They Will Try New Angles

Now that Shaquille O’Neal is officially a member of the Miami Heat, the Laker offense should have a totally different look next season even if Kobe Bryant re-signs with the franchise.

No more pounding the basketball inside to O’Neal and no more players standing around on the perimeter waiting for the ball to get to them. The Laker offense should be fluid with plenty of movement and isolation plays to highlight the strengths of players such as Lamar Odom and possibly Bryant.

That’s new Laker Coach Rudy Tomjanovich’s style.

“I love that part of basketball,” said Tomjanovich, who featured a variety of offenses when he coached the Houston Rockets, from a power game with Hakeem Olajuwon to a wide-open attack with Steve Francis.

“Offenses are not going to be the same thing every year.... We may run some of the same plays, but that’s not always set in stone. Sometimes our best plays may come out of something that I’ve never run before. It just happens like that.”

Tomjanovich is known as a players’ coach. A former player who was an All-Star and a role player, Tomjanovich understands the simple nuances that keep players happy.

“Rudy has always been a coach that really opens up for guys who are able to break people down off the dribble,” New Orleans Coach Byron Scott said.

If Bryant returns, Tomjanovich may have his hands full, because many NBA experts expect Bryant to dominate the ball. And without O’Neal in the middle, Bryant probably will have even more opportunities to shoot.

But that’s a challenge Tomjanovich would love to face. He said he can put together an offense that not only gets enough touches for Odom and Caron Butler -- also acquired from Miami -- but also point guard Gary Payton.

“It’s the coach’s job to look at the personnel that you have and then design and tailor an offense to those guys’ strengths,” Tomjanovich said.

“I’m a big tape watcher, and plus, I have a great memory. I will go back to things run in the past by other great teams and players and use them. I still remember some of the stuff Gene Shue ran when he was coaching the [Baltimore] Bullets in the 1970s.”

Tomjanovich figures that if he can get his top players to believe in his system, everything should work out fine. He also said that when he finds something that works, he won’t be afraid to add it to the offense.

“I remember when we picked up Clyde [Drexler] with Houston,” Tomjanovich said. “Something happened with him and Chucky Brown, who we already had, whenever we ran pick-and-rolls. They had slips and other things that continued to work. That’s what I love about coaching basketball. The chemistry and how certain things can be created.

“I will be going back and trying to get most of the players’ favorite plays put into the offense.”

One key for Tomjanovich will be utilizing the talents of Odom, who is coming off his best season as a pro.

One Western Conference assistant said that the Lakers still will be difficult to defend, but not as tough as they were when they had O’Neal.

“No one has anyone who can match up with Shaq, but there are a lot of guys who can run with Kobe and the guys they have now,” the assistant said.

But as Scott pointed out, if Tomjanovich can get Odom and Bryant to work together ... watch out.

“Lamar Odom is a terrific basketball player, and of course, Kobe, if he stays, can beat anyone off the dribble,” Scott said. “They will be the main two go-to guys for the Lakers, and that’s not a bad place to start.

“For sure, the Lakers will be totally different, but I have no idea if they will be better. It really will depend on the other pieces they put in there. We will just have to wait and see.”