After a spurt during which they won 12 of 16 games, including their in-season tournament title game win, the Lakers have gotten into a funk. They’re on a four-game losing streak, and with a 15-14 record, they have quickly fallen from fourth place to ninth place in the Western Conference.
The team needs better 3-point shooting, perimeter defense and big man depth. However, it is almost at full strength after a number of minor and moderate injuries over the first several weeks of the season, and therefore, it is running out of excuses.
Throughout social media, plenty of Lakers fans are blaming head coach Darvin Ham for the team’s woes. According to them, Ham’s substitution patterns and lineup combinations are the real reasons the team is just barely over .500 and possibly about to fall below that mark.
Never mind the fact that Ham got recognition and praise late last season when L.A. sprinted from a sub-.500 record in February all the way to the Western Conference Finals. The coach was also praised for his decision to move forward Cam Reddish into the starting lineup last month, which momentarily ignited the team until a couple of weeks ago.