Say Goodbye to Hollywood?...Nah

My my, sometimes living in Utah is a bit of a challenge. I understand passion but sometimes that's not passion you have, it's well...bias. All I heard was "we beat the Lakers, I think this is the year" and "Utah are runnin the table". Oh how you forget the road losses so quick. Yea the Jazz beat the Lakers, but who hasn't these days? Trouble in LA, that's a fact but I don't think its as big of a problem as everyone says, and even more so, I don't think the problem is what everyone always claims it to be.

Look, no matter what you think professional athletes are people, very talented people, but people all the same. Just because they make millions of dollars and get to play a sport as their job and get to go to all sorts of cool events, and only have to "work work" for part of the year and get to travel all over the world and be idolized by billions...wait where was I going with this? Oh yea, that doesn't make them any different than you or I. Ok that's a complete lie it makes them totally different but in terms of personality, sometimes we overlook these people have imperfections like us, and in this particular case (as it has been a lot in the past) they have trouble adjusting to different situations. I'm referring to the Lakers issue of late.

Oh my gosh there 1-4, it's the end of the world, fire Mike Brown, move the team to Hawai'i, they're all old and selfish. Overreactions I say. Do you realize if the lakers go 2-1 over a 3 game stretch for the rest of the season they'll be 26-15 at the half way mark? That's win-lose-win, something I'm sure they can do so lets all just relax right now and try to understand why they struggle. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say something that many people would probably disagree with, NBA players, and many professional athletes in general, are not that selfish. I think a lot of people are trying to say what they said when the heat got together (and sometimes what happens when the Olympic basketball teams get together as well), and that is that they can't play together because they all want the ball and all want to get their stats and their minutes and fulfill their needs. I don't think thats the case, its a comfort thing to me, and they are just trying to get comfortable.

He's used to having the ball in his hand more
often than not (also kinda looks like Drew
Brees in this picture right? weird...maybe Brees
is actually both people and that scar on his face
is just a cover up...wouldn't put it past him)

Let's look at the facts for the team that won the NBA title last year. Remember this whole fiasco in 2010. They started off 10-8, went 1-4 through and early stretch in their season, and ended up making the NBA finals that year. Do you really think its because Wade, Bosh, and LeBron all wanted to score more than the other? All of the Olympic teams, do you really believe that most of those people (I say most because there definitely are some) put their personal gain over the nations? No, they find it tough to play together not because they are selfish, but because they are comfortable with their games. Lets throw in a real life example in here because by this point I usually have about 14 references so I'm falling behind. New kid moves into school sophomore year of high school. Kid was a stud at this last school; knew everyone, had a girlfriend, great student, good athlete, the works. So he moves into this new school and for the first two months hasn't made any friends because he's trying to figure out how to meet new people because he's never been in this situation before. Did the kid himself change? No he still has the same personality, same beliefs, all that, he's just not getting results because he's not comfortable yet. So let's focus this onto the Lakers.

Let's start with Nash. If anybody watched the first couple games you saw what I saw, Steve Nash kinda floating around. He's used to having the ball in his hands because he needed to have the ball in his hands, now he doesn't need to hold onto the ball for 17 seconds of the shot clock so what does he do...he doesn't really know. He's not comfortable not having the ball in his hands and isn't sure how to help the offense without it.

Dwight's just gotta get used to him always being right there

Next to Dwight, in Orlando (and really the east for that matter) he was THE big guy. Now he has another perennial all start down in the post with him. Now I think he's flourished the most because of this on the offensive side of the ball because of the freedom Pau has given him, but I also think it has thrown the offense off. He can't just post up (pun intended) in the paint because Pau may be flashing across or have a better mismatch than him. Pau's gonna be there all season, he's gotta get used to that. 

Don't you fret...this man will get 'em right.

Now to Kobe. Get over it people he's legit, it wasn't rape like you think it was rape and for probably a good 8 years he was the greatest basketball player on the planet. Now he does want his shots and its been documented that he has had a selfish attitude, but of late he's shared the ball with Pau and been much more of a team player. If you watched the Olympics you saw him take 2 shots in a half (that's like a girl only watching 5 minutes of the Bachorlette...just doesn't happen they always need more) so don't tell me its all for him. Kobe, like Jordan, is a competitor and wants to win, if he thinks shooting 30 times will win the game he will shoot 35 just to make sure. Call it a fault but its the reason he was the greatest in the league for a long time. Now his job in this situation, which is throwing him off, is maximizing Nash and Dwight's game. In the past Pau has been a little different, and in the triangle I think he was utilized better, but now Kobe must manage the team from the court and make sure that Nash and Dwight are being themselves.

So how does this all happen, let's look back at the teams that fixed it and managed it. 1992 Dream Team - Chuck Daly (R.I.P. Chuck we all miss you). This is the man that defeated the greatest player ever at the time three straight years in the Eastern Conference Finals (the difference between Jordan and LeBrown will always be Mike stuck it out and didn't leave to make his own all-star team). The dream team in 2008 & 2012 compared to the one in 2004...Mike Krzyzewski, one of if not the greatest coach of all time. Lakers when they won it with all that talent, Phil Jackson. The difference is coach, even Spoelstra has proven to be able to deal with it. This is where it is Mike Brown's duty and job to make the comfortable, not change their game, not change who they are, but make them comfortable while doing it. That's why if they end up at 10-15 or even under .500 I'm fine with firing him, but give him some time and give the players some time.

We have all had times where we feel off because we don't feel right, don't feel calm and collected, don't feel comfortable, and its been weird. That's how LA is feeling, and how they might feel for a few more weeks. But mark my words they will be a force at some point in the year and I'll be able to wear my Lakers jersey around Utah and laugh (funny thing is I'm not even a Lakers fan). Just give it time.



e. moats