Don’t get me wrong; the Lakers have a right to be confident. They have arguably the most talent of any team in the NBA. This is a team of veteran and well-established athletes. Individually, an All-Star case could be made for each of the starting five (with a healthy Steve Nash). But as a team, sitting at a 9-11 record behind the not-so-little-brother Clippers and Golden State Warriors (excuse me what?), they can’t seem to get it together and keep it together.
The defense is lackluster. The energy is ludicrously inconsistent. Despite Kobe’s best efforts, the Lakers are letting wins slip away faster than you can say Hack-a-Howard. Where is the disconnect? Where is the accountability? Is it D’Antoni that should take more responsibility?
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Contrary to preseason critiques that the Lakers lacked depth, they have found themselves with a pretty decent bench. Starting in place of an ailing Pau Gasol, Antawn Jamison had 15 points, nine rebounds and pair of assists at Houston. Chris Duhon stepped up with 10 assists in the Lakers win over the New Orleans Hornets, playing his point guard role sufficient enough to get Kobe over the 30,000-point milestone (congrats Mamba). Yet, D’Antoni hasn’t been able to find a rotation that really works. In Sunday’s abysmal loss to the Orlando Magic, the ‘starters’ blew the lead late in the fourth and allowed Orlando a 12-2 run, giving the Magic a total of 40 points in the fourth quarter to win by convincing double digits. In Tuesday’s rollercoaster debacle at Houston, the Lakers led by 13 with ten minutes left in the game and- stop me if you’ve heard this before- with a 9-2 run, the Rockets fired past the purple and gold to victory. Glimpses of the potential this team has were seen in the Lakers roll over the New Orleans Hornets, but honestly New Orleans didn’t play all that well.
Perhaps it is too much to expect a three-week-old coach to be able to code this Lakers team properly. Maybe we still have to be patient while D’Antoni plugs in his playbook algorithms and crosschecks them with player stats to come up with a magic formula that will take us to the championship. Everyone seems to be holding their breath that the key number is in fact 10. That Nash and Steve Blake’s return will bring the Lakers team we have all been waiting for. That the dazed and confused look will be erased from D’Antoni’s face as his golden boy takes over. D’Antoni is lost without Nash. Just go review his accomplishments, or lack thereof, in New York.
Next Page: Return of Steve, Steve Doesn’t Mean Lakers Are Fixed
My heart fluttered a little as Howard smacked away a shot late in the fourth against Houston. I thought that was going to be it. The Rockets weren’t going to get another point because Howard had finally cracked the secret to lighting a fire under this lagging Laker defense. A foul on Howard a minute later would eradicate that flutter.
However, something must have clicked with Howard in the game against the Hornets last Wednesday night. He had five blocks and his teammates seem to be realizing his defensive power. Antawn Jamison said it’s been an adjustment for all of them to get used to the idea they have a man of Howard’s caliber to back them up if they get beat; that they don’t need to take the foul. This is otherwise known as: a defense.
On the subject of Howard, what’s another thing Nash can’t do? Shoot Dwight’s free throws. The Hack-a-Howard is a gold mine for opposing teams. Kobe said it after the loss to Orlando, Dwight will be unstoppable… once he overcomes his problems shooting the ball 15 feet, less if you factor that he can reach three feet closer just by extending his arm. We saw it against New Orleans. The Hornets tried to feel him out, throwing out the first hack at the end of the third. Howard drained both shots and wasn’t touched the rest of the game. There is simply no excuse for Dwight Howard, or any big man for that matter, to not hit free throws. I know it’s not precedent, but logically big men should be the ones leading the league in FT percentages. They get fouled the most, therefore get to the line the most and have the greatest opportunity to capitalize on uncontested shots.
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There’s no doubt that when Nash gets back the offense will improve. Kobe won’t have to hang out in the post as much, Gasol should fit a little better with the distribution Nash brings and D’Antoni can finally rest easy. That’s what the emphasis should be on for this Laker team anyway. It’s what D’Antoni is good at. It’s the flashy part. It can’t be the second coming of Show Time with a defensive team. But even with the offense getting drastically better, a decent defense is necessary. In today’s NBA teams are just too good. They play too fast and put up too many points. Unless you can guarantee 120 points every night, a solid defense is essential.
What I’m trying to emphasize is that the injuries to Nash and Blake don’t give the Lakers a free pass to be less than .500. They still have issues as a team that no single player is going to fix. They need to learn to play together as a unit- not a pick-up team of All-Stars- on both sides of the ball. Basketball is the ultimate team game. In an NBA that seems to be more concerned with which player has what shoe than which player makes his team better, the Lakers have the front and center stage to take us back to that- as long as the focus remains on a better effort all-around, rather than making excuses out of injuries.