Playoff Postmortem: Lost Angeles Lakers

(image from sportslogos.net)

How the mighty Lakers have fallen
(image by the AP)

The Purple & Gold have definitely seen better times. I can’t even remember the last time they were swept by a lower seed in the playoffs. And with this lineup? Man oh man oh man. There’ll be hell to pay.

We all know Phil isn’t coming back, but that’s a future the franchise was prepared for whether they won or lost.

For his 'impeccable citzenship,'
is Ron Artest worth keeping?
(image by the AP)

Kobe’s definitely going to be back, and we can count on him being pissed. I can imagine him campaigning for a change in personnel, or a change in character. Already his sights are set on Pau Gasol, whether he blurts it out or not. Maybe even Ron Artest, for getting suspended in Game 3. And Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum better get ready because their names are floating as possible trade-baits. Those flagrant fouls in Game 4 aren’t going to help matters much too.

So this summer should be fun for LA Fans. Why? They can imagine a future quite different from the floundering present. Is it a future with Dwight Howard in Laker gold? Is it a future with Brian Shaw calling the shots? Is it a future with Blake Griffin in place of this season’s starting frontline? Is it a future with Derek Fisher mentoring a younger, quicker partner in the backcourt not named Steve Blake? So many possibilities. So many adjustments. And all because the Dallas Mavericks defied their fate and S-W-E-P-T LA.

But for all the tribulations surrounding the City of Angels, they might be better served not changing much at all.

These Lakers are still tough. Despite Kobe and Fisher putting on one more year, Artest being volatile, Bynum and Odom being inconsistent, and Gasol being soft, Jerry Buss and Jack Nicholson still have a team that can win upwards of 60 games, get into the top 4 seeds in the playoffs, and make a run for a championship.

LA just got railroaded by the Mavs. Simple as that.
(image by the AP)

It is still a VERY GOOD team. So why the clamor for Gasol’s head, or for Howard’s presence?

Simple.

Nobody knew these guys could be beaten this bad by a team that’s reputed for choking when it counts the most.

The worst thing the Lakers can do is a knee-jerk reaction to a perfectly fortuitous event. This season is lost, but the next one is still theirs for the taking.

Andrew Bynum is about to remove his Lakers jersey,
for the last time?
(image by the AP)

Kobe isn't showing it, but he's
certainly pissed.
(image by the AP)