Lakers’ Ingram is not feeling walled off

One could excuse Lakers forward Brandon Ingram if he were hitting the “rookie wall.� After all, he has played 51 games so far this season, after playing only 36 as a freshman at Duke last season.

Lakers Coach Luke Walton would have found that a perfectly reasonable explanation for Ingram’s apparent slump of late, so he asked.

“He says he feels fine,� Walton said before Tuesday’s game against Denver. “He doesn’t feel too fatigued. That’s my kind of thought. He had been having a great month in January. Said he feels great. For whatever reason the last couple games, trying to get himself in the rhythm and flow it takes to have success in this league, he just for whatever reason couldn’t find it. He didn’t have an answer why.�

Lack of confidence has never been a problem Walton has noticed in last June’s No. 2 overall pick. The coach also likes the habits Ingram is developing and the work ethic he’s shown.

Ingram’s play this season has caught the NBA’s attention, enough to warrant his selection to the Rising Stars Challenge at the All-Star game, which features first- and second-year players. His play of late has bothered him.

“It’s frustrating, of course, coming out of college scoring all the time and then coming here and not playing up to your expectations, my own expectations,� said Ingram, who had four points and missed six of eight shots in the Lakers’ 120-116 win over the Nuggets. “Getting back in the gym is definitely motivation. Just trying to get repetitions of what I’ve been doing there, it’s just not showing up.�

Zubac has a fan

The shared experience of Lakers rookie Ivica Zubac, who is Croatian, and Denver center Nikola Jokic, who is Serbian, goes beyond their roots in the Balkans, where the two played for the same coach in Serbia, though not concurrently.

Jokic knows exactly what Zubac experienced when he came to the United States and found himself tempted by American food. Zubac gained enough weight after being drafted that the Lakers asked him to get leaner to improve his play.

Jokic went through the same process, and is now one of the league’s better young centers.

“I had the same problem with the food because I changed my whole [diet] . . . because I needed to lose some weight,� Jokic said. “It’s a little bit different in Balkans, especially in Europe, food and all that. Just to adapt here is a little bit hard. Especially when you’re young, you need to adapt on everything. Hopefully he adapts already; he’s gonna be better and better every day.�

Zubac said he and Jokic did play against each other as younger teenagers in Europe. While Jokic says he doesn’t remember that, he does recall hearing about Zubac long before the Lakers drafted him 32nd overall last summer.

“I know stories about him from my agent, from my coach [in Serbia], about his work ethic, about his talent, how young he is and how strong he is,� said Jokic, who is 21, two years older than Zubac. “He can really dunk the ball, he’s really a rim protector. I know stories about him.�

Etc.

Lakers forward Julius Randle sat out Tuesday’s game with pneumonia, the second game he’s missed because of the illness. Randle will accompany the Lakers on a five-game trip that begins Thursday and will be reevaluated during it. ... D-Fenders Coach Coby Karl will serve as a head coach in the NBA’s Development League game during All-Star weekend.

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Follow Tania Ganguli on Twitter @taniaganguli