Letters: Lakers hitting new lows

And people wondered why Phil Jackson had to think it over?

Cal Teraoka

Costa Mesa

::

I kept trying to TiVo “The Biggest Loser” and the Lakers game kept coming on.

Ron Yukelson

San Luis Obispo

::

The Lakers are now the Clippers and the Clippers are now the Lakers. Who goofed? I’ve got to know.

Bart Miller

Oxnard

::

If anyone thinks Kobe is running Mike D’Antoni’s offense, they’re nuts, yet all we hear about is how it doesn’t work. There will always be a power forward who can’t shoot open for a three-pointer in the corner when Kobe has the ball and Howard is camped in the lane.

Meanwhile, I’ve watched the last string of losses and have yet to see a pick-and-roll or even a pick-and-shoot involving Kobe and Dwight. While T.J. has the tar boiling and the feather pillows stacked up for D’Antoni, the reality is we’re still watching the same bad movie that always runs when Kobe thinks the answer is the ball in his hands.

Rich Holland

Aliso Viejo

::

Who are the only guys in the galaxy who could prevent the Lakers, with a five-time champion superstar and one of the best players in NBA history, and his sidekick, the dominant center, perennial All-Star and three-time defensive player of the year, from making the playoffs? Two guys named Mike, one a former video coordinator, and the other until recently unemployed.

Tom Lallas

Los Angeles

::

Let’s see: Local team signs two mega free agents. Team becomes a preseason favorite to win the title. Team gets off to a horrendous start to the season. And so it goes for the Los Angeles Lakers of Anaheim.

Bill Groak

West Hollywood

::

The run-and-gun Lakers are definitely more exciting, as in how much will they be blown out by tonight? Bring back the boring, pound-it-down-low Lakers quickly.

Eric Weinsheink

Beverly Hills

::

I just finished watching the Lakers lose to Cleveland, and being a Trojans football fan also, I hate to say it, but this Lakers team feels eerily similar. Turns out, only in chat rooms does oodles of talent translate well. Unfortunately, actual games reveal suspect defense and questionable chemistry, which is not the foundation of championships.

Chris R. Gagliano

Rancho Palos Verdes

::

Kobe is to be congratulated on being the youngest player to reach the 30,000-point milestone. If he plays for another 34 years he can catch John Stockton’s 15,806 career assists record.

Kevin H. Park

Encino

::

Let’s add this one to the growing list of Laker excuses: “I think when Phil returns, a lot of these problems will go away!”

John Brunel

Tustin Ranch

::

The report that several Lakers fell asleep from boredom when the team watched the film “Lincoln” was very fitting. Now the players know how their fans feel.

Charles Sergis

Redondo Beach

Money ball

I’ve been a Dodgers fan since they played in Brooklyn. Now, their new owners have spent an incredible amount of money in hopes of purchasing an NL pennant and a World Series title. What are they going to do if they are unsuccessful? Sell the team? A large part of that money would have been better spent investing in the Dodgers’ farm system and making it the best in baseball.

Lewis Redding

Arcadia

::

May I gently suggest to Dodgers fans and Times columnists reveling in the certainty of a World Series in 2013 that history teaches otherwise?

Throwing obscene amounts of money at athletes does not guarantee success. Plenty of teams have tried it and failed. Even the Yankees.

The real deal with such apparently insane bingeing is not about the Series but about the reported $6-billion TV contract coming. And guess who is going to pay for it? The fans, of course. If you thought cable TV was astronomically priced, just wait until you have to pay your share of this bubble.

Ray Mungo

Signal Hill

::

I grew up in New Jersey and have been a Dodger fan since 1945, when we had a high school kid, who couldn’t get to the games before the fourth inning, playing shortstop.

I looked forward to years of excitement built around youngsters like Kershaw and Gordon. Now we have new owners and pretty much a new team, a well-paid team that I’m afraid I’m going to have a hard time rooting for. I think, finally, that I truly appreciate why I’ve spent the last 67 years hating the Yankees.

Bart Robertson

Torrance

::

OK, the Dodgers signed a couple of starting pitchers, but they still have the following problems:

1. A manager who has seen postseason games in his career only when he was Joe Torre’s assistant

2. A third base coach who doesn’t decipher between zero outs and two outs

3. A light-hitting second baseman

4. No third baseman

5. An iron glove at shortstop

6. It will still take 45 minutes to get a hot dog

Craig Poletti

San Dimas

::

According to Hyun-Jin Ryu’s interpreter, “His first goal is to have two-digit number of wins and an ERA of 2.00 and break Chan Ho Park’s winning record.” While trying to emulate the success of Chan Ho Park is admirable, I have three helpful tips for Ryu. First, keep a close eye on your best three-piece suit at all times. Second, never lend Chad Kreuter any money. And, third, do not pitch to the same batter with the bases loaded twice in one inning.

Robert Ostrove

Ventura

::

The sound made when Dodgers General Manager Ned Colletti fell out his of chair was not the sound (clank) of our favorite baseball team, I think Bill Plaschke meant our basketball team.

Paul Shubunka Sr.

Santa Clarita

::

By adopting the baseball equivalent of the strategy of buying stocks at their absolute peak, I fear that the Angels will suffer the baseball equivalent of the inevitable financial consequences of such a practice.

Michael Miyamoto

Mission Viejo

Westwood woe

The only mistake Ben Howland has made is recruiting spoiled brats who believe their own fantasy hype. Forget the one-and-dones, Ben, and go for the kids who respect and play the game, not their own egos. If AD Dan Guerrero yields to the hyenas calling for Howland’s dismissal, he is just proving that he is out of his depth as the AD of a school with the stature of UCLA. Jim Mora notwithstanding, Guerrero is the one who should be replaced, not Ben Howland.

Catherine Wirtz

Tucson

::

It was almost impossible, as I was trying to watch UCLA, coached, sort of, by Ben Howland, against Texas, coached by Rick Barnes, not to come to the conclusion that college mentors are grossly overpaid. The most John Wooden was ever paid was $40,000 and if he was watching from heaven, the Texas-UCLA game would have made him swear and as we all know, Coach Wooden never swore.

Fred Wallin

Westlake Village

They bought it?

The excuse that the players involved in the bounty scandal with the Saints were only following orders was accepted by the NFL. I do not recall that excuse working for anyone in history, so I guess you could say that it was an historic event.

Ed Barstow

Upland

Duck, Donald!

Apologies to FDR, but the only thing hockey fans have to fear is Fehr himself.

Bea Warren

Beverly Hills

::

The Los Angeles Times welcomes expressions of all views. Letters should be brief and become the property of The Times. They may be edited and republished in any format. Each must include a valid mailing address and telephone number. Pseudonyms will not be used.

Mail: Sports Viewpoint

Los Angeles Times

202 W. 1st St.

Los Angeles, CA 90012

Fax: (213) 237-4322

Email:

sports@latimes.com