Jackson Goes Back to Basics

The notebooks and television cameras came out, and the Lakers left Kobe Bryant alone for a day Thursday.

Coach Phil Jackson defended a couple of headstrong offensive games by Bryant, both of them losses, or at least defended Bryant’s ability to come back from them and his teammates’ capacity to resume their previous roles.

The day before the Lakers were to play the Memphis Grizzlies, Karl Malone described his teammates as “grumpy,” and Jackson said they had reason to be. They’d won 11 consecutive games with offensive balance and a reasonable commitment to defense, then thrown much of it away in consecutive home losses to the San Antonio Spurs and Portland Trail Blazers.

When reporters were allowed into Thursday’s practice, the only dry jersey in the gym belonged to Horace Grant, who has nearly given up hope of playing again in the regular season, which probably precludes him from postseason play as well.

The first team spent the final minutes of practice grinding against the purple team’s pick-and-roll plays, then Jackson sent them away tired and, still, grumpy.

“It’s about returning to what will win us a championship, and that’s defense,” Rick Fox said.

Asked specifically about Bryant and the team’s growing displeasure with his game, Jackson smiled and said, “Um, well, I usually say that’s an internal matter. I get paid $75,000 to $100,000 to give talks to management groups about how I handle those things. So I’m not giving you that free information.”

He laughed, and then put the responsibility for the losses in other places.

“I addressed them today -- pointedly addressed them today. What I thought was, they were looking backward at the San Antonio game instead of forward at the Portland game and got caught up in the hailstorm because Portland’s a pretty good team anyway,” Jackson said.

“As a consequence, everything kind of fell on Kobe’s back. His effort to try and pick us up turned to naught, because Portland had the defensive wherewithal to counter him. So I don’t want to point any fingers at him.... But it was our turnovers, pure and simple. We’re not a team that turns the ball over 20 times. When we do, we get unhappy with each other and with ourselves, and the coaching staff gets unhappy with the team. It’s a self-defeating thing.”

Asked, then, whether the frustration with Bryant was unfounded, Jackson said, “Kobe knows, probably better than anybody on this team, how to make this whole thing operate in the correct way. There’s no doubt about it, there’s some part of Kobe that enjoys the degree of difficulty, and that’s the fun.

“There’s a lot of fans in the stands that want him to surmount insurmountable odds. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t. It didn’t work the last two games. He’ll find his way back into that very easily, because he’s got the wherewithal to do it. The rest of the team has to settle their heads into playing basketball and it’ll work itself out.... He has the capability of smoothing things out, there’s no doubt about it.”

Fox said most of the Lakers understood Bryant’s game, specifically as it applies to his offensive aggressiveness.

“He’s done a good job of finding that balance in the past,” Fox said.

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Grant, who has a hip injury that will require surgery, continues to have debilitating pain.

He said Thursday he doubted he would be well enough to play before the regular season ends Wednesday. For Grant to be included on the playoff roster, Jackson said he would need to see him in a game or hard practice.

Jackson said he had become “decidedly pessimistic” about having Grant for the playoffs.

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Kareem Rush probably will be activated from the injured list today. He has sat out five games because of a bone bruise and nerve irritation in his right foot.... Shaquille O’Neal passed reporters without a word. Jackson said the tendinitis in O’Neal’s right knee had kept him from moving better in recent games.

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TONIGHT

vs. Memphis, Fox Sports Net, 7:30

Site -- Staples Center.

Radio -- KLAC-AM (570), KWKW-AM (1330).

Records -- Lakers 53-25, Grizzlies 50-28.

Record vs. Grizzlies -- 1-2.

Update -- Hubie Brown arrives on the I-Told-You-So Tour, having not only proved Jerry West can hire a coach, but that together they can turn around a franchise. It wasn’t that long ago that the Grizzlies needed three seasons to get 50 wins. The Lakers could end up in a first-round series against the Grizzlies, who twice beat them easily in Memphis. The Grizzlies have never beaten the Lakers in Los Angeles, however, a 17-game streak that dates to 1995 and the birth of the Grizzly franchise. Jason Williams (league suspension), Pau Gasol (strained arch, right foot) and Bonzi Wells (sore back) sat out the Grizzlies’ victory over Cleveland on Wednesday night. Williams will play tonight. Gasol and Wells are day to day.