Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-US PRESSWIRE
The preseason doesn’t matter in the statistical sense. What does matter is building team chemistry and learning to execute the game plan. That obviously didn’t happen during the Lakers 0-8 tune up. Thus far the Lakers have failed to show any real chemistry while they continue to stumble through the growing pains of learning a new offense.
After last night’s loss to the Clippers the Lakers’ bad start to the season reached historic levels. Not since 1978 has a Lakers team opened the season with 3 losses. Let’s not even get into those damning stats of how impossible it is to win a title after a 0-3 start. It’s too early to start writing off the title hopes.
What’s not too early to speculate on is the sad state of Lakers hoops going all the way back to the end of last season and carrying through to the start of this one.
The Lakers haven’t tasted a victory of any kind since the playoffs last season. That’s a long time to go without getting that feeling of accomplishment only a victory can give you.
Time to face facts.
The Lakers have lost that winning feeling and they’re struggling to get it back. Mike Brown knows it and has admitted as much.
"“I’m not trying to fool anybody here, we do need a win. We’re trying to get this win, we still got to do things right. It’s going to be tough. It’s going to be tough to get a win if we’re averaging 23 turnovers a game.”"
The elephant in the room isn’t even the slow adjustment to the Princeton offense. While it might be a work in progress, the stats would suggest the Lakers are getting more efficient with each game…minus all those ugly turnovers of course. No the real unspoken truth is that Coach Brown’s defense is looking as bad as ever. That’s terrible news for a coach hired for his defensive acumen.
But we could talk all day long about the details. The big picture is that Lakers just need a win. Everything that helps to build unity while developing a formula for success can be found in a quality W. For the Lakers that has never been truer. This franchise is mired in a funk that has lasted far too long. No matter the importance of the games, losing is never acceptable or understood in Lakerland. Winning is always expected and the argument for patience is wearing thin. The hole will keep getting deeper if Coach Brown and his staff are content to lose while learning