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Preseason Recap: Players Tired of Losing, Dwight Howard Back Soon?

By | October 17, 2012|

The wins and losses column has been a hot topic of conversation for Mike Brown in the preseason, especially since the W column has yet to form. The Lakers are currently winless after their fourth preseason loss to the Utah Jazz on Tuesday night. Kobe Bryant’s 31 points, and the 23 he scored in the third quarter out of the team’s 24, were the highlight of the staggering 34-point loss.

Before the game, Brown reaffirmed that individual player performances, and not the score, would be a focus of the game. However, after taking quite the beat down, the Lakers roster doesn’t seem to be as open to turning a blind eye to the scoreboard.

“What we need to do is get to a place where we can win some games even though we’re not a finished product by any stretch. We’ve got to find ourselves in a competitive space so we can start the season winning games.” - Steve Nash

Metta World Peace put it in a bit simpler terms.

“The main thing is that we win.”

Brown decided to sit Pau Gasol last night, while Dwight Howard, Jordan Hill and Earl Clark were all out with injuries. Wondering when we’ll see a healthy line-up is becoming a valid concern.

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Bryant has reiterated that the potential starters are getting more than adequate time to mesh together in practice. However, Kobe also understands the importance of going up against unfamiliar faces before the regular season begins.

“Hopefully we can lace ‘em up and go against unfamiliar players here in the preseason.”

When everyone is healthy, the Black Mamba is confident that it will not take much time for the starters to mesh together.

“In terms of how we play, it should be seamless.”

On when that will be? Well Kobe isn’t a doctor, but he sure has faith in his new center, and Dwight Howard has been looking phenomenal in practice.

“He’s extremely close. He’s making plays defensively that no big outside of Bill Russell could make in the history of the game. In terms of playing the passing lanes, getting steals, guarding guards…”

If the Lakers had practice Wednesday, I’m sure the wins and losses column would continue to be the hot topic of conversation. Luckily for Mike Brown, the Lakers (and thus, the media) have the day off.

The Lakers will take on the Sacramento Kings at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada on Friday evening.

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Serena Winters

Serena Winters is the Lead Reporter for Lakers Nation. Besides out-eating the rest of the staff, she's most known for carrying snacks with her to all media events. Make sure to follow Serena on Twitter at @SerenaWinters

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  • Bigraidernation

    we need to stop wasting time with some players we know were not keeping (start cutting down the roster and shorten the rotation start getting some kind of structure 2 weeks left)they see them in practice  come on now i would hate to see us lose 10 games we dont need to lose in the reg. season rather use those games for resting older players later in the season when i watch other preseason games they are gearing up for reg. season already playing starters way longer dont wanna see mike brown losing control of the team if we come out losing games more than the norm(he will feel more pressure than ever before he does’nt need that drama that alone can change our season)   GET CRACKING ON CUTTING DOWN THE ROSTER PLEASE LAKERS4LIFE !!!   

    • ako ay pogi

      Dude, use punctuation marks. Please.. lol

      • Bigraidernation

        DON’T FUCKIN READ IT BITCH !!!!

  • stix

    what’s so “staggering” about it? still no Dwight, Pau didn’t play, Jordan Hill didn’t play, and Nash played like 10 minutes. obviously they’re trying to make some decisions about the back-up point guard(s). but they’re also missing the anchor to the 2nd unit in Hill, and their two new bench upgrades; Meeks & Jamison, are brand new and still trying to figure out how to fit in and be comfortable. which is a lot harder without Hill and when the rotations are never consistent. shooters need consistency, Meeks & Jamison are both shooters.

    but it’s time to stop playing guys that we all know are NOT going to make the roster and give the time to the maybe’s to let them battle it out. there are some tough decisions to be made as far as who makes the team and Aguilar and Nelson are out there. ridiculous. 
    you got LA’s camp invites still going up against the opponents’ starters and we’re four games in. time to tighten that up. but still, without Dwight, Pau, Hill and only 10 min of Nash, it’s going to be pretty tough. Mike Brown needs to start getting his rotations set too, this was his huge problem last season and I don’t like that he’s still seemingly indecisive about that. that Clippers game is important, they need to have some rhythm and consistency going into it, I don’t wanna hear Brown talk about how a win doesn’t matter and then proceed to throw jumbled incoherent rotations out onto the floor and then talk about how much he “learned” afterward. he did that all the way up to the OKC series last season.

  • hookedonnews

    I believe that part of the problem is the Princeton offense.  Can anyone other than the starting 5 actually master this offense, and who has ever won anything running it? Why not unleash Steve Nash and let him have complete control of the offense? This has produced the most prolific scoring offense the NBA has seen in the last 8 years or so. Let Mike Brown coach the defense, and you’ll have the team everyone wants to see. 

    • http://www.facebook.com/DavidJun88 David Jun Lee

      Yes i know what you mean by the princeton offense being the problem, but thats only because only a few players are familar with it in the roster. Blake and Jamison are the only two that actually been part of the princeton offense before. However, your comment about Nash, Brown did already mention that on the court Nash can decide whatever offense he wants to run, depending on the situation, meaning he is relying on Nash as the coach on the court. Our problem isnt just NO OFFENSE, its inconsistency of the bench thats annoying me. Blake and Duhon are good on their good days but We seriously need someone else asap. Trade for a potent backup PG who was been a starting pg before and still can be considered a starting point guard in any team. Jose calderon or Devin Harris comes to mind. But if we cant land a better PG at least get a taller SG who can play the 1 as well as the 2 (tyreke Evans) that way meeks and goudelock can slip into the 1 and play their normal style while the bigger 2 guard plays the point. 

      So conclusion, Consistency is our problem, we need to upgrade our bench PG (or get a taller Combo guard) to someone who is a potent starting person in the league. And Mike brown needs to be more consistent with his rotations. He has so many 60 win seasons under his belt but nothing to show for it. It maybe that it maybe his limit. Just wins no championships. PLEASE BRING A SCORER to our bench PLEASE!!!!!

      • hookedonnews

        I agree with most of what you said. However, I’m concerned about how long it’s going to take to get comfortable with the Princeton offense. Even though Steve Nash is going to have some leeway about what direction to take the offense, it’s still obvious that Brown wants the Princeton offense to be a major part of what they do. I just hope they don’t wake up at some point and realize that they have wasted a lot of time with it and would have been better off just letting Nash have complete control. I agree that we need a better back-up PG. If you don’t have one, the offense is going to stagnate every time Nash leaves the floor. Calderon might be an option since the Raptors acquired Lowry. I’m still skeptical about Brown. Yes, he has a lot of wins, but who couldn’t win a lot of games with LeBron James and Kobe Bryant? I think the jury is still out. I hope he is able to bring this team together, but only time will tell.

  • Kmac_321

    The Lakers have no offense right now! No one one knows what there doing! They look lost most of the time on offense… it’s pathetic

  • Pondevida_noel

    pls , i really hate to see that were at a losing end ,even it is a pre season game , go get out and win at least 1 game for god sake ! !

  • http://twitter.com/buckustoothnail Buckus Toothnail

    There is a reason why the pre-season exists and not playing your starters to let them gel is not one of them. This is another wasted opportunity for the Lakers to start strong. Mike Brown needs to be fired ASAP. Jerry Sloan would be infinitely better and can take the Lakers to a title THIS SEASON. Mike Brown is like Del Harris 15 years ago. The Lakers have all the pieces, but there is no way they’ll win with this coach. Once we get that A-list coach this team will win another title but the clock is ticking with Kobe. Jerry Buss, kick your son to the curb and do the right thing!

  • Weed_master_79

    if we want a new coach lets get jerry sloan….

  • bintoy 79

    if we want system, jerry sloan is our guy…

  • http://www.facebook.com/jason.black.509511 Jason Black

    jerry sloan now fire mike brown