Lakers coach Phil Jackson believes that his team still has some room left for improvement despite their 17-2 record.

"That's way it has to be," Jackson said Monday. "You have to find a way to be a better team all the way through the season. You'll stall or plateau or whatever during the course of certain times of the year. Teams have to stop and renew their energy and come back and play harder and better."

Jackson is hoping to improve the team's second unit, and has asked sixth-man Lamar Odom to provide more leadership.

"I'm talking about organizing the (second) team," Jackson said. "When they're running and a little bit scattered in their transition game, things need to get leveled in the half-court and need to be organized.

"Our bench hasn't really had that kind of (strong) game it had earlier."