Does anyone have a spare panic button lying around? If so, could you smack it real hard for the Lakers?
I am giving you full permission to freak out a bit about the Los Angeles Lakers and their current record. After last night's 130-108 disaster against the Boston Celtics, it's very obvious that things aren't going well for the purple and gold. Even with LeBron back, even against a sub-.500 team, even with a healthy lead in the second quarter, the Lakers still found a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
The scariest thing about Los Angeles is that it seems like they are only getting worse. When you look at their opponents' field goal percentage, you can see that it's trending upward. That means they are letting their competitors score more points as the season goes on. Terrific.
When you look at a track record for the season, you see that 1) LA hasn't won as many games as they have lost and 2) the games they have won have often been by the skin of their teeth. They're getting blown out but not blowing anyone out. Their wins are sometimes razor thin. This doesn't bode well for the future of the team.
What gives? Is it Russell Westbrook? It seems like most people are pointing the finger at Westbrook and saying that this season's rough start is definitive proof that he isn't a good fit for the team.
The truth is that Westbrook's sub-par performances so far really haven't helped, but they aren't the sole cause of the chaos in LA. The real problem with the Lakers is that their defense is atrocious. When they won their championship in 2020, they were the best defensive team in the NBA. Now, they're the 18th best defensive squad in the league. That's a mammoth collapse in just a few years.
The worst part is that poor Anthony Davis is trying hard and is putting up some impressive numbers. He's even allowed himself to be scheduled as Center more often, something he was previously very resistant too. But it's not enough, not by a long shot. If he doesn't have a team that is also attempting defense, none of it matters. He can't carry the team on his own.
The season is still young. There is definitely still time to fix things and steer the ship to victory. But they are going to have to figure out their defensive strategy ASAP. It's not working. It's not normal for a team to fall that hard in its defensive rating, it's not normal for a team to give up so many leads, it's certainly not normal for a team to be so ridiculously bad in the third quarter.
LA needs a game plan and it needs one immediately. Tick tock.
Does anyone have a spare panic button lying around? If so, could you smack it real hard for the Lakers?
I am giving you full permission to freak out a bit about the Los Angeles Lakers and their current record. After last night's 130-108 disaster against the Boston Celtics, it's very obvious that things aren't going well for the purple and gold. Even with LeBron back, even against a sub-.500 team, even with a healthy lead in the second quarter, the Lakers still found a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
The scariest thing about Los Angeles is that it seems like they are only getting worse. When you look at their opponents' field goal percentage, you can see that it's trending upward. That means they are letting their competitors score more points as the season goes on. Terrific.
When you look at a track record for the season, you see that 1) LA hasn't won as many games as they have lost and 2) the games they have won have often been by the skin of their teeth. They're getting blown out but not blowing anyone out. Their wins are sometimes razor thin. This doesn't bode well for the future of the team.
What gives? Is it Russell Westbrook? It seems like most people are pointing the finger at Westbrook and saying that this season's rough start is definitive proof that he isn't a good fit for the team.
The truth is that Westbrook's sub-par performances so far really haven't helped, but they aren't the sole cause of the chaos in LA. The real problem with the Lakers is that their defense is atrocious. When they won their championship in 2020, they were the best defensive team in the NBA. Now, they're the 18th best defensive squad in the league. That's a mammoth collapse in just a few years.
The worst part is that poor Anthony Davis is trying hard and is putting up some impressive numbers. He's even allowed himself to be scheduled as Center more often, something he was previously very resistant too. But it's not enough, not by a long shot. If he doesn't have a team that is also attempting defense, none of it matters. He can't carry the team on his own.
The season is still young. There is definitely still time to fix things and steer the ship to victory. But they are going to have to figure out their defensive strategy ASAP. It's not working. It's not normal for a team to fall that hard in its defensive rating, it's not normal for a team to give up so many leads, it's certainly not normal for a team to be so ridiculously bad in the third quarter.
LA needs a game plan and it needs one immediately. Tick tock.
No need to sift through the clutter.
Just use the prop cheatsheet.