EL SEGUNDO HERALD April 23, 2015 Page 5 Lakers Season Ends How It Began By Adam Serrao Losing. That’s what the Lakers did best during the 2014-2015 NBA season that ended last Wednesday night with a 122-99 loss to the Sacramento Kings at Staples Center in Los Angeles. Not only did the Lakers finish off their worst season in franchise history with 61 losses on the year, but the team also lost their rookie Julius Randle to injury and lost Kobe Bryant once again: the Lakers even lost at winning this year. It was a rough year for fans of the Lakers and for the team itself, which lost its first five games of the season back in late October and early November. With another three-game losing streak to close out the season, the Lakers finished the season just the way it began, leaving everyone to wonder whether or not there is any hope for the future of this once prestigious franchise at all. With golden championship banners hanging from the rafters and all of the glitz and glamour of Hollywood that surrounds, a Los Angeles Lakers team of nobodies and castoffs finished off the regular season dressed in purple and gold. Almost as if it was Halloween all over again, faces that were almost unrecognizable donned the purple and gold once worn by all-time greats and Hall of Famers like Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabaar and Wilt Chamberlain. My, how these Lakers have come a long way. Magic and the Showtime Lakers could have won 21 games with their hands tied behind their backs and blindfolded, just to bring the crowd to their feet in an ovation once again. Well, this year there weren’t many ovations at the Staple Center and what was left of the crowd at Staples Center was rarely brought to its feet, if ever. At least, for now, it’s over. The optimism that inevitably comes with every Lakers offseason can now begin anew as fans dream of what the team may possibly look like next year. “It obviously doesn’t sit well with me,” said head coach Byron Scott, who was hired on to coach a team that he knew would be bad. “I don’t like the sound of that,” he said referring to the 16-time NBA championship franchise’s worst season ever in the history of its existence. “But it also makes for a remarkable story when we turn this around as well.” There’s nowhere to go but up for the Lakers now, though last year we thought it couldn’t possibly get any worse when the Lakers finished at 27-55. With a 21-win season this year, not only did the Lakers get worse, but they also missed the playoffs for the second consecutive year for the first time since 1976 - the team’s worst two-year stretch in all 67 seasons of existence. “It’s embarrassing, but tough times build character,” said Lakers forward Ryan Kelly. Tough times for the Lakers used to be missing the NBA Finals, not finishing as the fourth worst team in the league. In order to get better, you have to get worse, to look at things optimistically. It’s hard to believe that just five years ago, in 2010, the Lakers won their last championship. It’s also hard to believe, however, that they will be back to anywhere near that same type of championship caliber anytime soon. Expect to see a completely different roster once again, though. The only players contractually guaranteed to be back are Bryant, Nick Young, Randle and Kelly. Say goodbye to Jeremy Lin, say goodbye to Carlos Boozer and say goodbye to Jordan Hill. All three of those players will take their mediocre talent to the next most willing team to hand out money in order to fill out a roster. As the team’s lone bright spot this past year, you will also certainly see Jordan Clarkson back. A team that can keep Clarkson, Bryant and Randle all on the court and healthy for at least 82 games sounds like the beginnings of a pretty decent team - at least compared to this year’s standards. In addition to Randle, Clarkson and what will hopefully be another high draft pick in this year’s NBA Draft, the Lakers will have a lot of money to spend on free agents, as they did last year. Last year, they chose not to spend much. This year, the free agent crop is ripe for the picking and apparently the Lakers won’t be shy about spending. Marc Gasol, Greg Monroe, Kevin Love, and Rajon Rondo, just to name a few, will be on the free agent market and could all fit in nicely with the Lakers. If you disagree, just look at what the team was working with this year. See? They’d all be upgrades. The Lakers have resisted the urge to just throw money at their problems to solve them thus far, but this year they will have to spend that money before NBA’s new national TV contract with Turner and Disney hits in 2016, increasing the salary cap for every team in the league. “Two years from now, it looks like almost every team in the league is going to have cap room,” Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak explained. “We do have a lot of cap room this summer. You can look at that as a strategic advantage, yeah.” It would be about time the Lakers had an advantage at anything, but it seems all signs are pointing to this offseason to get things turned around for the once prestigious franchise and that can make for an entertaining time for fans. Money will be spent, more young talent will be acquired and groomed and before you know it, the Lakers should be back to being the Lakers again as long as they avoid another Steve Nash, Dwight Howard debacle. Clearly, the Lakers have bottomed out with their worst season ever. If they stay bottomed out, it may be time for the Buss’s to think about leaving office. But with the worst season ever officially done with and in the books, everyone can now start looking forward to an offseason that could and should be filled with promise for the purple and gold. • 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 Eagles Rolling on all Levels By Gregg McMullin Photos by Gregg McMullin, unless otherwise specified The high school baseball season is over halfway through and the Eagles, on all three levels, are on a roll. The varsity has done so well they are ranked second in the latest CIF Southern Section Division 3 polls behind San Dimas, who is undefeated and ranked sixteenth in the nation. The JV team had their eightgame winning streak snapped and the soph/ frosh team has won five out of their last six games. The softball team’s winning streak is at seven and counting as they head into this weekend’s El Segundo Tournament. The baseball team’s recent surge into their lofty rankings can be traced to winning nine Varsity Track Girls: (L-R) ESHS Head Track Coach David Washington, Sydney Wilbanks, Kendall Brooks, Catherine Walz, and Genevieve Johnson. Photo by Kristen Walz. out of ten that included Torrance, the defending CIF champions, and perennial powers Lakewood and San Luis Obispo. Their number two ranking is the highest it’s been in ten years and being ranked that high in the Division 3 polls hasn’t happened in close to twenty years. It’s been a real testament from where the team was to today’s obvious strut they’ve been showing lately. The Eagles opened Ocean League play and dismantled a once proud Beverly Hills team 8-1 and 7-0. Willem Mostert continued his brilliant high school career by giving up an unearned run, limiting the Normans to just five hits and improved to 5-1 on the year. Nick Saucedo pitched the seventh inning after a 97 pitch performance by Mostert. Hunter Lewis and Noah Bergren led the Eagles’ offense by each going 2-for-3; Lewis had three RBIs while Bergren had two RBIs. The Eagles improved to 2-0 in the Ocean League by defeating the Normans 7-0. Mitch Thompson looked sharp on the mound, limiting Beverly Hills to just three singles while striking out seven in six innings of work. Lars Nootbaar was given the opportunity to close out the seventh inning. This could be a preview of the hard-throwing senior once the playoffs begin in a month. The Eagles scored single runs in the first three innings and then put up three more in the fifth inning and one in the sixth. Jake Palmer had a big day going 2-for-3 with three RBIs and a run scored while Dylan McDonnell was 2-for-2, scored twice and walked once. El Segundo dropped to 1-2 in the Redondo Tournament with their recent 7-4 loss to Gahr. The Eagles led 3-2 going into the fourth inning when the Gladiators scored twice, then once in the fifth and two more runs in the sixth. The Eagles managed a short-lived rally in the seventh before falling. Bergren raised his batting average to .344 after going 2-for-3. His two RBIs gives him a team leading 25 on the season. Jackson Stone continued his hot hitting when he was 1-for-3 and extending his hitting streak to seven games. The Eagles continue Ocean League play this week and host Culver City today at 3:15pm and return home next Thursday to play Hawthorne. The JV team’s success over the past nine games has been the sound fundamentals the team has been using. The lineup is producing from the top of the order to the bottom. They are moving runners over, stealing bases and getting timely hitting. But what has been the biggest surprise is how well the pitching staff has done. During the streak, starters Ben Saucedo, Garrett Boyce, and Shane Kiel as well as CJ Shevlin and Kobe Estrada in relief have done remarkably well. Saucedo has a three-game winning streak going, including a complete game against the Royal Highlanders. He held the Highlanders to three runs on six hits, a See Eagles, page 6 “There’s nowhere to go but up for the Lakers now, though last year we thought it couldn’t possibly get any worse when the Lakers finished at 27-55.”
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