LAKERS NOTEBOOK: GETTING PHIL OF COMMUNICATION.

Byline: ROSS SILER

Staff Writer

OAKLAND -- Even after 16seasons as an NBA coach, nine championships and more than 900 wins, Phil Jackson has shown in recent games that he isn't above changing his style for the good of the team.

Jackson has taken to sitting in a chair to face his players on the bench during timeouts, a change that forward Maurice Evans said was suggested during a meeting last week with the Lakers mired in a six-game losing streak.

"I just want to get their attention and make sure that they're on the same page and that we can talk about some things," Jackson said. "I felt like there's some distances that they were pulling away from each other in the timeouts and I just wanted to tighten it up a little bit and get more cohesive."

Jackson previously stood with a clipboard and huddled his players around him during timeouts. This month has seen Lamar Odom and Sasha Vujacic engage in a shouting match during one timeout and Brian Cook and assistant Brian Shaw do likewise.

"We were, one guy's over here, another guy's over there," Evans said, adding, "It was something that we brought to (Jackson's) attention that's something that has to change."

Jackson has lamented his ability to communicate to his players on occasion this season. Once was in the final minute of a loss at Toronto when the Lakers unsuccessfully played the two-for-one possession game.

Despite the change, one thing has stayed the same: Guard Smush Parker regularly walks away from the huddle without hearing Jackson's words when he knows he's not going into the game. He sat alone on the bench during a timeout with 3:03 left in the first quarter Sunday when Shammond Williams was set to check in for him.

Jackson said earlier this season that he didn't have a problem with Parker doing so. Evans wasn't asked about Parker but did say of seeing players standing out of the huddle, "That doesn't look very good."

In memory: Odom pays tribute on his sneakers to the all the people -- his infant son, mother and grandmother -- he has lost in his life.

He had the No. 3 written Sunday in honor of Dennis Johnson, the former Boston Celtics great who died last week.

Johnson was an assistant during Odom's years with the Clippers and later served as the team's interim head coach. Odom said the two talked when Johnson's NBA Development League team played at Staples Center on Jan. 12.

"He told me he loved me," Odom said. "Count your blessings."

Also: Jackson said he allowed Vladimir Radmanovic to address his teammates informally about the snowboarding incident in which the forward suffered a separated shoulder. ... Once the Lakers return from this trip, Jackson plans on contacting Scottie Pippen, who has said he wants to make a comeback at age 41.

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- Ross Siler