5 Things: Lakers (sigh)

This has gotten beyond critiquing. There’s really just nothing more to say. You could make a case that the Lakers could see an uptick in the quality of their play when AD gets back but, if one is honest, that won’t be enough to crack the top 8 teams in the Association. These issues have been here from the beginning: porous defense, suspect offense that relies on one or two players, and a general lackadaisical attitude towards their opponents. It’s not looking very bright in Laker Land these days.

1. The team Rob built but that LeBron and AD signed off on. While I doubt Rob called James and Davis regarding every move made they all agreed that Westbrook was the way to go. We can all wish things had worked out differently, they didn’t. We can all wish that we had retained Caruso who honestly probably wouldn’t be enough to “fix” the defense but would certainly have provided the coach with a better tool than is currently available. We’re old, slow and entitled. Not a good combo.
2. A referendum on Frank. The defense isn’t working. He was never a great offensive coach as he basically relies on his star players to just kinda make it work. Unfortunately, with the roster he was delivered, Frank needs to do more. A lot more. Does he have it in him? I’m not so sure.
3. The spark of competitive spirit burns low. Russ and Dwight spoke after the game of playing hard. Well, that would be a helluva place to start. We are getting outplayed, outhustled and out worked in too many games. You could argue that a veteran team could lose a handful of these kind of games. We’ve lost a ton. The heart of this team is not strong.
4. They can improve, right? Yes. But it’s going to take something they haven’t shown us, yet. LeBron is playing his heart out. Russ is Russ. Davis, the fragile being that he is, won’t be enough on either end. We need the team to compete harder and more consistently than they’ve shown the inclination or ability to do.
5. The trade solution. While nice to imagine player X, Y or Z could come riding in and save the day it feels unlikely to me. Our trade “assets” are playing like garbage right now. Russ might be traded (sic: will) this summer but his play now makes it highly unlikely we’ll deal him this season. I don’t see anything other than an elite three and D guy (unavailable given our assets) or an elite center (same) who can help shore up our awful defense in the paint. Really, we need both. Given the lack of maneuverability we’re fairly locked into this team. Sure, we might move THT and Nunn and maybe even the pick in 3099, hell, some team might coerce us into tossing in Reaves or Monk. Doesn’t feel like that would be enough.

I pride myself on being pragmatic and honest in these assessments after games. Losses like this can make it difficult. When you question the heart of your team it’s never a good look. Yet that’s where we find ourselves.