CLIPPER HEART IS BETTER THAN LAKER TALENT.

Byline: Michael Ventre

Why can't the Lakers be more like the Clippers?

Some might think it takes courage to say something like that. Others might think it takes a controlled dangerous substance or shock therapy.

All I know is, when the Lakers visit the Sports Arena tonight to take on the Clippers, one team will be working on an upward path and the other will be meandering aimlessly in search of identity and purpose.

Can you make the call?

This isn't a comparison of franchises, owners, general managers or coaches. This is one group of professional basketball players against another. This is a matter of one bunch of guys that is committed to improvement versus another that is apparently still searching for a pat on the back for the terrific job it did last season.

Given who is in charge and the money they'll have under the salary cap next year, the Lakers' future still looks better to me. But I'll take the Clippers' immediate future.

You go to a Clippers game and, more often than not, you'll see players trying to win. You'll see guys in uniform who, for the most part, care about what they're doing out there. You'll see some semblance of veteran leadership and some promising young talent. You'll see a tiny crowd that is smaller than announced but which usually comes away pleased.

You go to a Lakers game, and more often than not, you'll see men quietly feuding. You'll see a center who is Mr. Triple Double on the night he decides to be inspired and Mr. Zero when the game is ordinary and the motivation needs to come from within.

You'll see a small forward who can't guard anyone, a power forward who has never lived up to his talent, a supremely skilled point guard who often doesn't seem as if he can lead or even wants to, a bench that won't make anyone forget the Great Eight of the early '80s and an arena full of people who probably spend most of the game pondering what they could do with their extra cash if they decide to cancel their season ducats.

The Lakers seem like a team that is waiting for help. The Clippers appear to be a group that knows it can't afford to wait any longer.

I suppose it's time to congratulate Bill Fitch and the Clips for the draft-day trade that brought Brian Williams, Rodney Rogers and rookie Brent Barry in exchange for Antonio McDyess and two throw-ins that have since been thrown away.

I'm still not convinced that it's wise to pass up a young, talented big man who may become a superstar someday. The Clippers like to boast that their troika is thriving while McDyess is stumbling. But it takes rookies a while to come around and the Clippers have admitted that they just didn't have the luxury to be patient. Joe Smith is only now blossoming up at Golden State and McDyess himself scored 31 against the world-champion Rockets on Wednesday night.

But the fact is, the trade is working. As Pooh Richardson said last week, "We needed bodies." With these reinforcements, the Clippers already have 15 wins and it's not even the All-Star break yet; they had 17 victories all of last season.

Williams certainly is far better than his brief career as a reserve in Orlando and Denver might have suggested. Rogers, when he's not nursing some ailment, scores and rebounds as advertised. And Barry, with seasoning, will be terrific.

OK, Clips, you get a gold star.

Jerry West and Mitch Kupchak have a brutal job. They're expected to put a Lakers team on the floor that will improve upon last season, when the club upset Seattle and gave San Antonio a tussle over six games in the playoffs. They must feel helpless now, knowing that the only excitement surrounding their team occurs when Magic Johnson considers another comeback.

The Magic situation is symbolic of the Lakers' woes. Everyone involved would surely love to see this current group move on from the Showtime era and establish itself with its own identity and its own collection of illustrious accomplishments. But it can't.

It's stuck in neutral, with no one forceful enough to move it ahead. Del Harris is a fine coach and he certainly did wonders last year, but there's only so much a man can do from the sidelines before the players have to reach down and find some character and some heart.

Every time you hear Magic's name come up in regard to rejoining the team, just remember that it wouldn't be happening if there wasn't a crying need for it. The ending I envision for "The Lake Show" involves 12 players jumping into one.

It isn't as though 20-17 is so bad. It's that the team is maddeningly inconsistent and sorely underachieving. And the road is long and fraught with peril. Last year the Lakers got 19 of their 48 wins away from home; so far this year their road mark is a measly 5-12. You don't go anywhere in the playoffs if you can't win on the road. Incidentally, the Clippers' road record is 6-13.

The Lakers aren't that far away from being the Clippers. If I were the Clippers, I'd be overjoyed. If I were the Lakers, I'd be alarmed.