Bottoming Out
Posted: Mon May 9, 2011 1:39 pm
After literally picking up the pieces (of my remote) from the Game 4 debacle, I suddenly had a moment of clarity. Perhaps it was the last zen moment Phil cast on me prior to riding off into the sunset back to Montana--with numerous unused timeouts. But I suddenly realized ...
This team has a knack for bottoming out at the right time. By losing now, and not just losing--getting massacre'd--they could now officially turn the corner and rebound just as they have so many times before. Some specific things to point to:
-Phil Jackson is definitely retiring. I love Phil. But I think he has changed with old age--a step or two slower and really starting to look set in his ways with lack of adjustments and game strategy. He even said himself that he didn't want to come back this year and was happy the season was over--if they win again, he might feel like he should stay for another delaying the inevitable.
-Bynum is now a hot hot commodity. I'm not saying we should necessarily trade him, but it's nice to have sought after pieces. This time last year--he was a question mark with health.
-Dwight, CP3, etc. The Miami Heat have put together the blue print and now there are two players that will certainly be traded this season or off-season to determine their fate. Just so happens that the Lakers will actually entertain trading for these stars--whereas if they win again then it's much harder to break up the team.
-Bad contracts. It's strange to me all the people that say the Lakers are stuck with this roster. Do they not understand how trades work in the NBA? A team like the Lakers will never be under the cap--so they need contracts in order to trade. And the truth is that there are no bad contracts on the Lakers. Blake is a good PG (not in LA) and is still viewed as such. Bynum is a steal for that amount. Pau and LO are paid on the low side. The only bad contract is Kobe's and it doesn't matter because they're not trading him anyway. I'm not advocating this on any level, but the Lakers have the type of contracts that you could use to take on a bad contract when trading for a player like Dwight or CP3 (see: arenas or okafor).
-Kobe's replacement. Feels weird to write. But obviously it's time to start looking to getting the next star wing player/SG. I'm not going to sit here and say Kobe is done--in fact, I'd say pretty far from it. But maybe we need to start looking at SG/SF type scorers in the draft instead of going for parts--let's try and hit some homeruns. We'll strikeout but have to start considering these things.
Finally, this series looks really really bad, but I still think that we were ill equipped to take on a team like OKC or Miami. I'm sort of glad we avoided both those buzz saws. If the Dallas Old Man Committee made us look this bad, just imagine what young legs would have done.
There were a lot of reasons that we lost ... fatigue, poor execution, poor coaching, bad bench, etc.
But there are also many reasons we got swept ... let's just hope that bottoming out in this fashion can manifest itself in renewed life as quick as possible. At the end of the day, we're not that bad--but we all got a little glimpse of what the future can be and we need to start asking ... how can we be better?
This team has a knack for bottoming out at the right time. By losing now, and not just losing--getting massacre'd--they could now officially turn the corner and rebound just as they have so many times before. Some specific things to point to:
-Phil Jackson is definitely retiring. I love Phil. But I think he has changed with old age--a step or two slower and really starting to look set in his ways with lack of adjustments and game strategy. He even said himself that he didn't want to come back this year and was happy the season was over--if they win again, he might feel like he should stay for another delaying the inevitable.
-Bynum is now a hot hot commodity. I'm not saying we should necessarily trade him, but it's nice to have sought after pieces. This time last year--he was a question mark with health.
-Dwight, CP3, etc. The Miami Heat have put together the blue print and now there are two players that will certainly be traded this season or off-season to determine their fate. Just so happens that the Lakers will actually entertain trading for these stars--whereas if they win again then it's much harder to break up the team.
-Bad contracts. It's strange to me all the people that say the Lakers are stuck with this roster. Do they not understand how trades work in the NBA? A team like the Lakers will never be under the cap--so they need contracts in order to trade. And the truth is that there are no bad contracts on the Lakers. Blake is a good PG (not in LA) and is still viewed as such. Bynum is a steal for that amount. Pau and LO are paid on the low side. The only bad contract is Kobe's and it doesn't matter because they're not trading him anyway. I'm not advocating this on any level, but the Lakers have the type of contracts that you could use to take on a bad contract when trading for a player like Dwight or CP3 (see: arenas or okafor).
-Kobe's replacement. Feels weird to write. But obviously it's time to start looking to getting the next star wing player/SG. I'm not going to sit here and say Kobe is done--in fact, I'd say pretty far from it. But maybe we need to start looking at SG/SF type scorers in the draft instead of going for parts--let's try and hit some homeruns. We'll strikeout but have to start considering these things.
Finally, this series looks really really bad, but I still think that we were ill equipped to take on a team like OKC or Miami. I'm sort of glad we avoided both those buzz saws. If the Dallas Old Man Committee made us look this bad, just imagine what young legs would have done.
There were a lot of reasons that we lost ... fatigue, poor execution, poor coaching, bad bench, etc.
But there are also many reasons we got swept ... let's just hope that bottoming out in this fashion can manifest itself in renewed life as quick as possible. At the end of the day, we're not that bad--but we all got a little glimpse of what the future can be and we need to start asking ... how can we be better?
. I know you didnt write that either. At this point IM just praying we are getting Dwight or CP3