Now what?

This one hurt. In all my years of being a Laker fan, I have seen them lose plenty of times. The only other loss that hurt this much was the 39 point beat down to the Boston Celtics in the 2008 finals. The Lakers should have easily handled the Dallas Mavericks, but the Lakers lack of defense did them in. At this point, serious changes need to be made to this roster. I know the season just ended, but I am already thinking about next year. Here are some suggestions to make the Lakers title contenders next season.... that is if there is an NBA season.

My number one concern is point guard help. Like I have previously stated, the Lakers need to get young at point guard. I'm tired of Derek Fisher's inept ability to defend any player with the aptitude to move laterally. The problem is the Lakers just signed old man fisher to a three year deal last off-season. So he's not going anywhere. Steve Blake is not better either. His jump shot was nowhere to be found all season long. He was brought in for his defensive play, and outside shooting. He displayed none of these skills. The first thing that Mitch Kupchak needs to attend too is finding point guard help. In fact, he should already have a plan in the works. If they don't, they will continue to make J.J. Barea look like Oscar Robertson.

The second concern is the coaching situation. With Phil Jackson retiring, the search is on for a new head coach. The odds on favorite seems to be Brian Shaw. I myself am not sold on him. Sure he's been an assistant for six years, and he's got an excellent relationship with Kobe Bryant, but that's it. I would rather hire a coach with say.... Head coaching experience. The problem, and yes there always is one... no great candidates. My shortlist of a coaches list would be, Nate McMillan, and Kurt Rambis. But these two are serious long shots. Let's hope Mitch knows what he's doing.

Third concern. Get young. This team needs to get young, and athletic. I honestly don't know how this will happen, seeing as they currently have no first round draft pick, and are severely over the cap limit. Every team in the Western Conference is young and athletic. If the Lakers hope to add to their championships, they must get young. Don't add any over the hill veterans, I.E. Theo Ratliff, Joe Smith, Derek Fisher Etc. It's going to be a tough challenge to turn this team into a title contender, but Mitch Kupchak can get the job done.

By the way, did anyone order that disaster they called a championship fight on saturday?... if you did you should go ask Bob Arum for your money back.