These Lakers Remain a Mystery to Jackson

Phil Jackson was swimming under the stars, half a world away in Australia, as the e-mails stacked up, waiting for him to log on and save a franchise.

Rudy Tomjanovich quit. Please come back. Oh, and hurry.

Jackson, in the midst of an exotic vacation as the Lakers teetered and tottered in February, demurred until eight weeks after the end of last season when he and the Lakers came to terms on a $30-million contract and the challenge of a career.

Jackson, with nine championship rings, has never missed the playoffs in 14 seasons as an NBA coach. Season 15 will be a test beyond all others.

Where two years ago there was far-fetched banter of an undefeated season, there’s now solemn talk of simply trying to make the playoffs with an inexperienced roster whisper-thin in depth.

Owner Jerry Buss has said he expects a playoff appearance, a tall order in a thick Western Conference where most predictions have the Lakers finishing 10th.

Jackson, who has never given much weight to predictions or, for that matter, rebuilding projects, shrugs when asked what awaited the Lakers.

“We don’t know what we’re going to be a month from now, what Thanksgiving’s going to bring us, whether we’re going to be at .500, whether we’ll be below .500, above .500,” he said.

Eight players are back from last season’s 34-48 debacle. Seven have been told all about it, be it by coaches, their new teammates or the media.

The years of the Lakers lightly tinkering with a championship team -- add a veteran guard here, sign a backup big man there -- have been replaced by massive remodeling, with almost half the roster ripped up for a second consecutive summer.

Among the newcomers, Kwame Brown was plucked from the shoreline after being capsized by the Washington Wizards. Andrew Bynum became the youngest player drafted in NBA history. Aaron McKie, coming off the worst of his 11 pro seasons, was given another chance. And the Smush Parker era has begun.

As is the norm for teams that tie for 11th in the West -- three games behind the Clippers, no less -- there are questions.

Will there be improvement in the league’s fifth-worst defense last season (101.7 points surrendered a game)? Can Parker succeed as a starter? Can Lamar Odom, at 6 feet 10, run the point? Will Brown finally live up to the expectations of being the top pick in the 2001 draft? Can Jackson and Kobe Bryant coexist for an entire season?

The conference being what it is, the Lakers will need some breaks. And for Chris Mihm to stay out of foul trouble. And for Bryant to avoid injury. And ...

Already, there are problems.

The Lakers were easily the league’s worst three-point shooting team during the exhibition season, making only 19 of 92 (20.7%) beyond the arc. They also gave up 99.5 points a game, 29th in the league.

Beyond Bryant, who looks accurate and determined, and a now-healthy Devean George, who is in a contract year, there were few consistent efforts over eight exhibition games.

Odom had trouble with turnovers and non-aggressive stretches. McKie averaged two points a game. Brown was active on the boards but shot 52.1% from the free-throw line.

As for the proficiency of the triangle offense ...

“I wouldn’t use the word proficient,” Bryant said. “We can be efficient sometimes. It comes and goes. It’s in spurts. We’re not good enough to go really deep with our offense. We’re getting better at it.”

Bryant, who will play more small forward than shooting guard, departs from a backcourt that now has Odom bringing up the ball and Parker starting a majority of the games. (Depending on matchups, George will start some games instead of Parker, as will Luke Walton, when he returns in a month from a torn hamstring.)

Odom, a power forward last season, averaged 11.6 points, 3.9 assists and 2.9 turnovers in eight exhibition games, leaving Jackson to muse that “Lamar is still a player we keep urging to be present, to be a force out there.”

Which prompted Odom to reply: “Nobody expects more from Lamar Odom than Lamar Odom. I put a lot of pressure on myself, and I expect a lot from myself.”

As a team, the Lakers will employ a variety of un-Laker-like defenses -- full-court pressure, half-court pressure, zone traps, and half-court traps.

As they found out last season, they can no longer dare teams to beat them with half-court sets. With Mihm as foul-prone as he is, and a lack of quality man-to-man defenders, the goal is to force turnovers in the backcourt that result in easy baskets.

Jackson chooses words carefully when assessing how well the strategy has worked.

“Adequate,” he said. “We’ll find out.”

Bryant, who was third-team All-NBA last season and failed to make the All-Defensive team for the first time in six years, will score points aplenty this season and seems recommitted to playing defense.

Whether he and Jackson can get the Lakers beyond April is another question. Not since the mid-1970s have the Lakers missed the playoffs in consecutive seasons.

“It’s tough right now to gauge where we’re at or where we’re going to be,” Bryant said. “I keep saying it’s a process, but that’s exactly what it is. I feel like if we can please our coaching staff and play the game the right way, we’ll be fine.”

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

BREAKDOWN

* 2004-05 record: 34-48, tied for fourth in the Pacific Division.

* Coach: Phil Jackson, first season (832-316 in 14 seasons with Lakers and Chicago).

* Who’s gone: Chucky Atkins, Caron Butler, Vlade Divac, Brian Grant, Tierre Brown.

* Who’s new: Kwame Brown, Andrew Bynum, Aaron McKie, Smush Parker, Laron Profit, Devin Green, Von Wafer.

* Projected starting lineup: Kobe Bryant, Lamar Odom, Chris Mihm, Brown, Parker.

* Projected bench rotation: McKie, Devean George, Brian Cook, Luke Walton, Slava Medvedenko.

* Keys to the season: All indications point to Bryant having a big season, which leaves the burden on the supporting cast. Odom needs to cut back on turnovers at his new point position. Brown has to rebound authoritatively and become a low-post threat. Mihm needs to avoid early fouls. Parker needs to make open shots and play aggressive defense on smaller, faster guards. A lot of needs, with no affirmative answers yet.

* Outlook: The Lakers can’t possibly finish 11th in the Western Conference again ... or can they? Jackson’s coaching should be worth more victories, but the lack of depth at nearly every position is a dangerous way to enter the season. If the pressure defense and triangle offense aren’t properly digested, the Lakers could miss the playoffs in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1974-75 and 1975-76.

* Tickets: 800-462-2849 or ticketmaster.com.

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TONIGHT

at Denver, 7:30 PST, ESPN

Site -- Pepsi Center.

Radio -- 570, 1330.

Records (2004-05) -- Lakers 34-48, Nuggets 49-33.

Record vs. Nuggets (2004-05) -- 2-2.

Update -- The Nuggets engineered a dramatic turnaround under George Karl over the second half of last season, although Karl won’t be coaching tonight. Assistant Scott Brooks, a former UC Irvine star, is coaching in place of Karl, who is serving a two-game suspension for breaking a rule by attending a pre-draft workout. The Nuggets, who already had a solid backcourt with Andre Miller, Earl Boykins and Voshon Lenard, added former UCLA guard Earl Watson during the off-season.