Phil Jackson Says the L.A. Lakers Can’t Be Worse

One might feel sorry for the L.A. Lakers. It is not because the Lakers lost to the Houston Rockets last night. It is not because they gave up their home court advantage with that loss. It is because for the rest of this series, every basketball pundit is going to question whether the L.A. Lakers are “soft”. Thousands of articles will be written about whether these Lakers have the emotional and physical toughness to win a championship. And, of course, the debacle of last season’s championship matchup with the Celtics will be re-examined endlessly.

If it is any consolation to Lakers fans, Coach Phil Jackson predicts an improvement for Game Two of the Rockets / Lakers playoff. The reason that Phil Jackson made that prediction can be found in his summary of Game One: “I don’t know if we can play much worse, to be honest with you“.

Here is an example of how bad it was for the Lakers:

• Lamar Odom made one free throw in six attempts. This makes Lamar Odom a prime candidate for ‘Hack-A-Lamar’ in the fourth quarter of a close game.
• The Lakers made two baskets from three-point land. There were eighteen attempts. That’s a scoring percentage of eleven per cent (11%).
• Andrew Bynum has turned into a foul magnet. Three personal fouls in fifteen minutes of playing time means a good seat to watch the game from the sidelines.
• The Lakers cannot stop speedy guards. This has been a problem all season and continues to be a huge flaw. It turns opposing guards like Aaron Brooks into superstars.
• There should be a team edict that when Derek Fisher drives to the basket there should be a rush to the boards to look for an offensive rebound. Derek Fisher will throw up a wild shot. Is there a guard in the NBA who is worse than Derek Fisher at finishing at the basket?
• The basket, as seen from three point territory, must look very small to Trevor Ariza (four attempts), Derek Fisher (four attempts) and Sasha Vujacic (two attempts). None of the aforementioned three made a shot from beyond the arc. Yes, it is a performance comparable to your grandmother (living or deceased).
• And fouls… the Lakers committed twenty six fouls, as compared to the fourteen that were called on the Rockets. It is an indication that the Rockets were taking the ball to the hoop while the Lakers were shooting jump shots. This is a trend that the Rockets would like to see throughout the series.

There will be many reasons given as to why the Lakers performed so poorly. There will be speculation about the long layoff, Kobe Bryant’s health, Andrew Bynum’s adjustment to playoff basketball and so on. However, from the effort shown at Staples Center, the Houston Rockets simply wanted the win more than the Lakers. And what the Lakers have done is give the Rockets confidence the rest of the series and shown that they can be stopped.

Catherine Forsythe