5 Things: Fundamental Flaws

Not going to lie, this isn’t an inspiring topic to write about these days. The sad state of affairs that the Los Angeles Lakers have become is on full display for all to see. The faults and flaws in the foundation are plain to see for all. Most of us round these parts saw this season coming roughly 8-9 months ago. Some think a trade can fix most of it, some don’t. For now though, this is the Laker team we’re all forced to stomach and, to put it bluntly, it ain’t pretty.

1. “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing”-Stephen Covey. In this case that would be putting the ball in the basket better. Simple, right? In the case of the Lakers who swung wildly from one side of the NBA equation to the other, yet again, this summer evidently not. One has to wonder at this point why Wenyan Gabriel is on the team and Carmelo Anthony is not. I would play Melo in front of Gabriel, JTA, Troy Brown Jr., Jones and Ryan. Unsigned. This team needs someone besides LeBron who can score from the outside. That ain’t Anthony Davis, not on this team. Probably not ever again. Sooner he and everyone else accepts that and plays and adjusts accordingly the better for everyone, Davis included. I’m sure there will be games where he heats up, that jumper is falling, but he took three outside the paint shots last night, one of which was a three pointer. He ain’t stretching jack shit. It’s not the coach, it’s not the system, it’s not that lack of other floor spacers it is the player.
2. “Well, you can put lipstick on a hog and call it Monique, but it’s still a pig.”-Gov. Ann Richards. In this case that would be the, shall we say anemic, Lakers bench. There was no way to look at this without wondering where points would come from. JTA’s career average is 4.8 ppg. Wenyan Gabriel 3.5 ppg. Troy Brown Jr. 6.4 ppg, impressive for this squad and I can see why coach Ham is excited about the young lad. Austin Reaves is 7.2 but that’s based off his empty calorie season here last year when he scored 7.3 ppg and this season is a more accurate representation of both his role and impact at 5.5 ppg. Damion Jones 5.6 ppg. That’s 27.5 ppg, on average from 5 players and I’m keeping Reaves on the bench in this because he shouldn’t be a starter. Yes, that does exclude the streaky Kendrick Nunn and his 14.7 ppg. Currently he’s at an also anemic 5.5 ppg. That 9.2 point differential is the biggest issue confronting the Lakers right now. Without it the Laker bench is averaging 33 ppg. This season, small sample size though it may be, the Laker bench is averaging 22.8 PPG, next to last behind Philly. 9.2 points gets us to an even 32 ppg.
3. “Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.”-Stephen King. There is actually talent on this team. It just isn’t working right. Now this may come back to, as James mentioned in his post gamer, a lack of familiarity. If that’s the case, good, there is nowhere to go but up. However, if we recall the lesson’s of last season and the pratfalls of what preseason can inform us, this team is actually great at working hard. There truly isn’t enough talent. Trade or no trade we are relying on a bench of cast off players. We have at least 3 end of the bench guys in featured roles and that’s without major injuries. Can Thomas Bryant and/or Schroder really be the answer to this equation? It’s hard for me to see that as the answer.
4. “Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t know.”-Anthony Trollope. This pearl of wisdom has been used often and successfully in my life. When people clamored to trade Gasol or Walton or Danny Green or any number of contributing role-players whom could find fault in (protip: you will find fault in all things if that is what you are looking for and that one’s all me) I would post some version of that quote. However, in this season, I don’t think that’s true. The real question is, given the assets we have to ship out, is there a deal out there to improve that? This topic will define the Lakers season and it’s one that can’t be answered by fans. Few questions or issues can. Personally, I’m dubious. I feel like we burned this season two summers ago when we let all of our modular contract players go via the trade for Russ and let Caruso and Schroder walk for nothing. This is the price of ineptitude. The only question is do they choose the band aid or let the rot fall away?
5. “Far from being the end, death marks the start of a series of events that together complete the circle of life. From the decomposition of plant litter by worms, which captured Darwin’s attention, to the decay of a giant whale corpse at the bottom of the sea, the process of decay recycles the dead and resupplies the building blocks of life.”-Cyrus Martin. Extreme, I know. But this one gives me a faint whiff of hope. Watching LeBron is fun, he can’t do it on his own, he needs more talent. That can come in the form of Kyle Kuzma (the Lakers LOVE reunions!!!), Jerami Grant or Myles Turner (signed for zero draft picks!) next summer. This season will be wasted. Sure, the Buddy/Myles trade might vault us back into the playin convo. Any trade tossed out that’s the ceiling. Maybe not Kyrie and Curry but I doubt the Nets bite unless things really cave and they just look to pull the plug on the whole shebang and take what they can get. A true fire sale. Still, it ain’t up to me and I still have a Russ trade happening at 50/50 odds…in February.

“The now-ubiquitous ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’ phrase was chosen for its clear message of ‘sober restraint’ and was coined by the shadow Ministry of Information at some point between 27 June and 6 July 1939.”-Wikipedia (they could use a donation, btw, lol). It’s just basketball. It can be fun to watch, this is generally speaking not too much fun, moreso to talk/type about as in the moment of watching the game I’m enjoying myself. it’s the Russ bashing, predictable ineptitude of Rob, and the overall erosion of a team I did enjoy watching into this muddy mess that’s hard to find the fun in. C’est la vie. Go Lakers.