Christopher Hanewinckel-US PRESSWIRE
For the record the Sacramento Kings owned the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2012 preseason. Tonight’s uglier than the box score reveals 94-82 loss to Sactown was a clean sweep for the Kings in the preseason best of three.
For the record that sends the Lakers to their worst ever preseason record of 0-8. It won’t matter in any NBA record books but it will matter if these types of efforts carryover to the regular season.
For the record Mike Brown has never won a preseason game as head coach of the Lakers (0-10 now including the abbreviated lockout preseason). That might not matter either but he hasn’t won a title as head coach of the Lakers either. Not saying one is connected with the other but he doesn’t have the luxury of asking his team to throw the switch.
In the past the Lakers have relied on the flipping of the switch for the postseason. This Lake Show is looking like they’re waiting for the regular season to begin for switch flippage of any kind to occur.
The turnover troubles are far too common. For the third game in a row it was 20+ TOs. That’s a problem no matter who is or isn’t playing. Kobe Bryant is out which is the biggest of all concerns but Dwight Howard was back tonight.
DH 12 debuted (again for the second time) just in time to see DeMarcus Cousins dominate. Keep an eye on those two this season. I’m thinking we’re going to see a new version of the Lakers-King rivalry courtesy Dwight-DeMarcus battles.
Kobe’s foot will be the biggest talking point but the real problem is the lack of effort. Jobs were on the line tonight. A last chance to see real action before the curtain goes up. Hell, how about professional pride? There was plenty to play for and the Lakers went out like it was a walk-through but they barely even went through the motions.
This might be the preseason but if the sum of all fears occurs and the Lakers open the season without Kobe then this will look more like a bad omen.
For the record we might have seen tonight the starting five for next Tuesday. If this was a dress rehearsal then the Lakers got caught with a major wardrobe malfunction that left them exposed. Hopefully what happens in the preseason stays in the preseason.