LAKERS NOTEBOOK: HAMBLEN IN NO MOOD FOR WORDS.

Byline: Ross Siler Staff Writer

EL SEGUNDO - The questions about Lakers interim coach Frank Hamblen and his choice of words to describe the second half of Thursday's 117-96 loss to Denver were starting to add up Saturday afternoon when Chucky Atkins spotted the man of the hour.

``There he is,'' Atkins said, following with a cheery, ``What's up, Coach?''

Two days after Hamblen called out his team to reporters, the Lakers set about trying to salvage something from the final 14 games of the season, their seven-game losing streak already having matched the second longest in franchise history.

Though Hamblen's words after the Denver game - ``The second half, I thought our guys quit, to some degree,'' he said - caused more than a minor stir, the coach was in no mood to let them echo when he spoke Saturday.

``That was the other night,'' Hamblen said. ``We're moving on from here.''

The rest of the Lakers chalked up what Hamblen said to the frustration of a coach fast running out of options, his team sliding to 10th place in the Western Conference standings, six games out of playoff position, doomed to miss the playoffs for the first time in 11 years.

In addition, the fact that Hamblen did not say in the locker room that he thought the Lakers had quit - saving that analysis instead for the reporters waiting outside - only furthered the notion.

``I don't think he wanted to put us down by any means,'' Atkins said. ``I just think he's using that as a tool to try and fire us up and get us going. Any good coach would do the same thing.''

--Defense first: Several theories have been offered in recent weeks as to why the Lakers have struggled so much on defense. Atkins agreed with Hamblen's assessment that the Lakers didn't spend enough time on defense in training camp when Rudy Tomjanovich was coach.

``All the good teams that I've been on, we've had an offensive system and a defensive system,'' Atkins said. ``We didn't spend a lot of time on defense throughout any practices this season, so we just played it by ear and right now, we're struggling.''

--Shouldering the load: Forward Lamar Odom had little problem shooting jumpers with his injured left shoulder Saturday and will be re-examined today with the possibility of playing against the Philadelphia 76ers at Staples Center.

Even if he risks further injury, Odom said it was important to return this season, rather than sit out the final 14 games. He had a plane ticket booked to Denver on Thursday but was not given the green light to play by doctors.

``If I'm healthy, I think it's important for us to still work on our chemistry and prepare for next season,'' Odom said. ``For myself, it will be a short summer, because we're all disappointed.''

--Small step: You have to read the fine print to find it, but Kobe Bryant's name and that of Nike are linked in a back-page ad for the new Air Huarache 2K5 in this week's Sports Illustrated.

Bryant, who first wore the shoe on Christmas Day, reportedly signed a five-year, $40 million contract with Nike but had not appeared in an ad since he was accused of sexual assault nearly two years ago.

The SI ad has a picture of the shoe, with nine purple-and-gold footprints (Arthur Murray-style) representing Bryant's dribble drop-step with the words ``kobe & the air zoom huarache 2K5 at nikebasketball.com.''

Ross Siler, [phone]

ross.siler(at)dailynews.com

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- Ross Siler