It’s funny because that’s exactly how this Lakers’ season feels at the moment; only the Lakers are Dorothy, Toto is the championship that they are striving to hold on to, and the tornado is this season’s rough ride on the road to a three-peat.
As the home losses (too numerous to mention), losses to good teams (see Miami, Boston, San Antonio, etc.), losses to bad teams (too numerous to mention) and all-around head-scratchers (one word: Cleveland) continue to pile up; this season indeed seems to have been sucked into a twister.
And, as if all this wasn’t enough, somewhere out there lurks the inevitable match up with the Wicked Witch of the East, a.k.a. the Boston Celtics who take every opportunity to remind Los Angeles that they are out to get the Lakers and their little dog too!
Well, guess what Laker Fans, as Dorothy aptly puts it once the house comes crashing down, “…we’re not in Kansas anymore!”
With the All Star break officially behind them, the Lakers seem to have gotten lost on their way to Oz. Fans and pundits alike have all but declared that the champs no longer have what it takes and rumors are swirling as the trade deadline approaches.
So, what’s gone wrong? Why has this team seemingly lost its way? Do they need to make a trade? And just what will it take to keep Dorothy on the yellow brick road and Toto from being snatched out of the Lakers’ hands?
Next: The Lion, The Scarecrow and The Tin Man
Make no mistake Gasol, not Bryant, is the team’s number one option and he must continue to be for them to be successful. When the offense flows through Gasol a domino-effect of good things occur: the triangle runs to its second and third options, which then leads to better shot selection and floor balance, and culminates in better transition and half court defense.
However, when Gasol goes into cowardly lion mode and the Lakers revert to a Kobe-centric attack, it typically leads to a plethora of outside shots and one-on-one play that gets the team into trouble on defense; and it’s all down-hill from there. If this sounds familiar, it’s because this is exactly what has been happening ever since Bynum’s return.
In the Lakers losses this season, Gasol has been passive which leads to the offense reverting to an outside-in, instead of inside-out attack. Doing so robs the team of its greatest advantage, its size. For the Lakers to return to their former-championship selves, they must not go away from what works best, and Gasol must be their focal point and Bryant must be the closer.
Then there’s the Lakers’ defensive specialist, Ron Artest. Paragraphs could be inserted here to describe Artest’s ineffectiveness this season. Instead, let’s just say that the Ron Artest that we all feared arrived this season, and the one that saved Game 7 of last year’s Finals is long gone.
The Scarecrow has lost his brain and has played so out of whack this season that recently team officials finally admitted that trading him before the deadline remains an option. Now, if only there was a market for him.
Finally, there’s the Lakers bench and supporting cast. Once dubbed the Bench Mob, then the Killer B’s, they have sinced morphed into a version of Oz’s Tinman. One needs only to have seen the Lakers recent effort verses the league’s worst team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, to see that the team’s role players are playing without any heart.
Their downfall can be traced all the way back to the failure of one small knee ligament. That injury, to reserve small forward Matt Barnes, not only disrupted the flow and chemistry of the bench but also that of the starting unit as well. With Barnes out, the starting unit lost its only viable option when Artest’s checks out of reality and into la-la land.
Similarly, minus Barnes, the bench loses not only its chemistry but, also, the game changing mixture of athleticism and change-of-pace speed needed to off set the starting unit’s shall we say, more methodical approach.
Thankfully, Barnes is set to return very soon which should provide just the sort of lift the Lakers need.
The starting unit will have an energy guy off the bench able to spell both Kobe Bryant and Aretst, and the bench should receive some much needed balance that should also benefit Steve Blake and Lamar Odom. For the Lakers to return to their championship-selves, Barnes must provide the Lakers with a much needed infusion of energy and hustle, both of which have been lacking since his departure.
Why aren’t the Lakers worried?
It’s because they know something that other teams do not; that behind the curtain there remains a simple explanation why this team has not yet hit the panic button. Last season’s team finished the season 16-12 and the same cries of the sky falling filled the airwaves, websites and blog sites then as they do now. That team took its bumps and bruises in the playoffs, but when the buzzer sounded at the end of Game 7 they were the only one’s standing.
Championship malaise is nothing new (even though it seems as if this team is taking it to new heights) and no one knows this more than the Lakers’ own Wizard of Oz, Phil Jackson. Winning three titles in a row is not easy. It has only been done a handful of times and only by the best teams in history. They say team’s take on the personality of its coach which explains the zen-like, “what, me worry?” attitude the Lakers have adopted this season.
Kevin Ding of the Orange County Register captured this sentiment perfectly when he wrote, “if Phil Jackson is not trying, why should his team?”
Put simply, Phil Jackson is not trying yet…and when the best mind in basketball scoffs at the idea that a game in Milwaukee or Cleveland, in the middle of winter matters…well, you can pretty well imagine how his team will follow suit.
More important to Jackson than playing the right way in December or January, is playing the right way in May and June. The season is long and so Jackson often chooses to save his voice for when his players will hear it most. As Jackson’s father (a small-town minister) taught him, you only have about five years or so before you have to move on…before the flock is no longer stirred by the same old speeches and the same old voice.
This is the sixth season of Jackson’s second stint with the Lakers. He knows his team has what it takes, and when asked recently about the need for a trade or coaching shake up, Jackson confidently replied that he would still put this group up against any team in the league in a seven game series.
Quiet confidence exudes from Jackson. He knows, better than any, when to put the pedal to the metal. Watch an Orlando Magic game the next chance you get. Do you think that Stan Van Gundy’s sideline tirades carry the same weight in December that they do in May? Do you think his players still hear his voice?
As the trade deadline approaches, there’s no need for panic. There’s no quick fix on the horizon and there’s no possibility of a blockbuster deal that would guarantee a trip to the Finals this year. But there is hope!
For, what this team needs more than anything is effort. What’s been missing for most of this season is defense. These are the elusive ruby slippers which they’ve been wearing all along, but have disregarded like an old pair of Kobe’s. For the Lakers to return to their championship selves, they must get those ruby slippers clicking together in order to get back home.
No more half hearted attempts at loose balls.
No more lackluster efforts at boxing out for a rebound.
No more failing to make the appropriate defensive rotation to help out a teammate.
No more.
It’s time for this team to start executing like champions again. It’s time for them to remember that it’s defense that wins championships. And it’s time for them to make the commitment to both execution and defense that will be required to win a third consecutive title.
One thing’s for sure though, winning the title three years in a row requires courage, heart, brains, and a lot of luck. This Lakers team has been there before, twice as a matter of fact; so I’m guessing they can get there again. And it could be that it’s as easy as clicking their heels together and saying, “There’s no place like home, there’s no place like home!”