LA’s woes

Minneapolis was the original residence of the Lakers when the franchise began with the then National Basketball League.  Minnesota’s nickname “Land of 1000 Lakes” inspired the team to call themselves in what is widely known today as one of the most titled organization in any team sport.

They were successful in the early 50s and won 5 titles in six seasons but also had their worst during the 1957-1957 season with only 19 wins to show.  Fast forward to today’s 2014-2015 NBA wars and Laker longtimers are reminded of the futility experienced seven decades ago.

This coming Monday, the Lakers will be trying for the 6th time to be in the win column against Charlotte, now resurrected with their original name Hornets.  Several factors contribute to the collection of losses that if these things go on, they could be in a much deeper rut than last season’s 27-win campaign.

Injuries – Like a virus, injuries had infected the Lakers since two seasons ago.  Steve Nash supposedly was cleared to play and even had some games played during the pre-season but that nagging back problem reappeared which forced him to miss the entire season and this could probably be his last.  Nick Young won’t be playing until middle of December because of a broken thumb.  Number 7 pick on this year’s draft, Julius Randle, had surgery on his broken leg and will be out of the season.   Laker great James Worthy had a similar season-ending injury to Randle’s also on his rookie year and when he came back the following season, he was better.   Maybe next season Randle will do a Blake Griffin-like return from injury.

Defense – Aside from Kobe, Jordan Hill and Ed Davis, can you name anyone else on the Laker roster who can play defense?  In their last five games, they lost by an average of 14.8 points.  If opponents beat you by more than ten points, it’s quite obvious what the other team is exploiting.  Ryan Kelly, Carlos Boozer and Robert Sacre have long and wide bodies but they’re not known for protecting the ball.  In a perfect world, I would have preferred Chris Kaman and Pau Gasol over Sacre and Boozer.  So what if they’re aging.

Over-dependence on Kobe – Averaging almost 28 points and 34 minutes this young NBA season, Kobe is back to his normal self.  But when someone named Jordan Hill comes next to Kobe as the team’s second leading scorer, then definitely something is not right.  Kobe is being Kobe and it shows.  The rest of the starting unit should step up – Boozer, Jeremy Lin and Wesley Johnson.

No outside shooting – Without Kobe last season, Nick Young was the team’s leading scorer.  He’s still in recovery mode and some guys are supposed to take over the slack.  Johnson averages only a little over 10 points per game, Xavier Henry is still finding his way into Byron Scott’s system.  Likewise, Lin can only produce 10 points a game.

Point badly needed – Lin is now the official point guard for the Lakers sans Nash and at the rate he’s going, he has more turnovers than assists.  Does the team really have a choice?  Consider Wayne Ellington, Ronnie Price and the rookie Jordan Clarkson.  Among the three, Price, in his ninth season coming from          Sacramento, Utah, Phoenix and Orlando has the experience and Coach Scott is favoring him.  Still, I miss Steve Blake and Jordan Farmar running the point for the Lakeshow.

It is still too early to write off the Lakers but these things must be addressed to control the downward spiral.   Magic Johnson, maybe as a sign of support for the Lakers that despite the 0-5 start, declared that he still finds the team “exciting.”  Oh well, we all are entitled to our opinions.