The Los Angeles Lakers continued their poor run of form in the preseason as they lost their fourth straight game. This time around they were utterly destroyed by the Phoenix Suns with a score of 94-123. Although it is just preseason, each team wants to get in the rhythm early on and preseason is the perfect way to do that.
For the Lakers, apart from this losing streak, there is another issue. The recent performances of their new guard, Russell Westbrook. Russ was brought to the Lakers via a blockbuster trade in the offseason. His arrival in L.A. instantly turned the Lakers into a super team.
Unfortunately, in the first few games donning the Lakers jersey, Westbrook has been abysmal. He has turned the ball over way too many times. This has been a huge reason behind the team’s poor form in the preseason.
While one might think that Russ might frustrated due to these outings, he was surprisingly calm. He revealed his thoughts about the pile of turnovers that he has committed so far in the post-match conference.
“It’s fine. The turnover stuff is on me. But good thing they don’t count. So I turn that b*tch 15 times. Ain’t nothing nobody can do about it,” Westbrook said. “All good. It’s on me though. Easy fix though. Very easy. Just because timing, just timing guys getting used to my speed, my pace, my timing, where I am on the floor. Me just getting my timing back on passing. Know about where about I’d rather get them out now and then I’ll better forgot and make the game easy for everybody else around me. So they definitely don’t mean nothing with the offense. Something I still need to forget about. Those are all personal error timing and somebody we can figure out.”
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Considering the team has gone through some major changes, it might take them a few days or weeks to get adjusted to each other’s pace.
So if Russ and co. can figure this stuff out before the season begins it would be amazing. Moreover, as Lakers head coach Frank Vogel pointed out, it felt like Russ was trying to be a tad bit too unselfish. Maybe all he needs to do is return to his normal self and play without any extra thoughts on his mind.
