What is your record?

You are what your record says you are. Was it Bill Parcells who said that? Anyway, are the Lakers good enough? Hey, I’m a big Lakers fan, going back to the mid 80s when Magic, Kareem, Worthy, AC, Byron, Rambis and Coop were doing their thing. But I have to tell it like it is when it comes to these sports topics. I’m not sure we are looking at the Lakers in the right mirror. Let’s take a look.

When are we going to quit making injury and roster excuses for the Lakers? Maybe Lebron and AD are not good enough to carry a team anymore, regardless of how good they are individually. Even though more shooting is required, they have more than enough to be better than they are. With Lebron, AD, Westbrook off the bench, the acquisition of Rui, Dennis Shroder and other players like Pat Bev, Thomas Bryant, the energetic Gabriel bringing what they do to the team, they should have more wins.

I’ve seen them play, almost every game. They play like they are too cool. They start off slow and then make a comeback and for some reason, think they have the game in hand. When the Lakers go on a run, they think they are a better team than they actually are. They go up 7-10 pts and start getting cute and going for lobs, highlight plays, reverse layups and generally playing to the crowd. Instead, they should be steady, stay focused on the gameplan and how to stop the opposition and work the mismatches. But no, Lebron starts chasing highlights, Westbrook presses the gas even more and the team follows them both. They play to the expectations of the ghosts of the past instead playing to the talent they have today. And inevitably, they end up giving up a lead and then losing the lead. Then, most of the time they lose the game. I’ve seen it too many time. I’ve seen it against Dallas when the Mavericks came back and tied the game before winning it in overtime. I’ve seen in with Boston, twice, when Boston came back at the end of both games and won them in overtime. I saw against the Knicks in NY, when the Lakers again went up by 6 with less than two minutes to go before the Knicks tied it up and sent it to OT. Sounding familiar? I saw it again against OKC when the Lakers went up 45-40 before OKC went on a 16-2 run. Ground hog day!

So it it just the players? No, Lebron, AD & Westbrook shoulder blame but I’m not sure Darvin Ham is the right guy to coach a Lebron led team to a championship. Maybe he’s saving his best coaching until after the all star break. Maybe he’s learning what the team does best and letting them make their mistakes before really putting his foot down and demanding the team to play like he wants. I want to see it. So far, I haven’t seen enough from him or the team. But…..

I started writing this post on Tuesday. Now, Thursday morning, the Lakers roster have changed. Out is Westbrook, in comes DeAngelo Russell. I still have the same questions. Will this team think they are better than they are? Will the top players play hard and share the ball and let the others do their thing for the betterment of the team? Will the coach put his imprint on the team? Will the coach play the right players? With 3 people coming back in the Westbrook trade, the Lakers now have a lot of pieces and I’m not sure who Ham should be playing in his 10 man roster. We know Lebron, AD, Rui and DeAngelo are going to play. That’s 4. But how many of these guys will still be in the rotation; Dennis Shroder, Pat Bev, Troy Brown, Thomas Bryant, Lonnie Walker, Austin Reaves, Malik Beasley and Jarred VanderBilt. That’s 8 more guys for a total of 12! Which two guys will be out of the rotation? I say Thomas Bryant and Austin Reaves are out. I know what they have done but the Lakers need proven defenders on the floor now. Thomas Bryant’s scoring is more important when AD is hurt. Though Bryant hustles, rebounds and tries hard, he still suffers on the defensive end. Austin Reaves has nice talent but players go at him constantly on defense and he’s not a proven shooter, yet. Personally, I’d like to see Wenyon Gabriel play because he’s always effective on both ends of the floor with his energy, but he is probably the odd man out. Even if one of these combinations are the best rotation, will Ham see that? And will Ham have an offense that maximizes the talent of Russell, Rui & Beasley and not just for Lebron and AD? Lebron will have to scale his playmaking and scoring back if he wants to maximize the talent that the Lakers now have. I will have to see it to believe it!

People are asking can they make a run in the Playoffs. Well hold on, they are not even .500 yet. Can they have a winning streak and get to .500 and play winning basketball consistently? That’s the 1st step. That’s the reason they don’t win games, because they try to skip the process of winning. Step 1 is playing consistently to win one game. And then continue to do that, game in and game out, from the beginning of the game. Then, can they get to at least the 10th spot. From there, can they get to the 6th spot or win the play-in games. All of that comes before making a run in the playoffs. It’s a step by step process. I’m waiting on step 1.

Update: Lakers have traded Thomas Bryant to the Nuggets for 2nd round picks. This clears some of the log jam the Lakers have. I like it, until AD gets hurt again! It is what it is.