Before I even begin this column, I am going to state a disclaimer: The Los Angeles Lakers are so dominant this season, that my bashing of them has, I fully realize and disclose, resorted to saying they are not the best regular-season team of all time.

	Shaq and the Lakers are a force, but it's a reach to think they'll catch the 72-win Bulls.

I understand that is like saying Cindy Crawford doesn't even come close to Raquel Welch, or Ferraris can't match up with a Lamborghini.

Nonetheless ... I can't see the Lakers overtaking the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls' record of 72 victories in a season. Just not gonna happen.

First off, I just remember back to how focused that Chicago team seemed. Saying that now, given everything that is going on in Chi-town, makes me shudder with embarrassment, kind of the same way I feel when I remember that I thought parachute pants were cool.

But that Bulls team, with Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman and Toni Kukoc and Ron Harper and Steve Kerr and Randy Brown, they were about one thing: Domination.

OK, yes, I admit, Rodman was about getting his own notoriety, but he was not the main cog on that collection of talent. And Jordan was so intent on avenging his embarrassment in Orlando in the second round of the postseason the year before, he was not going to permit any of Rodman's self-aggrandizing actions to distract the Bulls from their goal.

This Lakers team really has nothing to prove. They already have two championships trophies in two years, Shaquille O'Neal clearly is the most dominant force in the league, and they tend to get bored rather easily.

This Lakers team always seems to have some distraction, and the worst part is it always involves their two best players.

If Shaq and Kobe Bryant are not battling with each other, then Shaq is lobbing verbal sorties at coach Phil Jackson. If it is not with Jackson, then it is with Dallas owner Mark Cuban. If it's not Cuban, it's some poor sap who Shaq has decided he is angry at, and wants to vent his wrath on. (Did you catch the latest Shaquism, by the way? He said he will not play for any coach other than Jackson. Then added: "Well, unless I get traded, or something." Way to stand by your convictions, big fella.)

Besides Shaq's sometimes farcical commentary, let's face it, Shaq's free throw shooting is atrocious. Awful. Maybe as bad as it's ever been. If not statistics-wise -- he is shooting 50 percent from the line -- then at least aesthetically. It literally looks painful for him to shoot a foul shot.

And somewhere along the course of 82 games, you would think that has to cost the Lakers at least four or five games. Which is a big number when you can only afford to lose nine games to get the record, or 10 games to match the best record.

From a simple talent standpoint, this Lakers team is not as good as that Bulls team, either, at least depth-wise. If Jordan had an off night, as he did maybe 10 times that season, Pippen was there to carry the team. Kukoc was the leading scorer three nights. Even Harper took a turn one game.

Who is going to step forward if Shaq or Kobe have off nights, or, worse, one of them gets hurt? Samaki Walker? Still learning the game. Mitch Richmond? Tethered to the end of the bench? Derek Fisher? OK, maybe Fisher, but he generally has to play off Shaq. Mark Madsen? Please.

Listen, I am not saying these guys are terrible. They are, in fact, very good role players. But when the two big guns are misfiring, there is not a great deal else on the Lakers to scare other teams, which was evident in two straight losses this week, to Sacramento and Seattle.

Which leads me to the empirical evidence. The Lakers already have three losses, at 16-3. That Bulls team did not sustain its third loss until Dec. 26. The Lakers are on a two-game losing streak. That Bulls team did not lose two straight until Feb . 4 and Feb. 6, at the end of a six-game road trip. It didn't lose two in a row again the rest of the season.

But perhaps the biggest argument lies with the Lakers' schedule. Of their first 19 games, only seven have been on the road. And one of those games was against the Los Angeles Clippers, who also play in the Staples Center, so in reality only six have been on the road.

The furthest East the Lakers have yet to venture, believe it or not, is Houston. They have not had a road game against an Eastern Conference team yet.

ake a look at a seven-game, 13-day road marathon that Bulls team took in late November of 1995: at Dallas, at San Antonio, at Utah, at Seattle, at Portland, at Vancouver, at the Los Angeles Clippers. The Bulls went 6-1 on that trip, losing only to Seattle, which it ended up facing in the NBA Finals later that season.

I'm sure we are going to see the Lakers back in The Finals this season, as well. But I'm also sure it is not going to be with only nine or 10 regular-season losses.

That's about as badly as I can bash them.

Warriors: One too many
After a strong start in Golden State, the Warriors are back to where they were last season. That would be playing poorly. Only this time, it is not because of injuries.

In fact, coach Dave Cowens probably wishes the Warriors would get a few injuries, because it is an overcrowded roster that is Golden State's undoing.

When Antawn Jamison put up All-Star numbers last year, and then garnered an $86 million contract, he was playing power forward. With Danny Fortson and Erick Dampier back, he is at small forward. And much less effective.

He's averaging only 16.2 points per game and shooting only 40.6 percent from the floor. He's taking only 15 shots per game, more than seven less per game than last year, when he averaged 24.9 points per game.

"I'm lost," Jamison admitted. "I'm just lost right now. I realize I got a spoiled last year. But the same opportunities are just not there this year."

Which is another way of saying he needs to play with his back to the basket more, rather than launching jump shots.

"That's not my decision," Jamison said. "My job is to go out and play basketball, to do whatever I can to make the team successful. Right now I'm going to accept what's going on. I'd like the opportunity to do more of those things. It's been frustrating to me as far as an individual standpoint. Mentally, it's something I have to stay positive with. I'm not whining, I'm not going to talk to (general manager Garry St. Jean). I'm doing what is being asked of me to do on the court."

Cowens knows there is a problem, but what can he do? Fortson is a top three rebounder, and Dampier finally is playing like they wanted him to all along.

"There are only two blocks and we have three players who kind of think they need to be there," Cowens said. "We don't really want Danny to be on the perimeter too much. So, yes, it squeezes Antawn a little bit."

If things don't turn around soon, Cowens might get squeezed soon.

Hornets going west? Not so fast
Charlotte Hornets co-owner Ray Woolridge met with officials from The Pond at Anaheim about possibly moving the Hornets out West.

My guess is that there is no way in the world David Stern is going to allow three teams in one market. Woolridge is just wasting everyone's time to scare Louisville and Norfolk, Va., into giving better deals.

Frank Hughes covers the NBA for the Tacoma (Wash.) News-Tribune. He is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.