The new season began for the Los Angeles Lakers anything but intoxicating. After a disappointing start with three wins and five defeats Magic Johnson Head Coach Luke Walton probably asked for a report. What does the team president of the Lakers want from his man on the sidelines?
Patience. That was the big cue that was on everyone’s lips at the Lakers before the start of the new season. It will take a while until the newly formed team around LeBron James has found each other. You still need some time until the long-awaited Championship is within reach again.
These or similar statements were preached to the media by the Lakers and the King themselves in the weeks before the start of the season and even after the first defeats. But now, after just two and a half weeks, this seems to be over.
Only three wins from eight games are currently on the credit side, last week it hail on a two-game away trip two bankruptcies against the Spurs and Timberwolves. Of course, this is far too little to do justice to one’s own high expectations. Especially when it comes to Team President Magic Johnson.
As the media have now reported, this head coach Luke Walton invited Luke Walton to a crisis meeting last Tuesday, following the series of bankruptcies, and in a conversation he urged the 38-year-old to deliver better results as soon as possible.
But if that doesn’t work? Could it be any time now before Walton gets sawed off? Wild speculations made the rounds on the Internet, but only one thing is certain: it took just two weeks for the Lakers’ patience to turn into a new drama. Just like Hollywood.
But when viewed soberly, Walton doesn’t have to worry about his job on the sidelines for the time being. Tania Ganguli from the Los Angeles Times, among others, reported this after the first quake. In addition, Walton continues to enjoy the confidence of Lakers owner Jeanie Buss.
However, it must not go on like this. According to Brad Turner, also from the L.A. Times, Magic and General Manager Rob Pelinka expect some changes. A source from the Lakers legend’s environment has told the journalist that Johnson primarily misses a clear system from his head coach – especially in the offense.
Magic’s criticism of the Lakers offensive, which he apparently made very loud and cursingly clear, comes as a bit of a surprise. Actually, L.A. started the new season defensively with considerable problems. The opposing teams poured 121.1 points per game into the Lakers – the third worst score in the Association. Especially the weak rebounding and the lack of a real Rim-Protector made itself painfully noticeable.
The statistics do not read offensively against it at all so badly. LeBron and Co. are in eighth place (112.3) when it comes to offensive ratings. The attack game of the Lakers profits thereby above all from the enormous Pace, with which they succeed in overtaking the opponent in the Fastbreak again and again. But that is obviously the crux of the matter.
In the semi-field, the Lakers’ offense stagnates enormously. If LAL doesn’t manage to reach a good conclusion in the transition, the players in purple and gold seem partly uninspired and uninspired. According to the Times, Magic therefore asked Walton to install a proper offensive system.
However, it is still questionable how this system can look like. After all, the Lakers’ squad is enormously limited, especially during the shooting – see Rajon Rondo, Lance Stephenson or Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. In this respect Moritz could help Wagner when he is completely fit again.
In today’s NBA, however, these are not particularly good prerequisites for a functioning offense. Especially when this is built around a player like LeBron James, who in the past blossomed in teams with good spacing.
So it will be interesting to see what Walton is thinking up and how – or if at all – the Lakers’ offense will change in the next few games. He himself presented himself calmly after the emotional meeting with Magic became known.
“I have a good relationship with management,” Walton said. “What we discuss in these meetings, however, remains between us. We still have some things to figure out, but that’s what I’m working on.” With the initial calm, the Lakers seem to be over for the time being.