Who’s to blame for the Lakers’ struggle?

Throughout much of this NBA season, the Los Angeles Lakers have both struggled mightily and shown just how dominant they can be. They began the season by going 1-4 under former coach Mike Brown, then re-grouped slightly by going 4-1 under interim coach Bernie Bickerstaff. Management found Brown’s replacement in Mike D’Antoni, a former rival coach of the Lakers, and the future seemed bright yet again for the Lakers and their fans.

But this recipe has not worked out so well. The once-offensive powerhouse of a coach has struggled to turn this team into a juggernaut on offense like expected.

The Lakers under D’Antoni are averaging 96.5 points a game, only scoring over 100 once. Under Bickerstaff the team averaged about 104 points per game. Under Mike Brown the team averaged 97 points per contest.

So what is wrong with this picture? Mike D’Antoni was hired for offense; something that Brown was supposedly not doing well enough. Ironically, under Brown, the Lakers averaged more points.

Yes, the Lakers don’t yet have Steve Nash; the main piece used in D’Antoni’s system. But that is no excuse when you have Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol. Something is clearly not working under D’Antoni and the Lakers currently sit at a record of 8-9, which puts them in third-place in their division and eighth in the Western Conference, barely above the Rockets, Mavericks and Suns. Those teams might be good, but in the preseason polls and rankings the Lakers were much higher than all of them.

D’Antoni’s system worked in Phoenix because he had the type of players that worked in his run-and-gun system. As for this Lakers team, it won’t work.  And the sooner he and the team realizes that the better.

D’Antoni failed in New York, so I don’t understand what made Jim Buss and management think that it would work out in Los Angeles, especially when they had the other option of bringing in Phil Jackson, who many of the players and fans favored.

Something else that really confuses me is why none of the blame is going on D’Antoni or his system? It seems all the blame has been going on Pau Gasol. And I don’t get it.

I understand that Pau’s numbers are slightly down from previous seasons, but that is to be expected when bringing in the best center in basketball in Dwight Howard, along with already having Kobe Bryant.

Pau is still averaging 12.5 points per game and almost nine rebounds. Honestly, what other third or even fourth option on a NBA team can do that?

Gasol’s length and ability to pass the ball and space the floor are extremely vital to the Lakers and have been for years. Pau continues to be a scapegoat for the Lakers and their fans when the Lakers play poorly. I blame Pau too much too, but it is unfair nonetheless.

For the Lakers’ sake, I hope that Pau is not traded unless it’s for Atlanta’s Josh Smith. Other than him, nobody else the Lakers can get is worth Pau’s value to the Lakers.

D’Antoni and his system deserve the blame for the Lakers struggles more than anything. I will be the first to say that I may be wrong about it and that D’Antoni’s system with the Lakers could work out – but for now, it is obvious it hasn’t.

If the system gets up and running and Pau continues to struggle, then the blame should be put onto the Spaniard, but until then, everyone should lay off Pau Gasol and focus their frustration on D’Antoni and his system.

Let’s be honest — a team with a roster of this caliber should not be under .500 at any point in the season, even if it is only one fifth of the way through the campaign.  I just hope we aren’t talking about the same issue come halfway through the season, three fifths, etc…

Yes, D’Antoni has only been on the job a few weeks, but the whole idea of his system is simplicity, picking things up fast, getting it going on “the go.”  That should play right into the hands of early success.  For whatever reason, this is something that fans aren’t seeing.

Leave Pau out of it for now, because its on you, Coach D.