Groundhog Day...

Sorry about no post-win blog, but I didn't think my first victorious post was warranted after the drumming of a Pistons squad that seemed to pretty much make the trip to LA for In & Out Burger.  Instead, I wanted to wait and see how we followed up that dominant performance.  I felt Utah's Energy Solutions arena (aka what I still call the Delta Center) would be the perfect place to really take the temperature of this team rather than a home game vs. Jonas Jerebko and the boys.  For the last 25 years, even our championship squads have been embarrassed in Utah so I was curious as to how this new team--coming in with some momentum--would respond to the adversity, especially with a fan-base freshly infuriated after Romney's loss.  Well....my questions were certainly answered....and similar to our response to Portland, let's just say this wasn't pretty.  You guessed it.....here comes the rant!

 I agree with James Worthy.  Enough with the "We'll be okay" act.....because this is NOT okay.  There are some serious inexcusable trends building here.  Passionless play.  Limited hustle.  Minimal improvement.  And the opponents are sniffing it out and going in for what has become surprisingly easy kill shots.  B+/B quality NBA perimeter players like Mo Williams, Wesley Matthews, and Darren Collison have been running circles around us making plays we haven't seen a Laker guard not named Kobe make in who knows how long!

Despite these ugly realities, we keep hearing the same song..."It will take time.  Be patient.  It's a process."  Wasn't this a win-now operation??  Instead it's been an embarrassment and futile.  Do you think OKC or San Antonio will even come close to losing 4 of 5 at any point this year?  Meanwhile, we're getting pasted in wire-to-wire losses?  Where is the fight?  Where are the adjustments?  It's been the same movie over and over again since the Denver series.  With this talent, would it be so tough to put together one run that the other team can't respond to?  How about getting off to a good start?  How about having a lead when the bench comes in?

A couple of issues with the bench....which again is the worst in the NBA.  First and most importantly...I love Jordan Hill.  He is winning the "What random Laker role player jersey should I get" contest by a landslide.  Secondly, Antawn Jamison has to be kidding me with his performance thus far.  If I have to hear about last year's 17 ppg one more time I'm going to flip out (again).  Instead he is Laker Mitch Richmond and Knick Glen Rice reincarnated.  Why did we think he'd be such a good fit?  Even the Laker-haters thought he'd be great for us.  Instead, he's another un-athletic old dude....not the young perimeter athlete/shooter that other teams have off the bench that torch us on a nightly basis (see:  Foye, Beaubois, Bledsoe, etc).  We actually have a guy in Jodie Meeks with at least some potential to do Foye-ish (I like this term and will continue to use it) things, but Mike Brown refuses to play him....which boggles my mind.  Meeks an athletic player who can shoot and we are an unathletic team with no shooters....but the guy doesn't play.  Go figure.  Lastly (and I don't even have time to get into Darius Morris), can we please put some blame on Mike Brown for the astonishingly awful bench play??  Is it the most talented group?  No.  But at some point a coach has to do his job and right some of these wrongs......and Metta as the backup 2 aint the answer.

Finally (here is my anti-Mike Brown paragraph), I am not necessarily sure that Mike Brown is more responsible than the ineffective/effortless players for the 1-4 start.  But I do know that the players aren't getting the job done under his watch.  These losses--which feel like groundhog day each time they manifest themselves--wreak of a team full of non-championship qualities.  That sequence where Devin Ebanks passed it out of bounds because Pau thought he was going to shoot AND THEN the players walked back on defense and Utah inbounded the ball and got a fast break dunk while the Lakers weren't paying attention was a microcosm of what is going on with this team (yeah that play actually happened).  And the worst part is that this train is moving in the wrong direction.  Watching Al Jefferson get about 5 wide-open elbow jumpers in the 4th quarter last night to finish off the Lakers--who were trying to come back--spoke volumes as to where this team is at.  We looked like a team who either lacks confidence in their leader, lacks confidence in their plan or lacks confidence in each other or all of the above. 

With this team, all I can think about right now is what a tall order it would be to win consecutive games let alone put together a streak of good ball.  Getting consecutive stops has been hard enough.  I hope this all changes vs. Golden State on Friday.  A loss versus a perennial Western Conference bottom-dweller at Staples could cause some major drama.

And the jello's jigglin',
Anthony Peeler (we could use him right now)