The Real Reasons Why The Lakers Didn't ThreePeat

Initially I wanted to blame Paul Gasol and his soft ass post defense as the sole reason why The Lakers were bounced from the playoffs, but looking back on it I saw this shit coming from a mile away. The Lakers and Phil Jackson have been playing with house money for years. All they wanted to do was squeeze another championship in and then make changes, but along the way being loyal and arrogant cost them in a big way. Celtics aside only the Jordan led Bulls can boast of multiple threepeats and Kobe, Fisher, and Phil had a chance to make history. The following post  will detail what really happened to the Lakers and how mismanagement, bad coaching and terrible on court play costs The Lakers a chance to make history.

• When I look back on what went wrong with the LAKESHOW I start with the date July 12,2007. For it was on this day that Luke Theodore Walton was signed to an assanine 6yr 30 million dollar contract. Wasn't that about the same amount the Lakers let Trevor Ariza go to the Rockets for.(5yrs 33million).For 5 million this year the Lakers got 1.7pts 1.2 reb and 1.1 assists. Either Luke has pictures of Jerry Buss partying with school boys or the Lakers are participating in the make a wish foundation and helping to make Luke's dream of being a NBA player come true. It is this contract that to this day causes the Lakers to low ball better players and keeps them from being players at the trade deadline.
• The decision to continue to start Derek Fisher at PG has hurt this team for years. Don't get me wrong I love Derek and all his contributions to the Lakers, but his best days are long gone. His inability to keep guys in front of him and break down the Lakers defense has been detrimental to their success for years. He has never been a play maker or big time scorer which begs the question of why The Lakers never addressed this situation. It was all about loyalty. I can understand this but it is one thing to have Rondo,Paul,Williams or Rose break down your defense, but when Jarrett Jack,J.J.Barea, and Aaron Brooks look like Isiah Thomas while they are torching your defense it is time for a change. Phil loves big guards like Brian Shaw and Ron Harper and I can't understand why someone like Larry Hughes was never picked up and given a shot to help this team. Loyalty and ego I tell you is a sum bitch.
• When I watch Kobe Bryant I see A man who never gets easy shots because of the guys he plays with. Can you remember the last time Kobe was set up with an alley oop or scored on a fast break dunk. At this point in his career he should be in the low post either passing out of a double team or shooting a 10- 12 ft turnaround. Not trying to constantly beat his man off the dribble. If he played with a distributor and spent more time in the post he would become more efficient and even more dangerous on the court. Also having him play pick and pop with Gasol and Odom more often would help with his transition. Kobe works to hard to get his shot off and his spends to much time chasing around point guards. He is one of the better defenders in the game and he needs another wing defender like Ariza to help him like Jordan used Scottie.
• Letting Ariza go and acquiring Artest looked good on paper, but I never liked it. Ariza was an athletic wing player in his prime who was the Lakers best defender in the playoffs and often came through in the clutch. He was Kobe's running mate and gave his team a glimpse of showtime with his ability to finish on the break. Imagine Kobe, Ariza, and Shannon Brown on the break. Wicked. You know what's funny is Kobe probably is the slowest and has the worst vertical of the three. Now that's saying something. Artest has failed to become the player the Lakers envisioned when they let Ariza go. He is slow, doesn't intimidate anymore and can't finish strong at rim they way he used too. If the Lakers could get 15 every night with strong defense from Artest there would be no complaints, but combined with Luke they average 10.2 pts 4 reb and 3 assist all while making a combined 11 million a year. With his 6pts and 4 reb a game Matt Barnes should be starting.
• While the Heat, Mavs, Bulls , Knicks, Thunder, Magic and Celtics all made changes for good or bad the best the Lakers could muster was signing Blake, Barnes, Ratliff,and trading for Joe Smith. What if they had acquired a Battier or Peja at the trade deadline. A strong perimeter athletic defender and a reliable 3 pt shooter are what this team is missing.
• Remember Sasha, Vladimar, and Farmar, from the Lakers team 4 years ago that led the league in scoring. Who is the Lakers most consistent shooter right now outside of Kobe? Right they don't have one. Teams around the league surround their stars with shooter like  Korver, James Jones, Peja, and Terry to name a few. If you can't make a defense pay for taking away your number 1 option you are going to have a quick exit from the playoffs.
• The next area of concern was the Lakers coaching staff. Say what you want about the Lakers lack of offense, but I think Monty Williams and Rick Carlisle out coached Phil Jackson and really exposed the Lakers weaknesses . Both teams used the deadly combination of Pick and Roll at nausea to beat the Lakers. Either they never devised a game plan to combat it or the players refused to execute it. Either way it was sickening to watch the same play work time after time after time. Evertime Paul ran pick and roll and he ended up with Bynum on him he jayed his ass up or was fouled. Where was the adjustment? Why was Paul never trapped or why wasn't Chandler or Haywood made to beat the Lakers?
• Is it just me or does Phil Jackson have a problem with playing his young players. If athleticism is what you need then why don't you get Derrick Character and Devin Ebanks in to the game. Other teams in the league try to be more effiecient of offense and save their energy for playing defense and rebounding. The Lakers work hard on offense and play some of the weakest defense I have ever seen. Odom and Gasol refuse to jump to block shots and all Fisher and Artest do is reach. Kobe one of the best defenders in the league just floats around like Ed Reed. Acommittment to defense and better x's and o's would help this team out a lot. Phil is at his best when he is motivating and leading men not matching gameplans with other coaches. Doc and Larry Brown outcoached  Phil in the finals and they both managed to get bench players to elevate their performances against the Lakers..Even with Gasol not scoring his rebounds and block shots should have been better. Defense takes effort, consistancy, teamwork and planning. Without those factors you will not succeed. In what playbook does it say the more shot attempts you get the more effort you put out. Odom, Gasol and Bynum should be aggressive on defense and control the paint better.
• The front office much like Phil is to blame for the team getting old overnight. They don't develop young players and they trade away youth for experience. Even while winning you have to keep your eye on the future. Who is the player of the future? DWIGHT HOWARD.
• AT THE END OF THE DAY YOU WIN AND LOSE ON THE COURT, BUT IF YOU HAVE NO COUNTER PLAN OR FAIL TO MAKE THE PROPER ADJUSTMENTS YOU ALWYS STAND A CHANCE OF LOSING. HARDWORK, DETERMINATION, AND EFFORT DON'T GUARANTEE YOU ANYTHING BUT WITHOUT IT YOU DON'T STAND A CHANCE.
• I'm out like your MVP Derrick Rose.