Thursday, May 05, 2011

Lakers Run Out of Gas?

The 2010-2011 Lakers are the most frustrating team I have ever followed closely. When they show up they are unbeatable. There are too many games, however, when they seem to check out mentally. They don't play with energy and focus, and lose to teams like the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Now in the conference semi-finals, they are down 0-2 to the Dallas Mavericks. The Lakers lost the first two games at home. Mark Medina of the LA Times says the Lakers are done. It's hard to disagree.

On the Stephen A. Smith show a few weeks ago George Karl said the Lakers' problem is mental fatigue. You see, a season is 82 games long. When a team goes to the finals three years in a row, they play extra games. The Lakers have played four seasons in three years.

In this time the Lakers have gotten three years older, too. Kobe's body is banged up after 15 years in the league. Earlier this year he said his knee is bone on bone -- no cartilage left.

It looks like it's all catching up with them. Now on top of it all we hear the team has "trust issues." They don't trust one another. This too might be the result of mental fatigue.

If this series were a Hollywood movie, it would be set up for a big Act III thrilling comeback. The Lakers win three games to bring it to a game 7 and then win on their home court. It could happen. I believe three teams in history have come back after losing the first two at home. Maybe Phil Jackson has some Jedi mind tricks he can play.

I'll be rooting for them on Friday, but realistically, I think Mark Medina is right. The Lakers could show all the heart they can muster, but they just might not have it. You can push the accelerator to the floor, but if there is no gas in the tank...

7 comments:

C. August said...

Sounds very much like the 2010-2011 Boston Celtics. Are we going to see a Heat vs. Mavs finals?

Myrhaf said...

Or maybe Heat vs. Thunder. That would symbolize the end of an era, and the beginning of a new era. I think you'd have to pick the Heat either way.

C. August said...

I agree, if the Heat continue their domination. Which is too bad, because not enough bad things can happen to LeBron's team as far as I'm concerned.

If the Thunder make it, do you think the Celtics' front office might regret a certain trade they made?

Myrhaf said...

Not only will the Celtics regret trading Perkins, but Danny Ainge might be fired.

C. August said...

Living in the Boston area, I haven't heard or read a thing about Ainge's job being on the line, and this town is as bloodthirsty with its front-offices as anywhere. For instance, if the Bruins don't win this series, both the head coach and GM will likely be out, and people have been calling for it for months.

However, if anything could put Ainge on the hot seat, I would think that it would be less the Perkins trade than the Shaq experiment (followed on the heels of the failed Rasheed experiment).

Anonymous said...

Good assesement. I am with you on Friday.

Myrhaf said...

You would know more about Ainge than I do, C. August. I'm just speculating that his job might be on the line. The team was in tears when Perkins got traded; he was the heart of the defense, from what I hear.