| There's no 'i' in 'panic.' Um, wait a second ... (Getty Images) |
After losing 105-95 on Friday night to the Los Angeles Clippers for their third straight loss to start the 2012-13 season, the Los Angeles Lakers are still looking for something that works. While everybody seems to worry about the Princeton offense and if players are being used properly, the defensive breakdowns the Lakers have displayed each game seem to be keeping them from entering the win column.
With an 0-3 record to start out, Kobe Bryant is not only banged up, but he’s also mocking those who believe the panic button needs to be hit. Despite being hobbled and banged up, he doesn’t seem to be in line with the murmurs that this season is already a disaster. Via ESPNLA.com:
"We're hitting the panic button now," Bryant said in a somewhat obligatory manner after a reporter asked if the team was reaching for an imaginary knob. "That's what we're supposed to do. This is our job. We're not supposed to just kind of coast and just assume things are going to fix themselves. We got to push at it."
Bryant stuck to his guns overall, however, blaming the loss on correctable mistakes of too many turnovers (20 turnovers leading to 25 points for the Clippers), poor defensive rebounding (nine offensive rebounds by the Clippers leading to 20 points) and weak transition defense (21 fast break points allowed).
"It's particularly hard for me because I'm not the most patient individual in the world, but you have to be. You have to be," Bryant said, pointing out that the Chicago Bulls started 0-3 while struggling with the Triangle offense in Phil Jackson's second full season before going on to win the championship in 1990-91. "You have to stay persistent and you have to stay committed to what we're doing and just keep on trucking."
There is a ton of validity to what Kobe is saying here. We’re three games into the Lakers season and to panic with 79 games to go seems silly and reactionary. However, I wonder if his coach is on the same page with him in this regard.
Kobe has been nursing this ankle contusion and foot tendon injury for over a week now and mentioned last night that his foot felt like it was going to fall off. If that’s the case, why did Lakers coach Mike Brown play Bryant 43 minutes for his third game in four nights?
"We need a win, obviously. I'm not trying to fool anybody here. We do need a win. You hope we could have gotten one tonight," Brown said. "That's part of why (Bryant) played the minutes that he played, which was too many."
That, ladies and gentlemen, sounds like panic to me.
It makes sense why Brown might feel like his seat warmers are on right now. Brown was a dubious choice for the Lakers’ job after Phil Jackson high-tailed it out of Los Angeles. Brown has never been looked at as a headstrong coach who will get after his players. He has also never been a guy known for his offensive system being great.
When the Lakers reloaded this offseason, many people assumed the team would come out of the gates firing at an unreal and unfair level of play. They were supposed to show off their new toys in a variety of ways. Instead, Brown has implemented a confusing choice with the Princeton offense, and the Lakers have been an atrocious defense despite acquiring arguably the best defensive big man of the last decade.
If Kobe is hobbled and everybody knows it, why is Brown playing him 43 minutes? Why is he claiming they need a win when they’ve only played 3.6 percent of their regular season? There is a certain desperation in his quote that makes the critics and naysayers about his current job look apropos.
Against the Mavericks, the Lakers played poor defense and shot under 40 percent on 31 free throw attempts. Against the Blazers, the Lakers played poor defense and turned the ball over 25 times for 28 points. Against the Clippers on Friday night, the Lakers played poor defense and turned the ball over 20 times for 25 points.
There seems to be a theme running here. Poor decision-making and poor defense is burying the Lakers. When they get shots, they’re knocking them down. Only the Heat, Knicks, and Bulls have a higher efficient field goal percentage right now. But there is a disconnect with their ability to run the offense while taking care of the ball.
Since it is a relatively new system for them, that could just be something that corrects itself with more comfort and experience running what they run. Perhaps playing Metta World Peace fewer minutes and letting Devin Ebanks get some run would be the way to go.
Both have been really bad in their minutes on the floor. World Peace has a 4.4 PER and a -0.110 WS/48 in his 107 minutes on the court (fourth most on the team). Ebanks hasn’t been any better with a 4.0 PER and -0.068 WS/48, but he has also played only 22 minutes. Both players have high turnover rates with Ebanks turning it over 28.6 percent of the time and World Peace turning it over 30.8 percent of the time.
Actually, maybe neither of them should be playing much. Jodie Meeks hasn’t been good, but he’s a 3-point threat to spread the floor and he’s turning it over “just” 16.7 percent of the time.
The news of Steve Nash missing time doesn't help them with on-court talent. He's arguably the best pick-and-roll point guard of all time, but they weren't exactly using a lot of pick-and-roll when he was out there. It's possible having one less star out there will take a little pressure off them to figure this out. With a more average point guard in Steve Blake taking control, the noise around the Hall of Fame starting lineup that they were sporting should quiet down considerably.
I'm not advocating the Lakers are better off without Nash; it's just that the craziness of the coverage and hype can relax a bit. Perhaps they'll be able to reset goals and expectations while tempering anxiety around their record.
As for fixing the defense, at some point Dwight Howard has to be Dwight Howard again and the Lakers have to defend more aggressively on the perimeter. There has to be a symbiotic relationship that involves trust that Howard and even Pau Gasol will have the backs of the perimeter players.
And if Kobe is hurting, he shouldn't be playing 43 minutes in his third game in four nights. Kobe might not believe in panicking right now, but it seems like his coach is in that mindset.