A mere five months later, it'll take us a minute to count up all the changes. In the aftermath of Finals 2000, after all, lots got toasted besides those police cars.

Half of the starters from Game 6, for starters, are gone. Glen Rice and A.C. Green are no longer Lakers. Dale Davis, Mark Jackson and Rik Smits rank as ex-Pacer People. Instead, for Tuesday's championship rematch, we're teeming with Isiahs. Or Isaiahs, depending on your spelling preference.

Or we can skip the obvious and proceed straight to outlandish. Eyes are bound to blink when the kid from Hoosiers dribbles onto the nation's TV screens Tuesday against real-life Indiana.

Mike Penberthy, actually, might not have made the Hickory High squad. He was cut by two CBA teams. He had to go to Germany to find work, in the second division of a league never lumped in with Europe's elite. Penberthy also played in Venezuela before the Lakers deemed him the perfect candidate to try out as a walk-on for the reigning Best Team In the World.

Crazier still, Penberthy got the part.

His only other NBA tryout, ironically, was with the Pacers in 1997. Except that the 6-3 Penberthy never even made it to that mini-camp audition, thanks to a pulled hamstring.

Now, after all the world traveling, the best player in the history of The Master's College -- enrollment 850, in the tiny California town of Newhall -- has his NBA roster spot. Penberthy is undoubtedly the most unlikely face on any roster in the league, but he also might stick around for a bit, too. Derek Fisher has a long-term injury, Tyronn Lue hasn't come through and Penberthy happens to be the Lakers' best outside shooter.

"He's going to be a tough one to get rid of," said Lakers assistant coach Jim Cleamons, rarely the type to be anything but serious.

To the Lakers, it doesn't matter that the 26-year-old drives a Hyundai, or that he doesn't have anything more valuable than one of those Rolex watches Shaquille O'Neal doled out to teammates during training camp. They don't care to know that, in Germany, Penberthy is probably best known for the Hamburg night he was on the wrong end of an ugly scrap with a former Lakers flameout named Frankie King, one of the few Jerry West picks that doesn't flatter The Logo.

To surround O'Neal and Bryant, Cleamons and Tex Winter and boss man Zen Master Jackson are always searching for players who can flourish in the triangle offense. Penberthy operated in a similar environment at The Master's, which is why Winter has been quietly monitoring him since he left school in '97.

"He's a system player," Cleamons explained. "His background is very conducive to what we teach. We see him in the mold of a John Paxson, a Steve Kerr. This kid, if you give him 30 threes in practice, he's going to stroke in the high-20s."

And, since parting with Rice in the Patrick Ewing megadeal that netted Horace Grant, the Lakers have been almost totally bereft of 3-point threats. Penberthy began the season on the injured list but was activated six games in, as it became clear that Jackson would continue to be foiled in his attempts to pry Kerr from the Spurs.

The results: 6.8 points per game, on 43.5-point shooting from long distance, in a robust 19.8 minutes. It's a tad early to put him in Kerr's class after just eight games, but O'Neal, for one, is a Penberthy fan. Mark "Mad Dog" Madsen and Penberthy are O'Neal's new rookie pets, with the Big Everything vowing to douse the shooter with water in timeouts whenever he passes up an open triple.

"The quick answer is obviously he's surprised a lot of people," said Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak. "Even during our mini-camp, I don't think anybody was saying, 'Hey, listen, this guy is going to make our team.'

"But I remember, during the mini-camp, I was walking out after the first day and he was walking past me. I made a comment to him like, 'Make sure you learn the triangle, that's what our coaches are looking for.' He said: 'I know the triangle. I don't think it's very tough. I think I understand it already.' That surprised me."

	Kobe

	Shaq

Kupchak warns that an endorsement from O'Neal isn't enough for Penberthy to secure a long-term future. "Shaq also took a liking to Benoit Benjamin," he reminds.

That said, not even the ever-cautious Kupchak denies that Penberthy has the confidence of a player with a much more accomplished background. The deciding factor will almost certainly be defense -- as in, can Penberthy stop anybody? He really hasn't so far, but all the Lakers need him to learn is to funnel his man into the shot-blocking limbs of Mr. Big.

"The guy's got to produce, but he does have a hop in his step," Kupchak said. "He's not shy about talking to an official, taking a shot or making a move. Most of all he's a great shooter, which is something this club needs."

Last we checked, one thing that never changes in the shadow of Fortress Staples: Hollywood can always use a Cinderella story.

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