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Dwight Howard, left, has cost the Lakers games with his poor free-throw shooting; Pau Gasol has hurt knees and hurt feelings; Kobe Bryant has become the team's unofficial point guard in the absence of the injured Steve Nash. (Robert Gauthier, Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) |
The Lakers are 9-11 and seven games behind Oklahoma City in the standings.
Who else predicted this? OK, me neither.
Nobody could have guessed Steve Nash would miss 18 games, his backup would miss 13, Mike Brown would be done after five games and the Lakers would mishandle the ball so often (league-leading 16.45 turnovers a game).
Not to mention the lazy defense, the undeveloped relationship between Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard, Pau Gasol's knees and, yes, the missed free throws. ¿¿
The Lakers are a mess, and the following eight questions are a look at what will, won't or might happen in the near future.
Given how many good teams there are in the Western Conference, what's a realistic playoff seeding for the Lakers?
The best they'll finish is fourth in the West, which means home-court advantage only in the first round. Congrats on that.
The team that was supposed to breeze to the NBA Finals will finish below Oklahoma City, Memphis, San Antonio, and maybe (dramatic pause) the Clippers.
Imagine a Lakers-Clippers first-round series, with the Clippers as the home team. Surreal.
I'll perish the thought because it won't help my frequent-flier account.
Then again, it sure beats spending time in Memphis or Oklahoma City. Go Clippers!
Can Steve Nash fix most of their problems when he returns?
Some but not all.
You know he's watching the less-than-incredible involvement Pau Gasol is having in this offense, not to mention Howard too sometimes (four shots against Sacramento, seven against Memphis, nine against Houston).
Think Nash can fix it? Yeah. But he needs to fix himself first. Even if he comes back within a week, it will take plenty of time to get into shape.
He can't run right now. His workouts are occasional 15-minute bursts on an elliptical machine. Guarding Russell Westbrook is more like 1,000 minutes on an elliptical.
So the Lakers will get better on offense (presumably) and worse on defense (definitely) when Nash returns.
Is Gasol resting because his knees hurt? Or because his feelings are hurt?
His feelings are no doubt hurt. This just isn't his type of offense. Putting it bluntly, he was the biggest loser when the Lakers opted for Mike D'Antoni instead of Phil Jackson.
Who else predicted this? OK, me neither.
Nobody could have guessed Steve Nash would miss 18 games, his backup would miss 13, Mike Brown would be done after five games and the Lakers would mishandle the ball so often (league-leading 16.45 turnovers a game).
Not to mention the lazy defense, the undeveloped relationship between Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard, Pau Gasol's knees and, yes, the missed free throws. ¿¿
The Lakers are a mess, and the following eight questions are a look at what will, won't or might happen in the near future.
Given how many good teams there are in the Western Conference, what's a realistic playoff seeding for the Lakers?
The best they'll finish is fourth in the West, which means home-court advantage only in the first round. Congrats on that.
The team that was supposed to breeze to the NBA Finals will finish below Oklahoma City, Memphis, San Antonio, and maybe (dramatic pause) the Clippers.
Imagine a Lakers-Clippers first-round series, with the Clippers as the home team. Surreal.
I'll perish the thought because it won't help my frequent-flier account.
Then again, it sure beats spending time in Memphis or Oklahoma City. Go Clippers!
Can Steve Nash fix most of their problems when he returns?
Some but not all.
You know he's watching the less-than-incredible involvement Pau Gasol is having in this offense, not to mention Howard too sometimes (four shots against Sacramento, seven against Memphis, nine against Houston).
Think Nash can fix it? Yeah. But he needs to fix himself first. Even if he comes back within a week, it will take plenty of time to get into shape.
He can't run right now. His workouts are occasional 15-minute bursts on an elliptical machine. Guarding Russell Westbrook is more like 1,000 minutes on an elliptical.
So the Lakers will get better on offense (presumably) and worse on defense (definitely) when Nash returns.
Is Gasol resting because his knees hurt? Or because his feelings are hurt?
His feelings are no doubt hurt. This just isn't his type of offense. Putting it bluntly, he was the biggest loser when the Lakers opted for Mike D'Antoni instead of Phil Jackson.
