Why LA Lakers Are More Watchable Now Than Last Year's Nightmare

The Los Angeles Lakers have put together a team that is far easier on the eyes in 2013-14 in comparison to the previous season.

The year prior, Los Angeles had a team of players with big egos and as a result, it made for a nightmarish campaign. Indeed, it struggled with its identity and never truly figured out how to play with each other.

The failed experiment

Watching the Lakers play in 2012-13 was intriguing, but more so in the sense of watching a train wreck unfold. Players gave minimal effort defensively and on the other side of the ball, the stars bickered.

For instance, Dwight Howard openly complained in the locker room after a contest against the Chicago Bulls after scoring nine points and committing four turnovers. Dave McMenamin of ESPN Los Angeles had the details:

"

We just got to play the right way. All I can tell you guys is we just got to keep believing. We can't lose faith in each other. It's tough. The team that we are, we're not built to lose like this. It's frustrating, but we just got to find a way to stick together. 

"

The three-time Defensive Player of the Year then went on to tear his labrum and sat out a few games to nurse the injury. Kobe Bryant was quick to call out his teammate and essentially forced him back into the lineup as the public sided with the face of the Lakers organization.

Bryant offered this poignant quote to ESPN Boston's Jackie McMullan: "We don't have time for [Howard's shoulder] to heal," Kobe said in an exclusive interview on Wednesday. "We need some urgency.”

When left on its own, it does not seem like much. However, Bryant offered those thoughts after Howard had sat down with ESPN.com’s Stephen A. Smith and stated the franchise needed to display some patience.

Granted, these were issues that occurred off the court, but they give an indication of the disconnect between the players. On the hardwood, things were just as dysfunctional.

Bryant operated the offense in ways he felt suited the team while Howard struggled. The big man repeatedly coughed up the ball in post-up situations and struggled from the free-throw line.

Further exacerbating issues, teams intentionally fouled the former Orlando Magic in an effort to kill the flow of the Lakers offense. Given that Howard is a poor shooter from the charity stripe, the strategy was more often than not a strategy that produced good results for the opposition.

Between the lack of cohesion on and off the floor as well as the championship expectations, the 2012-13 Lakers were a huge disappointment. They were expected to win the Western Conference and also, a few prognosticators had penciled them in as NBA champs before the start of the season.

The choppy play on offense coupled with the diminishing returns on the hardwood made the Purple and Gold unwatchable.

The “new” Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers lost Kobe Bryant prior to the start of the 2013 playoffs. The superstar ruptured his Achilles and consequently missed the start of the 2013-14 campaign.

Also, the Purple and Gold lost out on Dwight Howard during the offseason, which resulted in altering the makeup of the roster. Mitch Kupchak acquired role players that better suited Mike D’Antoni’s spread pick-and-roll offense.

Given that the Lakers lost some significant pieces and only replaced them with rotation players, the expectations for this team completely changed. Indeed, ESPN.com’s fall forecast predicted Los Angeles would miss the postseason.

Hence, fans now look at the Lakers with the hope they can snag the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference race. For the first time in a very long period, they are underdogs.

It’s a different look for a team that as recently as June 2010 celebrated its second consecutive title. The Lakers obviously are keeping their eyes on the prize, even though the mountaintop has not been this high from their perspective in practically a decade.

The Lakers are compelling because of their precipitous fall from the top, but that is hardly the only thing keeping fans entertained. Indeed, D’Antoni has a different crop of players in his second season coaching the Purple and Gold.

The addition of new personalities has changed the direction in which the team is pulling. Instead of having a few superstars pushing their individual agendas on the organization, the coaching staff has a group that is committed to each other.

These Lakers enjoy playing together and in turn, it makes them a fun group to watch. They rely on pushing the pace and hitting the open man. That might sound easy, but it’s a tricky proposition.

Teams with superstars normally run practically every possession through their best player and task him with creating high-percentage looks for the unit. That works quite well when the name on the back of the jersey of said superstar is Bryant.

He has done it for a lengthy period of time during his career and has been quite successful at it. Mind you, with the future Hall of Fame 2-guard injured, the Lakers do not have a player of his caliber to carry the load in that manner.

Los Angeles has adjusted by having every player on the floor get touches. Every member of the Purple and Gold is an offensive threat in D’Antoni’s offense, which gives the Lakers a bit of an unpredictable feel.

For instance, on some nights, Xavier Henry plays like a left-handed Allen Iverson in the way he attacks defenses. He exhibits a tremendous amount of confidence and performs with no fear.

Henry is not always a stud, though (that’s an understatement to say the least). Hence, the likes of Steve Blake, Nick Young, Jodie Meeks and Jordan Farmar have to chip in and help out Pau Gasol, especially if the Spaniard is struggling.

And they have done just that. These Lakers ride the player with the hot hand and allow the ball to find him. This echoes what D’Antoni has always said:  "But I do know that the ball finds energy. If you have energy, you put yourself in every play."

That is the 2013-14 Lakers in a nutshell. They are team more so than a collection of individuals when compared to the year prior. Gasol and company play with a singular purpose in mind and, really, that makes the team fun to watch.

Its offense is a puzzle with moving parts that defenses are constantly trying to piece together. Los Angeles relies more on passing, screening and cutting to create scoring plays. Have a look at the offensive trip below:

This has become the standard for this unit. It will run a few isolation sets every now and then, but that is no longer the norm. That has become a small wrinkle in the grand scheme of its play.

The joy and energy are quite palpable when observing the Lakers and in truth, there is reason to believe this will be the case even when Bryant returns from injury. He will obviously command the lion’s share of possessions, but he will play a quick-hitting brand of basketball.

The team has revolved around finding the guy with the hot hand and riding him so far this season. That role will now be Bryant’s. Thus, D’Antoni will be able to smoothly reintegrate him into the lineup as he slowly regains his form.

The Lakers are not a great team by any stretch of the imagination, but their style of play certainly makes them quite entertaining.