Before the Lakers got out of town after their narrow win over the Nets Wednesday night, Jason Kidd would have been wise to pick Mike D’Antoni’s brain about how to handle a roster filled with All-Stars who aren’t playing like it.
D’Antoni, who was named the Lakers coach early last season, went through the same thing Kidd is going through this season with the Nets: underachieving with an over-hyped team.
A year ago, the Lakers opened their season starting five All-Stars. Steve Nash and Dwight Howard were acquired in blockbuster trades to join Kobe Bryant, Metta World Peace and Pau Gasol. But talk of winning another NBA title quickly deteriorated into disarray. Head coach Mike Brown was fired after a 1-4 start, prompting the hiring of D’Antoni.
Showtime was supposed to return to Los Angeles. But the Lakers got off to a 15-21 start, their worst since 1993-94. A late-season charge earned the eighth-seed in the Western Conference, but instead of a championship the Lakers were swept in the first round by the Spurs.
The 2013-2014 Nets are following a similar path of disappointment. They dealt for Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett during the offseason to create an All-Star starting five that included Deron Williams, Joe Johnson and Brook Lopez. There was talk of bringing an NBA championship to Brooklyn as the team’s payroll climbed over $100 million, just like last year’s Lakers.
But they are a dismal 4-11 after a 99-94 loss to D’Antoni’s Lakers Wednesday night. It was the Nets’ ninth loss in their last 11 games.
The Nets were hoping to build off a narrow win at Toronto on Tuesday, but they suffered a woeful first quarter against the Lakers and would trail by as much as 48-21 in a first half when Pierce scored zero points and Garnett managed just two.
But the Nets fought back and had a chance to tie the game in the final seconds. Pierce, who scored 12 in the second half, missed an open 3-pointer from the top of the key before the Lakers added two meaningless free throws. “I thought that shot was going in,” Garnett said of Pierce’s missed 3-pointer.
If there’s a common denominator in the slow starts of last year’s Lakers and this year’s Nets, it’s injuries, particularly at point guard. Nash, who didn’t play against the Nets, fractured his left leg early on last season and wound up missing 24 games.
Williams has missed six of the last seven games with ankle injuries that have plagued him since the preseason. As a result, the Nets have lacked rhythm and leadership on offense.
Meanwhile, Lopez, out with his own foot problems, has played in just eight games. Andrei Kirilenko, who also was acquired by the Nets during the offseason, has played in only four games because of a bad back.
Pardon D’Antoni if he shows no sympathy.
“The NBA is too tough to think you can lose a point guard and a big guy or they don’t play up to the level of their games because they’re hurting and think they’re going to win,” the former Knicks coach said. “They’re just not going to do it.”
A lack of chemistry is also a factor. Bryant and Howard never got along in Los Angeles. Gasol wasn’t happy with his role. The Nets say they are unified in the locker room. But it’s not showing on the court.
“It’s about getting along,” D’Antoni said. “It’s all pulling in the same direction and all being happy with their roles, all knowing the pecking order and all accepting moving the ball and all accepting coaching. If you resist it and resist teammates it gets tougher and that’s not what you want.”
The Lakers made the playoffs last year, but the season was basically a disaster. So far, the Nets look to be headed in the same direction.