I have never been so glad that my recaps for Lakers Nation are from the perspective of a fan… I do not have to be impartial, and I do not have to rehash every part of the game.
This is the short way of saying never fear fellow Lakers fans, I am not going to make you relive yesterday’s debacle. Of course I like to be as thorough as possible and try my best to make my recaps knowledgeable and entertaining, but there is no way
I could talk about yesterday’s game and make other Lakers fans want to read it. I know I wouldn’t want to!
After most losses, I avoid internet and TV coverage because it’s hard to hear difficult things being said about your team, and who wants to re-watch failure anyway? It’s made even worse when the Lakers lose to a longtime foe or someone that I happen to have a vendetta against- while the two are not mutually exclusive, it often ends up being the same team, such as the Celtics.
There were a few positives that I took away from the game at least. I did enjoy the first half; our defense wasn’t great, but the game was exciting. I liked the throwback jerseys too. Lamar had a good offensive game overall, though I would have liked more rebounds.
Andrew Bynum was also effective but got into some bad foul trouble that curtailed his aggressiveness on the defensive end of the floor. And even though Kobe took a good amount of shots, he did shoot around 50% from the floor and notched 41 points during a game where most of his teammates struggled.
Granted, he had zero assists which always leads me to contemplate a chicken-or-the-egg type of scenario. Did his teammates struggle because he wasn’t being a facilitator? Or did he shift into aggressive scoring mode because his teammates were struggling?
I believe it was the latter in yesterday’s case. Pau couldn’t get anything done, nor could Derek or Ron. It’s difficult to get assists when no one can make a basket. And absolutely no one played any defense.
Next: Luckily, the issue is mostly mental
It’s been clear all season that the Lakers seem to be suffering from a debilitating state of apathy. They know, as we do, how insanely talented the team is. The Lakers are deep at every position and have a number of bench players that would be starters on any other team in the league. They also have one of the best power forwards in Pau Gasol, the best young center in Andrew Bynum, the most versatile match-up nightmare in Lamar Odom, the best shut down defender in Ron Artest, the most timely clutch player in Derek Fisher, and one of the best to ever play the game in Kobe Bryant.
In my opinion, they should be engaged every night in trying to eviscerate their opponent, be it the lowly Kings (who beat them) or the dreaded Celtics (who also beat them). According to Wikipedia, apathy is described as a response to an easy challenge for which the subject has matched skills. That is exactly what the Lakers are struggling with, and it is difficult and annoying to watch. At least there have been few injury issues thus far, knock on wood.
Next: Purple for St. Patty’s Day
All we can do is look forward. The Lakers will get another shot at Boston in less than two weeks. Maybe after the All-Star Break, things will start click in Lakerland. We still have one of the league’s best records, so there’s no need for real panic. I just hope
they can start engaging themselves and getting quality wins against foes they will certainly meet if they hope to make yet another deep playoff run.
Just because I can’t resist completely, I thought it was hilarious that within the first couple minutes of the game Paul Pierce got fouled and stayed on the ground for a couple seconds longer than was strictly necessary. I saw him reach for his hip and grimace and just started laughing. No one makes something out of nothing better than Pierce.
It was also very jarring to see Shaq in a Celtics uniform. I had seen pictures of course, and a couple game clips here and there, but this was the first time I saw him wearing the green jersey for an extended period. It seemed like a bad joke with Photoshop… really weird.
I’m definitely in the group that believes the Lakers should still retire his jersey; he did so much for our team. But I also think they should wait a good while after he is eligible; after all, he should pay some kind of penance for becoming the Big Leprechaun.
On a side note, the color green (once one of my favorite colors) has been absolutely ruined for me the past few years. Between my hatred for the Celtics, as well as the Jets in the NFL, I’m not sure I can ever wear green again… who wants to wear purple with me on St. Patrick’s Day this year?