It seems that every day we’re writing another article talking about what’s wrong with the Lakers. It’s been a frustrating season for this team. At the onset of the year this is a team that had title aspirations, and now it’s looking increasingly likely that they’re not even going to crack the top eight in the Western Conference. Of course to make matters worse, their potential lottery pick doesn’t even belong to them, leaving no consolation prizes for a season of disappointment.
Head coach Mike D’Antoni is still looking for answers, but so far he hasn’t been able to find any. After the team’s disappointing loss to the Raptors in Toronto on Sunday, D’Antoni once again reiterated that he isn’t exactly sure how to fix the problems this team is dealing with, but that simply complaining about them isn’t going to do the trick.
“There’s no words of, ‘OK, we just change it around,'” D’Antoni said when asked what he was trying to relay in the huddles when he called timeout after timeout Sunday. “It’s not words. It’s action.”
The quote came courtesy of team beat reporter Dave McMenamin of ESPN Los Angeles, but speaks to a larger issue. If D’Antoni, who was hired to have the answers to fix this team, doesn’t have these answers, what is there to expect from this team moving forward?
Fans have been unhappy with the D’Antoni hire since the beginning, purely because he wasn’t Phil Jackson. As unfair as that sentiment may be, there’s no question he hasn’t been able to figure out how to fix the massive flaws in this roster. Whether it’s inconsistent rotations or a lack of cohesion on the defensive end of the floor, whatever D’Antoni’s preaching isn’t working. At least not yet.
The team is running out of time, and their postseason window is closing rapidly. And while D’Antoni is correct in his statement that the team needs action more than words, that action better show up soon or we’re going to be looking at a very quiet month of May in Los Angeles.
Well, unless you’re a Clippers fan.
