National Basketball Association

Lakers: 5 Reasons Fans Shouldn't Over-Hype This Team

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Oct 7, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Jordan Clarkson (6) celebrates a three point shot by Los Angeles Lakers forward Brandon Ingram against the Denver Nuggets during the second half at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports

This current Lakers roster brings with them hope and optimism for a brighter future. However, we shouldn’t buy into the hype too much just yet.

Even the most casual of basketball fans (except if you were born in the last 10 years or so) knows that the Los Angeles Lakers are synonymous with success in the NBA. With 16 world championships under their belt, the Lakers have been dominant for many decades now.

However, the Lakers have recently found themselves in the unfamiliar position of having to rebuild from the bottom.

With three straight years of losses, which subsequently brought in the haul of three straight lottery picks – Julius Randle, D’Angelo Russell, Brandon Ingram – the team’s future is finally starting to look bright again.

After drafting Brandon Ingram with the second overall pick and watching the development of their other young stars, the Lakers franchise is primed for a return to relevance.

However, here are five reasons why fans must temper their expectations for this young team.

Sep 26, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers coach Luke Walton is interviewed by reporters at media day at Toyota Sports Center.. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Luke Walton’s Inexperience

Admittedly, I was just as excited as everyone else when I found out that former Laker Luke Walton was going to be the next coach of the Purple and Gold. It is a huge upgrade from Byron Scott in so many ways and many of those positive assets Luke brings to the table have already been shown.

There is a more open and free vibe around the organization and the players. The emphasis has been placed on fun and togetherness, rather than the old school, hard knocks style that was employed by coach Scott. The hiring of Walton is definitely an investment that the Lakers were smart to make.

More from Lake Show Life

The problem with coach Walton lies in the fact that he has no true experience as a head coach in the NBA. Yes, he stepped up as the coach of the Golden State Warriors while Steve Kerr was out, but that wasn’t Walton’s team. It was Steve Kerr’s team that Walton was baby-sitting.

Although Luke amassed a 39-4 in Steve Kerr’s absence, the level of talent was astronomically better. With all due respect, Russell, Randle, and Clarkson aren’t Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, or Draymond Green.

Another factor that remains to be seen is how will Walton lead this team during the dark days?

39-4 is a great record for NBA title contenders such as the Warriors but how will things change if the Lakers start the season 0-4? Or if they go on a long losing streak?

What about when the conversations and headlines that have nothing to do with basketball start to creep in? The biggest question is what will Luke Walton’s identity as the coach be. And speaking of identity…

Jan 20, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Jordan Clarkson (6) dunks over Sacramento Kings guard Ben McLemore (23) in the second half of the game at Staples Center. Kings won 112-93. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

What Will The Team’s Identity Be?

One thing I will say about the Byron Scott era is that the team’s identity was pretty clear. We knew what were not going to do and we knew what they were attempting to do. Byron wanted the team to be an old-school, hard nosed defensive team that preferred mid-range jump shots to three point looks.

Luke Walton needs to figure out what he wants this team’s identity to be and whether or not they have the right pieces to make it happen.

For example, this team surely doesn’t have the pieces to be a dominant defensive team but they can be pretty solid with the right effort and coaching. It’s going to be difficult to be a run and gun, free-flowing team because there aren’t that many consistent three point shooters available.

It’s possible that the Lakers are trying to become Golden State 2.0, but there are two main problems with that. 1, the Lakers aren’t nearly as talented as the Golden State core. And 2, it remains to be seen if the young Lakers have the basketball IQ’s required to run a system like that.

To the untrained eye, it appears that GSW is successful because they run around and shoot lots of threes and have Stephen Curry but the Golden State system is the result of several fundamental basketball theories wrapped into one. Back-screens, precision cuts, reading and reacting, etc.

In order for the Lakers to truly start playing well, they have to figure out how they want to play.

Defensive Struggles

If I had a dollar to every time a player mentioned defense during training camp, I’d have a lot more dollars than I have now. The reason for the overuse of the word “defense” was because the Lakers are missing it, and badly.

For the last two years, the club has allowed 105 and 106 points per game respectively to opponents. This has to change if the Purple and Gold want to see a resurgence any time soon.

The problem is, it’s hard to recall any franchise in recent memory, except maybe the 2008 Boston Celtics, that became a great defensive team literally overnight. If I can borrow former Celtics’ coach Rick Pitino’s catchphrase, “Kevin Garnett isn’t walking through that door.”

The Lakers did themselves a favor by picking up a few pieces in the off-season that can make a difference on defense. Luol Deng, Timofey Mozgov, and even rookie Brandon Ingram can all impact the game defensively.

However, there’s a difference between having a few good defensive players, and being a good defensive team.

The main defensive category the Lakers need to improve is help defense. The positive thing about help defense is that it’s more based on fundamentals and trust, rather than skill. The players need to be able to trust that when they go to rotate to help, that somebody else will slide over and cover the open man.

Building that trust takes time but fortunately the Lakers have plenty of that to spare.

Oct 4, 2016; Anaheim, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings center DeMarcus Cousins (left) handles the ball defended by Los Angeles Lakers center Timofey Mozgov (right) during the first half at Honda Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports

The Tough Western Conference

Let’s think about this one for a second, the Western Conference is so dominant that there was a controversy two years ago when the San Antonio Spurs and Los Angeles Clippers ended up being a first round match up in the playoffs. That is truly a testament to the strength of the conference when two championship contenders end up playing each other in the first round.

That being said, its going to be extremely difficult for the Lakers to gain any ground, despite their improvements. The Lakers will play each of the 15 Eastern Conference teams twice this season. That’s 30 games. Meaning that the other 52 games will be played against these extremely challenging Western Conference squads. The West is a place where you aren’t even safe against the lowly Minnesota Timberwolves or Phoenix Suns.

Even if LA were to win 25 more games than they won last year, it would still likely put them outside of the postseason. Not saying that the Lakers should be shooting for the playoffs this season either. It’s just astonishing that 42 victories probably won’t even be good enough for 8th best in the conference.

The best thing the team can do is take this journey day by day, and year by year. It’ll likely be a few more years before the Lakers can realistically sniff the playoffs. So holding out hope for a playoff birth this year is borderline foolish.

The Boy Wonders

The Lakers are in a tough position with this one: their greatest asset is also their greatest liability.

The youth of the Lakers has been talked about for a long time now. It is one of the biggest reasons for optimism of the franchise but the Lakers youth is also their biggest disadvantage. We all make, or have made youthful mistakes and will continue to do so.

Youthful errors in the NBA look like letting 20 point leads slip away or conversely, not continuing to fight when you find yourself down by 20. Youthful errors look like that bad team you lost to by underestimating them or not being able to close out a game when you have a team on the ropes. The sad part is, most of these mistakes are only fixed through experience.

The Lakers will have many games this season in which their youth will be on full display, for better or for worse. It will be important for the coaching staff and the veterans on the team to keep these young players in check.

Youth isn’t a bad thing by any means but in the NBA, it’s going to be difficult to improve and advance when you’re basically getting in your own way.

Like Coach Walton stated, a successful season for the Lakers this year should be based on improvement and maturity, rather than wins and losses. Save the expectations for later.

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