Triangle Offense

Pau Gasol has been in four entirely different offenses the last three seasons. It's pretty obvious which one he prefers. The Lakers' four-time All-Star did everything but give a figurative hug to the triangle offense Monday. "It put me in a natural position for me, which was post. I could score and I could pass," he said. "It was a perfect fit for me when I got here and Andrew [Bynum] was out. I had a lot of minutes and it was a need to cover. "Now it's a different personnel, different need, different look, different system, different positioning.

The Lakers have four major stars, but Kobe Bryant isn't going anywhere, Dwight Howard isn't going anywhere (they hope), and Steve Nash, once he's healthy, isn't going anywhere because he's the one to run Mike D'Antoni's offense. That makes Pau Gasol the presumed odd man out, given his weighty contract and declining stats. He makes $19 million this season and, the big blow, $19.3 million next season, when luxury taxes increase dramatically in an effort to eliminate the obvious spending differences between big and small markets.

Forward Glen Rice is on the best, most consistent run of his Laker tenure, averaging 20.2 points over the last six games and looking much more comfortable finding the openings provided by the triangle offense. Rice, who was pivotal in victories against Charlotte and Seattle and was the brightest part of the loss at Indiana, has scored 17 points or more in the last six games. By comparison, in the Lakers' first 32 games, Rice's longest 17-points-or-better streak was three games.

Pau Gasol has been in four entirely different offenses the last three seasons. It's pretty obvious which one he prefers. The Lakers' four-time All-Star did everything but give a figurative hug to the triangle offense Monday. "It put me in a natural position for me, which was post. I could score and I could pass," he said. "It was a perfect fit for me when I got here and Andrew [Bynum] was out. I had a lot of minutes and it was a need to cover. "Now it's a different personnel, different need, different look, different system, different positioning.

First things first. The name, "Bulls' Sideline Triangle," has to go. Now, Lakers' Sideline Triangle has a ring to it. Kobe Bryant brings the ball up court and passes in to Shaquille O'Neal, then goes to the corner. OK, that passing business is going to require a change too. And Bryant bringing the ball up, that's a bit of a switch. O'Neal looks down, sees paint below his feet, wheels to the basket and dunks. Been there, done that.

A large and curious crowd came to see the triangle, although the triangle was visible only in faint outlines, a mostly subliminal suggestion of what might be and what is still only being formulated. An estimated crowd of 4,000 witnessed something on Friday at the Long Beach Pyramid that wasn't quite the official unveiling of Phil Jackson and his new system for the Lakers.

Reporting from Chicago About five minutes after a disappointing 88-84 loss to the Chicago Bulls on Friday night, forward Ron Artest made a quick exit from the Lakers' locker room. Artest was the first Laker who played in the game to leave. Artest had played yet another uneventful game this season for the Lakers, and now he was strolling down the United Center hallway, stopping for a few seconds to speak with well-wishers. Artest had missed five of his six shots and had scored only two points.

It was a tough night that became a tougher morning for Lakers assistant coach Jim Cleamons, and it was all caused by New Orleans Hornets All-Star point guard Chris Paul. "I couldn't sleep Saturday night and I woke up Sunday morning out of a restless sleep and the entire time I was thinking about 'CP' and screen-and-rolls," Cleamons said after practice Tuesday. And how did Cleamons sleep Sunday night after Paul ripped into the Lakers for 33 points, 14 assists and seven rebounds in the Hornets' 109-100 victory in Game 1 of a Western Conference first-round playoff series?

They say it takes at least a year to become truly comfortable with a new subject. So what about Professor Phil Jackson and Triangle 101? You want to get more than a passing grade at this stage of the playoffs, and Lakers forward/student Ron Artest is reporting a much greater ease with the books. "I've been comfortable for a while, but it's been off and on," he said after practice Friday. "It's not easy. They say the last couple of players that got traded to Coach Jackson's team took . . . a while to get used to the triangle.

It's easy to see why the Lakers have been losing this season. It is the zone defense. The triangle offense doesn't work well against it, and I think it's time for Phil Jackson to work in another offense. How about the pentagon or the rhombus (not Rambis) offense? Or maybe just tweak the triangle. How about the equilateral triangle or obtuse triangle offense? Come on, Tex! Let's show some creativity. Hector Reyes Burbank Mother Teresa needs a second miracle to her credit to become a saint.

Former Lakers forward and coach (head and assistant) Kurt Rambis has joined Time Warner Cable SportsNet to help provide in-studio analysis of the team in select games. In addition to working for ESPN as an analyst, Rambis was coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves prior to the arrival of Ricky Rubio and his successor Rick Adelman. "I'd like to get back into coaching, but it has to be a good situation," said Rambis in a phone interview.  "It has to be a positive situation, but I'm not going to freak out if I don't get back into coaching, because I do enjoy broadcasting.

Unlucky number seven? That's how many games the Lakers have lost this preseason - in other words, all of them, the latest a 97-91 defeat by the Clippers at Staples Center on Wednesday. Of course, Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard didn't play for the Lakers. But Chris Paul didn't play for the Clippers. The Lakers are 0-7 this preseason, their worst such record ever, and the team wraps up exhibition play Thursday against Sacramento in San Diego. Bryant (strained right foot) is scheduled to miss that game and Howard (just resting )

That was weird. The Lakers were dreadfully boring on offense last season, finishing a couldn't-be-more-average 15th in points per game (97.3). Who could forget their excruciating January slump when they failed to score 100 points in 13 consecutive games? Actually, plenty of confused season-ticket holders could during a vastly unremarkable run. After another early playoff knockout, Lakers Coach Mike Brown contacted out-of-work assistant coach Eddie Jordan with one request: Princeton offense, please.

                                        The moment the doors opened to the Lakers' practice facility, the team showed on Tuesday a first-hand glimpse of what could mark a significant variable in the team's championship fortunes. Sure, part of that included Dwight Howard's participation and admission afterward that  he may have recovered enough from back surgery to play in a few preseason games.

The moment the Lakers bring the ball up the floor, plenty of movement will ensue. They'll constantly make cuts and passes to ensure balanced spacing. Regardless of position, each player will operate from various spots on the floor. How they run these sets and counters won't be predetermined. It will mostly depend on how the defense reacts. Ah, the glory days of the triangle offense. The Lakers didn't always love running Phil Jackson's system, and they proved eager in moving to a more traditional offense under Mike Brown once Jackson retired.

The play was designed for Kobe Bryant. The Lakers had squandered a 17-point lead over New Jersey and held only a one-point advantage at 88-87 with 10 seconds remaining. Matt Barnes delivered the ball to the team's star. Bryant, coming off of a screen, shot a 26-foot three-pointer, which bounced seven times on the rim before falling through the net, allowing an anxious Staples Center crowd to celebrate instead of reel over what otherwise could have been an inconceivable loss.

The moment the Lakers bring the ball up the floor, plenty of movement will ensue. They'll constantly make cuts and passes to ensure balanced spacing. Regardless of position, each player will operate from various spots on the floor. How they run these sets and counters won't be predetermined. It will mostly depend on how the defense reacts. Ah, the glory days of the triangle offense. The Lakers didn't always love running Phil Jackson's system, and they proved eager in moving to a more traditional offense under Mike Brown once Jackson retired.

The Lakers' offense is a mess right now, mired in a flurry of missed shots and decreasing productivity. In fact, it's not even clear which offense they're running from game to game. Lakers Coach Mike Brown had visions of a system when he first arrived, installing the San Antonio offense that prominently featured big men Tim Duncan and David Robinson when the Spurs were winning championships with them. But the Lakers have all but abandoned it this season, running it only a handful of times in recent games, opting for a smorgasbord of offensive sets that includes standard NBA motion schemes and isolations.

1. Mike Brown needs to strike a balance involving Kobe Bryant's scoring. Let's face it. Without Bryant's league-leading 28.7 points per game, the Lakers would face a bigger offensive mess right now. That's saying a lot, considering that the Lakers are averaging their lowest points-per-game total (93.97) since before the beginning of the 24-second shot clock in the 1954-55 season. But Brown's heavy reliance on Bryant has both stunted the offense's development and worsened Bryant's energy level.