Lakers need to shoot for stars
Campus Times
February 20, 1998
The Los Angeles Lakers, one of the most storied franchises in NBA history,
are finding themselves in a slump.
The team's record seems to be strong at 35-15 and the second best in
the league, but if you take a closer look at the loss column, you can see
where it is that this young team needs improvement.
The season for the Lakers started out in storybook fashion, when the
team set a franchise record for the most consecutive wins to open a season
at 11. Then there was the All-Star Game on Feb. 8, where the Lakers sent
four players-Eddie Jones, Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant and Nick Van Exel-to
showcase their talents.
The Lakers are also the highest scoring team in the league, but their
defense has fallen of late.
These are solid accomplishments for any team, but when you look past
the surface, you see a team that has not found a way to beat the teams it
needs to beat.
The Lakers have lost to the Seattle Supersonics twice in two tries this
season.
The Sonics have the best record in the league at this point and are
in the Lakers' division, which means the Lakers must beat them to be the
best in the west.
Since the All-Star break, the Lakers have been in a funk, losing to
three playoff contenders of the western conference-Seattle, the Portland
Trailblazers and the Houston Rockets. The Lakers must beat these teams to
be on top.
In all of these losses, O'Neal has been there at the end when the game
has been in jeopardy, but the rest of his teammates have been on a mental
vacation of sorts. Through everything, the Lakers' second best player so
far this season has been the 19-year-old Bryant, who just a year ago, almost
singlehandedly removed the Lakers from the playoffs with three consecutive
air balls from behind the three-point line.
Van Exel has had his moments and has amazingly kept his emotional cool
with the referees and the coaching staff, but he is sporadic. Jones does
disappearing acts when the game is on the line, and Robert Horry went three
games without a single point at one stretch. Rick Fox has been a good addition,
but even he has not played up to his potential.
Then there is Elden Campbell, who makes $7 million a year and has not
figured out how to play with O'Neal in their second season together. Campbell
is a player that the Lakers should definitely reconsider before signing
him to another contract.
One has to wonder why Bryant comes off the bench; he leads six men in
scoring. Imagine what he could do if he started or got more then 27 minutes
a game. Head coach Del Harris and the Laker organization want to bring Bryant
along slowly, but when does one draw the line?
The Lakers seem to be all hype midway through the '97-'98 season. Fans
should not be satisfied with the team's performance thus far. Second place
would be acceptable if the first place team, Seattle, was not in the Lakers'
division, but that is not the case.
The Lakers have also fallen to the level of their competition, getting
swept by the Philadelphia 76ers this season and losing to the Golden State
Warriors, the worse team in the league. These mental lapses should not happen
to a supposed title contender.
When the Chicago Bulls made their championship runs of late, they did
not lose to teams that were below the .500 mark. The Lakers have yet to
figure out that they must come to play every night, in order to get that
title and that ever impressive ring on their fingers.
J.R. Gonsalves, a senior communications major, is assistant sports
editor of the Campus Times. He can be reached by e-mail at gonsalve@ulv.edu.
