L.A. CONFIDENTIAL.

Byline: -- Ross Siler

Lakers coach Phil Jackson launched into a lengthy answer Monday to the question about whether the perception is reality when it comes to his displeasure at playing rookies. He was talking about guard Jordan Farmar, who is earning minutes, but was notable for the comment Jackson made about former Laker Kareem Rush.

``When you have teams that have finished (with the best record) as many times as we had in Chicago -- we haven't finished (with the best record) in L.A. since the very initial year -- you end up getting draft picks that are basically one pick above the second round,'' Jackson said. ``You don't have those top five or 10 or 15 picks that you have the same opportunity. But even with that, I look at a guy like (Mark) Madsen as a product that we used and explored and got experience and has had a lengthy career now as an NBA player, as a person that we brought along because he was a worker and talented enough to play.

``We look at a guy like Kareem Rush as a disappointment, as a guy that we would have liked to have seen have a career and did relatively well with us here but has floundered since that time.''