On paper, the transformed Los Angeles Lakers should dominate the new season and challenge the Miami Heat for the NBA Championship.
In the Lakers’ season opener on Wednesday night against the Dallas Mavericks, it didn’t look that way at all.
Even with the star-studded lineup of Steve Nash, Kobe Bryant, Metta World Peace, Pau Gasol and Dwight Howard, the Lakers still lost to another team with old players and without star’s Dirk Nowitzki and starting center Chris Kaman. Despite Bryant shooting 11-of-14 from the field, the Lakers’ offense looked disorganized and their defensive rotations looked out of sync.
The Lakers also lost to the Portland Trailblazers 116-106 on Wednesday.
It’s only been two regular season games, but the Lakers lost all eight of their preseason games and showed the same problems.
It’s clear that the team’s biggest liability is coach Mike Brown.
Brown has always had problems controlling teams in his career. He was criticized last year for not properly managing the Lakers. Brown finally had a training camp to use to organize his team, but the same problems still persist.
The Lakers are indeed a scary team, but it can’t function to its potential if Brown can’t synchronize his pieces together.
If I were general manger Mitch Kupchak, I would have Phil Jackson, Mike D’Antoni, Jeff Van Gundy and Jerry Sloan on speed dial just in case.
