ESPN staff weighs in on Lakers' troubles

[Real Deal]

After the Lakers' 19-point loss at home to Memphis Sunday (their fourth double-digit loss in their past six games), we asked our panel of experts five questions to assess the damage.

 

1. What one thing most concerns you in what you see in the Lakers' play right now?

 

J.A. Adande (ESPN.com): The lack of pride. They've let bad teams come into Staples Center and crush them, they've been humbled by Miami and San Antonio in showdown games. You'd think dignity, a title defense, ego ... something would kick in and prevent them from going down like that.

 

John Hollinger (ESPN.com): The noncontributions of late from Pau Gasol. One has to wonder if there's an undisclosed injury limiting him right now.

 

Andy Kamenetzky (Land O' Lakers): The lack of cohesion. It's beyond not being on the same page. They're not even reading the same book at the moment.

 

Arash Markazi (ESPNLA.com): A complete and total lack of pride for their profession. Kobe Bryant brought it up after the Christmas Day blowout and Derek Fisher talked about it after a blowout earlier in the season; the players in the Lakers' locker room need to be accountable every time they step onto the court, regardless if it's January or May. This is simply a team that doesn't care at the moment.

 

John Ireland (710 ESPN Radio): It's the defense. They can't come up with any stops on a consistent basis. Other teams pick-and-roll the Lakers to death, and they've yet to prove they can stop it.

 

Brian Kamenetzky (Land O' Lakers): Lethargy. The Lakers are costing themselves the opportunity right now to be as good a team as they can be come playoff time. The longer it takes them to commit to their principles on both ends of the floor, the less likely they are to maximize their potential when it really matters.

 

Dave Miller (710 ESPN Radio): The Lakers are 34 games into the regular season and the one adjective that describes both the offense and defense is inconsistent. The most alarming thing to me is the lack of competitive nature defending their home court.

 

Dave McMenamin (ESPNLA.com): It's tough to choose one because poor shot selection leads to long defensive rebounds which lead to run-outs by the opposition, etc. So you could say that the Lakers' transition defense is struggling right now, but the genesis behind that is how their offense is performing. So, rather than point to an aspect of the game, I'll just say their focus is lacking. If everybody on the team gets their heads in the right place, their play will sync up on the court and mistakes will be eliminated.

 

Marc Stein (ESPN.com): It's not just that they're bored or complacent. It's that they all seem so unhappy and irritated with each other. They just don't give you the vibe of a group that's going to band together and turn this thing around. You never get that vibe from the Celtics. The Lakers look like they could use one of San Antonio's trademark Rodeo Road Trips where they hit the road for three weeks and try win a mess of games to get back on course.

Read more here...

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/news/story?id=5984788

[The Regime]

I thought John Ireland really hit it right on the head...

 

John Ireland (710 ESPN Radio): It's the defense. They can't come up with any stops on a consistent basis. Other teams pick-and-roll the Lakers to death, and they've yet to prove they can stop it.

 

Agree. The effort just isn't there, we play defense in spurts. We have a couple good defensive sequences, and then we go back to our lethargic ways. Something as simple as putting a hand end into a shooters face can make a huge difference, and the team just hasn't done that. Defense is a team effort but it starts on an individual basis, and until guys can show their committment to the defensive end we are going to struggle.

 

Ireland: They need more athleticism. They've become a slow, plodding, half-court team. I would play less of Ron Artest and more of both Lamar Odom and Shannon Brown -- just to jump-start the fast break. When Kobe, Fisher, Bynum, Gasol and Artest are on the court together, they get run off the floor. In the Memphis loss, the Grizzlies outscored the Lakers 28-5 in fast-break points.

 

As I stated in the "strange facts" thread The Lakers have 24 fastbreak points in the last 6 games. In that stretch we have gone 2-4, averaging 88.5 points per game while our opponets are averaging 96.8 points. The team is just playing to slow right now. I'm waiting for the Lakers to either bench Artest or trade Artest.

 

Ireland: He may need to dial it back a little offensively. When Phil Jackson said, "Kobe messed up the game," he also could have said "nobody else was doing anything so Kobe tried to take over." If he facilitates more -- draws the defense and kicks out -- I think the shot attempts go way up for his teammates. Gasol, Odom and Bynum all need to shoot more. But if the other guys won't be more aggressive, Kobe won't just stand there. It's a two-way street.

 

I don't blame Kobe for shouldering the load when the team is struggling. With that said, Kobe's jumper has just been off this season and he isn't getting to the rack on a consistent basis. I would try and get Bynum and Pau more involved in the offense, and even Lamar who been one of the few bright spots for the team this season.

 

Ireland: In the West, San Antonio and Dallas could both knock the Lakers out. The Spurs have become younger and faster, and Dallas is playing the best team defense in the league right now. Both teams also take care of the ball, which the Lakers haven't been doing. If LA finishes as the third seed, it would have to beat both as the road team -- which would be a huge challenge.

 

Agree. It's a long season though, so I'm not worried about the playoffs yet.

 

Ireland: I certainly think they are still among the favorites, but no longer at the top of the list. They haven't won a road playoff series since 2004, and the way they're playing now, they would have home court only in Round 1. Unless their position improves, my answer would be no. Having said that, I do think they have plenty of time to improve, and it's too early to panic.

 

Last sentence pretty much summarized my thoughts. I probably wont start to panic until after the All-Star Break.

[Erick Blasco]

I love Kamentzky's term in one of his answers, "Takeover Radar." That's a phrase that you will see me quickly adopt.

[Sħãlïq™]

I firmly believe Pau Gasol HAS to go and HAS to go NOW!!