LAKERS MIDSEASON DOLDRUMS

LAKERS MIDSEASON DOLDRUMS

Sometimes it is more than just the fans who are bewildered when a great team begins to struggle midway through the season. This is especially true when the team in question is long on talent and short on injuries, has a good mix of older and younger talent, and excellent playoff experience. When you add in the Lakers’ great record on the road, there just does not seem to be a good explanation for these midseason doldrums. Watching last night’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies, I couldn’t help feeling that the Lakers were allowing their opponents too much response-time, as if politely waiting for their answer to the latest maneuver. Normally when the Lakers are in attack mode, there isn’t much time for their opponents to respond effectively, and by the time they have it figured out, it is already too late for them. Maybe what is missing in our offensive game is the element of surprise. Does the NBA have us figured out to the extent that they are now anticipating our offense effectively and defending against our triangle system? Should we experiment with alternating systems of pick-and-roll, give-and-go, alley-oop and motion offense, making better use of our big men in the center post? It seems that our inside game has been rather inconsistent, as though we aren’t sure that our big guys can handle the assignment. I am of the opinion that we will never know for sure until we make the attempt. What better time than now to discover our strengths? I’m confident that Pau, Andrew, Lamar and Mbenga can handle whatever we throw at them. Sometimes in order to shake out of the doldrums, it becomes necessary to shake up the lineup a little with some different match-ups, as well as alternating style-of-play. But whatever we decide, let’s not wait much longer to make the needed changes. Let’s not wait until the playoffs to make good use of them.

Mark Overt Skilbred