Prior to the Clipper game I was actually feeling pretty good….I had the whole “we can’t get any worse so things will turn up” attitude and I was pretty confident the team would come out and play well against a rival. I was texting my brother that I felt good about the game and I was even convincing myself that having Steve Blake as the starter would maybe settle things down and make the offense run smoothly and all of this other hopeful junk. As you can tell, I was desperately grabbing for something positive because I’m aware that, after the Portland debacle, my mood and this blog was pretty negative and neurotic. Well…after the Portland debacle, Kobe publically told me to “shut up” and one of my readers mockingly claimed that complaining about the Lakers is “like rich dudes complaining they had to sit window in first class.” Taking both of these comments to heart, I was really looking forward to changing the tone and writing something positive.
Well…that’s not going to happen here. The losing result, the ugliness and the frustration still remain and are now multiplying. Performances like these are why I am bald. Not even changing venues from my couch (the scene of the first 2 losses) to a bar in Manhattan could turn the luck around.
This latest embarrassment at the hands of the Clippers just showed that whatever progress we are making is happening too slowly. (Side note: Why is this process taking so frustratingly long when it has taken 2 days for James Harden to mesh with the Rockets?). Even worse, watching these games is absolutely agonizing. It’s like we are constantly playing uphill. It seems that every time down the floor, our opponent gets whatever shot they want without much effort. Sure…sometimes we make them take a little longer to get it, but inevitably they get the ball into a sweet spot…even if there is only one sweet spot to be had. On the other hand, when we are on offense, we seem to work SO much harder to get a shot that, many times, isn’t at all what we want. Translation: we stink. Also, is it me or have we been down by 8-12 points all season so far? And then when we finally work for a few minutes to get it to less than 5, we implode and it gets back to double digits almost immediately. This is what happened against OKC in the playoffs and this is what is continuing to happen now. Progress? I think not.
Before I sign off I want to stop the random, abstract bitching and actually quickly bitch about a few real personnel issues that will be very relevant in the coming week:
- Backup point guard: With Nash out for at least a week and with Steve Blake starting, are we really going to throw Darius Morris out there for 12 minutes a night? The guy absolutely stinks and we have no shot to seize any momentum when this guy is running the show. There is actually a 95% chance the other team will go on a massive run during his stints. Brown opting for him over Duhon last night was a clear mistake. He better not make it again. (When he checks into the game on Sunday just remember this paragraph).
- Jodie Meeks: Wasn’t this guy supposed to be a premiere bench scorer for us? Why isn’t he seeing any minutes? He was supposed to be our sneaky good pickup that could fill it up and provide some youthful exuberance. Let’s give the dude a shot. He looks cool too. (Side note: Meeks is the exact kind of guy that would torch us for 20+ and hit momentum 3s if he played for someone else).
- Big Minutes: It’s probably not a good thing that Kobe is playing 43 minutes on one foot in early November. To me, that just wreaks of Mike Brown panicking and feeling the heat. I don’t know…just saying.
Well folks…since being up 3-1 on Denver in the 1st round of the playoffs we are now 2-17 (including the meaningless preseason that obviously meant something by carrying into the regular season). I don’t know how much more of Mike Brown’s annoying coach-speak and facial expressions I can take without any progress being made. Please please please let us get a win on Sunday at home vs. Detroit (reread that last sentence…that’s what this has come to). I am not confident at all...maybe because it is an absolute lock that Rodney Stuckey and/or Brandon Knight will have a career game against us. (Aaron Brooks Effect)
The Eggs Are Coolin,
Elden Campbell
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