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The Los Angeles Lakers are struggling right now no doubt about it. They've played five games and only won one of those against the lowly Detroit Pistons. There's clearly several issues with this team. Defensively the Lakers have been horrendous. They've allowed 99,116, 105, 79, and 95 points respectively. That's an average of just under 99 points a game. For a team that was expected to be a great defensive team with the addition of three time Defensive Player of the Year in Dwight Howard that's just not good enough. They haven't exactly played offensive juggernauts either.
They haven't been much better offensively either. They've scored 91, 106, 95, 108, and 86 points respectively. That's an average of about 97 points. That's also unacceptable with the tremendous offensive talent this team has with guys like Kobe who is the right now the second leading scorer in the league, Dwight Howard, Pau Gasol, Steve Nash, and Antawn Jamison. The bench has also been terrible once again. Just 87 combined points. That's an average of just over 17 points a game. Antawn Jamison who was supposed to be the Lakers go to scorer off the bench has been dissapointing to say the least. Under 4 points a game compared to also year where he averaged 17 points a game. He's gotta come in and be aggressive. That's why he was brought in. Another thing is Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard need more support offensively. Together they're averaging just under 50 points a game. Same goes for the rest of the team. That's pathetic. You cannot rely on just two players to win games for you. That's gotta change and it has to happen soon.
All those issues I listed have to be corrected, however the NBA season is a very long 82 game season. Still have 77 games left to play. The Lakers must stay the course. We're only in the second week of this season. I know people don't wanna hear this because you wanna see results fast, but chemistry is something you need to win a championship along with talent which we do have if healthy which we're not right now obviously. Steve Nash is still out. The Lakers have plenty of time to fix all those issues. There's an old saying that says patience is a virtue. The Miami Heat a couple of seasons ago got off to a similar slow start of 9-8. They finished 49-16 and made it to the Finals and were just a couple of games away from winning the championship. It took the some time, but eventually they become one of the best and most dominant teams in all of basketball. The same will happen with these Lakers. It'll just take some time. This is a marathon not a sprint. Right now the Lakers at a little behind in the marathon, but there is plenty of time for them to catch up. Dwight Howard said it best in his post game interview tonight. It's not time to hit the panic button yet. Give this basketball team some time to find themselves and eventually they will.
