Don’t hold your breath.

Although Buss could have lauded Jackson any time over the past two years as the Lakers won back-to-back NBA titles, the owner’s silence on the matter has been deafening.

I’ve been pointing this out for months, by the way. And Mark Heisler of the L.A. Times, who just this week has offered a ringing endorsement of Byron Scott as a Jackson replacement, has repeatedly taken me to task for it.

But the truth that insiders have been telling me for months is clear.

If Jackson’s going to return as coach, he’s going to have to do it to despite the stony silence of the owner. And he’ll likely have to take a pay cut despite his success.

If Buss doesn’t want to pay Jackson the unheard of price of $12 million per season to coach the team, then he should never have agreed to such a deal when he gave Jackson a pay raise two years ago. You wanted and needed a championship so badly back then that you agreed to boost his money, Dr. Buss?

And now you don’t need a title very badly? That’s what you’re saying with this silence.

To complain about money now that Jackson has delivered two championship teams is unheard of. Win titles and take a pay cut? That’s a low blow, Dr. Jerry. And it’s not just me saying that. It’s your remarkable team captain, Derek Fisher, who discussed the issue in an interview with Ramona Shelbourne.

“As much as it is about his quality of life and how he’s feeling, his energy levels,” Fisher said, “I think his decision could be easier if he wasn’t maybe feeling as though he’s not being fully appreciated, which is how it ultimately makes you feel.

“It’s sad to me,” Fisher told Shelbourne recently, “when you think about what he’s accomplished in his career, that he still always has to deal with these type of scenarios where there’s a question of whether or not he’s the best person for the job, or he’s not really coaching because of the players that he’s had. He’s just a remarkable human being in terms of his approach to managing and coaching the team.

“I think not even just the Lakers, but the NBA as a whole, would lose a big part of what this game has been about the last 20 years if he’s not back. If he’s not back, it changes the whole landscape.”

Fisher, of course, is a free agent guard and will turn 36 in August. Has there ever been a braver, more forthright NBA player? The guy not only laid his heart on the line for the franchise’s 17th title (yes, Lakers won one in 1948 in the old National League), but Fisher is speaking up right now, even though it could cost him dearly.

Teammates Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol have also spoken up, although their contracts are secure and in place. They’ve made it clear where they stand.

Some Lakers fans may let you off the hook for this one, Jerry. It’s obvious you’re gambling that your season ticket holders won’t protest if you let Jackson and Fisher slip away.

I’m not asking you to pay Jackson. I’m just calling for you to speak up and declare publicly how important he has been to the franchise.

I know that you don’t like that Phil’s an odd, distant kind of guy.

I know you don’t like the triangle offense he runs.

I know you don’t like paying him so much money.

I know you’re eager to prove that you can win one without Phil.

I know you’re not elated that he shacks up with your daughter and sometimes offers his disrespect in all those subtle little ways.

I know you like showing that it’s you, not Jackson, who is in control of the franchise.

I know you think your reputation and image are secure with all those championships you have in your pocket.

I know you’re a proud, stubborn man, but does this have to come down to ego and pride?

Yes, it’s a poker game. Lakers assistant Brian Shaw, one of two top candidates to replace Phil, is “close to accepting” the Cleveland Cavaliers job, according to his agent. What’s the last time an agent made such an announcement? And Byron Scott declared that he’s not waiting around on anyone, another obvious bluff. Are Phil, Scott and Shaw all trying to out-bluff Jerry Buss?

Does it all come down to yet more tiresome games?

Is that what you want as your legacy?

You have a chance to eclipse the Boston Celtics as the team with the most NBA titles, and you’re going to let ego and pride get in the way?

Say it ain’t so. Speak up and ask Phil to return. Show us you’re bigger than these silly games.

Roland Lazenby is the author of Jerry West, The Life And Legend Of A Basketball Icon, recently released by ESPN Books.

On the good side for the Lakers, they’re older and wiser. They now have Ron Artest to help them defend Boston’s Paul Pierce, who is a major load.

And James Posey, Leon Powe and Eddie House no longer anchor Boston’s bench. They’ve been replaced by Tony Allen, Rasheed Wallace and little Nate Robinson.

More important for Boston is the growth of Rajon Rondo as a point guard. He’s fantastic and should cause Los Angeles plenty of trouble. Then again, the Lakers have played against an array of talented point guards in the Western playoffs and should have some confidence that they can at least stay in the gym with Rondo as Kobe Bryant will slip over and help teammate Derek Fisher deal with that headache.

But the things that worried Tex Winter then still play on my mind. Boston’s half-court defense is excellent, and their frontcourt still has the muscle to intimidate the Lakers.

Back in 2008, Tex told me that the Lakers couldn’t play well against the Celtics in the half court, that they needed to run, to get into the open court to have a chance to score more before Boston’s defense set up and smothered them. Some folks might think that’s funny, coming from Winter, the architect of the triangle offense.

Winter’s favorite method of attack is largely his controlled, half-court offense that stresses floor balance, spacing and team play. But he had always allowed for a break in his system, and he liked to use it when circumstances called for it.

Against the Celtics, circumstances scream for it.

He told me in 2008 that he thought Lakers coach Phil Jackson waited too long to try to get the break going. The Celtics got control of the series and the Lakers never recovered.

Of course, there was this other little problem. To run, you’ve got to be able to rebound, to get the ball and get it out and go.

The Lakers couldn’t win the battle against Boston’s frontcourt. The Celtics kept them bottled up for the series and wound up humiliating them.

Lakers forward Pau Gasol has stated many times this season the importance of rebounding. He knows what it means now. If the Lakers can win the rebound game with the Celtics, they should win the series in six or seven games. If they can’t win it, they’re going to have to come down the floor each time and play against that impressive Boston defense.

The Lakers do not want to do that.

Thus, the battle for the boards will be fierce and could well determine the champion this year. It’s obvious that Phil Jackson wants to do everything he can with his commentary to get Kevin Garnett and Kendrick Perkins to back off their physical play.

If the Celtics can control the boards and the tempo, they have a chance to win even though the matchups elsewhere are a mixed bag. Of course, rebounding is a team issue. The guards will have to do their part on both sides. Bryant and Rondo, in particular, have gotten to the ball a lot in these playoffs. They will join in the battle for the boards.

So it’s down to Pat Riley’s adage from the days of Showtime: No rebounds, no rings. Lamar Odom must be aggressive for the Lakers. And Jackson has to hope that Andrew Bynum can play through his injured knee to have an impact.

Bryant obviously is another huge factor. He is playing the best basketball of his life, less athletic, wiser. In a way, his knee injury and other ailments have been a blessing for the Lakers. Those things mean he usually hasn’t tried to do too much. If he gets impatient and tries to win it all and attack the Celtic defense off the dribble, he’ll play right into Boston’s hands this time around.

Obviously, Game 1 and 2 are huge. The Lakers were humiliated by Boston in 2008, and if they fail to hold home court in the first two games, their doubts will grow through the series. On the other hand, that humiliation could steel the Lakers’ resolve.

Either way, hopes are high for a classic series, one that folks will remember for years to come.

Roland Lazenby is the author of Jerry West, The Life And Legend Of A Basketball Icon, recently released by ESPN Books.

It’s just that the match-up issues are more profound in the playoffs.

So now we have a fresh four-team tournament before us, the NBA’s version of a super-sized Final Four. It’s fun to try to figure where things are headed.

As LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers can tell us now, the Boston Celtics look really scary. They can embarrass you. And the Lakers still carry that memory from two years ago, when the Celtics took their manhood in the ‘08 championship series.

Two factors make them so dangerous now. The rise of Rajon Rondo and the recovery of Kevin Garnett. Matching up with either of those guys is a nightmare for the other three teams left in the fray.

Then you throw in Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and the rest of the Boston roster, and the reasons for concern grow. Tony Allen makes their bench a threat, and folks are starting to speak of him as they did James Posey in 2008.

Hey, we’re not even talking Orlando here yet. It seems pretty simple in the Eastern Conference finals. If Orlando continues to make all those jump shots and three-pointers, they’ll give Boston a run for the money. Plus Orlando has a better means of attacking the basket this year in Vince Carter.

But if the jump shots don’t fall, the Celtics advance with their pack-it-in defense. Even if those shots do fall, Boston still might just outlast the Magic. Yes, Orlando is a fine team, undefeated in these play-offs. But if Boston has some gas in the tank, the Magic will discover they’ve met nothing this season like the revived Celtics.

In the Western Conference finals, the Lakers should advance because of their size and their triangle offense, which will help them control tempo. You do have to sit back and admire the Phoenix Suns, how hard they’ve played, and the fine job Alvin Gentry has done with them.

Plus, it’s not just about their older players. Jared Dudley is a player to watch among their youth corps.

But the Suns are only a feel-good story in this equation. Absent of a major development/injury, the Lakers advance to take on the Boston-Orlando winner.

If it’s Orlando, they’re a better team this year, but L.A. still wins those match-ups. It maybe goes six games.

The hoops world hasn’t gotten around to announcing it just yet, but everybody’s itchin’ for another Boston/L.A. thing in the championship series.

It has tradition, the promise of big markets, the allure to make the whole world take notice and to make David Stern wiggle with delight.

If it’s Lakers/Celtics, L.A. center Andrew Bynum and his fragile health become a large factor. If Bynum’s healthy and feeling all right, the Lakers fare much better in the match-ups. That means L.A. will have more depth to throw at Garnett with long-armed Pau Gasol and versatile Lamar Odom.

Lakers small forward Ron Artest looms large as well, with his ability to factor in lots places defensively. L.A. should be able to assure that Paul Pierce won’t be the MVP of the 2010 NBA Finals.

But does L.A. have an answer for the guy who has made himself the game’s newest force, Rajon Rondo? Kobe Bryant and proud old Derek Fisher will have their say on that one.

Surviving that mismatch will require all of Phil Jackson’s cunning. Phil sorts that Rondo thing out, and Lakers owner Jerry Buss has little choice but to re-sign him next year to another big contract.

When Jackson was an adolescent sitting around playing board games with his evangelist mother Betty, the stakes were high in terms of pride. Now it’s the time of year where Jackson, the old man, really gets to feel like a kid again. He’s locked in for the challenge, full of concentration, feeling totally alive.

Yes, we’re at the NBA’s version of the Final Four. Let the mind games begin.

Roland Lazenby is the author of Jerry West, The Life And Legend Of A Basketball Icon, recently released by ESPN Books.

Twelve rebounds.

Four blocks. Four blocks!

Thirteen points on six of 10 shooting.

Two fouls. Two fouls!

Then there’s the sheer size. Somehow you can never quite fit Andrew Bynum’s size into a box score. His long reach and anchoring presence were so obviously, stupendously important Sunday.

The big cat of a Lakers center came right off of 13 games on the injured list with a strained Achilles and reminded everyone of just how important his presence is to the championship hopes of Phil Jackson’s club.

Having just been cleared this past week to practice and play, Bynum had no real chance for even a tune-up in practice. No late-season minutes to test his strained Achilles. No easing him back in. Instead, the Lakers were just flying blind with Bynum Sunday.

Yes, everyone sort of knew his value all along, but pro basketball is a day-to-day, game-to-game business. And Bynum’s health had been a huge question mark down the back stretch of an odd regular season.

Just in case anyone wanted to hold onto doubt for too long, Bynum issued a reminder to the assembled Staples Center audience, as the Lakers pushed past the eighth seeded Oklahoma City Thunder, 87-79, in Game 1 of their first round series Sunday.

“He looked comfortable,” teammate Derek Fisher observed. “He looked strong. He looked explosive. He was decisive with his movements and he didn’t look afraid to load up the Achilles and push himself.”

Bynum’s size was especially a huge help in the team effort of slowing down OKC’s fine young gun of a forward, Kevin Durant, which Jackson’s club did with ease enough. Durant shot seven for 24 from the floor, made it to the free throw line a moderate 11 times, and finished with 24 points, well shy of the better than 30 ppg he posted during the regular season.

The fact that Jackson would start Bynum might seem a mild surprise, given his iffy status over the closing weeks of the regular season. The circumstances seemed all the more iffy because Jackson has long expressed private doubts that Bynum can remain healthy over the course of a season.

Experience has borne out those doubts. Bynum has been injured for so much of his tenure with the Lakers. Fragile is a word that has come to mind.

Still, it made sense to start him. Jackson could take a look at him early and find out how much the coaching staff might expect to get from the young center.

As, it turned out, they would get a lot. And not just from Bynum.

Forward Ron Artest finally showed that lock-down playoff defense that he was rumored to be packing. It was the high caliber sort of stuff he threw at the Lakers last year in the playoffs when he was wearing the uniform of the Houston Rockets.

Bynum, Artest, Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, Derek Fisher all combined to give an impressive team defensive effort to establish some order in this first-round series against the NBA’s youngest — and some would say most talented — team.

Yes, it’s only one game, one step in the 16-win process that is an NBA championship. But it was a particularly good first step. And it came just as the doubt had gotten quite deep in L.A. in March and April as the Lakers had stumbled and bumbled down the stretch.

Bynum roared back to work and posted his big reminder. So hats off to Jim Buss and anyone else in the Lakers organization who has championed and protected Bynum from Jackson’s sometimes unfathomable approach with young players.

Still, as grand as it was, Bynum’s performance also served as another sort of reminder. He was playing on adrenaline. Can he sustain such a pace? Probably not. Probably shouldn’t try.

The bigger question is, can he remain healthy for the entire playoffs?

If Bynum can hold up, the Lakers have a good chance to compete at a very high level. Fisher was ready to predict that Bynum’s a player other teams don’t want to see.

Yet the fact that we’re even addressing such a question suggests just how sheer those Laker hopes really are.

Roland Lazenby is the author of Jerry West, The Life And Legend Of A Basketball Icon, recently released by ESPN Books.

He wouldn’t go there to be part of a side act, says a basketball source who has known James well and worked with him since childhood. “And the Clippers are definitely a side act.

“He loves being a part of the show,” says the source. “And in L.A., that’s the Lakers. They’re the main show.”

James absolutely loves the California lifestyle, and if he were to make a move away from the Cleveland Cavaliers, California is the place he’d most likely want to go, the source said. He wouldn’t have to be a savior for the Lakers, wouldn’t have to inhabit the fishbowl lifestyle that he does elsewhere. He certainly would face less pressure in L.A. than in New York or even Cleveland.

Still, James will likely remain a Cav for next season, simply because the odds seem to grow daily making the Cavaliers the favorite to win an NBA title this June.

Last year, after Cleveland lost to Orlando in the playoffs, veteran Orlando assistant coach Brendan Malone said it was obvious that the Cavs needed scoring help from the forward position. They have that help now, with GM Danny Ferry’s acquisition of Antawn Jamison in February.

Another key question mark will be the health of veteran center Shaquille O’Neal. If O’Neal can overcome his thumb injury to return to the Cavs roster for the playoffs, the Cavs have size in O’Neal and backup center Zydrunas Ilgauskas to match up with the Lakers, should both teams reach the championship round.

If somehow, the Cavs reach the NBA Finals against the Lakers and lose, there’s little chance that James would try to force a trade to the Lakers. As much as James might want to be a Laker, that scenario would simply not be acceptable, the source said.

What scenario might bring James to the purple and gold? If both the Lakers and the Cavs lost in the playoffs, that might open a situation where James would aggressively attempt to force such a trade.

That, of course, would mean the failure of the two teams with the best record in each conference. Playing for the Lakers would be James’ ideal scenario, the source said, but only that narrow set of circumstances would make it feasible.

Those who have taken exception to my reports that James has quietly explored his Lakers option through an entertainment agent have cited salary cap issues as the obstacle to such a scenario.

Actually, James is a player with tremendous power. The main obstacle to such a move will be what happens on the court, as it should be.

Still, it’s interesting to ponder the result. How would James fit with Lakers star Kobe Bryant? Would there be enough basketballs for the two of them?

James would have no problem deferring to Bryant, said the source. “LeBron has no problem deferring if the player he’s deferring to is worthy.” The best proof of that lies in their Olympic play together.

One issue might be getting James to fit his game into the triangle offense run by Lakers coach Phil Jackson, even though James and Jackson are said to have high regard for each other.

James, however, would be a dangerous wing in the triangle, playing behind the defense much as Michael Jordan did in Chicago. The triangle seeks to create an imbalance by “filling the corner” on the strong side with a great shooter, which would leave James facing four-on-four from the weak side, with the defense spread out.

Good ball movement would mean James could find nice lanes to the basket.

Oh, well. L.A. is sort of a fantasy for James, one that would require certain developments. Still, stranger things have happened in the NBA, and the league is headed for a very strange off-season.

MORE TRIANGLE NOTES

What did the Lakers learn about the triangle offense during Kobe Bryant’s recent injury time? I posed that question to center Pau Gasol.

Without Bryant, the team got a different view of the triangle and more opportunity to explore options, he replied. “We can search more into it.”

And learn different things. “The ball moves a little more,” Gasol said, echoing a frequent complaint that triangle guru Tex Winter used to make about Bryant. “We can search more through the triangle and we can get more options. It’s made for that.”

Gasol acknowledged that the team has a different relationship with the triangle this season, mainly because of new teammate Ron Artest.

“Ron is trying to figure out the triangle and where to be on the court and how to have an effect offensively,” Gasol remarked. “Little by little he’s getting there, and he’s doing a good job.”

THE SIMPLE MAN

For years now, Spurs center Tim Duncan has been a favorite of many of the NBA’s legends and retired greats such as 11-time Celtics champion Bill Russell.

“I had a nice little interview with Bill Russell, and he’s always told me that he’s a big fan of mine,” Duncan said. “That’s an incredible honor to hear that from someone like Bill Russell. That’s the main guy.”

Why do the legends prize his game so much, I asked Duncan. “Probably just the simplicity of my game,” he said. “I’ve been blessed to win four championships over the years with that simplicity. I hope that’s it.”

MAGIC

Magic Johnson continues to rave about the play of Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant. I asked Durant about the props. “I’ve met Magic a couple of times,” he said, “and I really admire how much he loves the game. You can see it in how he speaks, how he carries himself when he talks about basketball… You watch old tapes of him, he’s always smiling and he’s always competitive. Hopefully, I’ll live up to that.”

Roland Lazenby is the author of Jerry West, The Life And Legend Of A Basketball Icon, recently released by ESPN Books.

The Lakers knew that last summer when they signed Artest and passed on bringing back promising young forward Trevor Ariza. Artest brings plenty of defense to help make up for his deficits on offense. But the Lakers won the league championship last year in part because they were finally able to execute the complicated offense at a high level.

This year that simply hasn’t been the case. The offense requires that players be able to make sophisticated “reads” of the action to trigger facets of the offense. Artest simply isn’t ready to make many of those reads.

Lakers Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom report that the team hasn’t been able to use the more complex levels of the offense because Artest isn’t ready to go there.

Artest’s adjustment might have gone better if backup forward Luke Walton hadn’t been troubled by back problems. Although he’s faced consistency issues over the years, Walton has always been a smart passer and a key sub who makes the offense work. Walton’s absence for much of the season has made Artest’s protracted adjustment all the more painful, although there is some hope that Walton could return to action by the playoffs in April.

Usually in March, coach Phil Jackson’s teams are starting to round into major form, but the Lakers show some uncharacteristic signs of struggle this year down the stretch. A recent three-game losing streak has Lakers fans fussing that Jackson too long clings to veterans like 36-year-old guard Derek Fisher. Jackson likes Fisher, even at an advanced age, because of his competitiveness, his ability even still to pressure the ball on defense, and most of all, his knack for getting the team into the offense and guiding its execution.

Fans who complain about a Fisher or a Walton often miss the point. Jackson’s teams are always greater than the sum of their parts. That is the main power of the offense, it’s ability to create opportunity for lesser players. Jackson’s teams have always shown an ability to bind these lesser players with stars like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant.

Like other critics, Jordan himself once snidely derided the triangle as an “equal-opportunity offense” because it required that he share the ball with less talented teammates. But Jordan later said repeatedly that the offense gave his teams an operating format, one that allowed them to relate to each other and become champions.

The numbers back that up. In the 19 seasons that Jackson and triangle guru Tex Winter have employed the offense in the NBA, it has won 1,089 regular season games and lost just 453, an astounding winning percentage of .706.

The offense has been even more effective in the playoffs, where Jackson has used it to win 10 titles in those 19 seasons, with two more appearances in the league championship series. It has allowed Jackson to win 209 of the 300 playoff games he has coached. The Lakers recent troubles are unfortunate, because there’s more than a bit of pressure on the team this season, with Jackson’s future unclear because the team’s front office hasn’t offered him a contract.

Even if Jackson does coach the Lakers or some other team next season, it seems the remarkable run of the triangle offense is just about up, its era coming to a close. Tex Winter predicted as much a few years back.

Why? Other coaches have tried the offense in the NBA and failed famously because of the time commitment and learning curve for professional players. Only coaches with the stature of Jackson and Winter, supported by stars with the abilities of Jordan and Bryant, have made it a success. As tirelessly as he has promoted his offense over the decades, Winter himself would admit it’s an awkward fit with modern pro players.

MINDS MADE UP?

Back in 2004 when he was seething, Lakers owner Jerry Buss would have a few pops and tell anyone within earshot — even a Lakers beat reporter or two — how much he despised the triangle. Buss made it clear even to random strangers. He loved fast-break basketball ala the Lakers’ vintage Showtime teams, and he was tired of the unbalanced floor look that Jackson’s triangle teams employed.

Former Lakers VP Jerry West worked with Buss for years and knows him well. West says that when Buss makes up his mind on something, he rarely changes it.

Even though Jackson’s team had won three straight championships, 2000-2002, with the triangle, as soon as the Lakers stumbled in the 2004 championship series, the owner gave his approval for his son Jim Buss to fire Jackson as coach.

The triangle offense got a reprieve the next year when Buss abruptly rehired Jackson. Why did the Lakers owner relent and return to the triangle? 1) Because he faced a well-organized revolt by season ticket holders who demanded Jackson’s return; and 2) because Jim Buss’s hiring of Rudy Tomjanovich proved such a disaster, financially and competitively.

But six years later those basic feelings of the Lakers owner haven’t changed. Buss and his son have held off on making Jackson a contract offer for next year, and they’ve implied they want him to take a pay cut from his $12 million salary.

The circumstances mean that the 2010 playoffs are a referendum on the offense pioneered by longtime Jackson assistant Tex Winter. If Jackson somehow drives the Lakers to a repeat of their 2009 NBA championship, then the Busses may begrudgingly invite Jackson back for a shot at a three-peat.

One key inside observer says Jerry and Jim Buss are calculating that fans won’t mind if Jackson doesn’t return next year, that there won’t be a revolt by season ticket holders this time around.

It seems showtime vs. triangle are the competing visions for the team, with former Lakers greats and some factions in the front office feeding the desire of Jim and Jerry Buss to move away from the formula that has won four championships over the past decade.

At the center of the controversy is the development of young center Andrew Bynum. The Busses have great belief in his future, and they have articulated a beef that Jackson doesn’t have a reputation for developing young players.

It’s certainly true that Jackson prefers to rely on veterans to run his teams, just as it’s true that Winter himself upbraided Jackson about his handling of a young Kobe Bryant. But the Busses might be overlooking Jackson’s track record for developing players such as Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant in Chicago, where Jackson guided the Bulls to six championships.

Another irony in the Buss opposition is that the triangle, or “triple-post” offense as it is also called, is great for getting the ball to post scorers, such as Shaquille O’Neal or Bynum.

Critics such as Orlando Magic assistant coach Brendan Malone, who has battled Jackson’s triangle teams many times over the years, point out that the Lakers defeated the Magic in last year’s championship because they used the screen and roll to devastating effect, rather than the triangle.

But Winter has long countered that the triangle gives teams a basic philosophy from which to operate. That means a triangle team can use its format to employ screen and roll, fast breaks, or any other number of offensive looks at any time, Winter has explained.

“The triangle is a philosophy for playing the game that allows you to just about use whatever you need in any given circumstance,” Winter once explained. The 88-year-old Winter continues to recover in Oregon from the effects of a stroke suffered last April and may soon move back to Kansas, where he enjoyed years as a highly successful college coach.

For all of Jackson’s 18 NBA coaching seasons, Winter has been a strong presence with his teams, alternately teaching and sternly correcting players who violate the principles of his offense. In all of those seasons, Winter has been an infectious promoter of the offense he developed. He has not been able to fill that role this season, leaving Jackson to press on without him.

HALL OF FAME?

Like his offense itself, Winter also faces a referendum this spring as he attempts yet again to gain election to the Basketball Hall of Fame. His name has been put into nomination many times, but he has been turned down because the bulk of his NBA experience has been as an assistant coach hired as a mentor for a younger coach, Jackson. Winter has a brilliant record as a coach for several colleges, most notably Kansas State where his teams were among the nation’s best for a number of years.

USA Basketball’s Jerry Colangelo says the Hall of Fame is trying to expand its scope to take in a rare and special genius like Winter. But this year’s field of Hall nominees is crowded with excellent players, coaches and teams and Winter once again faces uphill odds for selection. Hall of Famers Bill Walton and Magic Johnson both said Winter deserves to be in the Hall of Fame, as have many others.

Walton pointed out that generations of players have absolutely loved playing for the passionate Winter. Walton also said that of the special generation of coaches who competed against and successfully challenged John Wooden, Winter is the only major figure yet to be named to the Hall. At a time that the highly successful offense he created is being challenged, Winter is without voice to speak up for it or himself.

Jackson, though, has been diligently coaching in his absence, and although Winter’s strong presence has been missed, if the Lakers find success this post-season it could well mean yet another season for the offense.

Otherwise, this could be one of the last pro seasons for the triangle system, which is still used in pieces at some colleges, mostly by women’s teams at Tennessee and Connecticut. Winter has long predicted that his system wouldn’t be used much beyond his and Jackson’s tenure as coaches. A basketball visionary in so many ways, Winter also seems to have a clear view of the future for a system he created.

Roland Lazenby is the author of “Jerry West, The Life And Legend Of A Basketball Icon,” recently released by ESPN Books.

- The Lakers are satisfied with their championship last season. Former Laker Rick Fox told John Ireland that some teams don’t like being “the hunted.” And this may be what ails the Lakers. Last year they rose to the challenge because they had been humiliated in the Finals; this year, they know they are the champs no matter what the result on the floor is.

- The Lakers are burned out. Being the defending champion is no easy thing. That’s why it’s so hard to repeat. This Laker group has played a lot of games and maybe when they reach deep inside, there’s nothing there right now.

- These are the “as usual” Lakers. After all, last season even in the Playoffs against Houston, fans were panicking and the media was heaping abuse on the team for its lack of effort, focus, etc. Then, suddenly, everything clicked.

- The weak point is Pau, who has played too many games. Pau seemed to answer the questions about being “soft,” last season, but seems to be back to playing “soft” again. Two weeks before the Lakers played Boston on the road, Gasol was griping about not getting enough touches. So late in the game, when he gets the ball, what does he do? He tries to pass to Shannon Brown. Turnover. Game. He did the same thing against the Sixers, passing in the paint to someone else in the paint – only this time he got away with it. “Fatigue makes cowards of us all,” Vince Lombardi said. Hmmmm.

- The weak point is …Kobe. The Lakers looked pretty energetic in the five games that Kobe missed. On offense, they played the triangle offense perfectly, spacing themselves well and passing to the open man. On defense, the rotations were crisp. Kobe comes back and all of a sudden they look flat again. Could it be that they are tiring of Kobe pushing them so hard?

- It’s that time of year: everyone is tired and injured, and everyone is trying to conserve energy for the Playoffs.

- There’s nothing wrong. The fans and the media are just too impatient, too focused on perfection, too, well, fanatical. The Lakers have, after all, the best record in the East, second-best record in the league, the best closer in the league and a team that won it last year…

Roland Lazenby is the author of Jerry West, The Life And Legend Of A Basketball Icon, set to be released by ESPN Books Feb. 23.

Roland Lazenby is the author of “Jerry West, the Life and Legend of a Basketball Icon”, set to be released by Random House/ESPN in February.

1. Can Ron Artest keep it real?

Anyone following Ron Artest the last few months has to wonder if he is all there or if, like Shaquille O’Neal, he is all about marketing. That is, about generating buzz by what he says and does. Artest has certainly said and done some strange things. Stories filtering out of Houston say that in one of his last Playoff games there he took the last bus to the game, the bus the media and staffers ride and which players never ride unless they are LATE, wearing nothing but his underwear. Is he plain loony and if so, will he be able to fit into the Laker team chemistry? On the other hand, there are signs that he may just be shrewdly playing the media. The good news for the Lakers is that Artest has also said if the Lakers do not repeat, the players and fans can blame him. Can he keep that focus?

2. Will Andrew Bynum stay healthy and contribute?

Bynum is frustrating to the Lakers. There are moments, brief flashes so far for the most part, where he reveals signs of potential greatness. Those flashes can take one’s breath away because of the vision of what could be. Then they disappear and Bynum is making the foolish mistakes of a young, unseasoned player or, worse, getting hurt. There is little doubt that being mentored by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has been good for him, but he has to step up now. He’s getting the contract big bucks – now he has to show that he deserves them. Can he do it?

3. Is Fisher still a factor at 35?

Every Laker fan loves Derek Fisher. He is the Southern California version of the “little Engine That Could.” He just keeps plugging away. Yes, at times he looks like his feet are in deep, thick mud against quicker point guards. And yet at key moments, especially during the Playoffs, he comes up big. It will be a sad day the day he has to step aside. The good thing is that he is egoless and could come off the bench without complaint if he has, in fact, lost another step.

4. Can the back-up point guards provide productive minutes?

The Fish that ate San Antonio lost some effectiveness late in the regular season last year because Phil Jackson was forced to overplay him because of injuries and some bench weaknesses. Like Bynum, the two Laker back-up point guards, Jordan Farmar and Shannon Brown, have shown some signs of being keepers. Farmar has changed his jersey number to number one, as symbolic a move as there is. In the past, he has balanced out some good moments with poor decision-making and weak defense. Has he matured? Is he ready? If he isn’t, he will be challenged as he was during the Playoffs last season by newcomer Shannon Brown who earned a permanent moment in replay heaven with a rocking slam dunk over Denver’s Chris Anderson in the Playoffs in May.

5. Will the players keep listening to Phil?

There were moments last season – the darkest and most depressing times – when the Lakers seemed to have shut coach Phil Jackson out. These were games when they played foolishly and without energy, basically giving away games. Every team has some of those games in the long 82-game season and the Lakers’ ability to rebound and win a championship suggests that it was nothing more than temporary bits of boredom or fatigue. Most coaches run into a stone wall after a while, where players get tired of their message. Jackson, along with Gregg Popovich and Jerry Sloan, has been one of a small handful who have yet to experience players rejecting their message. But Phil is getting up there in age, is missing his trusty aide Tex Winters, and is satisfied with thinking one year at a time with regard to his own status as the Lakers coach. In addition, Phil considered just coaching home games in order to avoid the rigors of the travel schedule – until GM Mitch Kupchak vetoed that idea. All this suggests Phil’s time as the coach may be winding down. The most important thing is for the Lakers to keep listening to Phil’s message. Will they?

6. Will Pau’s summer “vacation” tire him out?

Pau Gasol, the MVP of this summer’s Eurobasket tournament and a member of the team from Spain, which won its first Eurobasket title after six runner-up results, could be exhausted. The best thing for Gasol would be if Bynum is healthy and active, which would limit Pau’s minutes, at least in the early going. Pau did all right last season coming off the Olympics. Can he do it two years in a row?

7. Has The Machine been repaired?

Sasha Vujacic, aka The Machine, had an abysmal season last year and Jackson urged him to cut his hair as a way of regenerating himself for this season. Last season his long hair and a hair band that Sasha wore attracted a lot of attention. Phil, ever the sensitive Zen master paying attention to small details, appears to be making the hair cut a symbolic move for a change. The Lakers definitely need a three-ball threat off the bench. Will Sasha fill that role?

8. Can Adam Morrison make a contribution?

In the event that The Machine is still under repair, Adam Morrison could step forward and take that three-ball specialist spot. Like J.J. Redick, Morrison can shoot. The problem is that he is coming off a year-long injury and on top of that is dealing with what has to be some loss of confidence. Morrison has no pressure here. So can he step up?

9. Can Luke Walton continue to excel in a cameo role?

Laker haters and even some Laker fans like to snicker about Walton, a slow, can’t-jump, can’t shoot small forward for the Lakers. Why is he even on this team? Maybe it’s his genes, but Walton has a superb basketball IQ. He improves the Lakers’ triangle offense when he is in the game and manages to get key rebounds. The real question is: on a team this deep, can he even get some playing time?

10. Can Kobe keep this team together?

No one doubts Kobe’s preparation and motivation, the fiercest since Michael Jordan was still playing. Kobe knows by now that this is a team game and he needs his teammates to know he trusts them. He did that last season and they came through. This year, the delicate task of getting Ron Artest to fit into the mix falls largely on Kobe’s shoulders. He also needs to coax more out of Bynum and perhaps help rebuild Morrison’s confidence. Can he do it?

If the answer is “Yes” to six or more of these questions, opposing teams will have to watch out.