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SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Fresh off his teams sixth straight loss, San Francisco 49ers linebacker Aaron Lynch made a bold proclamation.We have the team. We possibly have one of the best teams in the NFL, Lynch said. Easily. Hands down.That might have been true just a few years ago when coach Jim Harbaugh had a roster filled with Pro Bowlers that helped San Francisco make three straight trips to the NFC title game and one Super Bowl appearance.But years of poor drafting by general manager Trent Baalke, a string of expected and unexpected retirements and a few other defections have decimated the roster and are a main reason why San Francisco (1-6) heads into the bye week on its longest losing streak in eight years and little sign of hope under first-year coach Chip Kelly.Whether its at inside linebacker where players such as Nike Bellore, Gerald Hodges and Michael Wilhoite have been overmatched following NaVorro Bowmans season-ending injury, receiver where castoff Jeremy Kerley leads the team in receptions; or quarterback where neither Blaine Gabbert nor Colin Kaepernick seem capable of success, the talent drain in San Francisco has been stark.Kelly still believes his staff has the pieces needed to contend in the NFC.Thats on us, he said. Our job is to put our players in position to make plays and were not doing a good enough job of that right now.While there are legitimate questions about whether Kellys up-tempo spread offense that was so successful in college will translate to the NFL and whether he is able to put together a strong enough defense, the problems in San Francisco predate his arrival.Harbaugh and Baalke struggled to work together despite the on-field success and owner Jed York picked Baalke in the power struggle.Baalke had been a scout and director of player personnel under Scot McCloughan as the Niners put together many of the pieces of the team that would be one of the most talented in the league.Baalke replaced McCloughan as the top front office executive shortly before the 2010 draft and came away with a load of talent led by Anthony Davis, Mike Iupati and Bowman. Baalke did well the next year as well when he took All-Pro pass rusher Aldon Smith and Kaepernick with his first two picks.The talent well went dry after that. Despite having 51 picks since 2012, Baalke has not added an impact player in any of those five drafts.Top two picks in 2012, A.J. Jenkins and LaMichael James, barely played for the 49ers; 2013 first-round safety Eric Reid is a solid starter and second-round tight end Vance McDonald has contributed; running back Carlos Hyde, cornerback Jimmie Ward and Lynch are the only starters from the 2014 draft; and no one from the past two draft classes has shined yet.Baalkes strategy of drafting injured players in hopes of finding value has backfired. Only two of the seven players he drafted the past four years coming off significant knee injuries have even played a game in the NFL this season.One of those players is 49ers linebacker Tank Carradine, who did not play a snap last week despite being healthy and dressed.The Niners have also been hurt by a string of early retirements, including Davis, Patrick Willis and Chris Borland.Perhaps the biggest issue with Baalkes drafting is hesitancy to take skill position players. Since missing badly with first and second-round picks on Jenkins and James, Baalke has had 15 picks in the first three rounds and used just one -- Hyde -- on a quarterback, receiver or running back.That was glaring this year when the Niners didnt take a quarterback until selecting Jeff Driskel in the sixth round. Driskel was cut before the season, Gabbert and Kaepernick have predictably struggled.Meanwhile, fourth-round pick Dak Prescott -- taken one round after San Francisco selected injured cornerback Will Redmond and two picks after the Niners took cornerback Rashard Robinson -- has Dallas off to a 5-1 start.San Francisco also didnt take a receiver this year until Aaron Burbridge in the sixth round and have one of the least talented groups in the league and also chose not to take an inside linebacker, which has proved costly with Bowman out for the season with an ruptured Achilles tendon and the Niners on pace to allow the most yards rushing in a season since 1980.That all adds up to a defense on pace to be the fourth in NFL history to allow at least 500 points in a season and an offense that ranks last in the league in yards per play (4.5).You dont go out there to lose and no one plans to lose, Reid said. Its frustrating. Any loss in general, its been rough. We know what we have to do, we just havent been doing it. Thats the most frustrating part.---Online:AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFLAdidas Eqt Kengät . LOUIS -- The New Orleans Saints looked like a team playing out the string. Adidas NMD Kengät Miehet . LOUIS -- Cardinals cleanup hitter Allen Craig says hes recovered from a foot injury and ready to be put on St. http://www.nmdhalvalla.com/ . This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the middle of their season. Adidas Prophere Suomi . Nine days before the opening ceremony, organizing committee chief Dmitry Chernyshenko said Wednesday that Sochi is "fully ready" and will deliver safe, friendly and well-run games that defy the grim reports that have overshadowed preparations. Adidas NMD Kengät . The No. 1-ranked Nadal tweaked his back warming up for the Australian Open final, which he lost almost four weeks ago in a major upset against Stanislas Wawrinka. His first stop after the layoff is the clay in Rio as he tests the back and tries to stay healthy for the French Open in three months.If you think its hard to shake off a centurys worth of baseball futility, just try to break away from decades of basketball success.The Los Angeles Lakers, NBA royalty, had always been the opposite of the Chicago Cubs. That once-pleasant distinction is now their problem, the challenge of shedding the trappings of that rich history when thats precisely what they need to do to morph into a contending team once again.So even as general manager Mitch Kupchak sat in a room in Lakers headquarters and proclaimed Its all new with this 2016-17 edition of the team, on the wall behind him were framed pictures of Kobe Bryant, James Worthy, Jerry Buss with Magic Johnson, and Jerry West. On the wall across from him where pictures of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Wilt Chamberlain. The past is ever-present with this team.You come into the practice facility and walk the halls, and you see pictures of all-time greats, said first-year coach Luke Walton, who went to the Lakers past four trips to the NBA Finals as a player.Yet even with Waltons return to Lakerland, this is as separated as the franchise has ever been from its glory days. Kobe Bryant retired and Byron Scott was let go as coach and in one offseason, there went two central figures from the Staples Center and Showtime eras. For added measure, athletic trainer Gary Vitti, one of the bridges between the two dynasties, retired. Jerry West has been gone since 2000, The Voice of the Lakers Chick Hearn died in 2002, Shaquille ONeal was traded in 2004, Jerry Buss passed away in 2013 and Magic Johnsons name was taken off the company masthead this past year after one tweet too many. Kupchak, who transitioned from playing to the front office in the 1980s, is practically the only name from the past left in the building.I mean, you cant hold on to everything forever, Kupchak said.Every member of the coaching staff except for Mark Madsen is new. Two new therapists and a new strength and conditioning coach will report to Vittis replacement, Marco Nunez. There are two new hires for the analytics department. Theres a practice facility under construction a few blocks away from their current site in El Segundo.A lot of its almost like pressing a reset button, Kupchak said.That includes a shift in the philosophy of building the team. No longer will you see the Lakers take the approach that failed them in recent off-seasons: patching together rosters with players whose primary attributes were expiring contracts that would create the salary cap space for the Lakers to pursue a star free agent. After Dwight Howard walked out the door and the likes of Carmelo Anthony and LaMarcus Aldridge?turned them down in recent summers, it was time to scrap that approach. Not only had the rules that once enabled them to sign Shaquille ONeal changed (the Lakers caan no longer outbid teams, or offer the same number of years as a players current team), so had the landscape.ddddddddddddYou have to have assets; cap room alone is overrated, Kupchak said. I think if you talk to teams in the NBA for the last four or five years that have had all kinds of cap room, its a stressful situation. Because youve got to go out there and pay non-max players, youve got to overpay to get somebody, depending on the city. And you might not get somebody. And then you kick the can down the road a year and try to do the same thing next summer.Thats why this year, rather than fish for the biggest names in the free agency pond, the Lakers quickly signed Timofey Mozgov and Luol Deng to contracts worth a combined $136 million over four years. Its explained by Kupchaks one-word expectation for this season: progress. Young teams dont win in the NBA. Adding those two veterans to the all-under-25 group of Julius Randle, DAngelo Russell, Jordan Clarkson, Brandon Ingram, Larry Nance Jr. and Ivica Zubac was designed to make the Lakers incrementally better, faster.Taking small steps isnt the traditional Laker way. Its also a potentially risky strategy for this Laker administration under executive vice president for basketball operations Jim Buss, who had pledged to step down after this season if the Lakers have not returned to contending status. A new name at the top could potentially mean new names throughout the organization, including Kupchaks job.My only goal is to get this franchise on solid footing with young players, free agents and flexibility, Kupchak said. And I think weve done that.I dont know how many games were going to win. But my hope is that as the season goes on, our fans, our partners, the TV audience can watch this team play and see growth and see enthusiasm. Luke is not an experienced coach, but Im hoping as this season goes on everybody can watch a coach become a good coach. And watch young players develop and grow. And I want to see exciting basketball. Thats my focus. To get involved in anything else from where I sit is counterproductive. And thats really all I focus on.These are different days in Lakerland, when the immediate goals arent championships, and the players are guaranteed to hang on the walls one day. How will this play? Well, Denzel Washington is a good indicator to follow. He isnt so much a hardcore Laker fan as he is a fan of the sport at its highest level. He typically only sits in his courtside seats when he expects a good game. He was there on opening night, and after the Lakers high-scoring victory over the Houston Rockets he said, with a touch of surprise in his voice, I like what I see. ' ' '