The Lakers are turning it around...Really?

So the Lakers are turning their season around after winning four of there last five and beating Minnesota last night. Kobe is turning into an assist machine and the offense is starting to jell....wait a second! I'm not buying it and here's why. Last week in the middle of a crucial week for LA coming off 2 losses to Chicago and Memphis the Lakers season was near the edge. They had two critical home games against Utah and OKC. They managed to handle Utah who is a playoff team this season. It was a good win for them. They then handled the somewhat sputtering Thunder. These were two season saving wins. Suddenly the Lake Show was 6 six games under and poised to pick up some easy wins against soft competition in the coming week. They had one final home game against the woeful Hornets on Tuesday. The Lakers mopped them up with relative ease and rested there stars in the fourth...no wait that's not what happened. The Lakers blew a big lead and were tied late in the fourth and held on to get a tougher than it should have been win. That's ok though they are still jellying and a win's a win. So the next night they dispatched the helpless Suns to start off their big road trip and secured their first win on the road in 2013...on no wait that's not what happened. After leading by 10 plus most of the game the Lakers collapsed in the fourth quarter. Dwight Howard re-injured his shoulder (killing in my mind any chance of trading him) and was out of the game. The Laker offense seemed to sputter instantly. Kobe got four points to draw them even, but missed a critical lay up late to allow the Suns to pull out of reach and secure the win. To say this wasn't a bad loss would be an understatement. The Suns are one of the leagues worst teams this year. It was a back to back, but it was the Lakers lack of depth that caught up to them in the end. Last night the Lakers were able to turn it all around by crushing the T-Wolves to get their first road win of 2013 in February mind you. Oh no wait that wasn't really how it all went down. The Lakers were up 29! That's right 29 and the T-Wolves who are without their best player, who wouldn't be in the top three of best players on the Lakers, battled back to get within four with the ball twice in the fourth. The T-wolves inability to defend finally caught up with them and the Lakers did get their first road win of 2013...in February. So what's my beef? All good teams have to beat the lesser competition. It doesn't always have to be with ease, but they need those wins to secure their playoff position. The Lakers this year have lost almost every time they have played a good team. As Kobe said after they beat the Thunder, "We finally beat a team worth a damn." (sorry Utah) The Lakers have not only in this week lost to an inferior team talent and record wise, but they struggled on full rest with a team that is in disarray. These are all bad signs. So, my beef is (yeah I know get to the point) the pundits are praising the revived Lakers. How can you praise anything this team has done over the course of this week? It's great that Kobe is passing the ball, but isn't that what Steve Nash is for? (My next Blog will address this topic) Aren't you supposed to beat these teams even in an off year? Wasn't the Suns loss a critical loss for them? Instead we hear about how they are starting to jell and they are finding their step as a team. Hog wash. Here's what I would expect an objective pundit on ESPN to say. The Lakers scored two season saving wins last week, but they are still 6 games below .500. They have a critical week ahead with 4 games they should be favored in. The Lakers need to sweep this week in a fashion a manner that shows they are progressing as a team. (After the last three games) The Lakers have gone 2 and 1 over the past three, but they have been tested in each game an collapsed against Phoenix. Although they might make the playoffs I can't imagine any team would be overly concerned with them in a seven game series. The Laker offense is still a major work in progress and there appear to be no signs of getting a player that can help them stabilize before the trade deadline. Dwight Howard continues to battle a bad shoulder and one has to wonder at what point do the Lakers seriously have to consider shutting him down. The other question that looms is with the Laker project failing this year does Howard have to consider shutting himself down so he doesn't damage his value? The Month of February is crucial for LA. Efforts like they gave last night will not get it done against even average competition in the NBA. They have more games they will be favored in and their effort so far against he better teams is as such that they will need to win every game they are favored the rest of this month.