Now that the Lakers have been eliminated from the playoffs after last night’s 119-110 loss to the Phoenix Suns, local sports writers weighed in this morning about where to place the blame. columnist J.A. Adande joins a growing number of people who are looking to coach Phil Jackson for some answers. Jackson is a Hall of Famer and is considered by many to be one of the best coaches in NBA history, but lately some have been questioning the efficacy of his triangle offense with the current Lakers team. Adande thinks the Lakers certainly have the right players, but proposes that Jackson rethink his coaching style. “Something different than the erratic, three-point jacking under former coach Rudy Tomjanovich, but not as limited as what they’re doing now,” he suggests. more ›

Now Smush Parker may be a fun player, and LAist thinks the second-year man from Fordham has a decent game, but when he's your best point guard you've got a problem. Aside from Parker, the Lakers have unproven Euro Sasha Vujacic, rookie Von Wafer, and former Cincinnati guard Tony Bobbitt on the roster. That's it. more ›

LAist has trouble believing this is for real. We have no problems with the Lakers trading Caron Butler. He's a one-dimensional scorer with little interest in defending, plays a position where the Lakers are stocked, and he's LA's most tradable commodity because his salary is low. We get that. We're also fine with the Lakers adding in a Chucky Atkins or a Devean George to match salaries in a trade. And we'd love to see the Lakers add a decent big man. more ›

"I ain't the GM of this team," Atkins said. "Kobe's the GM of this team. Ask Kobe. You've been watching this [stuff] all year. You've been watching it and I've been playing in it." more ›

LAist can be sympathetic to Tomjanovich if his decision is health-related. We can't imagine it's easy to jump back into the rigors of NBA coaching after suffering through bladder cancer. And in that case, LAist wishes him well as he goes Rick Majerus on us. more ›

In a conversation with Kobe Bryant, Tomjanovich suggested the Lakers switch to the triangle (out of freakin' nowhere) after Rudy wasn't down with Kobe's suggestion of the Princeton offense (thank goodness). more ›

It was a game where it seemed like Kobe was about to come out on top. Kobe got Shaq to foul him three times, including twice in the fourth quarter, for Shaq to foul out. At that point, with 2:15 left in the game, Kobe had outscored Shaq 42-24, and the Lakers seemed poised to win. But then Kobe stopped playing smart basketball. He fell asleep on transition defense, took bad shots, and never scored again. Instead Dwayne Wade stole the show and carried the Heat to victory. more ›

Now even as an ex-Laker, Payton is wreaking havoc. After demanding a trade out of LA, Payton rescinded it, and now refuses to play for the Celtics. His failure to take a physical has cost the Lakers Marcus Banks and a second round draft pick. more ›

The truth is that "The Glove" never fit in LA. Despite coming to the Lakers knowing they ran the triangle and that he'd be the third or fourth option, he complained relentlessly about the triangle and being the third or fourth option, once saying "I didn't sign up for this s---." But by the time the NBA Finals rolled around even he admitted a lack of confidence as his uncharacteristically porous defense led to Chauncey Billups picking up a Finals MVP Award. more ›