The Departure: Dwight Howard

By this time, at least the whole NBA universe has already known that Dwight Howard will be leaving the Lakers and signing with the Houston Rockets, ending a very long series of meetings and talks regarding the future not only of the superstar, but also of the team that he used to belong to, considered as one of the biggest and greatest NBA franchises. Reasons and speculations regarding the eventual decision and the circumstances that led to it have been brought forth and circulated across the web, citing the pressure that the big city brings to the big man, the "unappreciative" fans, Coach Mike D'Antoni, and the difficulty playing alongside Kobe Bryant, as crucial conditions that led to this decision.

At this point, one can only say that everything has already been done. Houston now prepares for D12's arrival and explores the possibility of getting someone beyond him, James Harden, and Chandler Parsons. The Lakers, on the other hand, claim that they have Plan B set in motion, as the current roster that they have, considering the loss not only of Howard, but also of Earl Clark (who went to the Cleveland Cavaliers), Andrew Goudelock and Darius Morris, among others, will not be enough to even get them at the bottom four of the playoffs. Add to that the fact that Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol are still on their way to full recovery. But before all these concerns come crashing through, perhaps one way of saying goodbye to Dwight Howard is to read and dissect his "letter" of gratitude to the Los Angeles Lakers players, management, and fans. And here it goes:

I’ve decided to become a member of the Houston Rockets.

So Howard finally decided on joining the Houston Rockets after flirting with his the Lakers, the Hawks, the Mavericks, and the Warriors, and the league should be happy about it. Actually, scrap that. It's more of a feeling of relief that finally, rumors and speculations that are NBA-related will now move away from D12. Suffice to say, everyone has been so irritated with this indecision, the second one which came after LeBron James' reveal last 2010, and it isn't worth anybody's time. Howard's performance and attitude towards the game last season has already been signs that this situation should not be overblown, and yet all have fallen to the "D12-does-not-grow-on-trees" argument. C'mon, if the Lakers have offered this guy an interesting pitch in Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol, an additional 30 million dollars in your contract, and the possibility of becoming its next big thing, how can you refuse that? Right, pressure. No wonder, this guy ripped the team off and decline further possibility for playing with the Lakers.

This is not to say that this is a representation of the collective sourgraping that Lakers fans have. In fact, most of them do not realize that this is a good move for the Lakers (interesting read here), considering that the team is still two years in rebuilding (including several awful mistakes). The Purple and Gold does not deserve a star who cannot handle playing the pressure that it brings, and the money (and the cap space, unfortunately) that could have been spent on him deserves to be put on somebody who can handle the pressure and play alongside Kobe Bryant. Unfortunately, having D12 has its setbacks, including a season-long misery that the Lakers will go through, and thankfully the Lakers will have none of all these.

I feel its the best place for me and I am excited about joining the Rockets and I’m looking forward to a great season.

But to be fair, D12's decision is a good one, by way of elimination. Houston is a "small town," upper middle-market team that started rebuilding a year ago with the planned James harden trade and a role player on the rise in Chandler Parsons. The team landed the eighth spot in the playoffs, a notch below Howard's old team, and got a couple of wins against the Oklahoma City Thunder, and that means low expectations for a team that can go beyond what has been foreseen. The Rockets have a flexible coach in Celtic legend Kevin McHale, who knows how to make good use of big men (unlike the Lakers' Mike D'Antoni, who only had Amar'e Stoudemire, Channing Frye, and Boris Diaw to be proud of... and probably Pau Gasol who is going to slide into the center spot). In other words, the atmosphere of Houston isn't as close to that of Tinseltown, where every free throw missed and an opportunity for posting up one's opponents will be looked upon with scrutinizing eyes. If it is indeed true that Howard cannot play alongside Kobe Bryant as well as handle the pressure of being at it, then Houston is the perfect city, one that can give him "unconditional love."

And that is why he cannot go to the other teams that have been wooing him for the past few weeks. Dallas looks to have a huge overhaul this season in order to once again make it in the playoffs, after a disappointing 2012-13 season, and Mark Cuban as well as Dirk Nowitzki will have none of a big man that will play like a championship doesn't matter to him. The Hawks, despite losing Josh Smith, also promised that a rebuild will make it possible for them to be contenders once again in the Eastern Conference. And the Warriors? Oh boy, the Warriors need no explanation, for now they have seen what they can do as a team. Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson led last year's playoff run, and no one's going to stop them now that they have realized what they can do.

Therefore, it makes sense for the clownish, seemingly happy-go-lucky Dwight Howard to find his place in Houston. But let this be a warning sign: the fact that they'll be seen as contenders would send a message to him, a big one actually: pressure is inevitable. If he thinks that a big franchise who has not won a championship in three years puts him in a situation that pressures him, wait until he sees a Texan crowd who has not won a championship in nearly twenty years and has finally gotten a legitimate star in the post-Yao era (which ended badly). He may find Rockets fans laughing with and about his ways, but he will not realize that in every game in regular season, he is going to be judged by his hard picks, dunks, and free throws (especially the last one). And before he can see it, the pressure that was once in Los Angeles will dawn upon him, one that even James Harden, intent on getting a ring before the Oklahoma City Thunder does, will willingly exert.

And if that does happen, where will Howard take his talents next?

I want to thank the fans in Los Angeles and wish them the best.

Yes, thank you as well Dwight Howard, for not embarking on a future that will be grim and gloomy, given your disposition towards winning championships (after all, you might have forgotten that this is the reason why you are valuable to all these five teams). Thank you for allowing the Lakers management to finally confirm for themselves the fact that they do not need a Dwight Howard that will be the anchor to the team's future, that it can go choose another one given that it will have a humongous cap space after this NBA season (uhm, calling the King this early might help. Probably.).

I'm sure that the Lakers will wish you the best. I mean, look at how Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol won two titles together.

The Purple & Gold Midterm Report

The All-Star break has already gone by, and as usual, the weekend would not be complete without any highlight from the Lakers stars, especially Kobe Bryant who, along with All-Star MVP Chris Paul, to lead the West to their third straight victory. But after all the fun and games, the Lakers have to go back to business and face the hard times that are ahead of them. Just how did they perform during their past 44 games which led them to this miserable (as the fans put it) position?

To answer this question, presenting:

THE PURPLE AND GOLD REPORT CARD

I. Player Development

-Kobe Bryant declared before the start of the season that the team is his for leading, that he is going to be the one to lead the Lakers to another appearance and consequently to another championship, as Lakers fans have looked forward to after the big offseason acquisition. However, when he says such, it might not mean that he is going to be the one to take the shots and chuck it up to his teammates, or so he says just when the Lakers have dug themselves up a hole as the year 2013 came. The misery that the Lakers have faced has forced him to shift his role from primary scorer (which isn't really effective) to a passer and a facilitator. And surprisingly, things have been relatively better for the Lakers. Sure, the team has not yet gotten a fairly good win streak, but they continue to chase for the eighth spot of the Western Conference, and is now closer to crossing the .500 mark.

-Dwight Howard has been the receiving end of praises and hopes for the team, with even Kobe and GM Mitch Kupchak declaring him to be the next big thing for the Lakers. However, as with the Lakers' win record, things didn't turn out so well for the young center. Still on the verge of recovering from his back injury last season, he injured his right shoulder, aggravated in multiple instances, which gravely affected his performance. Worse, it seems that he's only a shadow of his former self, as he was having difficulty adjusting to coach Mike D'Antoni's system and with Bryant's way of dealing with the game, less with the on-court than with the off-court. He's expected to initiate the perfect screen and roll plays, but so far he has done not so much. And even worse than that, he's still not willing to commit to the Lakers until the end of the regular season, which suggests that, knowing his value, he might take his talents somewhere, and rumors have been spreading around that during the All-Star Weekend, he's been telling everyone around that he's interested to join the Brooklyn Nets. With no assurance to hang on to, the Lakers and its fans are certainly treading on a dark road downhill, not even a trace of the light at the end of the tunnel insofar as Howard is concerned.

-Steve Nash has also stopped being Steve Nash, as his assist figures have dipped significantly compared to his performance with the Suns. In Mike D'Antoni's days with the Suns, Steve Nash has been the one who was holding the ball for most of the time, waiting for the perfect moment to dish out a perfect pass. But with Bryant sharing the ball with him, he became more of a spot-up shooter in the early days of January. However, it seems that Nash has been back on track during the past few games before the All-Star Break. 

-Earl Clark has been compared to Trevor Ariza and Shannon Brown in such a way that he emerges as the surprise chip who can contribute a lot to the team. Placed in the starting lineup during mid-January, he has exceeded the expectations not just of the Lakers fans but even of Mike D'Antoni. He is a perfect fit in the system insofar as he is able to swish in those wing jumpers when opponents clog the post, receive passes from Kobe for quick dunks, and finish fastbreak plays, despite being a defensive liability. Given the space and the opportunity, he can grow and be an offensive weapon, but what is of more importance is his ability to defend one-on-one and help Howard guard the post. 

-Metta World Peace, to say the least, has improved offensively this season, as he has been on the receiving end of three-pointers which he can calmly sink even with a defender in front of him.However, what is asked of him is to bring back the grit that won him Defensive Player of the Year honors almost a decade ago. Plus, consistency in shooting (and even selecting the right spots to shoot) has been an issue these past 46 games or so, and thus the need to work on that, too.

-The Bench:

So far, only four people from the bench have been significant contributors for the Lakers this season. Pau Gasol has been largely inconsistent this season, but his move from the bench has made him play better, find the spots where he is comfortable, and dominate the paint... until he tore his plantar fascia which will keep him out for six weeks or so. Both Jodie Meeks and Antawn Jamison have proven themselves to be viable replacements when the big four plus one need some rest, but they are largely inconsistent and would need to establish themselves as legitimate offensive threats.Steve Blake, on the other hand, earns his minutes mainly due to necessity, because he knows all too well how to play with Kobe and Metta, but more importantly, he is a better option that either Chris Duhon or Darius Morris, who has not done anything significant as of the moment. 

II.Coaching and Team Chemistry

Despite the abundance of stars and offensive options in the team, it seems that Coach Mike D'Antoni has not yet found the perfect formulae for a playoff appearance. Up until the first half, the former Phoenix Suns coach who made the Seven-Seconds-Or-Less offense famous have been struggling to fit players into his system, rather than the other way around. He experimented with three-guard combos (Nash-Morris-Bryant), put World Peace at the four, and benched Pau Gasol because he cannot co-exist with Howard in the system. Perhaps it was by chance that he found Earl Clark as a valid starting four, and things seem to have gotten a bit better, considering the new roles Bryant, Nash, and Howard have put up for themselves. However, looking at the big picture, it looks like the Lakers have their players finding ways to survive by embracing their new roles, veering away from the rigid system that former Coach Phil Jackson has established and Coach Mike Brown has continued. Things took a drastic turnaround for the Lakers, but so far, nothing's still working.

III.Best and Worst Matches

Best Win: After being crushed twice by the Western Conference champions, the new-look Lakers defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder, 104-95, with Kobe dishing out 14 big assists.

Worst win: The first match against the Charlotte Bobcats should be easy, but it still took a crucial block from Dwight Howard during the Bobcats' last possession for the Lakers to win the game, 101-100.

Best loss: After firing Coach Mike Brown, Bernie Bickerstaff was named interim coach before the arrival of Mike D'Antoni, and one of their biggest matches during that period was against the San Antonio Spurs. The Lakers held on to a slim lead until the fourth quarter, but they were not able to seal the game as Danny Green shot a big three over Kobe Bryant to seal the game in the Spurs' favor, 82-84.

Worst loss: The Lakers began their Grammy road trip with a match against Steve Nash's former team, the Phoenix Suns. The Purple and Gold led by as much as 18 points, but broke down during the fourth quarter. Thanks to reserve Michael Beasley, the Suns won this game, 92-86, and broke the Lakers' hopes of actually getting a long winning streak to put them above Utah and Houston, two teams that are in the 7th and 8th places respectively in the Western Conference. Worse, Dwight Howard aggravated his shoulder injury, leaving Gasol to man the post for the rest of the game.

MIDSEASON Grade: C

Points for Improvement and Recommendations:

• There will only aspect of the game which the Lakers have to take seriously: their chemistry. There is no doubt that the individuals of the team are great, even when we speak outside of Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, and Dwight Howard, who are perfect one-on-one players. However, the problem remains the same all season long: the pieces cannot mold themselves into cohesive unit. There could have been improvements when Bryant decided to distribute the ball more, but almost everyone has still not found the perfect spots and areas where they can be a threat to opponents. This is precisely what the Lakers need to improve on, before everything will be too late and we'll see the most important pieces, Dwight Howard especially, leaving the team.

•  Perhaps, another thing to take note of is the fact that the Lakers actually can win should be the collective and individual mentality of everyone concerned; however, what is of utmost importance here is also the imperative to play seriously as if each game is the last. Bryant, now in the last two years of the career, certainly feels this urgency, and so is Nash, but Howard seems to not be in sync with these two. The problem with Dwight Howard is not that he's been gravely disturbed by the injuries that he is recovering from; rather, it's that he seems to not have adjusted to the way the Los Angeles Lakers have been dealing with basketball in all its 60-plus years of existence: serious on-court business. Perhaps he has to accept that he is in a team that always pressures itself to win the championship, not just by his teammates, but the whole community and fanbase of the Lakers, from the blogger to the departed Dr. Jerry Buss himself. Once he accepts that he has a crucial role and there is no time for the  inessential, then it would only be then where he would be, in the most real sense of the word, a Laker.

P&G Game 8: vs. San Antonio Spurs

The Lakers hoped to continue their winning ways as they were ahead during the half time, but key adjustments in the third and fourth quarter allowed the Spurs to escape with a win, 84-82, behind Danny Green's game-clinching three and Pau Gasol's missed three pointer near the end of the game.

Yay of the Game:

28-4-8: another MVP-level production for the Black Mamba, who also shot efficiently from the field (12 of 19). Kobe Bryant, alongside Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol, carried the Lakers all through out and kept them afloat, until that fateful Green three-pointer that sealed the deal for the Spurs, who struggled all night thanks to the Lakers' stellar help D, putting the clamps on their Big Ol' Three.

Nay of the Game:

3/10: Pau Gasol's FGA/FGM for the game, including the missed three pointer that could have given the Lakers the lead during the dying seconds of the game. This should be a warning sign for Gasol to get in shape offensively and use his athleticism more frequently, especially now that Mike D'Antoni's taking over and will demand a lot from him.

Play of the Game:

Mamba to Superman early in the first. Hope to see more of that once D'Antoni checks in as head coach.



The Lakers Are Now At:

3-5 (4th Pacific, 14th West). The Lakers will face the Phoenix Suns, the team that was once D'Antoni's. Bernie Bickerstaff will remain to be head coach until early next week, and Jordan Hill is listed as probable for Friday's game. Can the Lakers bounce back and win big after this close game?

Highlights:

First Day Thoughts

Miami 88, Boston 80

This game just showed how difficult it is to meld superstars together and play as one coherent team.

This is not to say that it is impossible, even though most would think that it is because all of these three are role-playing scorers who carry most of the offensive load in their own teams (Cleveland and Toronto in the case of James and Bosh, and the old Miami Heat for Wade). What this game revealed to us is that to create a team of superstars, it takes time and adjustments to bring them together, to be able to "read" each other and feel their own rhythms from both sides of the court.

And as coach Erik Spoelstra said, "it takes time."

L.A. Lakers 112, Houston 110

This is one of those moments wherein the Lakers' closer is not named "Kobe Bryant."

While everyone thought that the Purple and Gold will go 0-1, with the underrated Houston Rockets leading by double digits entering into the second half, Steve Blake and Shannon Brown exploded, hit back-to-back three pointers, made key steals and converted them into points, to bring the Lakers back into the game.

Add to that the three-pointer delivered by Blake off a pass from Bryant, to put the Lakers up by 2 in the final seconds, as well as Lamar Odom's block against Aaron Brooks' layup which could have extended the game to overtime.

This shows that the Lakers now ceased to be a Kobe Bryant-Pau Gasol show (who got 24 and 29 respectively, with the Spanish Armada grabbing 11 boards along side Odom's 10). Perhaps it is a message that the Lakers now are stronger not just as a pack of players, but as a cohesive and effective team.

And everyone, even Miami, ought to be afraid of the fact that the Purple and Gold keeps on getting better and better.

Portland 106, Phoenix 92

Take it from Steve Nash, and believe every word he said. As far as everyone remembers, he mentioned that he himself does not believe that the Suns will make it in the playoffs this season.

The Suns came and played their usual run and gun with Hedo Turkoglu and Hakim Warrick. But despite all efforts, they fell short against the Portland Trailblazers, who, despite front office mismanagement, was able to keep its key players and maintain their poise all throughout the game.

French forward Nick Batum came in as a surprise when he played only for 27 minutes, but he was efficient as he scored 19 points and 11 rebounds, five of them as second chance opportunities. On the other hand, Jason Richardson, who a few months ago brought down the struggling Trailblazers during the '10 playoffs, had 22 big points, with 9 out of 13 treys, but was not able to deliver during the final minutes.

Again, just not enough, Phoenix Suns. Just not enough.