<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">TORONTO - The Lakers have three rookies on their roster in Andrew Bynum, Devin Green and Von Wafer. In coach Phil Jackson's mind, they have a fourth rookie in guard Smush Parker, never mind the three NBA teams for which Parker previously played. After watching Parker deliver his sixth 20-point game of the season Tuesday in Milwaukee, Jackson asserted that Parker is so removed from his only full season in the league, he might as well be considered a first-year player. "I look at him as a rookie and just take it from there," Jackson said. "Just talk to him about what he's got to do out there to maintain his game. Defense has to be his first priority. He's got to play pressure defense. "That's what he gives us the best opportunity to do. Those little things that he can do on the court pay dividends for us at the other end of the floor." It might be a little surprising, but Parker agreed with his coach's assessment. "I feel like until I get some longevity, the long-term contract, I feel like I haven't even made the NBA yet," said Parker, who finished with 15 points and hit three 3-pointers against Toronto. "I'm still fighting to get in." Parker is averaging 13 points, shooting 41.8 percent from 3-point range and has started every game this season, a role Jackson admitted he couldn't have imagined back when Parker was playing for the Lakers' summer-league team. The biggest concern is keeping Parker, who is playing 33.1 minutes a game, from wearing down. "He's physically not a strong looking guy," Jackson said. "He's a wiry, thin guy. We're hoping that he withstands that pounding that he takes every night." Parker, a playground legend out of New York, went undrafted out of Fordham but played 66 games for Cleveland in the 2002-03 season. He since has played in Greece, the NBDL and briefly for Detroit and Phoenix last season. "That's like an experience that he's forgotten," Jackson said of Parker's year in Cleveland. "These things are coming back at him now relatively fresh and he's got to reacclimate himself to players." </div> Source
