If people here knew me from other forums before I joined this one, they would know I'm usually the last person to call for the coach's head, and I'm all for giving them time to work things out. BUT, let me put it this way:
A centers job is to defend the paint, rebound, make post moves, etc. If he doesn't do any of these things over an extended period of time he will get benched and eventually traded or waived, if he doesn't get back to his old form.
A PG's job is to run the offense, pass to his teammates, make shots, play defense, etc. If he averages 3 ppg on 20% shooting with 1.5 apg and gets torched on defense, he will too get benched, and then waived or traded.
A coach's job is to make the team look like a team, teach his players exactly what they need to do, and make sure they have enough knowledge and confidence to be able to execute well. If that doesn't happen over a short period of time, he should be given more time. Some players or teams take longer than others to learn. But if he can't manage to do it over a long period of time and things just consistently get worse, then he is not doing his job properly and should be replaced. Westphal has been doing a crappy job since January 2010. Our record since then is 16-55, and regardless of the record, we just look like crap.
If I had to pinpoint one game where things took a turn for the worse, it would be the double-overtime Lakers game in late December of last year. Tyreke, IIRC, was on the bench because he got hurt on a play, and we were torching the Lakers, playing at a fast pace and taking a 7-point lead in overtime. Westphal, instead of letting these guys keep doing what they're doing, put Tyreke back in, who slowed down the game to almost a halt and abandoned the team game, which shifted the momentum and allowed the Lakers to come back and force a second overtime, and eventually win.
PW sent a clear message to the guys that night that he doesn't trust them as a team, and that Tyreke is the only one who is allowed to carry the team. After that things started going south. Martin returned and was traded because he was not the "right fit" next to Tyreke, and the fun and exciting team we had seen until then had gradually dissolved. IMO, Westphal not only hurt the team, but he hurt Tyreke as well. Instead of helping him develop and become a superstar, he gave him an illusion that he is already there. This created three negative developments:
1. Tyreke suddenly started feeling the immense pressure of having to carry a team at the young age of 20.
2. Being already labeled as a superstar, the expectations from Tyreke was to only play to his strengths and not work on his weaknesses, hurting his development.
3. Guys on the team started resenting Tyreke for taking over the team as a rookie with only a few months of NBA experience under his belt. There was separation between Tyreke and the rest of the guys, even though on the surface they tried to make it look as if they are all buddy-buddies.
If there was a way to ask the players in private and off the record, I have a strong feeling that a lot of them would cite that Lakers game and its aftermath as the event that broke this team's spirit. PW doesn't seem to acknowledge these problems and is not making an attempt to fix them. Until these problems are fixed, I don't see this team getting up and coming together again. They might win a game here or there, or even have a stretch of several good games, but it will just keep falling apart because the spirit is gone from this team.