How much can Carlos Boozer actually help the Lakers this season? Photo by By Keith Allison from Owings Mills, USA, via Wikimedia Commons

This year, the Lakers might be the third-best team in California, but that won’t stop them from being an interesting team to keep tabs on. Owen and Andy go through the roster and try to figure out what reasonable expectations for this team’s roster are and which of their young players with upside might be a candidate to break-out.

Since the Zen Master left, it’s been the same old story line. The same questions. The same answers.

Who is going to take the reins and lead the team in the same type of manner that Phil Jackson had? How can the Lakers win with an aging shooting guard?

Defensive minded Mike Brown tried and failed only to be followed by Mike D’Antoni who was almost just about forced out. Obviously, nobody is going to be Phil or will ever match his historic resume but the Lakers are now searching for a head coach and this time they can’t afford to mess up.

Kobe Bryant only has a few years left to get his 6th ring so the head coaching position is more important than ever for the Lakers. By steve.lanctot (kb_0563cf) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Kobe Bryant only has a few years left in his career and he has made it clear that he wants to compete for a championship this coming season.

Lakers management already lost Phil to the Knicks, so fans and dreamers can stop considering that as a possibility.

Many names have been swirling throughout the media including George Karl, UNC’s Roy Williams, Derek Fisher, Lionel Hollins, Byron Scott and more but there are really only a few names that actually make sense for the direction the Lakers are headed.

What the Lakers need in order to bring them back to the glory that they have been used to is a coach who understands what it takes to win as a Laker. No more of these coaches who achieved success simply because of a system or a star player.

I think Byron Scott would be the right choice to at this juncture. Scott understands what it takes to be a Laker and what it takes to win in Los Angeles. He helped them win three titles in the 1980s and also has coaching experience in the NBA Finals, taking the Nets to the Finals in back-to-back years (2002,2003). He has also shown the ability to handle star players such as Jason Kidd and Chris Paul during his tenure in New Orleans.

Make it happen Mitch

Byron Scott makes perfect sense for the Lakers and hopefully management sees it that way as well. Kobe Bryant has endorsed Scott which is huge. Kobe didn’t have any say in the hiring of Brown or D’Antoni, and look how that turned out for the Lakers. The Lakers need a leader in this awkward time. I think Scott is their guy.

Losing a game is never a good thing in the NBA or any sport for that matter, but even losing sometimes has its positives. As for the Lakers, a night after a very impressive pre-season opening win, the team looked a little bit different than the night before and played different as well. Insert Steve Nash and Pau Gasol into the rotation and fans can pencil in another win, right? Wrong. Yes,  the Lakers may have lost the game but there were a lot of positives from this game that the Lakers organization should take away.

Despite the loss and a struggling offense, Pau Gasol led the Lakers in his pre-season debut. By Howcheng (Own work), via Wikimedia Commons

When the Lakers did score, they were lead by Pau Gasol and the so-far pre-season Laker MVP Xavier Henry. It seemed as if every shot Henry was taking went in for the young kid. He finished the night with 15 points on four of seven shooting. Another young player who stood out was forward Marcus Landry. Despite air-balling his first two shots, Landry ended the game with 13 points. In his debut, Steve Nash posted a zero in the points column but contributed five rebounds and six assists.

The Lakers as a team struggled most of the night and didn’t give the Staples Center fans much to cheer about, but two plays stood out from this night.

The first was on a behind the back left handed pass from Steve Nash to Steve Blake in the corner for a wide open three-pointer which he graciously drained. Then there was Darius Johnson-Odom throwing down a huge dunk on top of taller defenders late in the fourth quarter. At one point for about three to four minutes late in the fourth quarter, the Lakers lineup of Darius Johnson-Odom, Marcus Landry, Elias Harris, Xavier Henry and Eric Boateng were outplaying the Nuggets whom had Ty Lawson and Javale McGee on the court.

Sometimes, preseason trends don’t carry over into the regular season. Let’s hope this defensively-solid attitude does and that the offense comes around.

Ahh the NBA season is upon us in the form of pre-season games. While the pre-season may not count towards actual standings and won’t show what teams are really capable of, it does provide a chance for coaches and fans to watch as younger players try to prove themselves on the court and earn their right onto the team. This is especially true for the Lakers this pre-season. With injuries limiting Steve Nash and Pau Gasol, the youngsters and role players are getting a chance to make a name for themselves with coach D’Antoni.

Without Nash, Gasol and Kobe, the Lakers beat the Warriors showing promising talents. Maybe Kobe does have something to smile about this season. By LDCross, via Wikimedia Commons

They were hustling back after offensive possessions and were flying to guard the ball. The energy they brought was unlike anything we saw from a D’Antoni-run team. Only allowing 95 points to the Warriors was impressive as the Warriors played their starters and main role players most of the first half.

Without Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash and Pau Gasol, the young Lakers led the Warriors starters by three at halftime. Granted Xavier Henry earned the lead on a half-court heave at the buzzer but a lead is a lead nonetheless. Free agent signees, Chris Kaman and Nick Young led the way in the first half for the Lakers and really set the tone for the rest of the game. In the second half Jordan Farmar and Xavier Henry carried the load with a 12 point and 27 point games respectively. Henry showed off what everyone thought he was capable of doing when Memphis drafted him number 12 overall back in the 2010 draft. If he keeps this kind of play up, he will most certainly be granted a roster spot and it would be well deserved.

It may have been just one game but that one game showed a lot of hustle and heart from a team that really needs a lot of both this year. If Kobe, Nash and Gasol can all come back and play to the level we have grown to expect from them, this might actually be a scary team in the Western Conference. I’m not saying that the Lakers would be a championship contending team. I do, however, think they could become a team that nobody wants to see come playoff time. Also, this was the Lakers first pre-season win since 2011 and Mike D’Antoni’s first of his Laker career. Keep up the good work, boys.

Dwight Howard is taking his smile and game to Houston. By scott mecum, via Wikimedia Commons

After being bounced in the second round of the Western Conference playoffs for the second straight year in 2012, the Los Angeles Lakers are in unusual territory.

They aren’t being considered serious contenders for the upcoming year.

Trading for Steve Nash and Dwight Howard in separate deals to pair with Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol last year brought the promise of a hugely successful season. Fast-forward to the 2013 offseason, and dejected Lakers fans wondered, will Dwight Howard re-sign?

While many in the Lakers’ organization seemed optimistic, fans and executives around the NBA thought it unlikely Howard would continue in the Purple and Gold. With 16 NBA titles under its belt, I think the Lakers organization and must have been confident in re-signing Howard. They have Hollywood, legends, and banners, everything that Dwight Howard has said from the beginning that he wants. How can any star player deny a chance to become another legend that wore the famous purple and gold jerseys?

Don’t get me wrong, Howard is a great NBA player. When healthy, he is the best center in the league. But he is still immature and sometimes delusional, and never quite seemed like he belonged.

He has finally made his decision, spurning the Lakers to join James Harden and the Houston Rockets. Howard becomes the first superstar to leave Los Angeles for another team. He made it clear that he didn’t like playing under Mike D’Antoni but the Lakers didn’t budge and made it clear that he would be back as the coach. All that being said, I don’t believe Howard ever really wanted to be in Los Angeles in the first place. From the beginning he had other cities in mind — Brooklyn for instance. His relationship with the fans in Los Angeles seemed to mirror his relationship with every coach he’s ever had. Fans marveled at his talent and raw ability when healthy. They groaned when they considered the player he could be. The fans never accepted this #12 even as much as they accepted another #12 — Vlade Divac. Howard never wanted to be a Laker and rightfully so shouldn’t be one.

One last message to Dwight: Thank you for choosing the Rockets over the Lakers. At least now us Laker fans and organization don’t have to deal with all your problems. Have fun in Houston playing for a team that has won only two championships in its franchise history and the only reason they won those are because Michael Jordan left the league in 1994 and only played in 17 games in 1995. In a few years you will be sitting on your couch watching the Lakers hold up that trophy you so desperately covet and will be thinking, “I’ve made a huge mistake.” But again, thank you Dwight for leaving, you don’t want to be a Laker then the Lakers don’t need you. And Houston, this time you really do have a problem, a 6’11” problem.

The Lakers have Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, Pau Gasol, Jordan Hill, Metta World Peace, Steve Blake, Jodie Meeks and Robert Sacre. That is eight players and the Lakers normally like to have 13-14 players on the roster, which means there will be some new faces wearing purple and gold this coming season. Unfortunately for the Lakers the only contracts they can offer to free agents is the veteran minimum because of their salary cap problems and the unwillingness to dig themselves deeper as they await the 2014 offseason, where they now that Howard left, will only have Nash’s 9 million on the books.

The Lakers will look to re-vamp the team in 2014 offseason but as for the 2014 regular season, it remains to be seen. The Lakers will likely try and build a team around Gasol at the center and Kobe Bryant, something which worked quite well if anyone remembers.  I do agree that the Lakers need to get younger and more athletic just to keep up with some of the teams in the NBA but the money situation puts them in a tight place. The Lakers will and are looking to add shooters to the team to help spread the floor. Familiar names such as Jordan Farmar and Sasha Vujacic have come about but who knows with rumors nowadays.

Many people especially now that Howard has bolted have been quick to immediately throw the Lakers out, saying that they will be at the bottom of the standings but I for one disagree. The starting lineup of Gasol, Hill, Metta, Kobe and Nash is still pretty good and can make a run in the playoffs, just not for a title. But because the Lakers are the Lakers and not winning a title is considered a failure, I believe the team should “tank” unless they can find a way to make a huge splash of a trade. The 2014 draft is considered to have one of the better draft classes in a long time so falling in the standings for a year and drafting a good young player wouldn’t be such a bad idea. Who knows when Kobe will return, even though I believe it will be opening night and while Kobe and the rest of the Lakers might not like the idea, it makes more sense than to just be another mediocre team in the Western Conference without a chance to win the title.

Have Kobe come back fully healthy and play a little bit and then come back in 2014 full strength and hopefully take a pay cut to remain with the team to help with salary purposes and add leadership to the new core of Lakers. This is a strange time in Laker land but I think Laker fans would accept one year of “tanking” so that we could come back even stronger the next one. The Lakers will have trouble tanking and while that’s a good sign, they do have something going for them and it’s that they will have their checkbooks open and ready come the 2014 offseason.

The Lakers didn’t exactly have a banner year. By Sgt. Joseph A. Lee, via Wikimedia Commons

What if I told you in the beginning of the 2012-2013 NBA season that the Los Angeles Lakers with Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, Steve Nash and Pau Gasol on their roster would end up crawling their way into the playoffs and finally getting swept in the first round? You wouldn’t believe it, would you? You might call me crazy or a doubter but it’s the unfortunate reality for Lakers fans.

Beginning with high hopes for another run at an NBA title, this year ended up becoming one of the longest and most bizarre Laker seasons in the history of the franchise. Looking back, we should have seen this coming right? They did start out the season 1-12 including going 0-8 in the preseason and to me looking back on it, we should have seen that as the first big red flag. After two straight championships then followed by two second-round playoff exits, Lakers’ management decided it was time to shake things up and they did so in a huge way. By adding All Star center Dwight Howard and former All Star Steve Nash to a roster with Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol, the Lakers looked primed to chase their 17th title. Add-in veteran Antwan Jamison and Jodie Meeks and things in Laker land seemed pretty good. As the season started, the Lakers fell to a 1-4 record through the first five games and fired coach Mike Brown and replaced him with offensive-minded Mike D’Antoni while spurning Hall of Fame coach Phil Jackson in the process.

To many fans’ and players’ disgust and disapproval, Mike D’Antoni was named head coach of the Lakers. Unfortunately for the team and their fans, the change of the coach didn’t help much as the team fell to a horrid 17-25 record at one point. Over the last 40 games, the Lakers had one of the league’s best records 28-12 and things finally started to look in the right direction for the Lakers. But the injury bug bit and fate decided that it just wasn’t meant to be for the Lakers. Pretty much every single player on the Lakers roster got hurt this season. With the team struggling to make the playoffs, Kobe Bryant tore his Achilles with just two games left. It was a bitter way to end his season after yet another outstanding and age-defying year by the Black Mamba. Barely sneaking into the postseason, the Lakers drew the San Antonio Spurs in the first round.

The Spurs had been banged-up themselves with injuries of Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker and many wondered if the Kobe-less Lakers could manage the upset. But, after game-one of the series, you could tell that the Spurs meant business and the Lakers were going to be no match for them. The Purple and Gold would end-up getting swept in the first round of the playoffs for the first time since the 1960s including a 31-point loss at home. It was the worst loss at home in franchise history. What a fitting way to end the bad season by getting swept on their home court. The only Laker star in his prime, Dwight Howard, even got ejected a little into the third quarter in what may have been his final game as a Laker. Looking back on it, I should have seen that the Lakers season was doomed from the start.

So what now?

This upcoming off-season might be one of the biggest Laker off-seasons in recent memory because of the many decisions that Jim Buss and the rest of the Lakers front office has to make. No longer do they have hall of fame owner Jerry Buss to help make decisions.

Many questions linger. What will they do with Pau Gasol? What will happen with Dwight Howard’s future with the Lakers? What will happen with Kobe trying to come back from the Achilles injury? Where do Antawn Jamison and Earl Clark fit in during the next few seasons? And most importantly, will Mike D’Antoni return as the coach of the Lakers? All of these questions will be answered in the coming months, but my answers to all these questions if I was the Lakers GM/owner would be as follows:

I think they should keep Pau because his versatility as a passer and shooter is something that most big men in the league don’t have and is a huge value to the team. Not knowing if Howard is going to stay is another reason to keep Pau for another year. In the worst case scenario, Pau is there for another season, then becomes a free agent and over $18 million comes off the Lakers’ books in 2014.

As for Dwight Howard, I believe that he will stay with the Lakers and sign a long-term contract for two reasons. One: where else is he going to go? Houston? Dallas? Atlanta? If Dwight wants to win like he says he does, then staying in Los Angeles should be priority number one. What other team is going to put talent around him to win? And what other fans are going to put up with all his drama? As for the second reason it is strictly Howard’s image and ego. His image has already taken a hit from his Orlando days and if he left the Lakers after one year, he would be playing for three teams in three years. This isn’t the profile of a franchise cornerstone.

Kobe Bryant has defied basketball odds time and time again but this will be his greatest test, coming back from an Achilles tear. I believe that he will come back stronger than ever. That is all I will say because questioning this man’s will and heart for the game is shameful and shouldn’t ever happen.

Now, on to the bench for the Lakers, I think they should re-sign Antwan Jamison for another season and keep him as a veteran for this team. He provides leadership and a unique shooting and cutting ability that can still help. I also think they should re-sign Earl Clark back just to have a younger, athletic player on the team that has played a season with all the players and knows the system. But they shouldn’t just stand pat. Jim Buss should try to sign another player or two that can help out the team like Nate Robinson and/or Kyle Korver to improve the team’s shooting.

The biggest question aside from the Howard drama is what to do with D’Antoni. To me, Mike Brown re-signing with the Cavs is a blessing in disguise for the Lakers. It eats up some of the salary that the Lakers still owe Brown and would make it so if they did indeed fire D’Antoni like most Laker fans and media members want to happen, it would equal them just paying Mike Brown if you add up D’Antoni’s and the rest of the money owed to Brown. I think they should fire D’Antoni and not because he was a bad coach because he was a good coach under all the scrutiny he endured all year. That being said, he isn’t the right coach for this team and the Lakers management needs to realize that. The team wasn’t even running his offensive system all season. How can you have a coach who doesn’t even run his own system? My message to the Lakers: Fire D’Antoni.

I cannot go as far to say that this was the worst season in Lakers history. They did make the playoffs. But it has to be one of the mot disappointing seasons in recent memory. I attended the final game of the season where the Lakers got swept by the Spurs and the atmosphere in the Staples center was unlike any I have every seen there before. It was clear that the fans were still very supportive but you could sense a huge disappointment among them — and rightfully so. The season was doomed the day the front office planned it out and the Kobe injury was the cherry on top of it. Hopefully next season will be better for the Lakers and that starts with the critical moves needed to be made this offseason. Hopefully Buss, Kupchak and company can find a way to restore the Lakers to the proud franchise that we all are used to seeing out there on the court.

Difficult to watch. Painful. Heartbreaking.

These are just a few descriptions to describe the scene in the Staples Center as Kobe Bryant limped off the court on Friday night. Many people in the stands or people just watching the game didn’t think too much of the injury, they just knew that he was having a very hard time and needed to leave the court. The man was in obvious pain and the fans knew it.

Lakers fans hope Kobe can get back to the court soon. By Keith Allison from Kinston, USA, via Wikimedia Commons

The injury looked bad, but nobody knew what was coming within the hour. It was a torn Achilles, out for the season and possibly the end to an era in Laker-land. After all he is going to be turning 35 this coming August and there has been much speculation of his retirement after his contract expires next season. The man the Laker faithful has looked to as a God was now finally looking human. Kobe has made a living off of defying odds and playing through a number of countless injuries and somehow still producing at his incredible level but not this time. When asked postgame if this was something he could just rest and shake off, Kobe said with puffy eyes, a sign of the Mamba breaking down, “I can’t walk”. And for anyone who read Kobes’ 3:00 AM rant on Facebook, it showed you his disappointment and love for his team and the city he plays for.

So, what now? Where does a Laker franchise go from here? For the last 17 years, Kobe has been the “man” and now he’s hurt. In the midst of one of the strangest and longest Lakers seasons in recent memory, it seems that he was destined to finally get hurt. Every member of the starting five has missed time this season with injuries from Nash to Pau to Dwight and so on. They had a coaching change going from defensive-minded Mike Brown to offensive powerhouse Mike D’Antoni. In my opinion, the season has been a complete failure since the day that the management spurned Phil Jackson and went with D’Antoni to coach the team. That being said, D’Antoni can coach and is good at it, so props to him for what he has done with all the distractions. Still, he isn’t the right coach for the Lakers. Many people will look at the extreme amount of minutes Kobe played before the injury including playing all 48 minutes against Portland, a game I was in attendance at. But in reality, Kobe needed to play all those minutes just to put this team into position to make the playoffs. Kobe knows his body better than almost any athlete I have ever seen and he wanted to play. It isn’t as if Kobe said no and D’Antoni forced him to go into the game.

As for Kobe and the Lakers, I don’t believe that he is done. He just can’t be. He is too good and too strongly motivated to get that coveted sixth ring to be done. Luckily for Kobe he didn’t tear his ACL or anything as serious like that. An Achilles tear is serious but is recoverable. He is expected to be out six to nine months, which would put him in perfect position to start the season if all goes well. Kobe is a freak when it comes to healing from injuries and despite the fact that he has never had to deal with this serious of an injury, I expect him to recover and be ready to chase the trophy again. But for now, Bryant is a spectator and coach on the bench as his team tries to make the playoffs without him.

What now?

It is now Dwight Howard’s time to step up and take control of his team and prove to the management and the fans that he is the building piece that we all believe him to be. It’s his time to shine and earn his money. I believe the Lakers will still make the playoffs and could possibly make a small run depending on whether or not they make their shots. Dwight Howard has already led a team to the NBA Finals once before in his career, only to be bested by Kobe and the Lakers. The part that makes me and many other fans so upset is all the hard work this team has put in to put themselves in position to make the playoffs after such a horrible start even with all the distractions and injuries throughout the season. The timing of the injury and just the injury in itself to the player is wrong.

This highly touted Laker season has been horrible for the players, for the fans and for the city of Los Angeles. A season that started with so much hope and happiness after acquiring Nash and Howard has turned into an injury-prone year where the team is barely holding onto the eighth seed in the West with two games left. If someone told me that in the beginning of the year, I would have laughed and brushed it off but now it has become a nightmare of a reality and the cherry on the top of this misguided season is now the unfortunate injury to Kobe.

Kobe is more than a basketball player to the city. He is a role model, a leader and most importantly a person who has given L.A. hope for his whole career with the purple and gold. His passion for the game of basketball and his raw will to win is unlike anything anyone has ever seen since Michael Jordan stepped foot onto a court and it seems we may never see a player with that mentality again in the NBA. With his killer instinct, you better believe the Black Mamba will be back and better than ever. The man has too much motivation to prove everyone wrong not too be.

Will he stay or won’t he?  After much scrutiny and damage to his image over the last few seasons, Dwight Howard finally signed a one-year extension to stay with the Orlando Magic last season. Not expecting him to stay put, the Magic ultimately decided to trade the three time defensive player of the year to the Los Angeles Lakers in a mega-deal. With Howard, Steve Nash and longtime-Laker Kobe Bryant, the Lakers were expected to become a dominant team once again. But injuries and poor play have made the Lakers a below-average team thus far in the season. Howard has been a target of blame for the Lakers’ struggles because of his play and the questioning of his mental ability to play in a city like Los Angeles and with another star player in Kobe Bryant. The idea of trading Howard before the trade deadline swirled up as the Lakers continued their struggles. Yet Mitch Kupchak and the entire Lakers organization, stood pat and didn’t do anything drastic like trading their center. The Lakers believe that they can re-sign the big man to a multi-year deal and make him a Laker for years to come. Many believe that Howard will only be a Laker for this season but I believe that he will re-sign with the Lakers and help them regain their status as NBA elite. Here are three reasons why:

Is Dwight Howard the right building block for the Lakers’ future? Do they have a choice at this point? By Howcheng (Own work), via Wikimedia Commons

1. Where else is he going to go?: 

As we all know, Howard wanted to go to Brooklyn rather than the Lakers but that dream is dead and Howard would be smart to let it die. The Nets are way over the cap after trading for Joe Johnson and his almost $20 million contract. There would be no way for the Nets to sign Howard. The next option might be Dallas, which looks promising but isn’t so much. Why would Howard want to leave playing with an aging 34-year old Kobe Bryant to go and play with an aging 34-year old Dirk Nowitzki? That would be the most pointless free agent move in NBA history. The Mavericks would love to get Howard but that isn’t likely to happen. The final team that might make sense would be the Atlanta Hawks. Atlanta is Howard’s hometown and they will only have about $18 million left in guaranteed money on their entire roster when the season ends. The Hawks, I believe are the only legit threat to the Lakers for Howard. They could sign Howard and re-sign forward Josh Smith, whom Howard has been friends with dating back to their pre-school days. Together, combined with Al Horford, the Hawks could have one of the scariest front lines in the NBA.

But in the end I believe he will stay with the Lakers because where else is he going to go if he wants to win a title like he says he does? The Lakers can also give him the most amount of money guaranteed, with up to $30 million more than any other NBA team. The Lakers know how to win championships and the best place for Howard’s career is in Los Angeles. I think he likes the spotlight and idea of being in Hollywood. As long as Kobe is around, Howard will be second fiddle to him but if that means winning, I’m sure Howard will learn to deal with that.

2. His image is damaged enough:

During the whole “Dwightmare” fiasco, Howard severely damaged his image as the “nice” guy and this is bad news to Howard. He likes to be loved by everyone and hates when people look down on him and rightfully so. How bad would it look if Howard left Orlando for the Lakers then left them after one season, especially the one the Lakers are currently having? He hasn’t put up very impressive numbers thus far this season, although some of that goes back to his still injured back and now shoulder. Howard seems to be trying to re-write his image, kind of like LeBron James did a couple years ago after leaving Cleveland for Miami. And the first and best way to do so would be to stay with the Lakers and sign an extension with them. Howard owes it to the fans to be truthful with them and he can start by telling them he is staying. This way it takes pressure off everybody and the Lakers can start playing the way we all expecting them too.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=y08gvGpGCwA

3. He is finally showing maturity: 

After recent home wins over Boston and Portland, Howard has started to show some of his capabilities as a basketball player. He’s showing energy and has played the way Orlando fans remember him playing and it has resulted in two wins for the Lakers. He most recently was quoted for basically taking the blame for the many losses early in the season because of his lack of energy and spark. This is something new from the big-man, he’s finally showing some maturity, something that has been questioned since his arrival in Los Angeles. To me, this is a sign that Howard is planning on staying with the Lakers because why else would he come out and say those things? If he was planning on leaving the Lakers at the end of the year, I don’t believe he would take the blame as he would then be trying to get the best contract for himself. Howard’s mature statements a good sign for the Lakers and their fans and hopefully turns out to lead to a contract extension to stay in LA.

In the end:

Howard and the Lakers have struggled this season so far, currently sitting in the ninth seed in the Western Conference but surprisingly only sit three games back of the eighth seed. For the Lakers to make the playoffs, it will take all out focus and hustle plus they need some teams ahead of them to start losing. But the Lakers can’t worry about that, all they can do is play their game, win and hope that everything turns out for the best. No matter what happens this season, the most important thing is that the Lakers re-sign Dwight Howard back. As much as I hate the say this, he is the future of the franchise. With a healthy Dwight, I believe the Lakers will return to their winning ways and bring glory and dominance back to this franchise. As for this season, Kobe made a guarantee about this team making the playoffs so let’s see if he and the rest of the Lakers can back it up.

Like the current Laker team, the 2003-2004 Laker team had much hype going into it. Adding hall of famers Gary Payton and Karl Malone will do that to a team, and they ended up making it to the NBA finals only to lose to the one-year wonder Detroit Pistons.

You may be wondering why it matters, since it was almost ten years ago and the current team looks nowhere close to a championship-contending squad, but the current team and the 03-04 has the same makeup of players. It was the last time that a Laker squad had this much “star” power on the roster and I found it very interesting the differences and similarities from the two teams. Lets check it out:

2003-2004 Lakers:

Coach: Phil Jackson

Record through 54 games: 35-19

Center: Shaq, 21.5 PPG and 11.5 rebounds per game

Power Forward: Karl Malone, 13.2 PPG and 8.7 rebounds per game

Small Forward: Devean George, 7.4 PPG and 4.0 rebounds per game

Shooting Guard: Kobe Bryant, 24.0 PPG and 5.1 assists per game

Point Guard: Gary Payton, 14.6 PPG and 5.5 assists per game

Key Bench Players: Stanislav Medvendenko, 8.3 PPG

Derek Fisher, 7.1 PPG

Kareem Rush, 6.4 PPG

Mike D’Antoni’s free-wheeling coaching style has cross-crossed the Lakers, leaving them structureless. By Keith Allison [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Coach: Mike D’Antoni

Record through 54 games: 25-29

Center: Dwight Howard, 16.3 PPG and 11.8 rebounds per game

Power Forward: Pau Gasol, 13.4 PPG and 8.0 rebounds per game

Small Forward: Metta World Peace, 12.9 PPG and 5.6 rebounds per game

Shooting Guard: Kobe Bryant, 26.8 PPG and 5.6 assists per game

Point Guard: Steve Nash, 11.8 PPG and 7.4 assists per game

Key Bench Players: Antawn Jamison, 8.4 PPG

Earl Clark (who now is starting), 8.1 PPG

Jodie Meeks, 7.8 PPG

The Lakers currently sit at 25-29 through 54 games, while the 03-04 team went  35-19.

Why is this team so bad? I have the answer in two words: Mike D’Antoni. In 03-04, Phil Jackson knew how to get players to play with each other and do it well. It’s obvious D’Antoni does not.

I truly believe that if Phil Jackson had been hired instead of D’Antoni the Lakers would at least be contending and starting to play the kind of basketball that we all expected them to be at this point in the season. I have said from the beginning that D’Anotni isn’t the right coach for the Lakers and I stand by that.

But it isn’t completely his fault. The lineups of Howard, Gasol, Kobe and Nash have only played in 17 of the 54 games together, a difficult situation for any coach.

The Lakers have been decimated by injuries throughout the season, including Dwight Howard, who is still playing hurt. When Jordan Hill went down, the Lakers found a replacement in Earl Clark who has turned out to be a pleasant surprise. But when Pau Gasol went down in Brooklyn a few weeks ago, the Lakers’ playoff chances went from hopeful to doubtful. Losing Pau was a huge blow to an already-hurt team and it has shown in their play, losing three of five since the injury.

Now rumors have been swirling of trading Dwight Howard because of the poor play and the fact that he may leave at the end of the season.

In my opinion, in order to make sure that Howard stays, the Lakers should part ways with D’Antoni and find a coach that will realize how to utilize the players he has and won’t bench a key cog on two NBA championship teams.

Mike D’Antoni is a good coach with a very high basketball IQ but neither him nor his system fit into what the coach of the Lakers should be. This Laker team is too talented to be playing this poorly and I for one don’t believe it’s all the players’ fault.

The sooner the Lakers front office realizes that, the better and the franchise can get back to its winning ways. At least the 2003-2004 Lakers made it to the finals and although they lost, I’m sure if you ask any Laker fan at the moment if they would take a loss in the finals as opposed to not even making the playoffs – they would take that in a heartbeat.

We’ll see what kind of heart this star-driven version 2.0 of the purple and gold have in the second half of the season.  Stay tuned.