We see how far we have to come to be competitive with a championship caliber team. The Lakers have so much talent and depth. They are a tight knit unit and a vet laden team. They play and have perfected a system over the years. It is a great benchmark to see up close and personal.
We, on the other hand, are one of the youngest teams in the NBA. We have played the most starting five units in a game this season in the league with 10 different casts mostly due to injuries. We aren’t talented enough or deep enough to not be healthy and become a gel team. I am sorry but it is the truth. We need to heal up and get a rotation out there that can play and practice with regularity. If we can do that, we will be more competitive. We will get better results.
We played hard last night and up to our capabilities. We took so many more shots than the Lakers did. Our shooting efficiency was suspect. I am surprised at how much difficulty we are having in scoring. We literally had six trips in a row down the court in the 4th period where we clanged shot after shot and didn’t score. We didn’t get to the foul line much and they certainly did. That LA team is a grown-up team that plays the perimeter quite well. But plays defense and in the paint even better!
We played again without John Wall. Without Andray Blatche. Without Josh Howard. And then without Yi.
Despite that, I felt we competed and played to our capabilities. I was happy to see our rookies play so many minutes last night. That is the only way for them to gain experience.
I appreciate your patience. I appreciate the fan turn out. We didn’t register a sell out but I thought the building looked great and there was a lot of energy in the arena.