By Will Reeve
The Los Angeles Lakers are not making the playoffs this season unless they have what amounts to a powerball lottery full of luck plop squarely into their lap.
Lakers lifer Jamaal Wilkes told Time Warner Cable Sportsnet that he thinks the Lakers playoff chances “are very real.”
Slow your roll Silk.
There’s little doubt head coach Byron Scott was hand-picked by Kobe Bryant, and even less doubt that he’s serving as a placeholder in his position during a period of transition for the franchise. How long that stint will be, remains to be seen.
A lot of fans have expressed on social media that they hope Scott coaches his way out of a job this season. Which begs the question: why do educated fans feel this way?
In Scott’s last 312 games coaching in the NBA he has won 85 of them for a win percentage of 27.2 percent.
Is that good?
More to the point, given that Scott has had some poor rosters, he has:
- ran a dated offense not suited to the team with a dated mindset in tow
- consistently chastised and blamed his team after games
- refused to take accountability for any issues on and off the court for his team regularly
- demonstrated a conflicting personality with today’s younger players
- proven not to be a very good head coach.
Look for Scott to be back in the assistant coaching ranks before long. A role that truly suits him much better.
When you have someone like Scott at the helm and almost an entire new core, what should the Lakers really expect wins-and-loss wise?
Realistically, anything beyond 33 wins should be considered a surprising bonus.
While the team has added some good pieces in Brandon Bass, Lou Williams, and yes even Roy Hibbert — who is still an upgrade over most centers in the league given the limited talent at the position — fans that believe they are a 50-win team are likely in for heartache.
As previously discussed in past columns, this team’s focus should be on praying that Scott uses them in a fast-paced system that suits their style and gives Jordan Clarkson, D’Angelo Russell and Julius Randle plenty of minutes. If that culminates in a better-than-average record; so be it — but don’t count on it.
The Lakers are in full rebuild-mode and placing too lofty of expectations on such a limited coach and young roster will do nothing to benefit either.
Will Reeve is a contributing writer to Lakers Outsiders, you can follow him on Twitter @WillReeveJr or connect with him on Facebook here.
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