Centers get short pass from Jackson

In 24 hours, Phil Jackson went from furious to forgiving, from pointing the finger at his centers to pointing it at himself and his coaching staff.

At practice Thursday, the day after the Lakers had been beaten by the New Orleans Hornets on the scoreboard (105-89) and on the backboards (49-31, including 20-5 in offensive rebounds), after guard Chris Paul had dribbled through the Lakers frontcourt as if he were in a layup drill, Jackson had called the lack of defense by his big men (Kwame Brown and Andrew Bynum) “horrendous” and even indicated he might give Ronny Turiaf his first start at center Friday night.

By Friday’s pregame meeting with the press, Jackson had mellowed considerably.

Yes, Brown was still the starter.

No, there was no further thought of starting Turiaf at center. Instead, he would remain a reserve power forward.

“He’s got real quick feet,” Jackson said of Brown. “He can get out and take the ball, steal the ball and be real aggressive. And that’s one of the things we really value.

“The other night, part of it was our fault because we had him lay back in the lane and plug rather than being aggressive as a defender.”

Brown, however, wasn’t buying it.

“I think the coach is being too generous,” he said. “The players have got to bring the energy, not the coaches. The fans were booing [Wednesday night]. They were booing the players, not the coaches. We just have to play harder.”

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The new basketballs being employed this year, a switch from the traditional leather, are called microfiber composite balls or simply synthetic.

Players, frustrated by the slippery surface that results when the balls turn wet from perspiration, have called the balls various things that can’t be repeated in a newspaper.

But Brown has come up with a new description.

“They become like tennis balls when they get soggy,” he said. “While the old leather ball remained hard, these balls become spongy.”

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Unhappy 76ers guard Allen Iverson is headed out of Philadelphia, but apparently not to the Lakers, according to one source.

Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak stuck to his policy of not commenting on player transactions.

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steve.springer@latimes.com