Superman's Kryptonite

What is wrong with the Lakers?

Davis Goldstein

November 2012

Let me lay out a scenario for you very quickly…three superstars assemble to play on a team, the team is incredibly hyped up, and then the team greatly underachieves to start the regular season out. Does this sound familiar at all? What comes to mind? Right now what should come to mind is the Los Angeles Lakers, seeing how it is that they are currently 1-4. But, you may be startled when you remember that the Miami Heat also got off to a poor start in their first season as the super-team that they now are. 

            “Fire Eric Spoelstra!”, “Let Pat Coach!”, were chants commonplace at the American Airlines Arena in the introductory month of the 2010 NBA Season. “Mike Brown ought to be fired.” “Bring Phil Back!” are the chants of choice now at the Staples Center after this horrific start the Lakers are having. Yes, Steve Nash is hurt and will be out a few more games but should a team with Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol lose 4 out of 5 games ever? Let alone with Dwight Howard…DWIGHT HOWARD…now the starting center? No absolutely not. So then what is wrong with the Lakers?

            For starters let’s take a look at their preseason statistics...The Lakers went 0-8 in the preseason with Dwight Howard participating in only 2 games and Kobe only in 5. The biggest new piece did not even get a chance to play with his team to get acclimated to a completely new offense. An offense, which fundamentally makes zero sense for the Lakers to be running now that they have Hall of Fame point guard Steve Nash running the show for them. The Princeton Offense emphasizes movement and forces Nash to play off the ball a lot more than he ever has or should, which, leads to far less opportunity for Nash to use his spectacular talents of distribution in the pick and roll. Furthermore, Kobe didn’t get a chance to get on the same page with Dwight, and neither did Steve Nash who was the lone starter to play in all 8 preseason games. Now the season starts and Dwight Howard in the first game misses 10 free throws, then scores 33 points, followed up by 13, then 28, and 19 in the most recent game. The points are there, the consistency is not, but the consistency will come once Howard learns to gel with this new team and fully recovers from his back surgery that sidelined him for a great part of last season and this past offseason. Next, we can look at Steve Nash's injury, once he returns the team will have an unquestioned floor general out there. Finally, Pau Gasol...well he's been flying under the radar playing like shit. He hasn't topped 20 points since the opener and is only averaging 15 points a game. That simply has to change.Ultimately maybe it is the offense that is the problem right now, maybe the offense isn't catering to the strengths of a team with such explosive offensive talent. But then what is the course of action? Mitch Kupchak surely cannot do anything to Mike Brown during the season, especially 4 games in. What should the Lakers do then? Be patient, great things take time to build.

            Laker fans, there is no reason to panic…yet. Yes, the Lakers own the worst record in the West, and yes they quite frankly look like a bad team right now, it is important to realize, however, that in this young NBA season in which they’ve only played 5 games, there are 77 left! 77 chances to get it right, and if there is one certainty in the NBA, it’s that Kobe Bryant gets it done, the Lakers get it done.