A Season in Review: 2013-14 Lakers

Final Record: 27-55 .329, 5th Pacific, Home Record: 14-27, Road Record: 13-28, Division Record: 6-10, Conference Record: 15-37

Alright, welcome to the Season in Review post for the 2013-14 Lakers. So like my Raiders post last year, it will follow the same format: looking back at all 82 games, look at the personnel, and the Lakers' needs heading into the 2014 NBA Draft and in the Free Agency period.

So to summarize this whole season: injuries, short-handed active roster, and just overall turmoil. If you think last year was a train wreck when we had Kobe, Dwight, Nash, and Gasol on the same team, this season was just a natural disaster waiting to strike. And I gotta say, the experts were right this time around that ever since Dwight left, this Laker team will barely taste a playoff hunt and I said in my preview that the Lakers had a good solid core still and loaded with younger talent, they can probably have a chance to sneak in and I was wrong, but I wasn't delusional saying that, I thought this team could compete, but then the injury bug happened. Nash had a bothersome nerve root irritation, Kobe, just six games back ruled out the rest of the season due to a knee injury, and Pau was in-and-out with multiple injuries. Out of the Lakers' "big 3", Pau was the one that had to carry the massive load, which is why he was a constant this season putting up double-figure numbers day in and day out. Then, even our younger players got injured, I think the only players that stood healthy all season long were Kendall Marshall and Robert Sacre, I could be wrong, but they survived the injury apocalypse that the Lakers had all season long. I don't like Mike D'Antoni, but credit where it's due, I gotta give him props for working with what he had, making a lot of roster changes and handling substitutions in a handicap situation; my goodness, no coach doesn't ever want to handle stuff like that.

Considering the NBA is an 82-game season, I'm going to try and shorten this up as simple as I can. The Lakers opened some eyes in the regular season opener against the Clippers. When they beat the Clippers that opener, there was a sense of hope that hey the Lakers are still the Lakers, they're going to compete their hearts out and win. Then, Kobe returns, the Lakers' hopes are soaring sky high until he hurt his knee against Memphis giving the Lakers a victory. It was basically a waiting game if Kobe was going to return or not, but the Lakers early in the season + in Kobe's return, they had a decent start, had a decent record and then after the home game against the Timberwolves in December, things just started to go downhill from there. The injuries were like a plague out there and it became too much to handle for the Lakers and they went on long losing skids against top teams and even the sub .500 teams that have a better roster than them. Especially during this stretch after the All-Star when teams start pushing for playoff spots, the Lakers just couldn't even have the manpower to compete and that's why opposing offenses were able to clamp down on their defense easily because the Lakers were just void of talent, yet at the same time D'Antoni is the stereotype of no defense and the Lakers gave up 100+ points almost every damn game. It was frustrating to watch that, especially when they were not playing their best and getting blown out, you know this Laker team was awful when Jack Nicholson is not sitting courtside anymore midway through the season at Staples. I could flame good old Jack easily for not sticking to his team till the very end, but he's old to witness that and who could blame him? Laker Nation still loves you Jack.

Anyway off topic for that Jack Nicholson thing, but it's the truth that the Lakers possibly in their history has their worst roster ever in this season. If a time machine happened for this Laker team to compete, we would snag 2005-06 Nash and Kobe and 2009-10 Pau; if we had those guys, they would've made this current roster look like a million bucks, but superstars age and they were in the twilight of their careers, although Pau I believe still has some mileage and years left in him. So in reality, there were times that the Lakers would compete against the top teams I mean they took it to Miami in both matchups although they lost both, but they would lose to teams that had a much awful record than them like Milwaukee and Philly. It was the question like is this Laker team a doormat team or are they competitive enough? I guess the majority would say that the Lakers this season were a doormat team for other teams to steamroll on because the roster was so handicapped, made the Lakers look like their D-League affiliate, Defenders and the record reflects that.

Personnel-wise, fire Mike D'Antoni. I honestly don't care if the Lakers have to still pay Mike Brown's contract and Mike D'Antoni's at the same time, but D'Antoni is not the same coach he once was, every team knows his run-and-gun system that it's a more like a gimmick offense rather than a legitimate offense like the Triangle or the Princeton (yes even the godawful Princeton is better than D'Antoni's system). However, we all know Jim Buss and Mitch Kupchak wouldn't do it because it would make them look like total fools again. I just don't understand what the organization sees in D'Antoni. He didn't utilize Pau the right way, trying to make him be a stretch 4 and not be himself as the dominant low-post big man, he didn't want to play Kaman and Hill although they showed him this season, and the guy has a big time resume of not emphasizing on defense enough and isolating guys who thinks is not eligible to play in his system. He doesn't make adjustments, he doesn't modify his system to put his players in the best possible position to succeed, this guy and his offense is too predictable, he thinks it's still 2005-06! Fire Mike D'Antoni, I gave him credit for working with this roster, but fire him before an even bigger mess happens, enough said.

So heading into the Draft and later Free Agency, at best for the top pick, the Lakers gotta have a rim protector. Yeah, currently they've had bad luck on finding a dominant rim protector since Shaq. Bynum couldn't stay healthy, Dwight didn't even want to play for the Lakers in the first place, but bottom line we need a rim protector that can revitalize the dominant center position and is actually committed to earn his place in the Lakers' glorious history of big men. The hype of Andrew Wiggins and Jabrari Parker has died down ever since both Duke and Kansas had an early exit during March Madness and both didn't perform up to standard so anything goes for this year's draft, but the Lakers, for the first round, it's better to draft a need than an overhyped star that could possibly have a risk of being a bust because the Lakers have not drafted in the first round since like forever. I think the last first round pick they made was Javaris Crittenton and look where he's at now so the Lakers have to strike a diamond in the rough that can make an immediate impact and hopefully pick is a big man that can be a rim protector. In the Free Agency, oh boy, here we go again with a lot of big names on this year's class, but with the state we're in, why would somebody like LeBron or Melo come in to don the purple and gold? Like I said, there's gotta be a fallout plan in case the Lakers lose out early in the sweepstakes and once LeBron and Melo are off the list, the Lakers are in a lot of trouble trying to build a win-now team. In Pau's case, who can blame him to go play for a team that admires his skills? It would be hard to see him go, but his post game was disrespected the last two seasons and I would be shocked if Pau agrees to re-sign. As long as Mike D'Antoni's coaching, nobody would want to play for the Lakers at this stage, especially after this debacle of a season.

There's a lot of money for the Lakers to spend though and I don't like what Mitch has turned into as Jim Buss' "Yes" man, but we Laker fans still believe in his negotiating power and his ability to keep impending big moves behind closed doors. All I can say is: do your thing Mitch, do your thing. Do whatever it takes for the Lakers to get back into the promised land. Lakers don't rebuild, they reload, so do your thing Mitch. Anyway, thank you for following the Lakers' season with me. I'll see you guys for the NFL Draft in May and the NBA Finals in June and I'll be keeping watch of the playoffs. If you haven't noticed, I'm collabing with my best friend, Stillmattic on his blog: http://bleachzealot.blogspot.com/ for Bleach Fantasy month from the rest of April till the end of May pitting Bleach characters and Final Fantasy characters and we will post our 3rd matchup tonight, so if you haven't catch up on the first two matchups, catch up since it's still early and I'll see you guys later, I'm out.