If you thought it couldn’t get much worse than the blowout loss to the Celtics in Game 6 of the 2008 Finals, what happened on Sunday afternoon might have topped it….

In that infamous Game 6 three years ago, the Lakers up and quit on their coach, their fans and the organization….

Lamar Odom and Pau Ga-Soft disappeared and seemed as if they were already in Cancun for the summer, and Phil Jackson was badly outcoached by Doc Rivers….

Come to think of it, the same thing happened in the 2004 finals against the Pistons….

I never thought I’d say this, but yesterday’s embarrassing performance might have topped 2008 for quitting like dogs and shaming the organization….

Yes, 2008 was bad and losing to the Celtics was painful; but that Boston team was much better than this Dallas Mavericks team….

So getting swept and losing by 36 points in the close-out game might be the worst loss of all….

The most shocking thing was the total lack of preperation, adjustments and sense of urgency from Phil Jackson….

I’ve witnessed a lot of bad coaching performances over the years, but can’t remember one this inept. From Game 1 to Game 4, Dallas ran pick-and-roll, spread shooters behind the 3-point line and made shot after shot….

Without one single adjustment from the Zenmaster, who was quietly napping on the bench….

When you have a glacier-slow point guard like Derek Fisher, the last thing you want is to leave a shooter like Jason Terry to double team the post, for the following reasons: 1) When you have two 7-footers, there shouldn’t be a need to double team; especially when the opponents are Tyson Chandler and Brendon Haywood. 2) When Fisher leaves to double team, there’s not a chance in hell he’s going to get back in time to challenge a jump shot. Time after time, Fisher was caught in the middle as Terry nailed a 3-pointer. 3) When the point guard is too slow to respond, all the rotations are screwed up and the defense breaks down….

Why Big Chief Triangle didn’t see this I’ll never understand….

We all know Derek is a great guy and tries his best, but he absolutely kills the Lakers on both ends of the floor and it’s time for him to go….

Of course, you’ll never hear this from the collection of housemen and shills doing Lakers post-game, local sports-talk, writing for the Los Angeles Times or ESPNLA.com, but it’s the truth….

Another thing which the local homers won’t discuss is Kobe Bryant’s non-existent defense. At one point in his career, Kobe was a very good defender and named to several All-Defensive teams. He didn’t play hard all the time and only locked people down when he wanted to, but when the mood hit him he was outstanding….

But in the past couple of seasons Kobe has become a defensive liability and routinely gets lit up. He’s a step slow and become lazy on the defensive end, saving his energy for offense….

But don’t hold your breath waiting for our local hacks to bring this up….

I thought the Lakers would show some pride and play hard in Game 4, but instead already had their reservations for Jamaica and went through the motions in a 122-86 loss….

Some of the commentators marveled at the Mavericks making 20 of 32 three-point shots, but it’s not suprising when all of them came with nobody guarding them….

I guarantee you I could make 16 out of 32 if no one was guarding me, so if you give an NBA player a wide open shot it’s easy….

Sure, Terry and Peja Stojakovic making 15 out of 16 three-point shots is outstanding; but those guys are great shooters and if you don’t guard them they’re going to make most of their shots….

And if they’re hot and killing you, why in the hell would you continue to leave them to double team players who don’t need to be double teamed?….

Why Fisher, Steve Blake, Kobe and Shannon Brown continued to leave their men wide open is a question only Phil Jackson can answer….

How many times did Peja or Terry catch the ball, line up a shot and let it go as one of the Laker guards desperately ran at them two steps too late?….

And not a single adjustment from the coach? Unbelievable….

Now to Pau Ga-Soft….

I have no idea if the rumors are true about Vanessa Bryant engineering Pau’s girlfriend dumping him and setting Ga-Soft into a deep depression….

I also don’t know if Ga-Soft confronted Kobe about this and the two of them got into a shouting match and are now not speaking….

But even if it’s all true, it shouldn’t affect Pau’s play and he needed to man up and get through it….

Remember when Kobe was facing a rape charge and had to fly to Colorado on game days for trial preperation? He was facing serious jail time and had to be worried to death, but he’d leave the courtroom, fly to L.A. and score 40 points….

So if the rumors are true and Vanessa Bryant did cause the break-up, it’s still no excuse for Ga-Soft’s gutless play….

And if the rumors are baseless and untrue, then what excuse does he have for playing like a coward?….

By the way, I covered the Lakers for years and obviously know several people in the organization. From all accounts, I’ve never heard a kind word about the Lovely Vanessa, who seems to be the Yoko Ono of the Lakers….

A few years ago I was at a game when she was in the runway leading to the Lakers locker room after a game. For some reason, she was ticked off at a low-level Lakers employee and lit into him; using profanity that would make Tommy Lasorda blush….

And this was in front of her two young children, who must have learned a great deal from their mother’s example….

I saw a high-level Lakers executive a few minutes later, who witnessed the whole thing, and asked this person’s opinion. “He just joined the Vanessa club,” said the executive….

Yoko Bryant has also reportedly been shopping a reality show and banned her husband from appearing in the Lamar Odom/Khloe Kardashian nonsense….

But Kobe is allegedly not only banned from appearing on the show, the Lovely Vanessa has reportedly ordered him to run out of the shot whenever the Kardashian cameras are in the locker room….

Notice you never see Kobe in the locker room shots….

Sounds unbelievable, unless you’ve experienced Yoko Bryant first hand….

The reason I bring this up is because there’s something seriously wrong in the Lakers locker room. Andrew Bynum said there were “trust issues” and everybody on the court seemed to be playing for themselves and more concerned with their flights to Hawaii than winning….

Ga-Soft was sulking and not playing hard, nobody played a lick of defense, the Zenmaster seemed not to give a damn and it was an embarrassment for the organization….

Whether it was Yoko dividing the locker room, the coach sleeping on the bench, Ga-Soft sulking over a girl or Kobe worried sick about getting yelled at by his wife, it shouldn’t have affected their play on the court….

These guys are so-called professionals, make millions of dollars and should be above woman problems and locker room tiffs….

I’d call them a bunch of women, but that would be an insult to women….

If Yoko talked Ga-Soft’s girlfriend into dumping him, who cares? If Phil’s heart was already in his teepee with a bong pipe in his hand, who cares? Once you take the court, you give 100% effort and play hard for 48 minutes….

Everything else is bulls***….

I don’t want to hear about Vanessa Bryant, Khloe Kardashian, reality shows, Pau’s ex-girlfriend or Kobe being deathly afraid of his wife. The bottom line is they quit on their coach, their fans and the organization….

As for the cheap shots delivered by Odom and Bynum in the final minutes, there is no excuse and both of them should be punished and fined….

My suggestion: Odom gets a $50,000 fine and a one-game suspension to start the 2011-12 season. His offense wasn’t as bad as Bynum’s and seemed to be something which had been brewing between him and Dirk Nowitzki. He should have kept his composure, of course, but I think my punishment fits the crime….

As for Bynum, what he did was one of the dirtiest plays I’ve ever seen and the league needs to make an example of him: A $100,000 fine and a 5-game suspension to begin next season….

I don’t want to hear about being frustrated and angry, Andrew should be ashamed of himself for embarrasing the Lakers on world wide television. To throw a flagrant elbow at a player in mid-air, with no intention other than injuring him, is inexcuseable and might just get Bynum’s rear end traded this summer….

I hope that’s not true, because I love Bynum’s upside and feel all he needs is a new coach and system to blossom into an All-Star….

Hopefully cooler heads prevail and the organization concentrates on improving the team; not shipping out players they’re upset with….

Here’s what I would do if I were running the Lakers:

1) Say good-bye to Phil Jackson and also say good-bye to the triangle. The new coach should be from outside the organization, bring in a new system and and get rid of Phil’s defensive schemes and slow guards. Do not hire Brian Shaw, who would probably keep the triangle and continue to hinder the development of Bynum. Find the next Tom Thibodeau and improve the defense.

2) Inform Derek Fisher he’s played his last game as a Laker. He’s been a good player, great citizen and been a part of 5 championships, but he’s killing them defensively and also a sub-40% shooter on offense. The team needs to get younger, more athletic and junk the triangle.

3) Make sure the new coach is going to showcase Bynum and get him the ball. In the triangle, Andrew spends half his time 20 feet from the basket, which only hurts his development. He needs to be on the block, get a touch on every possession and become the All-Star I believe he can be.

4) Despite all the “experts” in the media who are calling on the Lakers to trade for Dwight Howard, the problem with the team is not in the post; it’s in the backcourt. I’d make every effort possible to deal Gasol for Chris Paul, who is in the final year of his contract and not going to re-sign with the Hornets. And how are they going to do better than Gasol in a trade? I know they probably don’t want to take on Pau’s contract, but they’re not going to do better than this deal and risk getting nothing if CP3 leaves as a free agent. With a new coach emphasizing the pick-and-roll, how much fun would it be to watch Kobe, CP3, Bynum and Odom playing together? I know the talk will be dealing Bynum for Howard, but I’d be careful with that one: Without addressing the horrible backcourt play, the problems will persist.

5) The offseason needs to include signing players who are quick and can defend. The current guards are too slow to guard anyone, so players signed must be quick, young and able to shoot.

I could go on and on, but that’s what I think should be done….

By the way I disagree with Magic Johnson, who said the organization “needs to blow up the team.”….

The Lakers are still a championship contender, with All-Stars in Kobe and Gasol, a future All-Star in Bynum and an excellent complimentary player in Odom….

No need to blow it up, just address the backcourt problems and find a new coach to improve the defense….

This team is still young enough to win championships and blowing it up would be foolhearty….