Radmanovic Embracing Fresh Start

Vladimir Radmanovic finally arrived Friday night.

Now the Lakers are curious to find out if he sticks around for a while.

Consistency has not been his hallmark during his tenure with the Lakers, who signed him because they believed he would be a confident perimeter shooter. He had been that and more during previous stops with the Clippers and Seattle SuperSonics.

Radmanovic was a bust in his first season with the Lakers, however. He averaged only 6.6 points in 55 games, after averaging 9.8 while with the Clippers and Sonics in 2005-06. His 3-point shooting percentage dipped to 33.9 from 39 the previous season. His playing time dipped from 29.5 to 17.9 minutes a game.

In the end, Radmanovic was better known as the guy who misled team executives about a shoulder injury he suffered while snowboarding in Utah during the All-Star break, and that was not a good thing.

So, after Radmanovic scored a team-leading 19 points on 6-for-8 shooting (including 4-for-4 on 3-pointers) on Friday against the Phoenix Suns, the obvious questions were: Where was that last season and will we see more of it in 2007-08?

“That sounds like, ‘You used to be a shooter. Are you going to be shooter again?’ ” Radmanovic said before the supplying the answer to his own question. “Yes.”

Radmanovic’s shooting sparked the Lakers’ reserves to a 67-41 advantage over the Suns in bench points, making a 119-98 win all the more shocking. Kobe Bryant, who had 45 points in the Lakers’ loss to Houston on opening night, scored 16 points Friday.

“Vladie had one of those nights,” Coach Phil Jackson said. “We just hope it’s that kind of night more often. Instead of once a month, you hope it’s once or twice a week.”

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