Antawn Jamison Says Lakers Have Been Playing Mediocre Basketball

The Lakers lost yet again, this time to the Clippers, and are now two games below. 500. That five-game winning streak seems like a distant memory, doesn’t it?

Anyway, Ramona Shelburne from ESPN L.A. got comments from Antawn Jamison about Kobe’s “old and slow” comments. Here’s his take:

Antawn Jamison had an interesting take on Kobe’s “old and slow” comments. “Kobe was trying to find a way to motivate us.”

— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) January 5, 2013

Jamison: “You can’t say you’re hurt or you’re tired. [Kobe]’s been doing this for 17 yrs & is still leading the league in scoring.”

— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) January 5, 2013

Jamison: “We’ve been playing mediocre basketball, this was the time to prove a point that we can still compete with the upper echelon teams”

— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) January 5, 2013

While we all can’t deny that Kobe Bryant is basically a freak of nature and from another world with his output this season, I feel like most people are in denial about what kind of Laker team this is. The record should indicate on what the Lakers really are at the moment: a mediocre team. And Jamison is right: the Lakers have been playing medicore basketball. Yes, Dwight Howard is not 100 percent. Yes, the rest of their best players are north of 30 (with Steve Nash closer to 40). But they’ve gotta do better than the listless efforts (especially on the defensive end) they’ve been putting out as of late.

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As much as I would like to see Antawn Jamison get some burn on the floor, the reality is that he’s a huge defensive liability. But could it actually be any worse than what the Lakers put out on the floor on a regular basis? I was actually a little surprised Pau Gasol went in the game for an injured Jordan Hill late against the Clippers instead of Jamison since Pau wasn’t giving much other than being a random 7-foot tall dude on the court.

We’re in January now and the Lakers really need to turn it up and have a sense of urgency because three months could fly by just like that. And they’re still under .500. They would have to go 30-18 to win 45 games, which would probably be good enough for the eighth seed. You know it’s a really sad state of affairs for the Lakers when we’re talking about the Lakers just making the postseason. Quite amazing.

Until the Lakers prove it with their on-court win and multiple (quality) wins, the Lakers are a mediocre squad. Hey, at least, we’ll still have Kobe’s dunk on Chris Paul to remember, right? Guys? Hello?