LAKERS SEE MAD DOG RISING MADSEN'S ROLE INCREASES AS CONTRACT NEARS END.

Byline: Rich Hammond  Staff Writer

Mark Madsen will forever be remembered by Lakers fans as the guy who did the goofy dances at the championship parades. Whether Madsen ever does anything memorable in uniform remains to be seen.

Madsen has hustled his way through two-plus NBA seasons, heralded by fans and teammates because, despite a perceived lack of talent, Madsen brings a special energy to the game in his limited playing time.

Limited, that is, until this month, when injuries to Shaquille O'Neal and Samaki Walker thrust Madsen into a major role with the Lakers for the first time in his career. For now, Madsen is even a starter at power forward, and his strong play of late might cement his future with the team beyond this spring.

``His whole game is right before your eyes,'' coach Phil Jackson said. ``He's gonna hustle, he's gonna work, he's gonna challenge, he's gonna get some blocked shots and he's gonna plug the lane.

``And the more he gets a chance to play, the more familiar referees will be with his game and he'll get more latitude out there on the floor.''

For a while, Madsen's career seemed to be regressing. He played 70 games as a rookie in 2000-01 and 59 games last season, but Madsen suffered a serious hamstring injury in training camp and missed the first 14 games of this season.

When he returned, Madsen played poorly in early December, and in January he didn't leave the bench in seven of the Lakers' 12 games, and in the other five he averaged 4.8 minutes. He was ineffective on offense and unable to play solid defense without fouling.

In perhaps the low point of his career, on Jan. 29 in Phoenix, Madsen committed three fouls in three minutes, did not attempt a shot or get a rebound, a blocked shot or an assist.

``When I first came back from the hamstring, I struggled to find a rhythm,'' Madsen said. ``This game requires you to be in sync with your teammates, and that wasn't happening for me at the start of the year.''

Madsen toiled at the end of the bench until mid-February, when injuries forced O'Neal, then Walker, out of action. In his past five games, Madsen has averaged 19.7 minutes, 6.6 points and 4.6 rebounds, all well above his career averages.

Perhaps most impressive, Madsen played 28 minutes against the Clippers on Tuesday and committed one foul. He's playing good defense, including some inspired minutes against Portland's Rasheed Wallace last Friday, and setting picks for teammates.

Madsen continues to thrive, even with O'Neal back in the lineup, and has started the past two games in place of Walker. He played poorly in the first half against the Clippers and powerful forward Elton Brand, but contributed some good play under the basket in the second half.

``I'm just trying to be aggressive without being overly aggressive,'' Madsen said. ``Phil wants us to play hard and make things happen, but not put us in jeopardy in terms of picking up cheap fouls, so I'm trying to keep that to a minimum.

``I'm just trying to move my feet more and go for the ball but not take too many risks. I try to play position defense.''

At a time when the Lakers are considering picking up a reserve power forward to hedge their bets on the health of O'Neal and Walker, Madsen has provided solid play and led the Lakers to think that their answer at forward might be in-house.

For two years, Madsen's actual play hasn't much mattered. The fans roar when he arrives at the scorer's table to enter a game, foreign reporters flock to him after games because of his ability to speak fluent Spanish, and even a player of O'Neal's stature took Madsen under his wing when it came to shopping for cars and clothes.

Madsen's success on the court is not only a reward for himself, but for those who have supported him along the way.

``Mark is instant energy for our basketball team,'' Lakers guard Derek Fisher said. ``Obviously, he's had some recent success, but he's always been a guy who is willing to work hard every day and bring his attitude of positive energy to the game.

``I've always pulled for him and hoped that when his opportunity would come that he would be able to step in and do a good job for us, and he really has.''

Madsen's future with the Lakers remains in doubt. The team had an option to renew his contract for the 2003-04 season, but declined. He will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season.

``He's gonna have an NBA career, I've assured Mark of that all the time,'' Jackson said, ``even though, as a matter of direction in which this club had to go this year, we didn't (pick up his option).

``But we still assured him that he's gonna have an NBA career for probably as long as he wants to do it.''

Madsen's choice is clearly to remain with the Lakers. No team is likely to offer Madsen more than the veteran minimum salary, and the Lakers seem to appreciate his positive attitude and work ethic.

Madsen might never be a full-time starter, but for now he's content to be a role player with one of the NBA's premier franchises and has no desire to leave Los Angeles.

``If I can stay, great, if I have to move on, I'm going to leave being very grateful for the three years,'' Madsen said. ``But my No. 1 priority is finding a way to come back, and hopefully I can find a way to make that happen.

``Being able to contribute at any level on a team like this is awesome. Finding a way to make things happen, to help Shaq and Kobe (Bryant) make their own plays, that's a big part of my game. That's a big part of my satisfaction as a professional player.''

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