What’s going on, guys?! There is drama in Hollywood.
I’ll admit, when I first decided to write this column, The Lakers were in a six-game losing streak. I thought to myself, “They’ll turn it around.” And that they did, winning two games just to go on a four-game losing streak right after. Since then, the Lakers have balanced out their win-loss record a little bit, inching so much closer to .500 on the season. But you’re the Lakers! There is no .500. They brought in Dwight Howard and Steve Nash to win a championship this year with the Black Mamba himself, Kobe Bryant. Yet the Lakers are ranked 26th in the nation in points allowed and aren’t even in the playoff picture.
They’ve had two different coaches this year, and I hear a countless number of times that you, the Laker faithful, want a third coach, Phil Jackson. Let it go. I’m pretty sure he’s not going to come back. Just stick with your offensive style of play under Mike D’Antoni that has won him so many championships before. Oh wait. It hasn’t.
Howard is averaging a double-double on the season. He’s also averaging about three tears every game after he goes through his process of complaining about the team, blaming himself and then repenting. Howard has been a stress case for not only the Lakers but for basketball fans as well. We had to watch him all year long last season change his mind time and time again about his Orlando Magic “issue.” Although it wasn’t as ground shifting as LeBron James’s exit from Cleveland, it was just as annoying. And now Howard continues to bicker some more about his current team, then himself and then his team again.
But let’s look into the future. They are currently not in the playoff picture. But these are the Lakers, so we have to give them some faith. Steve Nash has only played half the games this season, and since his return to the line-up back in December, they’re 8-11. Alright, that’s not that great. The Lakers are on the road this week, where they hold a 5-15 record. Wow. This is hard.
All joshing aside, the Lakers are struggling. There is no denying that. But when it is all said and done, they’ll probably make it into the playoffs no higher than a six seed, in which they probably won’t make it past the first round, whether they’re facing the Spurs, the Thunder or their neighbors, the Clippers. Now that is an ending I don’t want to miss.
Alex Rivera is the Sports Editor for the UVU Review. You can contact him at arivera.2011@hotmail.com or through his Twitter account @HashtagginAlex
