Fisher’s Play Leaves Lakers on the Floor

It used to be that Derek Fisher hitting the floor was a good thing for the Lakers. It meant he had drawn another charge, or come up with another loose ball. It inspired his teammates.

As he lay there on the Arco Arena court Tuesday night, body-checked by a screening Chris Webber, it was a symbol of all that’s gone wrong for the Lakers. Mike Bibby, the most regal of the Sacramento Kings, was wide open for a game-winning jump shot. Fisher was helpless to do anything about it.

The Lakers were suddenly down, trailing, 3-2, in the Western Conference finals.

Fisher has provided minimal help to the Lakers’ cause. The guy driving the team bus has been more valuable.

That’s why Fisher will be the most important player on the court in Game 6 tonight. (And when we say “on the court” we’re talking figuratively.)

If he can stay in front of Bibby, Bibby won’t be able to attack the basket and draw fouls on Shaquille O’Neal.

If he can guard Bibby, Kobe Bryant won’t have to assume those duties and put himself at risk of foul trouble and/or fatigue.

And if Fisher can knock down shots he’ll provide the extra scoring punch the Lakers desperately need, besides making space for O’Neal inside.

Despite whatever toe, ankle or stomach problems afflict O’Neal and Bryant, they’re still going to find a way to score 50 points between them. That’s what they’ve done on average in the playoffs, and that’s why they aren’t Coach Phil Jackson’s primary concern.

“I’m expecting team play,” Jackson said. “I don’t care whether Shaq gets 30 or Kobe gets 30. We have to play with a team attitude out there. If [the Kings are] clogging the lane against Shaq, we need to have players step up and hit shots.”

That means Devean George and Lindsey Hunter and anybody else Jackson sends in from the bench. But more than anything else, it means Fisher.

He is shooting 26% (13 for 50) in the series, 16.7% (four for 24) from three-point range, continuing a trend that began in the second round against San Antonio. Bibby, who is primarily Fisher’s defensive responsibility, has outscored him, 107-36.

“I feel like if I’m playing even halfway better than I have at this point, we probably would have won a couple of these games that we lost,” Fisher said. “I’m extremely disappointed that I haven’t been able to do more to help us win. I’m going out there and I’m trying my hardest. It’s just not coming together right now.”

Normally, Fisher looks straight ahead or directly at the reporter when he answers questions. His eyes darted all over the place as he talked in the Laker locker room after Game 5. Nothing about him looks the same as the guy who made 15 of 20 three-point shots in the conference finals against San Antonio last year.

The fashionable thing to say a year ago was that Fisher’s return from foot surgery on March 13 ignited the Lakers’ championship run. He returned their focus to defense, and he provided another outside shooter.

Last year’s success is actually a big reason for this year’s disappointment. Teams respect his shot and aren’t willing to give him the open looks anymore. They’ll run at him, forcing him to rush the shot or dribble and pull up or drive to the basket. Those aren’t his strengths.

“It’s been different,” Fisher said. “I’ve tried to make the adjustment. It’s been tough. It’s definitely been something that has been a big-time learning experience for me, figuring out ways to get shots off.”

Another surgery on the right foot forced him to sit through the summer and the first 12 games of the 2001-02 season. The NBA catches up to players’ strengths and exposes their weaknesses quickly, and without that extra practice time he hasn’t been able to stay ahead.

His teammates haven’t abandoned Fisher.

“We still talk to him,” forward Rick Fox said, laughing, as if that might not be an option.

They tell him to keep on shooting. They encourage him to work Bibby.

“Just don’t let [Bibby] go left,” Fox said. “That’s his comfort zone.”

Fisher also gets advice from his older brother, former NBA player Duane Washington. Washington played in Germany this year, but caught most of Derek’s games on satellite and has seen every game since he returned to the United States two weeks ago.

Washington taught Fisher how to play when little Derek insisted on following him around when they were kids in Little Rock, Ark. Even though Fisher went on to greater success in the NBA--Washington played briefly with the Clippers and the New Jersey Nets--he still listens to his older brother’s advice.

Washington said his message to Fisher was: “Stay within yourself and just stay positive. You know what it took to get you to this point, don’t waver now. Keep working. We’ve been workers all our life.”

So there was Fisher, the last man on the court after Laker practice Wednesday. While O’Neal and Fox sat on giant plastic exercise balls and talked to reporters, as Bryant strolled through in his yellow shades, Fisher shot free throws and tried to regain his stroke.

“I’m still confident I can help this team win,” he said.

He and his brother have said they are eager to finally have a surgery-free summer with a chance to work on his game. If Fisher can’t get something done right now, they’ll get their chance next week.

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J.A. Adande can be reached at: [email protected].