Lakers blow 21 pt lead againts Wiz... wutttttt!!!

[TGZ]

I guess the article from yahoo was right about kobe needing a coach who can control him instead of letting him off to do his own thing... But for me, when Mike Brown coached the Cav's, thats what he did to LeBron...

Quote from mike brown:

"'We're going to have to rely on our defense. I'm going to let you go on offense quite a bit, [Bryant is] going to have to carry us offensively because there's a stretch of games that we can win, try to get us over .500, start us heading in the right direction. It was, 'Go get it, I'll take care of the defense and we'll go from there.' And he went and did it."

The article starts actually with Pau ranting that there were some sort of "selfishness" but he didn't point out Kobe... Really Pau...

Anyway, i love the lakers and kobe but it feels like 2005 all over again...

[benji]

It's clear what the Lakers need to do: http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachi ... Id=74mhdjx

[Andrew]

I guess the article from yahoo was right about kobe needing a coach who can control him instead of letting him off to do his own thing... But for me, when Mike Brown coached the Cav's, thats what he did to LeBron...

Do you mean Brown let LeBron do his own thing or he controlled him? If it's the former, I'd certainly agree.

[JBoom_LALALAND]

I definitely agree ...but that game looks a lot like the game against Lin and the Knicks ... where Kobe showed up (alone) ... became a ball hog .. ...

If they play as a team,there's no confusion at all ...

But Kobe taking more shots compared to Bynum and Pau?

That's not the right thing.

I'm a big Laker fan ... and I'm still wandering why am I one ...

Another thing is to keep metta away from money ball land ..

[JBoom_LALALAND]

When you look at the thread title ... u can always remember the time when Blackburn Rovers shocked Manchester United 3-2 ... LOL

It's the same stuff

#KOBERULZ

[NovU]

Am I the only one that saw this coming? I been saying Brown was a scapegoat from the get go and here we are, the Lakers fans blaming it all on Brown. If you look at this year's roster and previous years rosters, you can obviously tell nothing much has been done but notice there still being aging star figures dominating the minutes and possessions in the likes of Artest, Kobe, and Fisher. Kobe hasn't passed a torch to Bynum obviously not yet as he hinted previously to this season that Gasol and him are still the players over him. Besides nobody was sure if Bynum was ready. I thought this was the year Bynum needed to step up and have a career season but he's about where he was last season despite the increased usage. So... did anybody really expect Brown to achieve more with less, compared to what Phil Jackson had?

And let me bring back the question... Are the Lakers still relevant? Maybe as they were impressive in couple games against real good teams. But also the other side of argument sounds stronger than ever at the moment.

[Andrew]

It's not a complete surprise given the coaching change, the roster being thinner and a couple of players not being at their best, but I thought they'd be a little better than they have been. When it comes down to it, they've still got a respectable amount of talent on their roster. It's not like they're the Bobcats.

As far as them being relevant, I'd actually say they still are. I think only the most optimistic Lakers fan would try to argue that they're a frontrunner for the championship this year but they've still got a winning record and are really only a solid winning streak away from taking a grasp on a top three seed in the West; if they can find a way to win on the road, they couldn't be counted out altogether. Right now though, that's a tall order.

[JBoom_LALALAND]

It's not a complete surprise given the coaching change, the roster being thinner and a couple of players not being at their best, but I thought they'd be a little better than they have been. When it comes down to it, they've still got a respectable amount of talent on their roster. It's not like they're the Bobcats.

As far as them being relevant, I'd actually say they still are. I think only the most optimistic Lakers fan would try to argue that they're a frontrunner for the championship this year but they've still got a winning record and are really only a solid winning streak away from taking a grasp on a top three seed in the West; if they can find a way to win on the road, they couldn't be counted out altogether. Right now though, that's a tall order.

I think they are still relevant. Maybe they can finish 4th or 3rd in the west, then meet OKC in West Finals. I'm optimistic. I don't usually judge champions. I think Dallas is still a championship contender. See, I don't care what commentators and analysts say. Let's just see in the playoffs.

[_Steve_]

They got swept with a deeper/ better roster last year.
Now, with a weakend roster, it's no surprise the Lakers are fading...
Did anyone seriously expect Brown to win it all in his first season?