SHAQ NEEDN'T BE CENTER OF ATTENTION.

Byline: KAREN CROUSE

The Lakers' playoff performance against San Antonio has been so up and down, a lot of fans are getting seasick. In the wake of the Lakers' 79-76 loss Wednesday in Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinal, we heard the first cries of ``Man overboard.'' Some of the faint-hearted wasted no time jumping ship.

After two physical and frantic losses to the Spurs, it's obvious the Lakers are fishing for an NBA title in really rough waters. Casting for answers before Game 3 of the best-of-seven series Saturday at the Forum, it always comes back to the bait dangling at the end of the line.

The Lakers aren't beyond angling their way into the Western Conference final. This doesn't have to be another big season that got away. The Lakers aren't a lure short of a tackle box, though how swell would it be to have Elden Campbell at their disposal right now?

Having effectively thrown back one of their 7-footers, Campbell, earlier in this mutinous season, the Lakers must improvise with the other. They have to take their Big Fish, Shaquille O'Neal, and use him as a 315-pound chub.

The Lakers don't need O'Neal to be Superman, just Superbait. On Wednesday he attempted 11 shots. That's seven below his regular-season average. That's also just about right.

The way the Spurs are suffocating O'Neal with their double and triple teams, it's foolhardy to expect O'Neal to match his 29.5-point average from the Lakers' first-round playoff series against Houston.

``I don't know how much space is going to be there for Shaquille,'' forward Rick Fox said Thursday. ``It's tough to be him right now.''

Tell O'Neal about it. He can't pivot in the low post without finding himself in an awkward dance with fellow 7-footers David Robinson and Tim Duncan. Robinson and Duncan are taking away his shots, his passing lanes and his breath.

They've taken away everything else, so O'Neal ought to give them his ego, too. If the Spurs are denying him his shot, that means they're granting him other options. His challenge is to make the good decision, not the impossible basket.

When it comes to making a statement, O'Neal finds himself in the same boat as charismatically challenged presidential hopeful Al Gore. Right now in the case of both men, less is more.

Forget bearing the brunt of the scoring, if O'Neal really wants to be Captain Shaq (and we believe him to be sincere in this regard), he won't get mad and scream at an official or trash a television set and videotape recorder. He'll get even.

When the Lakers work the ball inside to O'Neal, he'll pretend to be a volleyball player - how hard can that be for a card-carrying member of the Screen Actors Guild? - and set the ball back to the perimeter, to Glen Rice or Kobe Bryant or someone else, for the kill.

If it's a little space O'Neal wants, he's going to have to pay dearly for it (Isn't that just the way in Southern California?). If that means putting the ball - and the game - in somebody else's hands, so be it.

``I think we're at a stage now where we have to do what is best for the team,'' said coach Kurt Rambis. ``If they're doing a real good job clamping down on (O'Neal) and he just becomes a passer the entire series, we'll be able to take advantage of that. Whether (O'Neal) gets 30 shots or zero shots, whatever works out best for us. . . .''

O'Neal long has heard the rap that he spreads himself too thin with his forays into music and movies. In trying to be more than a basketball player, he has become less of a basketball player in some people's eyes. His critics say the time O'Neal spends in the recording studio or on a movie set could be better spent in the gym, shooting free throws if nothing else.

His critics probably crowed when they saw this week's Sports Illustrated. O'Neal is on the cover, alongside rapper Ice Cube. Studying the picture, you could read his critics' thoughts as sure as the small print beneath the caption ``Jocks and Rock'':

``All the covers Michael Jordan graced and he never posed like that.''

Let us hope O'Neal graces next week's cover. In a Lakers uniform. Blocking a shot. And if he's bumped for some other Laker, all the better.

O'Neal has proved he doesn't need to be the center of attention. Remember the Lakers' regular-season finale, a 119-91 win over Portland?

The seven-year veteran took just 13 shots, effectively ceding the league scoring title to Allen Iverson. On that night, he was content to show off his deft passing touch, feeding Rice for a few of his 40 points.

``Shaq's sense of urgency has increased,'' Fox said Thursday. ``I can hear it in the comments he makes. I can see it in his face when we lose.''

Will it be a passing emotion? We'll know after this weekend.