The Lakers are in trouble is it time to panic?

Image from Ibusiness.com

They were automatically elevated to favorites to come out of the Western Conference, favored by most to dethrone the Miami Heat. The reality of the matter is that this Lakers team needs to worry about winning a game before talking about western conference championships let alone being up to par with the defending champion. After a second straight loss to start out the season, the Lakers now haven't won a game since last year's playoffs. The portland Trailblazers behind a great crowd dropped 116 points on a team that's suppose to be great defensively. Mike Brown is suppose to be  great defensive coach yet after two games they are allowing way over 100 points a game.
Here's my favorite stat line of the night: Lakers scored 106 points, shot well on 2's and 3 pointers, outrebounded Portland by 15, got 33 points and 14 rebounds from Dwight Howard, 30 points from Kobe Bryant on 50% shooting, and still lost by 10 points. The main problem here is Mike Brown, who is NOT a good coach (everybody is entitled to their own opinion), since his days in Cleveland his offensive schemes have been terrible. Back in Cleveland the plan was give the ball to Lebron James and get out of his way. You can say anything about Eric Spoelstra down in Miami, but the players respect and listen to what he says, and he has repeatedly stood his ground when conflicting with his 2 superstars Wade and James. Thats more than can be said about Brown back in Cleveland, instead now he has the task of having to mix Nash, Howard, Gasol, and Kobe into a successful offensive scheme?
The princeton offense they are running is a terrible idea on a team that has Steve Nash. Why trade for one of the best passers of all time if you aren't going to unleash him? Bringing the ball up the court every possession instead of trying to run it down the other team's throat is a horrible idea, and considering that both Gasol and Howard can run the floor its even more astounding as to what it is they are doing down there.

Batum had 26 points to lead the blazers

Another major concern for the Lakers, is their bench. Which seems to be a concern since the departure of Lamar Odom. Yet when you are depending night in and out on Steve Blake to lead that second unit, what can you expect? It does not matter how good your starting 5 is, they cannot play 48 minutes a night, specially when you consider that Howard is the only player in that starting lineup that's not in his 30's. CAn you remember the last team that won a championship without a good contribution from the bench? Point guards also continue to have great games against the Lakers which has been the trend for the last few years, Damian Lillard the Rookie had 23 points and 11 assists in his first pro game, taking advantage of Nash's absence who only played 16 minutes after banging knees with the rookie
Howard despite scoring 33, is still not there athletically, several plays that last year would have been thundering dunks are now lay ins. No doubt he'll get healthier as the year progresses, and after a horrible first game at the free throw line, last night he shot 15 out of 19. Ultimately, we believe they will figure it out, but in a western conference that is stacked with good teams you do not want to start the year trailing in the standings. Oh and by the way, there next opponent is the Los Angeles Clippers, so don't be surprised if the Lakers start out 0-3 to start the season, taking the panic in Laker to the next level.
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