LAKERS LOOK AHEAD: WHERE DO LAKERS GO FROM HERE? KUPCHAK TO WEIGH MAJOR CHANGES VS. MINOR TWEAKING.

Byline: Rich Hammond  Staff Writer

After seven-plus months with Phil Jackson calling the shots, the Lakers are now in the hands of general manager Mitch Kupchak, who must determine during the offseason whether this second-round loss necessitates wholesale changes or just minor tweaking.

If Kupchak chooses, he can purge almost half of the roster, as Mark Madsen, Tracy Murray, Brian Shaw and Samaki Walker are outright free agents and the team holds options for next season on the contracts of Robert Horry and Jannero Pargo.

It's possible, maybe even likely, at least half of those players won't be back, and minutes after his team was eliminated, Jackson hinted at major changes.

``Sometimes losing clarifies your position,'' Jackson said. ``It makes it clear what you need to do. It's not an appropriate time to talk about that right now.

``We haven't provided ourselves with the best overall personnel we needed for this basketball club. That bore itself out when we had some injuries. We have a nucleus that I'm excited about. I'm excited about replacing players who are going to be moving on. I'm very optimistic, and the fans should be very optimistic.''

Kupchak took some minor heat at the start of this season, because while Western Conference teams such as Sacramento and Dallas improved, Kupchak decided to mostly stand pat and allow the core of last season's roster to remain intact for another championship run.

Now that the Lakers have failed, Kupchak, no doubt with significant input from Jackson, will feel freer to make changes, a fact players recognize.

``I think after everybody came out of the game, in the last two or three minutes of the game, I'm sure that's what was going through everybody's mind,'' Shaw said. ``People are wondering if they're ever going to play here again. There's a lot of uncertainty.''

Barring an unforeseen trade, the core of Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal will remain intact, and Kupchak will have to build around them. Bryant, however, passed on the chance to address the team's needs and whether changes are required.

``I can't think about that,'' Bryant said. ``That's a call for Mitch. Personally, I can't think that way. I can't even form those words, because I've been through too many battles with these guys. We have good-enough players to advance.

``You know what I'm thinking. I want to get started right now. I don't like this feeling. I hate it. I don't want to feel this way ever again.''

Rumors already have circulated that the Lakers might make a run for an experienced forward, such as Karl Malone or Scottie Pippen. A power forward would seem to be a priority, especially given Horry's poor defense against Tim Duncan, but the Lakers also will be looking for scoring depth.

Another issue to be considered is the health of forward Rick Fox, who underwent surgery and, in a worst-case scenario, could miss up to half the season. If Fox misses any time, the Lakers will have to decide whether Devean George is an adequate replacement, and who will back up that role.

Jackson seemed to completely lose faith in Walker in the latter part of the season, and even if the Lakers want to bring Madsen back, he might choose not to re-sign. After the game, however, Madsen and Shaw expressed great interest in returning.

There is also the issue of O'Neal's health. Previous offseasons have been marred with questions of his conditioning and dedication to beginning the year in good shape, but ending the season without a championship might be the impetus O'Neal needs.

``This is the first time we're not feeling success,'' O'Neal said. ``We just have to suck it up and start this all over again next year.''

Sports editor Michael A. Anastasi contributed to this report.