10.31.2012

Laker Schadenfreude (v.113)



“It’s one game. It’s one game,” he said. “We have a lot more games to play. We just have to stay focused, stay positive and stay on track. We’re gong to have good games, we’re going to have bad games, but it’s Game 1.” The Lakers have 81 more games, but Lakers fans are not known for their patience. They want to know now that championship No. 17 is on its way. They like guarantees, not uncertainty. And Tuesday’s 99-91 loss to the Mavericks didn’t settle anyone’s anxieties about how the star-laden  Lakers will co-exist within Mike Brown’s offense. The Lakers appeared lost at times in the semi-Princeton offense and simply confused on defense.

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0-8 preseason. 0-1 in the regular season. Yet to play a single quarter of inspired or impressive basketball. Let me go out on a limb. The Los Angeles Lakers will not win 70 games this year, much less 73. Note to Laker fan base: this whole blame "Mike Brown's offense" line of thinking has a very good chance of snowballing out of control. If he gets canned, then you can really plan on starting over.

More schadenfreude after the hop.

It was a night where they couldn’t consistently get stops, shot 3-for-13 from three and an abysmal 12-for-31 from the free throw line. Like much of the pre-season, this team just didn’t seem in sync at any time during the game on either end of the floor and the final score was a direct product of their inability to become a cohesive unit.

Steve Nash looked to be bothered by the ball pressure the Mavs were using against him throughout the game. Dallas used both Darren Collison and Roddy Beaubois to pick up Nash at three-quarter court and that really slowed down Nash and led to the Lakers getting into their sets much slower.

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I know this will come as a shock. Steve Nash is 39-years-old. He couldn't keep up with Rajon Rondo 5 years ago. Sure, he'll show flashes of his former self. But like Kevin McHale once said, time moves on. If it didn't, Bill Russell would still be roaming the paint  for the Green and White.

2 comments:

FLCeltsFan said...

A case can be made for the Lakers struggling with new players as the Celtics are. But I think their struggles go deeper. They don't have Doc and they also have a bunch of egos.

Lex said...

The Mike Brown watch is on