Tyronn Lue knows that to catch Allen Iverson, he must think and act like Allen Iverson. He must become him -- sort of like Elmer Fudd did, or tried to do, with Bugs Bunny.

And at Lakers practices, that's exactly what he's been doing. On the Lakers' second team, his code name is A.I. He gets more looks at the basket as his alter ego in practice than he did as Tyronn Lue all season. He watches game tapes at home and after practice. He wears cornrows and even a compression sleeve on his right arm to totally get into the part. "He's been great being our Iverson," says Kobe Bryant. "He never gets tired either." That's why Lue has done such a good job with his impersonation.

Since Iverson has such a quick trigger, defenders spend most of their energy chasing him around. "It's a little different," says Lue. "We have the plays but you never quite know where he's gonna go." Also, Lue doesn't have to work quite as hard to get the ball, since the Lakers have to concentrate on defensive sets when Iverson actually has the ball. Denying Lue the ball won't help you stop Iverson when he's driving baseline.

Tuesday at the old Spectrum, the Lakers are working on getting to Iverson quicker when he enters the lane. Phil Jackson is unhappy with the way Iverson got to the basket in Game 3. He asks for more help from Horace Grant, who hasn't had to worry about Tyrone Hill (eight total points) at all. Since Iverson heavily favors his right hand, Derek Fisher has vowed to give up all right hand penetratration by giving A.I. anything he wants to the left. When "Tyronn Iverson" pops through the lane and gets the ball triple-threat on the left wing, Fisher crouches next to him on his right side, face guarding his right hip. It's a desperate measure. But it reduces his options to passing or driving directly into Shaq, who has already blocked Iverson's shot several times this series.

Seeing nothing, Lue swings it out top to "Aaron McKie" (Devean George) and the offense resets. Lue runs through and gets little help from picks that Iverson relies so heavily on. When he pops through, he hoists a hurried three that bricks off the back rim. So the plan worked -- sort of.

The Lakers know they can never truly simulate what Iverson does. They know they'll never catch the rabbit. Elmer Fudd knew it too. But it sure was fun to watch him try.

Chris Palmer covers The NBA Life for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail him at christopher.palmer@espnmag.com.