Christopher Hanewinckel-US PRESSWIRE
Mike Brown is offensively challenged. We knew this before he suckered Jim Buss into landing the most coveted coaching gig in sports. We also knew that Brown was supposed to bring a defensive prowess to the Lakers never before seen in Los Angeles.
So far the latter has yet to fully appear while the former remains a major problem.
One game into the regular season and coming off a preseason that made most of us long for trips to the dentist, the Lakers’ second year coach already has some explaining to do.
If Steve Nash was supposed to be a floor general then why is he playing off the ball so much? If Brown is supposed to be a defensive genius then why is it that this team still suffers through major defensive lapses?
One game will never sum up an entire NBA season so this rant shouldn’t be taken too literally. It’s just that enquiring minds want to know why even with Nash in purple and gold that it still feels as if Ramon Session is running show? Or why with Dwight Howard in the middle of paint the Lakers are still giving up easy buckets at the rim? Or why the undersized frontline of Dallas was able to outmuscle the much bigger Lakers?
Every loss is always accompanied with questions. That’s natural. Perhaps guys like me are putting way too much on one L at the very beginning of the season. Problem is it’s an L that had almost all the same symptoms of the team we watched get bounced by OKC last season.
Last year it was Pau Gasol that was rendered ineffective by Brown’s over the top desire to feature Andrew Bynum. Now its feeling like Nash could be this season’s sacrificial lamb.
Yes, I know it’s too early for panic but it’s not too early to ask a few tough questions of Coach Brown. After all, it is a new year but we’re seeing an all-too-familiar product.