EL SEGUNDO HERALD April 14, 2016 Page 5 Lakers Clinch Worst Season Ever By Adam Serrao A long time has passed since the Lakers were competing for championships on the floor of the TD Garden in Boston. It was only 2009- 2010 when Paul Pierce and the Celtics were the Lakers biggest rivals. Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and company were bringing home banners to the Staples Center and enjoying their time as the league’s best team. A lot of time has passed since then. It’s been six years and players like Pau and even Pierce have all moved on, but a 62 loss season sure has a way of making fond memories seem like the even more distant past. Today’s Lakers team is dealing with Nick Young and Jordan Clarkson being accused of sexual harassment. D’Angelo Russell is in the news for all of the wrong reasons and Kobe is a literal shell of himself, wrapped in ice at every joint, trying to find relief from the pain. The pain isn’t only in Kobe’s body. It’s also at the sight of the team. With a 91-81 loss to the Clippers last Wednesday night, the Lakers clinched their worst season in franchise history. For the third straight year now, the Lakers have set a franchise record for most losses in a season. In the 2013-’14 season, the team went 27-55. In 2014-’15, they went 21-61. This year, 61 losses would be a treat. The team’s loss to the Clippers assured them of at least 62 losses for the year. Dating back to less than a week ago, they already had acquired at least 64. Unless you’re the Philadelphia 76ers, who for some reason pride themselves on losing, getting consistently worse year after year is a hard thing to do. Putting together a season in which the team wins less than 20 of its total 84 games must not only take real effort, or lack thereof, but it must also mean that something is inherently wrong with the team and organization. Kobe has a different opinion about the entire year. “It’s hard for people to understand this, but losing is losing,” Bryant said. “There aren’t different degrees of losing, not in my mind. You either win a championship or you’re s---. It’s very black and white to me.” To a certain extent, what Kobe is saying makes sense. If you’re not the last team standings when all is said and done, you’re simply a loser. But to say that this Lakers team is on the same level as the Oklahoma City Thunder, for instance, is rather ridiculous. While the Thunder are in the thick of the playoff hunt, given good fortune, they could actually surprise and win the title. The Lakers, on the other hand, are so incredibly bad this season that the only good fortune that they could possibly obtain would come in the NBA draft lottery this May. The last time a team set a franchise record for losses in three consecutive seasons was the Detroit Pistons when they did it in the 1957-1960 seasons. The Last time the Lakers lost more than 50 games before their current three-year streak was in the 1957-’58 season when the team was based in Minneapolis. In the process of setting all of the wrong record for all of the wrong reasons, the Lakers have lost a total of 178 games in a three-year span. Only 17 games better than the 76ers, who continue to be a team in complete disarray and are a laughing stock of the league. “They’re learning and it’s hard,” head coach Byron Scott explained of his young team. “When we had the veteran guys, they know how to compete every single night. They’ve been in the league for a while. These young guys, they don’t know how to do that every night.” Competing every night for a 20-year-old kid like Russell may be made a little bit more difficult by the presence of a 20 year veteran like Bryant. Kobe, on his “farewell tour” around the league, hasn’t necessarily gone out of his way to mentor Russell, or any of the other young players on the team. Instead, he has been playing toward the crowd, hogging the ball, and shooting an all-time low percentage from the field (.352). Out of the 1029 shots Bryant has taken as of last weekend, he has made only 362. There’s no wonder as to why Russell’s goal down the stretch of the season is to, “Give Kobe the ball,” as he stated. “Wherever he’s at, give him the ball.” As much as Scott wants to criticize the young kids on the team, truth is that they’re not getting an equal shake. Kobe’s on his tour around the league that resembles much more of a circus tour than anything resembling basketball. Fans want to see him one last time, so he hobbles to center court, throws up a few air balls, smiles for the camera, and everyone goes home happy. Jerry Buss must be turning in his grave at the spectacle that the Lakers have become, but next season, without the enormous shadow of Kobe casting glares and judgment at the young players trying to become something in this league, the Lakers should be a bit more well-off. That’s not hard to say, coming off of a season in which the team has barely surpassed the 15 win plateau, but it can’t get much worse, can it? • Burkley & Brandlin LLP A T T O R N E Y S A T L A W Living Trusts/Wills, Probate, Employment Law, Personal Injury Trust and Estates Litigation, Business Litigation, Civil Litiga tion 310-540-6000 Lifetime El Segundo Residents *AV Rated (Highest) Martindale - Hubbell / **Certified Specialist Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Law, State Bar of California, Board of Legal Specialization Brian R. Brandlin • Bruce R. Brandlin • Christopher P. Brandlin Douglass M O R T U A R Y “Our Family Serving Yours Since 1954” B U R I A L - C R E M A T I O N - W O R L D W I D E T R A N S F E R P E T M E M O R I A L P R O D U C T S 500 EAST IMPERIAL AVENUE EL SEGUNDO, CALIFORNIA 90245 Telephone (310) 640-9325 • Fax (310) 640-0778 • FD658 Catching Up On The Teams By Gregg McMullin With the Spring Break in the rear view mirror lets catch up on how the El Segundo high school teams are doing. The baseball and softball teams played in tournaments, the boys’ volleyball team started league play, the girls’ lacrosse team is making heads turn while the boys’ lacrosse team has won four straight. Baseball The baseball team played in the Don Lugo Tournament during the break and played some highly regarded programs. Though the team went just 1-3 each team they fell to, including Schurr, Covina and Nogales have winning records and are expected to vie for league titles in their respective leagues. They did however defeat Calvary Murieta one of the top ranked teams in the CIF-SS Division 6. The Eagles’ bats came alive as they pounded out 12 hits against Calvary Murrieta and went on to defeat the third ranked Warriors 7-4. Sean Emery and Spencer Long each had three hits while Dylan Sledge had two doubles. Junior right-hander, Justin Ostler, pitched four innings and picked up the win while Garrett Boyce was solid in relief. The Eagles have had as rough go to start the season. When the pitching has been solid the defense has played spotty. Spencer Long has thrown well but the defense failed him in the team’s 6-2 loss to Torrance in a nonleague game. Long gave up four unearned runs through five innings while Boyce surrendered two runs (one earned). The offense had their troubles getting the key base hit. Though they pounded out three doubles they managed but two runs against Tartar ace Dante Mendoza whose ERA was lowered to 1.25. The Eagles played a double-header against Mira Costa the fifteenth ranked team in the nation. The Eagles played with their neversay die attitude and were in both games but fell 7-4 and 8-6. In the first Spencer Palmer started for the Eagles but his stay on the mound ended early when he was struck on the knee by a line drive by the first batter of the game. He ended up giving up giving up three more hits and the Eagles were down 3-0 early. Trailing 7-0 in the fifth inning Sean Emery collected the Eagles’ first hit. Nico Celestial followed with a single and Bradley Heckman hammered an RBI single. Griffin Martes’ RBI double and Jake Palmer’s RBI single made it 7-4 but that’s as close as they’d come. In the second game the Mustangs scored three unearned runs en route to their 8-6 win. Eagle starter Albert Galicia was the tough luck pitcher this time. The senior right-hander was charged with giving up all eight runs but only one was earned. The Eagles were trailing 8-1 in the fifth inning when they erupted for four runs. Emery’s RBI double made it 8-4 and Heckman skipped a hard ground ball through Mira Costa shortstop Wil Procter’s legs for another run to make it 8-5. The Eagles would score once more in the seventh but Mira Costa held on for the 8-6 win. The Eagles started Ocean League play Tuesday on the road against Beverly Hills and host the Normans today at 3:15 p.m. Saturday the Eagles travel to Torrance for an 11am game. Next week the Eagles host Culver City on Tuesday at 3:15 p.m. Softball The Lady Eagles had lofty goals to start the season but injuries and other issues that affected the team surprised head coach Keith Cameron. Still with the rugged schedule his team has undertaken thus far and the team responding reaffirms his position that the team will continue to do well. El Segundo competed in the Savanna tournament, over two weekends, arguably one of the top tournaments in Orange County. In game one against Cerritos, Megan Truesdale tossed a gem against the Dons holding them scoreless and scattering four hits. The Eagles squandered numerous scoring opportunities but came away empty In the bottom of the seventh of the scoreless game Truesdale came through with a game-winning RBI single to give the Eagles a 1-0 win. In game two the Eagles faced Saint Lucy’s a CIF-SS Division 1 power. The Eagles’ bats came alive early and scored three first inning runs en route to a 6-1 victory. Allison Tatnal led the way with three hits, two runs scored, two stolen bases, and an RBI to lead the Eagles attack. Sophomore sensation Monique Benjamin gave up four hits while striking out three and walked two. The Eagles played in the semi finals against the host team, Savannah, a team ranked second in their division and nineth in California. The Eagles ran into some tough luck thanks to some out of position umpires. A routine pop up to the second baseman to end the inning turned into a three run play when the umpire ran into the second baseman Kaili Reitano. One batter later, the umpire nearly collided with shortstop Alyssa Pelegrin, allowing the ball to drop and runs to score once again. Instead of the inning being over El Segundo found itself trailing 8-0 and Savannah went on to a 10-3 victory. El Segundo played in the third-place game against Burroughs Burbank. The Indians are loaded with talent and ranked fourth in the CIF-SS Division 3 polls but the Eagles came away with a 3-1 win. Freshman Kaili Reitano started for the Eagles and shut down a team that averages six runs a game. She held the Indians to just two hits and struck out five in the first three innings. With the game tied 0–0 in the top of the fourth inning, Julie Roach hit a mammoth home run to give El Segundo a 1–0 lead. Burroughs tied the game and the teams went into International tiebreaker. With the basesloaded, Monique Benjamin ripped a double to right field scoring two and giving the Eagles a 3 to 1 lead. Megan Truesdale came in to close out the victory, earn the save and give the Eagles a 3-1 win and a third place finish in the Savannah tournament. “We played some of our best softball of the season,” explained Coach Keith Cameron. “We are ready to turn the corner as we approach “Fans want to see him one last time, so he hobbles to center court, throws up a few air balls, smiles for the camera, and everyone goes home happy.” See Eagles, page 6
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