Trouble in Paradise as Los Angeles Lakers remain winless in preseason – NBA Feature
Its official. With only one game left in the preseason schedule, the Los Angeles Lakers are yet to pick up a win and have gone 0-7 up till now. Given that the preseason is a time when coaches try different player combinations, starting rosters, rest key players and experiment with their team strategy. However, as the season approaches and teams head into their final few preseason games, they tend to get serious and try out their combination and strategy that they look to employ in the regular season, as they want to head into the season confident about their abilities and their standing as a team.
But the Lakers, who have been dubbed as the favourites out of the Western Conference to reach the NBA Finals next season, seem unable to land a single victory.
LAL lost 91-97 to the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday night, which marked their seventh straight preseason loss. They did not play Dwight Howard or Kobe Bryant in the game, but Steve Nash and Pau Gasol were in the starting line-up. And considering that Chris Paul did not play for the Clippers either, it was more or less a balanced roster on both sides. Their loss on Sunday night against the Sacramento Kings was discouraging as well, as Dwight Howard made his Lakers debut in that game and finished with a double double as well as four blocks. Still, the Lakers were unable to secure the victory.
In the seven preseason games, the Lakers have played all their team starters in one game or the other, and still have not been able to land a victory. Moreover, the Lakers bench has been unable to help the team in games when their key players have rested, signalling a weakness in this superstar filled roster that was pointed out by many analysts during the offseason when the Lakers were restructuring the roster.
With Nash and Kobe both at the twilight of their career, the Lakers need a solid bench to support these two players. So far, we have not seen anyone stepping up to the challenge. Jordan Hill has been good for the Lakers and Steve Blake has had the odd good game, but has carried the team on a consistent basis.
When the Lakers assembled their superstar roster in the offseason with the addition of Nash and Howard, the only criticism they faced was the fact that their huge spending spree could backfire on them if the core players were unable to develop some sort of team chemistry. Bryant, Nash and Howard all come from teams where they have been the centre of attention for many of the past seasons. They all need to take a step back and play only to their role, which can prove difficult with superstar players. On the other hand, the Lakers compromised on their bench players while acquiring Nash and Howard as they were already well over the salary cap, and that is something that has proven to have hurt the Lakers chances of success in the preseason. The gamble they took has the possibility of back firing.
With the regular season only a few days away, we will finally get the answers to all our questions regarding the Lakers team. Up till now, the excuse for them performing badly is that key players have been rested in almost all the preseason fixtures and there has been a great deal of experimentation without regard of the eventual result of the game. But in the regular season, every loss counts and the Lakers will be finally putting up their strongest front. That is when their strength or weakness will be truly exposed.
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