Laker fans in need of patience
by Keven Chavez, San Gabriel Valley Tribune
Here's a casual reminder for Lakers fans for the next several weeks:
If watching Monday's home loss to the Phoenix Suns, the worst team in the Western Conference, didn't sit too well, you might be better off finding another hobby for a month or so.
The Lakers, or whatever's left of them, head into a miserable stretch of the schedule beginning today. And it's not going to be pretty in the win column at least.
Consider coach Phil Jackson's plan for tackling the Lakers' upcoming road trip, which begins today in Memphis.
"Postpone the first week's games and play them later on,' Jackson joked after Monday's game.
Perhaps it's not such a bad idea.
The Lakers play eight of their next 10 games on the road, including the next three against Western Conference contenders. That's part of a bigger stretch of 22 games over the next 43 days with only five of those games taking place in the relatively cozy comforts of Staples Center.
With that long, winding road ahead of them, even a fully loaded Lakers squad could expect to stumble and perhaps fall into their seemingly annual mid-season panic mode.
But this current group of Lakers Gary and the Payton-aires, if you will understands they have to weather the storm and wait for Kobe, Shaq, Karl and Co. to return from injury and come to the rescue down the stretch.
"We've got to look past all those injuries,' said Payton. "I've got to guide these guys through this. We can get wins, but we've got to execute.
"If we make mistakes, there's no way we can win.'
That statement could be more true than Lakers fans would prefer to imagine.
more...
http://www.sgvtribune.com/Stories/0,1413,205~28775~1904107,00.html
by Keven Chavez, San Gabriel Valley Tribune
Here's a casual reminder for Lakers fans for the next several weeks:
If watching Monday's home loss to the Phoenix Suns, the worst team in the Western Conference, didn't sit too well, you might be better off finding another hobby for a month or so.
The Lakers, or whatever's left of them, head into a miserable stretch of the schedule beginning today. And it's not going to be pretty in the win column at least.
Consider coach Phil Jackson's plan for tackling the Lakers' upcoming road trip, which begins today in Memphis.
"Postpone the first week's games and play them later on,' Jackson joked after Monday's game.
Perhaps it's not such a bad idea.
The Lakers play eight of their next 10 games on the road, including the next three against Western Conference contenders. That's part of a bigger stretch of 22 games over the next 43 days with only five of those games taking place in the relatively cozy comforts of Staples Center.
With that long, winding road ahead of them, even a fully loaded Lakers squad could expect to stumble and perhaps fall into their seemingly annual mid-season panic mode.
But this current group of Lakers Gary and the Payton-aires, if you will understands they have to weather the storm and wait for Kobe, Shaq, Karl and Co. to return from injury and come to the rescue down the stretch.
"We've got to look past all those injuries,' said Payton. "I've got to guide these guys through this. We can get wins, but we've got to execute.
"If we make mistakes, there's no way we can win.'
That statement could be more true than Lakers fans would prefer to imagine.
more...
http://www.sgvtribune.com/Stories/0,1413,205~28775~1904107,00.html
