Oh wait, there’s “disgusting“, “underperforming“, “demoralizing“, “apathy-ridden” and “lifeless”.
Those seem to do the trick.
After Bryant's somewhat slow start to the season (by his high standards), he’s finally regained a little bit more of his usual scoring efficiency, though he’s still on pace for his lowest field goal percentage in six years.
That’s just Kobe. Nine times out of 10, when ongoing issues afflict his performance, he addresses them before the playoffs start.
That’s not the problem, at least not anymore.
The problem is that the rest of the Lakers are essentially living out a fan’s dream. Not only do they get to attend Lakers games for free, while getting the best seats in the house, they get paid for it. And quite handsomely, mind you.
The roster will cost the Lakers front office $95.3 million this season, the highest in the NBA. So far it's a safe bet that it doesn’t feel like it's getting the most for its money.
The MVP-caliber season Pau Gasol was having is dead and gone. In the last six games, Gasol has scored 20 or more points while shooting 50 percent or better from the floor only once.
That singular time came against the 76ers, who are by far the worst team the Lakers have faced in the span, both record-wise and in terms of their frontcourt defense. Even more telling, Gasol hasn’t scored 20 points while grabbing 10 or more rebounds since Dec. 8, against the lowly, defenseless Clippers.
The return of Andrew Bynum was supposed to alleviate Gasol’s burden of trying to defend the paint alone, and being forced to spend almost the entire game on the floor for that purpose.
Surely enough, Bynum’s presence ha...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
