The Lakers Are Bad. How Bad Are They?

The Los Angeles Lakers are really bad. Words can't describe how this Lakers fan feels. The team has become worse since Mike D'Antoni was hired. His system is terrible. Sure the Lakers can score pints on some nights but their defense is just plain garbage. For those of you who've had the pleasure or displeasure of reading my D'Antoni  tirade laced dribble in the past, this will seem repetitive but you know I wasn't a fan of this ridiculous hiring by Lakers management.

So how bad are the Lakers? They lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers tonight by the score of 100-94. No one loses to the Cavs. Playing them is a guaranteed victory. Well that's not entirely true. The Cavs came into this game 4-17 and 13th in the Eastern Conference. Only 4 teams prior to tonight had lost to this terrible team. Make that 5. Way to go Lakers.

D'Antoni was hired for his system that produces points. They have. They are ranked 7th in scoring. That's OK but they have to be much better than that to win games. That's because their defense is atrocious. The Lakers are ranked 19th in points allowed. That's the problem in nutshell. D'Antoni's offense isn't good enough to carry this team. Not with a defense as bad as theirs.

To prove my point the Lakers have scored under 100 points 10 times and they've lost 9 of those games. The Lakers have scored 100 points 12 times and they are 8-4 in those games. As you can see the Lakers offense isn't strong enough to carry them. A 7th ranked offense isn't enough. It's sad that their defense is sinking this ship but I shouldn't be surprised by that. That's what I expected and that's why I was mad at the D'Antoni hire.

I wonder if the Lakers would dare change course now. I don't think they can and on the other hand I don't think they can't. It's a catch 22 that the Lakers front office now finds itself in. I don't have a crystal ball but I'm convinced that the Lakers would have been better with Phil Jackson as their coach.

The Lakers entered this season in win now mode. Kobe is aging and he's trying to win his 6th world championship. He doesn't have time to be part of a rebuilding or retooling team. He has to win now. That's not going to happen this year. That means the Lakers will be forced to make some difficult decisions in the offseason.

Mike D'Antoni has a good regular season win loss record but he's never won a title. Phil Jackson has won 11 of them. So who would a rational person have hired? Should I even ask that question? I'm in panic mode now. With the losses mounting, it is becoming harder and harder for this team to change course. They need someone who can provide them with a workable and winnable system.

Who do you think that man is? Yes, it's the man that Lakers management metaphorically urinated on. This is a team that had to wake the man up in the early morning hours to tell him he wasn't going to be hired. That's as classless and rude as you can get. Do you think Phil would ever consider coming back to this team?

It's hard to know how mad he is or how badly the Lakers have bruised his ego. He might also think that the Lakers have dug themselves such a huge hole that even he couldn't turn this thing around. The Lakers might have a chance of turning this thing around but it's going to be extremely tough.

The Lakers are only 2 games out of that coveted 8th spot. Coveted? The Lakers were setting their sights at much higher than an 8th seed.

So how bad are the Lakers? I think I've just showed you how bad this team is. They are terrible. They are a joke. They lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers for crying out loud.

Stats courtesy of ESPN.com.