Time to fire Frank Vogel as the Los Angeles Lakers lose in Triple OT

The Los Angeles Lakers didn’t have a lot of time to digest all of that Thanksgiving dinner (Neither did the writer!) before getting back to work to play against the new look Sacramento Kings fresh off the firing of former Lakers coach Luke Walton.

LeBron James has had quite an eventful Thanksgiving week. Here’s his last few days in a nutshell…

• On Sunday, he gets into an incident with Isaiah Stewart that earns him his first suspension in his 19 year career.
• That suspension falls on the New York game which causes LeBron to miss his only chance to play in the Madison Square Garden this season. Plus the Lakers lost the game.
• Then the next night, LeBron James returns to all of this in Indiana… 

For the Lakers fans that think this is just hate, the NBA has been fining players for that celebration for nearly a decade now. Toronto Raptors star Fred VanVleet was fined for doing the same thing earlier this month. Hopefully everyone can get back to basketball.

If anyone thought this has been a wild week, boy does Lake Show Life have a story to tell you. This was a combination of the most sloppy, undisciplined games with mind boggling lack of execution possibly in NBA history.

But get this though, the game went THREE OVERTIMES!

The Los Angeles Lakers found a way to lose to the Sacramento Kings 141-137. How did this travesty go on for so long?

• The Lakers blew a 13 point lead in the fourth quarter…LeBron shoots a 3 pointer at the buzzer and…CLANK!
• Then the Lakers had a chance to win it again in overtime…LeBron shoots a 3 pointer at the buzzer and…CLANK!
• Then the Sacramento Kings had the ball to end things in the second overtime with 12 seconds left and they did not get a shot off.
• Then Frank Vogel messed up his rotations and allowed Buddy Hield and DeAaron Fox to close the game out!

There’s a comment section below for excuses just for Lakers fans that want to dance to the music of the band while the Titanic is sinking.

To the analytic fiends that want to focus on the Big 3…this is not the article for you. Who cares? They all had over 20 points and lost to the Sacramento Kings.

The good from the Los Angeles Lakers’ loss:

What would the Los Angeles Lakers have done in this game without Malik Monk!

Frank Vogel is going to have to figure out a way to get this guy more minutes. His blinded loyalty to the veteran players has gotten old and Monk will get buckets if the man just gets an opportunity. In the first half, the Lakers fanbase probably fell asleep if it wasn’t for this spark from Lik’ Lik’.

Then in the second half, Monk scored five straight points including a really sweet left handed move to put the Lakers up 70-65.

Malik finished with 20 points on 8-11 shooting. Robert Horry clearly stated in the wrap up show that the Lakers needed to keep giving him the ball because he was in a zone. Instead, everybody else ignored that fact and kept firing up bricks from the field and the free throw line.

This is how you waste great performances folks.

Carmelo Anthony again hits timely shots when the Lakers really needed them! 

Malik Monk was the best player on the floor for the Lakers which means he was the King of the bench. But Carmelo Anthony continued his renaissance of 3 point shooting knocking down four shots from the land of the extra point.

Melo finished with 16 points with a huge 3 pointer in the corner to keep it interesting in the final overtime but his defense hurt the Lakers bad in the overtimes.

They played the Sacramento Kings!

How they beat the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night will be a mystery for a lot of people. The Kings set basketball back 25 years with their performance. This is going to be a full on investigation after they beat the Lakers!

But now the front office can’t ignore the fact that changes needs to be made. As bad as the OKC Thunder losses were, this was ten times worse. This might force the coaching change.

The bad from the Los Angeles Lakers’ loss:

This game was bad on both sides!

The Los Angeles Lakers should have blown this team out 40 points and been home in time for Corn Flakes. Just look at the circumstances that Sacramento is dealing with besides Luke Walton’s firing…

• Harrison Barnes and Richaun Holmes who are both starters did not play.
• Buddy Hield was ice cold from the field.
• DeAaron Fox is playing like he is comfortable with his max contract because he is playing subpar basketball.
• This team can’t shoot from the field…
• This team missed a ton of free throws…
• With Buddy Hield having an off night, they can’t hit 3 point shots. 

With all of these things going against the Lakers opponent, how in the world can the Los Angeles Lakers be tied after one quarter (20-20), then at the half (43-43) and only be up five points at the end of the third (78-73)? Then after being up 13 points, they needed a huge shot by Malik Monk to come from behind to go to overtime. This is to the point of being sad.

The Los Angeles Lakers came out listless and allowed a borderline G-League squad to hang around. Fox and Hield both were terrible for 45 minutes. Then they went crazy in crunch time. Fox finished with 34 points, 6 rebounds and 8 assists. Buddy Hield threw up enough bricks to start the improvements on the Staples Center and he finished with 25 points.

LeBron James aggravated either his groin or his abdominal muscle. 

He was seen holding his nether region in the third quarter. Lake Show Life had mentioned for the last couple of games that he was not healthy. Some readers thought it was shade after he went crazy for 39 against the Pacers. The staff said he was still hurt, not a scrub.

Late game executions.

Who cares at this point? There is none. Let’s get to what matters.

The story from the Los Angeles Lakers loss:

Who cares if the Lakers had won this game or lost it…FIRE VOGEL!

The one thing about Lake Show Life is that we are usually first to start uncomfortable conversations that are not popular to Lakers fans. It was mentioned in the offseason that Vogel might be in trouble…

•  Los Angeles Lakers Rumors: Is Frank Vogel’s job security still stable?

Then it was made clear in the second game of the season…

• Lakers vs. Suns: It’s already safe to write off the Lakers’ title hopes

Now it seems that rumors are going past this website.

"“There is also rising buzz in coaching circles about the pressure mounting on Frank Vogel given the Lakers’ worrisome 10-10 start … given L.A.’s lack of flexibility to make roster changes,” wrote NBA insider Marc Stein."

It’s over. Now Rob Pelinka has to take some responsibility for this. He made the decision to extend his head coach. Well it didn’t work. Frank Vogel is on the same level of Luke Walton. Well let’s go back over what got Luke Walton fired…

• The Kings have lost seven of eight games and dropped to 6-11 on season leaving them 12th in the Western Conference.
• Sacramento has lost against struggling teams like the San Antonio Spurs, Oklahoma City Thunder and Minnesota Timberwolves. Well, the Lakers beat the Spurs…the others? Blown leads to OKC (Twice!) and blowouts to the Timberwolves…at home.
• The Kings are amongst the league’s worst defensive teams, ranking 26th in defensive efficiency and in defensive rebounding percentage, 29th in paint points per game allowed and last in second-chance points per game allowed. Does this remind fans of the Lakers’ current stretch which includes the Detroit and Indiana games?

The wins the Lakers got over the Pacers and Pistons were only because the superstars turned in MVP performances to carry this team over the hump. This is a overrated team with superstars. Anyone that disagrees did not watch this game.

Jason Reed wrote an article a month ago about blame needing to be on Rob Pelinka…

• Los Angeles Lakers: Rob Pelinka, not Frank Vogel, should be on hot seat

If Frank Vogel is coaching Sunday’s game against Detroit…he’s right!