The Lakers got worked in Game 1, and the slaughter has just begun (try to remember the good times, fellow Laker fans).  Despite having strengths where the Thunder have weaknesses (inside, half-court offense), this series is a bad match-up for LA because they simply cannot defend Durant, Westbrook or James Harden.

And when all three are in the game?  Power vomit.  There’s nothing LA can do.

The Lakers’ troubles this season have almost always come on the defensive end.  It’s easy to see.  During a regular season game, in a regularly paced season, a good NBA basketball team should reasonably expect to score 90-100 points.  In the Playoffs, because we’re dealing with the best, scores might fluctuate up a few points, but just as likely, down a few, as team defenses give more effort.

Simply put, it’s pretty difficult to beat a team that scores in the upper ‘90’s or above, especially in a accelerated season like this one.

The NBA has made it easier to prognosticate outcomes by partitioning games into 4 quarters of play.  Fancy!  If Team A is scoring 23-25 points in any given quarter, they’re on pace for that 90-100 point goal, and Team B’s defense isn’t getting the job done.

In Game 6 against the Denver Nuggets, the Lakers gave up 113 points.  Denver had 30 in the first quarter, 24 in the second.  That’s a 108 point pace, except the Nuggets had a whopping 36 in the third, and another 23 in the fourth.  That’s mucho bad.  It didn’t even matter that LA scored 96 of their own.  In Game 1 against the Thunder, the Lakers gave up 119, including 30 in first, 29 in the second, a soul-crushing 39 in the third, and a “lowly” 21 in the fourth, when OKC clearly relented, and rested their starters.

Can I pull some sort of alarm?

Mike Brown was hired to coach the Lakers, in part, because he was supposed to bring his tough, hard-nosed defense to Los Angeles.  He was going to change the culture.  It hasn’t happened. 

Brown’s reputation as a defensive specialist is not without merit.  In ‘06-‘07, the Cavaliers finished 4th in the league in defensive efficiency, 5th in points allowed, 5th in opponent’s true shooting percentage, 2nd in defensive rebounding rate, 1st in opponent’s 3PT%, and lost in the NBA Finals.  That team played Damon Jones, Larry Hughes and Sasha Pavolvic major minutes.

In ‘08-‘09, the Cavs were tied for 2nd in defensive efficiency, gave up the least points in the league, were tied for 1st in opponent FG%, were 5th in blocks, and won 66 games, all behind the defensive stylings of Boobie Gibson and noted stopper, Mo Williams.

In ‘09-‘10, Brown’s Cavs were Top 7 in all of those important defensive categories, and again had the best record in the league.  His defense is no joke.  To boot, the Lakers have three All-Stars, a former Defensive Player of the Year, and Matt Barnes (if that still means something).  Something’s clearly wrong.  So should Mike Brown be fired for his failure this season?  Let’s examine.

From the Orange County Register’s Kevin Ding:

Why, almost after almost six months of hearing his voice, are the Lakers still so unable to adhere to one of the three defensive tenets Mike Brown declared the day he was hired: Make multiple efforts on defense, the last effort being that someone must always contest whatever shot goes up.

Ding says Brown’s messages are failing to get through to his players.  Is that Brown’s fault?  The players?  Both?  Other media members, and most fans, point to the team’s lack of effort, which at times, is clearly suspect.  But before we render a verdict, let me present an alternate line of thought:  What if the Lakers aren’t good enough to play good defense?

Brown espouses the belief that “anyone can be taught to defend.”  Technically, that’s true.  All people do have brains that can take in and process information.  Problem is, we all have bodies too.  Making our bodies do the things our brain knows ain’t that easy.

Mike Brown can teach me defense, and I can learn how to play it, but that won’t mean I’ll be any good at it.  The old maxim, “There’s no excuse for lack of effort,” is indisputably true, but there is an excuse for the Lakers’ defensive trouble:  “They’re not good at defense.”

The Lakers just don’t have the personnel.  Some players in the league can’t shoot. Maybe LA can’t defend?  Kobe, Ron, Barnes were excellent defenders, who have clearly lost a step. Pau struggles with activity and strength in the post.  Bynum has never had much lateral quickness, his leaping ability is minimal, and his ability to jump a second time is laughable.  Steve Blake is average on his best day, and Ramon Sessions will never have a best day defensively.

Should Mike Brown be fired if his team isn’t good enough to play his defense?  Whther my theory holds water or not, there are enough questions surrounding the Lakers’ players, and enough miles on their legs, that I believe it’s unfair to fire Mike Brown based on LA’s performance this season.

Oh, but don’t get me wrong, he will be fired.  Likely sometime relatively soon.  And here’s why.  From Kevin Ding, again:

Maybe it’s too much to expect the Lakers to be connected to a first-year coach nearly as well as the Thunder to Scott Brooks or the Spurs to Gregg Popovich, and Brown will tell you with regularity how there’s no shame in finished third in the West to clubs whose systems have been in place for years.

Hey, Mike Brown, save your breath.  Don’t ever tell me there’s “no shame in finishing third in the West” to anybody.  I don’t care what your reasons are.  Stick all of your excuses in a paper bag, along with your rotten suits, and set it on fire.

Lakers fans, the Lakers’ organization, and the Los Angeles Lakers expect Championships.  Nothing less.

That’s it.

#GotEmCoach