Phil Jackson stopped at midcourt moments after suffering perhaps the most embarrassing loss of an otherwise storied 19-year NBA coaching career bearing a slight smile on his face.

Plenty of things could’ve soured Jackson’s mood. The Lakers’ 112-86 Game 4 loss to the Dallas Mavericks in the 2011 Western Conference semifinals derailed the team’s hopes to three-peat. It also marked the end of an accomplished coaching stint that spanned 11 NBA championships, 13 NBA Finals appearances and 229 playoffs wins. Consider Jackson’s bemused reaction as nothing more than a moment of Zen.

“I’ve never been very good at dealing with loss. Like many competitors, one of the main driving forces in my life has been not just to win but to avoid losing,” Jackson wrote in his book, “Eleven Rings,” slated for a May 21 release. “Yet for some reason, this fiasco didn’t affect me as much as some of the other losses I’ve endured in my basketball life. In part, that was because this wasn’t the finals. It’s much easier coping with an early-round loss than a game in which you’re closing in on a ring. But even more than that, the way in which the Dallas finale unfolded was so over-the-top absurd, it was hard to take too seriously.”
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This is the sixth in a series grading the Lakers’ efforts on the 2012-13 season.

Player: Steve Blake, Lakers backup point guard

How he performed: Averaged 7.3 points on 42.2 percent shooting and 3.8 assists in 26.1 minutes through 45 regular-season games; averaged 14 points on 39.3 percent shooting and 2.5 assists in 37.5 minutes through two playoff games.

The Good:  Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni gushed plenty of hyperbole in his introductory press conference. He envisioned how the Lakers would averaged 110-115 points per game (they averaged 102.2). D’Antoni believed he would have little problems incorporating a faster-paced offense to a veteran group (there were plenty). He set his sights on an NBA championships (the Lakers were swept in the first round).

But D’Antoni was hardly exaggerating when he said he long coveted Steve Blake, feeling his playmaking, feistiness and team-mindset proved the perfect fit in his system. Blake lived up to that billing in what became his most productive season in three years with the Lakers. In his previous two seasons under both Phil Jackson and Mike Brown, Blake admittedly played fairly tentative both out of respect to the team’s star studded lineup and because the offense hardly catered to his hope to create on his own. That wasn’t the case with D’Antoni, who always encouraged Blake to play with full aggression and take any shots that came to him.

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The Cleveland Cavaliers recently asked and received permission from the Lakers to talk with player development coach Phil Handy about possibly joining Mike Brown’s coaching staff, said Lakers spokesman John Black.

Brown hired Handy as his player development coach in the 2011-12 season, his first season as the Lakers’ head coach. Since then, Handy has developed a strong reputation among the Lakers’ players for both his engaging on-court workouts and infinite willingness to work with them at all hours of the day.

When the Lakers fired Brown last season following a 1-4 start, Mike D’Antoni still kept the coaching staff intact and added his brother, Dan, to the staff. That included Handy, whose duties entail working players out before games and after practices through various individual shooting and ball handling drills. Handy also worked closely with players in individual workouts as they progressed from various injuries.

The Lakers’ coaching staff has remained in flux in recent weeks. Eddie Jordan took the Rutgers’ head-coaching job just before the NBA playoffs began. D’Antoni informed both Chuck Person and Bernie Bickerstaff Monday that they won’t return for the 2013-14 season. Steve Clifford also plans to interview soon with the Charlotte Bobcats for their vacant head-coaching position.

RELATED:

Lakers expect Pau Gasol to recover from knee procedure in three months

Lakers report card: Metta World Peace starts strong, ends with a whimper

What if Kobe Bryant went to college?

Follow L.A. Daily News Lakers beat writer Mark Medina on Twitter. E-mail him at mark.medina@dailynews.com

After having a procedure Thursday to reduce the soreness surrounding the tendonosis in both of his knees, Pau Gasol is expected to return fully healthy in three months.

There’s obviously no rush for Gasol to return considering the Lakers bounced out of the first round last week in the 2013 NBA playoffs in a first-round sweep to the San Antonio Spurs. But Gasol won’t be able to go through any on-court training until early August.

Everything has gone well! Now I’ll have to rest my knees and start with the rehab. Thanks everyone for your support! twitter.com/paugasol/statu…

— Pau Gasol (@paugasol) May 9, 2013

Gasol plans to have another procedure next week with Dr. Steve Yoon of Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Group in Los Angeles, which will entail the Lakers forward receiving stem cell injections to help stimulate regeneration in his tissue. Gasol underwent a the so-called “Fast Technique” procedure on Thursday, which entailed having a probe inserted into both of his knees to direct to eliminate scar tissue without damaging the healthy tissue.

Gasol suggested as early as the day prior to the Lakers’ Game 4 loss two weeks ago to San Antonio that he’d have some offseason work done on both of his knees. Gasol missed a total of 33 games due to various ailments, including knee tendonitis that sidelined him for eight games in early December. But Gasol said the injury lingered throughout the season. He averaged 13.7 points on 46.6 percent shooting and 8.6 rebounds through 49 games.

RELATED:

Lakers report card: Metta World Peace starts strong, ends with a whimper

What if Kobe Bryant went to college?

Has Pau Gasol played his last game as a Laker?

Follow L.A. Daily News Lakers beat writer Mark Medina on Twitter. E-mail him at mark.medina@dailynews.com

This is the fifth in a series grading the Lakers’ efforts on their 2012-13 season.

Player: Metta World Peace, Lakers forward

How he performed: 12.4 points on 40.3 percent shooting, 5 rebounds and 1.6 steals in 33.7 minutes per game in the regular season; 6 points on 25 percent shooting, 3.7 rebounds and .7 steals in 28 minutes per game in the playoffs.

The Good: World Peace posted his strongest numbers in his four seasons with the Lakers and also became one of their most consistent players mostly because of his offseason conditioning. That effort mostly entailed improving his diet (lots of protein, nuts, vegatables and little sugar) and frequent offseason workouts. As a result, World Peace looked a lot more comfortable attacking the basket. The stronger conditioning gave him better shooting balance, allowing him to shoot at least 50 percent from three-point range in 25 games. And if even if none of the efforts ever looked pretty, but World Peace also managed to throw down some dunks.
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In a sign that this marks the beginning of a long offseason for the Lakers, Time Warner Cable SportsNet has started a new creative idea on their Access SportsNet show called the “What If” game.

After all, there’s only so many times we can go into the importance of resigning Dwight Howard, speculating on Pau Gasol’s future and the struggles the Lakers face with acquiring new players because of their bloated payroll. So instead, TWC host Andy Adler posted this interesting question Wednesday night on the show: what if Kobe Bryant had gone to college? He’s stated publicly that he would’ve played at Duke for coach Mike Krzyzewski. So what would’ve happened with his first — and only – season with the Blue Devils?
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For someone intent on swinging for the fences, Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak spent plenty of time last offseason perfecting his home-run swing in assembling a star-studded lineup.

Yet, the likes of Dwight Howard, Steve Nash and a litany of bench pieces didn’t even come close to an NBA championship. Instead, the Lakers lost in a first-round sweep to the San Antonio Spurs partly because of overlapping injuries and partly because such a talented group never found the chemistry. So it’s hardly surprising that Kupchak received zero votes for the NBA’s General Manager of the Year award, which was granted to the Denver Nuggets’ Masai Ujiri.
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Too many concerns surrounds Pau Gasol’s future.

How will his knees respond when he undergoes a procedure today that he hopes will eliminate scar tissue surrounding his season-long tendinosis? More importantly, will Gasol even have the chance to play at 100 percent next season?

The Lakers likely won’t answer that question until after July 1 when free agency begins. But with the Lakers’ offseason more than a week old, it’s hardly too early to start delving into that topic. Hence, why Time Warner Cable SportsNet host Andy Adler, analyst Dave Miller, 710 ESPN’s John Ireland and myself debated on Access SportsNet on Wednesday night whether Gasol will return to the Lakers.
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In hopes to eliminate the tendonosis from both of his knees, Lakers forward Pau Gasol plans to have a procedure Thursday that will involve eliminating scar tissue.

After talking to several specialists, I’m going to proceed to regenerate both of my patellar tendons and working hard to get back to my 100%

— Pau Gasol (@paugasol) May 8, 2013

Gasol will undergo the so-called FAST Technique, a procedure the Lakers say will involve Dr. Steven Yoon of the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Group inserting a probe into both of his knees. That will direct ultrasonic energy to eliminate scar tissue without damaging the healthy tissue.

The Lakers plan to release a timeline for Gasol’s recovery Thursday following his procedure.

Gasol suggested as early as the day prior to the Lakers’ Game 4 loss two weeks ago to San Antonio that he’d have some offseason work done on both of his knees. Gasol missed a total of 33 games due to various ailments, including knee tendonitis that sidelined him for eight games in early December. But Gasol said the injury lingered throughout the season. He averaged 13.7 points on 46.6 percent shooting and 8.6 rebounds through 49 games.

“I have to do something to regenerate the tissue,” Gasol said, “so I don’t have to play with this pain.”

RELATED:

Lakers report card: Pau Gasol’s play hinged on how he was featured in Mike D’Antoni’s system

Lakers report card: Steve Nash couldn’t overcome injury riddled season

Lakers report card: Dwight Howard’s navigated challenges, but will grow from them

Follow L.A. Daily News Lakers beat writer Mark Medina on Twitter. E-mail him at mark.medina@dailynews.com

This is the fourth in a series grading the Lakers’ efforts on their 2012-13 season.

Player: Pau Gasol, Lakers forward

How he performed: 13.7 points on 46.6 percent shooting and 8.6 rebounds in regular season; 14 points on 48.1 precent shooting and 9.8 rebounds in playoffs

The Good:Gasol proved that he’s still an elite player if the Lakers feature him correctly. In the last seven games of the regular season, Gasol posted three triple doubles. His 17.6 points per game average represented his highest scoring output whenever he and Dwight Howard played together in the starting lineup. All this happened because the Lakers featured Gasol on the low block instead of as a stretch forward. Such a move allowed Gasol both to facilitate out of double teams to Kobe Bryant for jumpers and Dwight Howard for lobs. It also put Gasol in a better position to play the roll man off pick-and-rolls plays, where he scored 48.9 percent of the time, according to Synergy Sports. And though Gasol didn’t always thrive well in the post (shooting 42.2 percent from the field), that strategy still boded superior than to shooting spot-up jumpers (40.6 percent).

More importantly, Gasol handled his demoted role with enough professionalism and grace. He openly disagreed with playing as a reserve for six games and for playing as a stretch forward. But he didn’t let that sour any of his effort. As a bench player, Gasol still 13.1 points on 53 percent shooting through seven games. Such an attitude led Kobe Bryant to vouch more strongly than in seasons past for the Lakers to feature him more in his comfort zone. It also helped Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni eventually change his sentiments on how to utilize Gasol. That’s why it’s hardly surprising Gasol left the final minutes of the Lakers’ Game 4 loss to San Antonio to a standing ovation from the Staples Center crowd.

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