Thunder Ends Lakers’ Misery, 106-90

The Lakers are like TNT—they know drama.  Which reminds me that the making of a basketball team and the making of a movie or TV show is very similar. Let’s start with this premise: Neither the players nor the actors are the problem. In re the movies, the actors are usually the best thing or the only good thing about the movie.  C’mon, the problem is the producer, director or screenwriter. Usually all of them.

Same with the NBA. The basketball players are terrific. In fact, they’re irreplaceable.  The problem is the producer (owner), director (general manager) or screenwriter (coach). Usually, as in the case of the Lakers, all of them.

It’s a lot easier for the ESPN guys, the LA Times guys, etc. to knock Pau as soft or Metta as whatever or Sessions or Blake than to take on Jerry Buss or whoever is running the show now, or Mitch Kupchak or Mike Brown. They all messed up. The players can only do so much.

Because of Jerry Buss’ illness, there was no firm hand running the Lakers. Meaning no accountability.

GM Mitch Kupchak never signed a backup center. Nor did he the year before, and the Lakers are about the only team that doesn’t have one (or more!).  Kupchak might have noticed that the Thunder gave backup center Nazr Mohammed some playing time last night so he could foul the Towers instead of Kendrick Perkins, their starting center. Perkins was able to play 33 minutes even though he had five fouls. Mohammed’s seven points didn’t hurt either.

Also Kupchak needed to acquire a more conventional small forward (Trevor Ariza comes to mind) to help Kobe and the Towers as a scoring option. After the Big Three, the Lakers didn’t really have a scoring option. Metta is a great defensive player who belonged on the second unit. He played starting small forward because the GM didn’t do his job. Kupchak also signed Steve Blake to a 4-year, $16 million contract. Blake’s got two years left.  Oops.

Kupchak shipped Lamar Odom to Dallas within 24 hours of Lamar’s complaint that the Lakers almost traded him. Granted, Lamar’s another drama guy (and the Lakers have enough drama guys) and he wound up having an awful year with Dallas but Kupchak didn’t know what kind of year Odom was going to have. He rashly traded a guy who could’ve helped the Lakers in a big way. Kupchak and Odom should have kissed and made up.  The Lakers were one player short all year. The double-whammy is that Kupchak got very little for Odom. A mid-level trade exception?  Please. You gave up the Sixth Man of the Year for a trade exception when the team desperately needed a starting point guard and a starting small forward?

I’ve already ripped Mike Brown as a careerist, no-clue-on-offense, non-leader who will never make waves–all of which should have precluded hiring the guy in the first place. Let’s blame Kupchak for that, too. Did I mention that Mike Brown misused his bench all year?  Devin Ebanks and Andrew Goudelock both played early and played well. Then Brown shut them down for the rest of the season (in Goudelock’s case) and for most of the rest of the season in Ebanks’ case. Brown played him a little toward the end when injuries forced Brown to use him. These are two players whom the Lakers should have been thinking of as part of their future (I mean they drafted them!): Ebanks as a small forward who might become a Trevor Ariza and Goudelock as an off-guard who could be a viable backup for Kobe. Both players were hurt by their inactivity and the Lakers were, and will be, too.

Josh McRoberts, a fine and unusually gifted big man, played just enough to show how good and versatile he is, then was banished to the end of the bench, appearing almost exclusively in garbage time.  After acquiring Jordan Hill, it took weeks before Brown let him play. Turns out Hill is an outstanding bench player.

Brown way overplayed both Kobe and Pau. He had Kobe lead the league in minutes played despite Kobe sustaining some seriously inhibiting injuries. Kobe played hurt for all 66 games. Just as Phil Jackson overplayed the Big Three at the end of the regular season last year to position himself in the seeding of the post-season, (while all of his rivals rested their players and, correctly, didn’t care about the seeding). Brown did the same thing, except that Brown overplayed Kobe all year long. Really bad show, Mike.

Mike Brown mishandled Sessions to the point that Sessions lost his confidence.  For a point guard, that’s devastating. He had some good moments, especially at first, but Brown didn’t build on it. He used Steve Blake in crunch time lately for no good reason, then the move seemed almost logical as Sessions’ game went south. Last night he was terrible, and I really dig the guy. It had to hurt. He had his shot and couldn’t get it done. Now either Brown or Sessions will have to go, and take a wild guess who that’ll be.

Then there’s Pau. He’s been the Official Scapegoat all year. Jim Buss, Mitch Kupchak and Mike Brown are not going to blame themselves for the Lakers’ shortcomings. On that you can rely. Trading Pau is their only answer to their problems–and to their critics. Yeah, too soft. Right.

Kobe’s 42 points never seemed more irrelevant. He took 33 shots last night and had no assists. None.

Bynum did not have a single offensive rebound in 34 minutes. The Lakers had a total of three. He scored 10 points and seemed like he’d rather be paragliding, anywhere but there. The Lakers need to revive the Bynum-for-Dwight Howard deal.

Sessions had six turnovers and one basket in 40 minutes.

If the Lakers had played well in losing last night the season could be considered a success. They you could say they just weren’t good enough. But they stunk. That’s how they went out. And that’s the taste in the mouth that Laker fans will be carrying around for a few months.

The players, everything considered–their roster, the schedule, etc.–played well. The owner, the general manager and the head coach sucked.