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These days, the Lakers seem to be searching for more answers about themselves, rather than opponents searching for answers on how to the beat the 16-time world champions.
While there have been glimpses of success, the inconsistency has left fans scratching their head and crying out in hopes the front office will make major changes to the team. Meanwhile, opposing fans are rejoicing in the fact the Lakers are simply not the contender they were the past four years.
When the Lakers hired Mike Brown and the front office made sure there were little to no traces left of Phil Jackson’s regime, this should have been a red flag. No, I am not saying Mike Brown is a bad coach, he was brought on in hopes the Lakers could become a defensive minded squad so offensively there was going to be something lost, but the front office should have done more to make Brown’s first season a successful one.
Here are the things I see with this Lakers team 20 games into the season:
1. Age is NOT the issue – Opposing fans and even some Lakers fans love to use the “they are too old” reason when explaining the troubles of the Lakers. Well, that’s false. Veteran teams win titles, that’s a proven fact over the years. The main core of this squad consists of Kobe Bryant (33), Pau Gasol (31), and Andrew Bynum (24). Take a look back to 1998 Chicago Bulls and their core players. Michael Jordan (34), Scottie Pippen (32), Ron Harper (34), Dennis Rodman (36), and Toni Kukoc (29). All that team did was go 62-20 and win an NBA title. Going back to the Lakers, let’s not forget that the one player that opposing fans love to say is past his best days, Kobe, is enjoying his best season since 2006. He is currently averaging 30 points, 6 assists, and 6 rebounds a game.
2. Personnel doesn’t fit the system – Twenty games in, you can just tell how well this team was constructed for the triangle offense, problem is they don’t run it anymore. One of the most efficient offenses over the last four years, they have become one of the worst in the new system. Spacing is horrible, shooting is horrible, and getting out on the break is non-existent. When you look back at Mike Brown’s Cleveland days, his offense was one of the top in the league because players fit his system well. You had a dominant ball handler in Lebron James and he was surrounded by shooters such as Antawn Jamison, Mo Williams, Daniel Gibson, Anthony Parker and even Big Z shot the ball well in the system. There was no dominant force down low, much less two seven footers and were still successful. That is the same system they are trying to run here in Los Angeles, except now you replace the ball handler with Derek Fisher and you have Matt Barnes, Josh McRoberts, Steve Blake and Ron Artest as your main contributors off the bench. There is only one player shooting 41% from three and that’s the rookie Andrew Goudelock. Kobe will do just fine in any system because he knows how to adjust his game but he cannot be expected to play the same role as Lebron did because they are two completely different players.
3. Bynum and Gasol simply cannot work together – Probably the biggest issue outside of needing a point guard, these two seven footers cannot play side by side. I know the response to this is that it worked the last three years, but it really hasn’t. Bynum has rarely stayed healthy so the Lakers would usually play a majority of the season with Gasol and Lamar Odom in the paint. When it got to late in the season, the Lakers would add Bynum back into the mix and teams simply did not know how to adjust to the height of the Lakers which led two two titles. Now that Bynum is healthy and emerging as an offensive threat, Pau Gasol, who is a fantastic passer but yet is still a scorer, cannot seem to get it together and neither seem to want to take a back seat to the other.
4. Changes are needed - This Lakers team has not seen a major change since switching Trevor Ariza for Artest… and that’s saying something. The Lakers did have a trade lined up for Chris Paul, which was nixed by the NBA, so that would have definitely changed the dynamic of the team, but it didn’t happen. From there, the roster stayed the same and went into this season with the same identity it has had the last four years. Personally, I was against the idea of trading Bynum and Gasol for Dwight Howard, but the more I look at it, it makes sense adding in the fact the Lakers would most likely take back Hedo Turkoglu as well. While Turkoglu is not much a rebounder, he does spread the floor and is shooting 44% from three. With Howard at center, you really don’t need to rebound as much since he grabs about 10-15 a game on his own. That’s a different discussion for later though. The point is that the dynamic needs to change and it’s going to have to be done soon.
5. Point guard WANTED – Going back to how well the team fit the triangle offense, the point guard position is the most glaring example to why that is true. Derek Fisher, 37, is obviously on the decline in his career and although he has played better than expected, he is not a true point guard that can make plays off the dribble and setting up his teammates in a regular offense set. There’s been talk about Deron Williams, but at this point it looks like a long shot considering what the Lakers have to offer the Nets. But there are plenty of options in a league that is becoming a guard driven league and while the Lakers may ultimately end up with an option that isn’t labeled a superstar, this team just needs a point guard that can do what our current ones can’t.
6. The one running the show – Finally, the last reason to what is wrong with the Lakers this season is a catalyst for all the reasons I listed above. Jim Buss, son of Jerry Buss, has taken the reigns of the organization and no one really knows the direction the team is going in except for him. Most notably known for being the one who drafted Bynum has his “special project”, he has been very much against trading Bynum since he see’s him as the franchise player after Kobe retires. The main question is how much of control freak is he and will Mitch Kupchak be able to do his job without Buss stepping in every step of the way. The Jim Buss era is upon us and in the first season, it’s not looking very good. If Buss wants the fans to be on his side over the next few years, he needs to do something drastic to show the fans that he wants the Lakers to win…. opposed to wanting to prove to people that Bynum was a legitimate pick by him.
