Thanks for the fiver, Jamie. It pretty much sums up everything that went on in the game.
The game against Phoenix was the worst Lakers game I have ever watched. It goes without saying, that is why the preseason is very important in building chemistry. Our stars were left out of the lineups in the preseason instead of trying to integrate every one in the early going. It should have been known to everyone that a team with so many new parts need more than just the first week of the season to get started. The preseason should be treated as ” we need the preseason” instead of “the preseason needs us.”
The loses to the Warriors and the Suns shouldn’t come as a surprise. Those teams already have built-in cohesion and continuity, and to think you are going to use them to prepare yourself at the start of the season, you are literally acting like drunkard begging for a knock out punch which is exactly what they got. The Lakers were completely punch drunk in these two defeats.
There is hope with these Lakers team, and I mean a lot of it. They just need time to get this chemistry issue taken care of. There are 79 games to go for the season and this team will eventually explode in every team’s face. I like how they grind out the win against the Grizzlies. There will be more games like this as we go on.
Just like the super team of the Miami Heat that went 9-8 to start the season, this Lakers team has the potential to eventually embark on harassing and tearing up teams as if they were asking for every team to hand in their resignations or else they will be smothered. This team will come alive at some point and it wont be good for many teams.
There are a lot of wrinkles that need to be ironed out in terms of rotations and substitution patterns before the team reaches its potential, but we will get there.
Finally, I want to thank everyone for the contributions to the blog.
By the way, I am still recovering from my shoulder replacement surgery. So I am having difficulty typing with my left hand. That is why I have not been commenting that much.
I don’t want to think about the last time they went 0 for the preseason. Dwight shouldn’t either. Hopefully it comes together soon.
Yup, shades of Mike Brown rearing their heads. Also was the last time we brought an All Star PG on board…
Aloha Jamie, great post. I agree with everything you said. I nearly turned off the game to watch Dune after the 3rd quarter. I’m glad I didn’t. I saw some signs of life in the 4th. The question that popped into my mind was, where was this energy in the 2nd and 3rd quarters? They played with a sense of desperation for the first time this year. We need that kind of effort all game. We are thin right now but when we get more bodies back we have the depth to play all out, all the time. One of the biggest disappointments for me was that they let the truly awful officiating get in their heads. This is a veteran group and that should never happen.
Like everyone I believe AD should play at the 5 against most line ups. And I was thinking that the only time one of the other centers should see the floor was when AD rested. Now I’m wondering if we should see them even then. The stretch with Lebron at the 5 was one of the most impressive stretches in the game. I could imagine how that would look when we get our other guys back.
You are right that the defense sucks, big time. I am encouraged by the guys that we will be eventually be getting back. Ariza is a very good defender and both THT and Nunn were both impressing the staff defensively before they were hurt. Still there is too much remaining talent to look this bad. I agree that Reeves impressed. At some point the league will have a book on him and we will see how he adjusts to that. Until then, we should take full advantage of him.
We fortunately have a stretch of lesser teams but unless we ramp up the intensity and begin to figure it out, every team in the league will be a challenge.
Its saying something that the one guy who plays with any kind if fire within the system paradigms is a rookie looking to stick. I had hoped that the collection if vets which haven’t won a ring would play with similar fire but I ain’t seen it yet.