Once again, playing in the Olympics has given NBA players that warm and fuzzy feeling. That feeling of accomplishment. That feeling of pride in their achievements. That feeling of ... shooting pain down their right legs.

	Smith admits that fatigue has greatly affected his current NBA season.

I defer here to Ms. Lili Von Shtupp, who sang it best in the western town of Rock Ridge 25 years ago: "I'm....So....Tired."

Just as in 1992 and 1996, many Olympic Team members are having subpar NBA campaigns after their Olympic experience. Not all, but enough for people to notice. A little bit of a drag this season for guys like Gary Payton, Vin Baker and Steve Smith. Even Jason Kidd, the original Energizer Bunny, needed a couple of days off early in the season because he was dragging a little.

I'm not arguing an absolute here. Kevin Garnett and Antonio McDyess and Allan Houston are having terrific seasons, and the Olympic experience probably didn't have anything to do with Alonzo Mourning's kidney problems. But some of the Olympians can feel it.

"For me, I think I'm tired," Milwaukee's Ray Allen said. "Usually, from what I know I have in my legs, (there's) a lot of things that I do on the court. I think there's a difference in it now. Because it's halfway through the season -- not even halfway yet -- but the powers that I've had in my legs in the past is just not there right now. All-star break is coming up, and just that time, those three days off are gonna be good for me. Even if I'm on the all-star team, I'll still rest up."

In Portland, Smith looked dead the first six weeks of the season. During December, he shot 50 percent from the floor once in 13 games, and shot 32.7 percent (36-110) for the month.

"He was tired, he was lethargic, he wasn't feeling great, the way he was playing," Blazers coach Mike Dunleavy said. "I've seen it so many times, where the guys that play in the Olympics, they come back and they've gotten injured or they've hit this wall really early. My feeling was, we talked about it one night on the airplane coming back. I said 'why don't I try somehow to cut your minutes if I can.' The only way I really can, like I do with Sabas (Arvydas Sabonis) sometimes, is if I bring you off the bench, then I can maybe bring you off and give you the same production, target you more ... run more plays for you, get the same production maybe in less minutes."

Smith didn't argue. And through the end of Portland's road trip on Sunday, he'd shot 50 percent (33 of 66) from the floor in seven games off the bench, while Bonzi Wells started.

"About three weeks ago, my legs were gone," Smith said. "I thought I was sick. We went through the bloodwork and my doctor said my blood was down from when he took it in training camp. It was just fatigue. He gave me a B-12 shot, I took two B-12 shots, and they did (the tests) over again. He said I was just tired. There was nothing you could do but take a rest. So I sat out a couple of games and Bonzi's starting. I feel well enough to start now, but I figure things are going well, so why (bleep) it up?"

	Kidd

	Baker

	Payton

This isn't the first time this has happened. During the 1992-93 season -- the year after the Dream Team ran roughshod through the Games in Barcelona -- many of the Dreamers broke down. Chris Mullin tore ligaments in his thumb and played in just 49 games. Clyde Drexler was on and off the injured list all year and missed more games that season than he had in his previous eight seasons combined. Larry Bird retired -- though he was likely going to do that, anyway. The Bulls won a third title, but only after giving Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen almost all of training camp off.

So what to do? The Commish isn't bringing college players back any time soon. And the pull of pride in country and the lure of endorsement deals abroad will no doubt bring another group of high-profile NBA players to the Olympic team in 2004. And Allen, for one, says he wouldn't rule out playing for the red, white and blue again.

"I'll be old and gray, and I'll have my little grandson in my lap, and I'll be able to tell the stories of Australia and Greece, if I get a chance to," he said. "It's eight years out of my life, and I hope to live 80, 90 years. You'd never trade that in your lifetime."

	Nash

Nash bridges gap
Any doubts as to how important Steve Nash has become to the Mavericks? Since he's been out with a pulled hamstring, Dallas has gone south. Even though the Mavs spent $41 million on Howard Eisley last summer, Nash is the team's catalyst. A welcome reward for a guy that got booed mercilessly by the Reunion Arena crowd the last two years while playing with injuries.

	ALDRIDGE'S RANKINGS
	THE TOP 10 1. Portland 2. Sacramento 3. Philadelphia 4. San Antonio 5. L.A. Lakers 6. Dallas 7. New York 8. Utah 9. Phoenix 10. Charlotte THE BOTTOM FIVE 25. New Jersey 26. Vancouver 27. Golden State 28. Chicago 29. Washington

"In the overall picture, (the booing) wasn't that big a deal," Nash said. "But it's frustrating, because you don't feel like anything you do is right. It was difficult, because I knew what I could do, and I knew I was playing through some things, facing a lot of things, and it didn't matter. They didn't know, and they didn't care. And that was difficult. But knowing that made it understandable. So I really went through the whole thing going, it's a great experience for me. The adversity will make me better. And I knew the same people that booed me would be the ones that are really patting me on the back now."

Nash broke through last summer when he led his Canadian Olympic team to an unlikely berth in the Sydney Games, and then got through the first month of the NBA season healthy and playing well. Even though he was slowed by a sprained ankle much of last season, he regained the confidence he had while playing in Phoenix the first two seasons of his career.

"It's good to see him play with a lot of confidence," teammate Dirk Nowitzki said. "The first two years, he always had something and wasn't really healthy enough. Now he's really stepping up and he's a big part of what we're doing. We're a fast break team and he's really always pushing the ball and he's a great shooter. Now he's taking the shot, which he would have passed up in the last two years."

Nash is all over the league leaders chart: first in free throw percentage (.924, 121 of 131); eighth in the league in assists (7.6) and three-point percentage (.423) and 16th in overall field goal percentage (.493). More to the point, Dallas is 0-5 without him this season.

"When you're in Phoenix, playing with Jason Kidd, things come pretty easy," Mavericks interim coach Donnie Nelson said of Nash. "Now you're talking about running the show, making all the big decisions, the ball's in your hands all the time. You're having to create a lot of that stuff. The role adjustment was fairly significant for him. And due to his health, he didn't have that extra edge, that extra step. He couldn't get around people because he wasn't healthy. And if you can't get around people and you can't shoot it, guys are gonna play off of you. And it played with Steve's confidence. And then he got booed. If anybody has gone through the wringer, it has been Steve Nash. He has experienced the lowest of the lows in Dallas."

	Marion

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