Lakers Struggles in Washington Nothing New

The Lakers made it 16-2 last night against the Wizards. But for all intents and purposes, the coaching staff is counting the game as a loss. And well they should.

Shortly after the start of the fourth quarter the Lakers were ahead by 19 points. They wound up barely winning 106-104.

And if former Laker Caron Butler had gone for the tie on a 2-point shot instead trying for the win with a three-pointer, who knows? He may have sent the game into overtime and given the Wizards a chance to hand the Lakers their third loss of the season.

It has been that way in all three games the Lakers have played since leaving the Staples Center last Sunday after beating the Raptors 112-99.

On Tuesday night, they had a 15-point fourth-quarter lead against the hapless Indiana Pacers and wound up losing by a point 118-117.

On Wednesday, they again played a shaky fourth quarter in Philadelphia even though they won 114-102.

The Sixers were able to get in the paint more than Phil Jackson or his Lakers would have liked. It was only Kobe Bryant’s 32 points and Pau Gasol’s 22 points and 13 rebounds that kept the game from being close.

In Washington on Friday night, it was the same story that has been plaguing the Lakers for the past two weeks. Despite their height, the Lakers can’t keep smaller opponents out of the paint and are giving up more than their share of second-chance points.

With virtually three seven-footers in the lineup, the Lakers front court should be virtually impenetrable. But it isn’t. In fact, they are soft.

So soft, in fact, that the Celtics, the Cavaliers, and the Pistons would shred the Lakers defense. As a matter of fact, the Pistons already have 106-95, handing L.A. their first loss of the season.

Even though the Lakers have both Andrew Bynum and Trevor Ariza healthy again and back in the lineup, that still hasn’t solved the “soft defense” label that haunted the Lakers at the end of the last season.

They gave up huge leads to Dallas and New Orleans in the regular season only to have those teams come back and nearly beat them.

Now it’s happening again even with Bynum and Ariza on the court, and it doesn’t seem likely to end anytime soon with this crop of current players.

Lamar Odom has length. Trevor Ariza has quickness. Pau Gasol has finesse. Andrew Bynum has height and strength. But none of them have the emotional toughness of a Kevin Garnett or a Shaquille O’Neil. The kind of toughness and determination so necessary to win an NBA title.

In addition, last year’s Lakers bright spot, their second unit, is quickly losing its luster. Over the past few games, the Bench Mob, as they call themselves, has been looking more and more like a plain old mob – undisciplined and uninspired.

Not only on defense, however, but on offense as well. And that’s a very serious problem.

All last season, the Lakers survived game after game and won the Western Conference title on the ability of both units to put up points.

With the second unit’s offensive fire power on decline, not only will the Lakers fail to win an NBA title, they will most likely fail to retain their Western Conference title.

In Friday’s game against the Wizards, a team that has been struggling due to key injuries, the Lakers second unit scored only 23 points. Sasha Vujacic played 13 minutes and scored zero points. Meanwhile, the Wizards second unit accounted for 49 of the team’s 104 points, nearly half.

Against the Sixers, the Lakers Bench Mob put up 24 points to 26 points by a thin Sixers second unit. Sasha Vujacic, who was signed to a 3-year $15 million contract this summer, played over 11 minutes and again scored zero points.

In last Sunday’s home win against the Raptors, the Bench Mob outscored a struggling Raptors bench by only 2 points, 33-31. Vujacic had just 5 points in over 18 minutes. Lamar Odom, as big as he is, nearly disappeared, scoring just 3 points in over 28 minutes.

Do you see a pattern here? I do.

It becomes apparent that the Lakers and their second unit are not who we thought they were. And I’m not about the crown them champions of the NBA or even the Western Conference.

However, there is one key player on the Lakers who can end their defensive struggles. Mitch Kupchak.

If Kupchak can bring in a defensive-minded player with emotional toughness, he can virtually insure the Lakers of a second consecutive Western Conference title and a stronger showing in the NBA title matchup than they had last season.

Who does he have that he can deal?

There are five untouchables at this point. Bryant, Bynum, Gasol, Ariza and Fisher. Everyone else is fair game. Odom is the most attractive in the final year of his contract. Walton, Radmanovic, Farmar and Vujacic are all on multi-year contracts.

But one thing is fairly evident despite their current 15-2 record, the Lakers cannot get there from here. They need to bring in someone who can infuse the rest of the team with that killer instinct.

Their inability to close out teams will cost the Lakers in the long run.