Los Angeles Lakers: Is There Any Hope for the Playoffs?

Is there any hope? Short answer: not much. Not unless there are drastic changes. I have been trying to put my finger on what is wrong with the Lakers so that it can be addressed and help fix the team. That is, until it dawned on me: It’s not just one thing. It’s a perfect storm that has started to feed upon itself and shows no signs of abating.

In no particular order, here are some of this issues:

 

Philosophy/Scheme

Run and Gun 2.0 was never a good idea for this team. That’s something that works best when you have a squad of mostly 20ish players with boundless energy who make up what they lack in basketball IQ and experience with superior athletic staying power.

It’s not the scheme you run when your 39-year-old point guard is coming off a leg fracture and your star player, Kobe Bryant, might as well be 39 with all the playoff mileage on his legs. It has been an abject failure and reflects extremely poorly on Mike D’Antoni as a head coach (more on that in a minute).

The book is out on how to beat the Lakers. First, get up on them, even if it’s only by seven or eight points. Watch them exhaust themselves trying to catch up. Watch them waste possessions or turn the ball over because no one plays defense or hustles on the boards, and some of the guys don’t even know where they’re supposed to be. Wait till the third or fourth quarter when the Lakers will pull close, and then start firing. Don’t believe me?

Here is what happened in the  the last four games:

Against Miami: Tied in the fourth, 90-90, with 2:32 to go. Lakers never scored again. Final: 99-90. Miami wins. 

Against Toronto: Lakers pull within five mid-third quarter, start the fourth down 13 and never recover.  Final: 108-103. Toronto wins.

Against Chicago: Lakers tie it at 75 with 6:54 to go in the fourth. They run out of gas and...

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