Concerning the new defense – I think it’s a gimmick and I don’t like it. After last year (and I mean the WHOLE season), we needed to play better, harder on D, not create a fake new scheme. Last year we gave up loads of open Js, but mostly locked down the paint for stretches. This season, it’s a party, basically any shot you want, because guys are uncomfortable, lazy, and noncommittal on D.

And on O, who can deny that they haven’t really been effective running triangle this year? They were effective running and I was worried what would happen when teams took that away. Now I know.

The problems our Lakers are facing will be dealt with changes in the defensive scheme and, perhaps, with player rotations – not with trades. This team is, and has always been deep, and this will play to our advantage during this long NBA season. Demanding player/coaching changes this early in the season is premature and imprudent.

I’m as frustrated as all of the fans that come to this site, but I think that part of the frustration is that people have completely unrealistic expectations of some of the players on the team.

For example, some people unfairly expect Andrew Bynum to be this “intimidating beast” merely because of his size. I’m not sure where this expectation came from as the Andrew Bynum I watch in games and seen at Staples Center has a style more reminissant of David Robinson or Kareeem than that of “physical” guys like Shaq or D. Howard. This does not mean that Bynum is “soft”, it just means that he plays a different style of basketball. I also think Bynum lacks the foundation that guys like Howard, Kareem and Shaq had, so his basketball instincts will develop a bit slower than some of us may hope (hence some of the “dumb” fouls and defensive decisions)- but they will develop.

The same goes for Lamar. We all know by now what to expect from Lamar. Some nights he will be hot, others stone cold. But that does not mean that his versatily has no place in this team. Quite the oppossite, his versatility is what makes the Lakers contenders, even if we are having a hard time right now.

So let’s ground our expectations and quit yapping about trades.

It is too soon to say the Lakers need to scrap the defensive scheme or bench players. This is a brand new system for the team. Out of the gate opponents hadn’t seen the Lakers play it and the Lakers dominated. Teams adjusted to it and now the Lakers need to execute the system better. That is a process that will take time, just like learning the triangle offense takes time. There is a good chance the team will get there by playoff time. On paper it is a good system to shoot for as it capitalizes on the Lakers’ strengths: length and quickness.

However, to me the argument that Phil Jackson has never been a good defensive coach or doesn’t know how to do rotations or build a championship team are ludicrous. Those are exactly the things the guy has done to win nine rings. He has always been willing to take some losses in December or even March to teach a team and get them to grow. He has always mucked with rotations. This is what he does, but the results bear out he can coach. If you think he just rolls the ball out and gets lucky, I think you are really missing the picture.

Odom is coming off the bench, he is part of a three big rotation that the Lakers can’t break up, he’s playing nine fewer minutes a game, but people want to throw him under the bus because they need to scapegoat someone for the problems.

And, to be simple, if you think Phil Jackson can’t coach basketball, you don’t know basketball. He is a defense-first coach, HAD TO change how he did things because of changes in the rules, but it comes down to players in the end.

The problems with the Lakers right now are not going to be solved with a coaching change or a trade. These are internal problems, not ones to be solved externally.

I’m not advocating trading Kobe, or blowing the whole thing up. The team came so close and I think we can get back there again. But I’m just trying to get my head around the fact that this team looks lifeless after such an energetic start.