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Reaping what they sowed
by Morris O'Kelly / May 16, 2003

The San Antonio Spurs defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 4 games to 2. The score of Game 6 is irrelevant. The only important fact if you asked any Laker fan was how and why. There will be no 4-peat. But if Laker fans and the Laker organization are honest with themselves respectively, this had to happen. There was no other way the story could have ended.

This is not some opportunistic rant from a Monday morning quarterback (or in this case, a Friday morning point guard). But it doesn't make this words any less true less or the truth any easier to swallow.

Wisdom usually teaches us through the mistakes we make or the mistakes we almost make. The truth is that the Lakers needed a miraculous comeback against Portland to help win the first of the three championships. The truth is that the Lakers needed a miracle shot by Robert Horry and bad free throw shooting by the Sacramento Kings to help win the third championship.

So honestly, chance has been more kind than unkind to the Lakers. Many times though, an organization can mistake good fortune for good player management. Yes, GM Mitch Kupchack and owner Jerry Buss are to blame. You don't need to hit the brick wall to know that it's coming. This wall was in plain view.

Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant are two of the best players in the league. The other 11 that wear Lakers jerseys likely would not start anywhere else in the league. Despite the fact that the Lakers haven't had a completely healthy Shaquille O'Neal in three seasons, they still have yet to acquire any type of backup to relieve some of the workload. The 'solution' this year has been Samaki Walker and/or Mark Madsen. Both are power forwards by trade and both are major liabilities when they are on the court. Madsen is the guy who defenses ignore completely and although he hustles, offers little more. Walker sat most of the playoffs and couldn't get off the bench. He couldn't even get off the bench for a team that had no backup for Shaq; and Mark Madsen and a dismal Robert Horry were the power forwards. That speaks for itself.

Speaking of Robert Horry, has anyone realized all along that Horry is a one-dimensional player? Other than spot up shooting, what does/did Horry offer? What wasn't a secret was how often Horry would disappear during games and the regular season altogether. He's too lanky to guard legitimate power forwards and too limited to offer much offensively. That equation adds up to liability. A power forward combination of Horry, Walker and Madsen probably couldn't guard a trashcan, much less Tim Duncan. This became very evident whenever the Lakers faced teams with a legitimate power forward the likes of Rasheed Wallace, Chris Webber or Karl Malone. It was no secret where the holes were in the Laker team. It was just nobody until Thursday night could punch a hole big enough to send them packing.

Call what I'm saying harsh, but don't call it unsubstantiated.

The triangle offense, for all its positives is predictable and a predictable offense with mediocre players (other than Shaq and Kobe) means a mediocre team. It's the same triangle still being run in Chicago today and we see how successful that team is. It is not made for a point guard who can create on his own and not coincidentally, the
Lakers are without one. The Lakers as of Thursday were a team of mediocre ballhandlers and teams responded in the playoffs by full-court pressing and not allowing the team to naturally set up the triangle.

Derek Fisher became less effective, Shaq had to come up to the high post and away from the low blocks to help with the press and it disintegrated from there. Minnesota created this blueprint and San Antonio simply finished the job.

What shouldn't be lost in all of this is that the problems for the Lakers started long before the playoffs. They started long before this season's 3-9 start. They started long before Shaq decided to delay having toe surgery. The problem started years ago and went unchecked.

Most NBA champions try to get better in the offseason. The Lakers simply got older in every offseason. Robert Horry and Rick Fox were reserves on the first championship team and even then they weren't spring chickens. And Brian Shaw, big shots aside is still Brian Shaw -- and very old in NBA terms. Devean George hasn't developed in the manner in which the team hoped. Slava Medvedenko hasn't developed as a complete player and none of the holes in the Laker front court were ever addressed.

This season the Lakers had the chance to add Jim Jackson to the roster before Sacramento did, but owner Jerry Buss refused not wanting to spend the extra money. Once again, it was no secret that the Lakers lacked a third scorer and/or an effective bench scorer but the opportunity to improve was once again ignored. The false sense of security had won out once again. The Lakers tricked themselves into thinking that the core nucleus was enough, even if they needed divine intervention against the Sacramento Kings last season. But in truth, they didn't even have their core nucleus.

Kobe Bryant was the only Laker that played on a level equal to or greater than last year. It was a sliding scale that was painfully evident if the right people were paying attention. Their collective arrogance was as strong as ever, but the talent wasn't on the same par. Shaq wasn't healthy or in shape, Devean George provided minimal support on a consistent basis and if Rick Fox and Robert Horry didn't provide great defense and dependable offense (which they didn't) the Lakers would struggle.

And struggle mightily is exactly what they did.

Before, when they struggled, they had more firepower. There were guys like Glen Rice who could genuinely shoot so guys like Kobe could create. Veterans like Lindsey Hunter would have been much more viable than a Jannero Pargo. Before, the Lakers played the whole season and did not wait until the playoffs to get serious and take the other teams seriously. But that was then...

The level of complacency and front office inactivity finally caught up with the Lakers. I could say like many people, "I told you so", but I won't. Hopefully this painful dose of 'wisdom' will help them better prepare on and off the court for another run at the title next year. A lot of players need to go, but as long as you have Shaq and Kobe, you're not far from getting it right. The caveat is that the front office must be committed now to do what is necessary to get it right.