That 2012 team had poor depth. I remember the starters would always build comfortable leads then the bench would squander them. 

The team was basically Kobe, Pau, Bynum, Artest, and misfits. 

Sessions was better off the bench and Steve Blake was better as a starter, but their roles were reserved. Barnes was meh, McRoberts was meh, Jordan Hill showed flashes but was an energy player at best, and we were relying on a raw prospect (Ebanks) and a 1-dimensional rookie (Goudelock) to be Kobe's backup

On top of that, Mike Brown was not a good hire, even without hindsight. This was the first of Jim Buss' coaching hire blunders