guys everything I’ve got, and that’s what I’m going to do.”

What the Lakers have is a team that is mostly penetrate-and-pitch on offense -- second in the league with 22.9 three-point attempts per game -- and inconsistent on defense, giving up 98 points per game, 19th in the league.

Only last week, they had to worry about double-teams on Bryant. Now they have to figure out how to get around double-teams on Lamar Odom, who had only 10 points in a 102-94 loss Monday to Utah. Two days before that, he had 27 points against Golden State, most of them coming in single coverage.

“Teams are not going to let me isolate a big man and just take him off the dribble,” Odom said. “They’re going to make it a little harder. I have to become a little bit more patient. Any time you’ve got a driver such as myself, teams are going to be sagging and helping out, so a lot of times after one or two dribbles, the play is to be made with a pass.”

*

The Lakers haven’t gone this many games into a season without winning three consecutive games since 1966-67.

“I’ve had some teams that were beat up in Houston,” Tomjanovich said. “The year before we won the championship, we had a seven-game losing streak. It seems like pain and suffering are always a part of the formula. I wish it wasn’t that way, but it seems to be that way.”*

TONIGHT

vs. Minnesota

7:30, FSN West

Site -- Staples Center.

Radio -- KLAC (570); KWKW (1330).

Records -- Lakers 20-16; Timberwolves 19-18.

Record vs. Timberwolves -- 1-0.

Update -- The Timberwolves, Western Conference finalists last season, have lost eight of their last 11. Guard Sam Cassell, the Timberwolves’ second-leading scorer, has sat out six games because of a strained hamstring and is doubtful for tonight. Former Laker Mark Madsen is sidelined after having surgery on his left thumb. The Lakers beat the Timberwolves, 105-96, on Jan. 10 with Kobe Bryant scoring 31 points.