It's a Game 7 Sunday, do you know where Phil Jackson and Stan Van Gundy are?

No one has more to lose today than the Zen Master and the Van Gundy who isn't Jeff.

It's said that teams take on the personality of their head coach. So here are the pertinent questions with regard to the Lakers and Magic, respectively.

1. Will the Lakers answer the gong? Will they awake from their afternoon meditation and turn in a performance that changes their chi in some meaningful way in time for the Western Conference finals?

If not, they will not survive the Denver Nuggets, the NBA's second-best team since the postseason began.

The Lakers will win today only because they're playing at home. While they don't seem worried about the prospects of disappointing their head coach, none of them wants to risk crossing Jack Nicholson.

The body of Phil Jackson is in clear sight on the Lakers' bench. He even stood up once, not so much to rally his players but to stretch his bad hip.

The mind of Phil Jackson is elsewhere, maybe having a couples spa massage with the owner's daughter or astral traveling somewhere over the Himalayas.

He has seemed oddly distant in this series even by his arrogant standards. If not for his profane reaction to an L.A. columnist asking him if he were "embarrassed" by his team's performance, there'd be no evidence of a pulse - medical or otherwise.

"There's nothing to worry about," Jackson said Thursday. "As long as we have the home-court advantage, we're all right."

The Lakers have home court today. They have it again against Denver.

Based on Jackson's analysis and the something-is-darkly-troubling vibe around the Lakers right now, the team that might not have much to worry about should L.A. advance to the NBA Finals is the Cavaliers .

2. At what point in today's fourth quarter will Dwight Howard be reminded of the reasons he called out his head coach?

Howard's pointed words about Van Gundy's coaching after Game 5 resulted in significant change, not all of it specific to Orlando's All-Star center.

Howard got more touches and finished with 23 points and 22 rebounds.

Equally helpful to the Magic cause was that players and coaches alike seemed to realize the benefit of getting the ball inside to Rashard Lewis, who by all observations and indications is being "guarded" in this series by Will Ferrell.

Why did it take Howard speaking up publicly for the Magic to finally close out a nip-and-tuck game in the fourth quarter? Long before this series, Shaquille O'Neal saddled Van Gundy with the "Master of Panic" name. Magic brass says Van Gundy's job is safe after winning 52 games in 2008 and 59 this season.

Unlike many votes of confidence, it may even be true in Van Gundy's case. But it's all fluid. Another fourth quarter in which Van Gundy appears to be strapped in to a deck chair on the Titanic should mean all bets are off.

You read it here

NBA-related predictions.

Lakers over Rockets, Celtics over Orlando.

Denver over Lakers, Cavs over Celtics in a sweep.

Cavs over Denver in six.

The hitch in Charles Barkley's golf swing over Hank Haney.

Charlie Muscle?

Pete Rose thinks steroid use trumps gambling on baseball.

"When you take steroids you have a direct outcome on the game," Rose said in an interview on "The Dan Patrick Show."

"That's the integrity of the game. And when you can change records when you do something illegal, it's just not right. . . . Baseball records are sacred. If you do something illegal to surpass those records, it's just not good."

Just for the record, Rose dodged the two lightning bolts prompted by his use of the word "sacred."

He went on to say he believes Alex Rodriguez should be in the Hall of Fame.

Let's see. Rose doesn't think gambling on baseball should keep him out of Cooperstown. He doesn't think steroid use is reason enough, either.

If steroids were more popular during Rose's day, what are the odds he wouldn't have used them?

As clear as mud

Brett Favre update.

ESPN.com reported Favre consulted orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews about the partially torn biceps tendon in his right shoulder. The report said Favre's return may hinge on his health.

His agent, Bus Cook, says the quarterback is retired. Got it?

That official stance and Favre's actions are so conflicted they make Middle East relations look harmonious.

2 + 2 = 4

Jhonny Peralta plays third base.

Scientists can attest to a startling fact: Continental drift happened in less time than it took the Indians to shift Peralta to third base.

After the first night when Peralta handled the move smoothly and Asdrubal Cabrera made a play that only a few shortstops can make, Wedge said, "It was just one game, but if [Peralta] can do it once, he can do it twice."

The math doesn't have to be so elementary. If Peralta can do it once, he can do it 125 more times.

You said it

"Bud: Would Cleveland baseball fans be better off if we called up the Akron Aeros, cut ticket prices in half and promoted sack races and cow-milking contests at games?" - Tom

The short answer is yes. But take the long view and be patient. Start by calling up the Aeros bullpen and see where that goes.

*

"Bud: So Brad Daugherty thinks his team would beat the current Cavs. How many times did we get past Detroit and Chicago? With the exception of the '95 Indians, this [Cavs] team has a mental toughness unlike any Cleveland sports team in my lifetime [1958]." - Frank

I don't blame Daugherty for singing the praises of his Cavaliers . But while the city of Cleveland is reveling in these Cavaliers , his comments seemed ill-timed. What's more, I think I hear strands of Bruce Springsteen's "Glory Days" in the background.

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"Bud: The Indians are so lacking in fundamentals. Bunting, base running, throwing to the right bases and hitting the cutoff man." - Jerry

But hey, they're good in other areas appreciated by the manager: preparing, grinding, caring and separating. So, clearly, it's a wash.

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"Bud: . . . Could those 1980s [Cavs] teams have pumped the iron, taken the vitamins, studied up on modern X's and O's and at least closed the gap or surpassed our current Cavs? I'm not sure. . . . [but] I think there's only one LeBron." - Josh

Comparing the team defense on display now to what those Cavs brought to the court is like comparing Greco-Roman wrestling to the Bolshoi Ballet.

*

"Hey, Bud: Eric Wedge says he's "willing to try anything offensively, defensively and pitching-wise to get this thing turned around." That is the first thing he has said this season that I understand. Does this mean he will bring back Luis Isaac as the bullpen coach?" - Doug

No, but if this keeps up, the Indians will have to consider anything and everything at the box office to draw a crowd, including Luis Isaac Bobblehead Night.

To reach Bud Shaw: bshaw@plaind.com, 216-999-5639

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