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Coaches say it time and time again.

Don't force the action. Be patient. Let the game come to you.

These banalities are directed toward players, not the reporters who cover them. But I have taken them to heart.

Today's column will not impose its will on readers. It won't try to make something out of nothing. It will take what's there, make the comment or play and move on.

• Can we stop calling Pau Gasol's acquisition by the LA Lakers a trade? It wasn't. It was a gift. It was the highest-profile theft since the Mona Lisa was whisked out of the Louvre in 1911.

OK, maybe that's a bit much. No one will confuse the FedEx Forum with the Louvre. But the dry rub is better.

This deal was a flawed decision dictated by financial considerations that had nothing to do with putting a competitive team on the court in Memphis. The Grizzlies didn't owe it to the rest of the league to keep Gasol out of LA. But they owed it to themselves and what's left of their fan base to make the best deal possible. That didn't happen.

• Why has Gasol had an immediate, positive impact on the Lakers while Shaquille O'Neal has been unable to do so in Phoenix and Jason Kidd is still struggling to find his rhythm with the Mavericks?

Gasol is the ideal fit for the Triangle offense. He's a face-up post player who can pass and has good feel. His skills allow him to complement the system.

The skills of O'Neal and Kidd are distinct and dominant. You don't plug them into a system. You tweak the system to make sure it complements what they do. That takes more time.

Anyone who has written off the Suns and Mavericks based on the past 2 ½ weeks probably thought Tom Hanks would never be a major movie star after watching him in TV's Bosom Buddies.

This might not work, but no one has seen enough to say that with any certainty.

• Speaking of the Suns, here is what coach Mike D'Antoni has to say about the criticism he's received:

"People think I can't get it done," he told reporters this past week. "I think I can.

"Right now, [the critics] are winning. Well, they're winning for three months. I've been winning for three years. And we've still got a month to come, so they'd better be careful."

• Can a team other than Boston or Detroit come out of the Eastern Conference? Probably not. But then, who thought Cleveland would emerge last season?

As good as the Celtics and Pistons feel about their chances, each hopes the other has to face LeBron James and the Cavaliers.

• Devin Harris had no shot of ever being the best point guard in the Western Conference. Cracking the top five would have been difficult.

His rise to the top will be much easier with New Jersey.

Detroit's Chauncey Billups is the best point guard in the East. Who's next? Toronto's four-legged Jose Calderon and T.J. Ford? Atlanta's Mike Bibby or Charlotte's Raymond Felton?

If Harris continues on the arc of improvement he's shown, he could be considered the second-best point guard in the conference as early as next season.

• Teams always want to be playing their best ball heading into the playoffs. That's imperative in the West this season.

The conference is so competitive, the top seeds won't have the luxury of rounding into shape in the first round. If they're not ready, they will be gone.

Chris Andersen won't contribute to New Orleans' playoff run.

But his return is what the league's drug and alcohol program is all about.

The free-spirited forward failed a drug test in January 2006 and was banned for two years. He lost more than $7 million in salary and checked himself into a rehabilitation center in Malibu, Calif.

Andersen stayed with a friend and his family in Denver after completing the program. That helped lend structure to his life. He found a new core of friends. He threw himself into charity and community service work.

Andersen worked the program. He worked out. He learned patience and earned another chance.

The Birdman may never be the player he was before the suspension. But that's secondary. He's clean and sober. For now, that's all that matters.