Lakers need a coach

[NashvilleDevil]

Jason "if the Thunder lose in the first round, Brooks could get fired and Ollie would be the A#1 choice to replace him" Evans

Doubt if Brooks gets fired. He's a really fine coach, well-liked by his players, and really well-liked by the people in Oklahoma City.

Brooks will most definitely be gone if they get beat in the 1st round.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

This is a joke. If K didn't take the job in 2004, why would he take a ten-year older Kobe and this mess of a team?

I know that coach reassurances about sticking around are relatively useless, but if K says he wants 5 more years, I see no reason to waste brain waves on this.

[jimsumner]

And KD was well-liked too. Things change. Today, The Oklahoman headline called him "Mr. Unreliable."

I can't imagine what they're calling the point guard who shot 10-31 or some such.

[FerryFor50]

I can't imagine what they're calling the point guard who shot 10-31 or some such.

Westbrook? Yea, he definitely jacks up too many shots.

But the Oklahoman was referring to Durant missing 3 of 6 FTs down the stretch in a close loss.

To Durant's credit, he owned it and said the Oklahoman was correct to write it. Durant is all class.

[nmduke2001]

Jason "if the Thunder lose in the first round, Brooks could get fired and Ollie would be the A#1 choice to replace him" Evans

Doubt if Brooks gets fired. He's a really fine coach, well-liked by his players, and really well-liked by the people in Oklahoma City.

Usually, fine coaches actually have a few plays for the team to run. At one point last game, KD went 6 minutes without TOUCHING the ball. Part of that is Tony Allen, but Scott Brooks needs to have a play to get him open.

Westbrook is averaging 8.7 seconds with the ball in his hands per possession. That's more than anyone in the playoffs. The next closest is LBJ at about 6 seconds.
http://espn.go.com/nba/playoffs/2014...rook-blame-nba

[BD80]

I can't imagine what they're calling the point guard who shot 10-31 or some such.

The real speculation is which happens first in the next game: KD getting 40 points, or Westbrook hoisting 40 shots.

[Olympic Fan]

I can't imagine what they're calling the point guard who shot 10-31 or some such.

There was another stat -- apparently Westbrook has attempted more than 50 shots in the fourth quarter (or overtime) of this series. In NBA history there have been 181 players attempting that many fourth-quarter shots.

Westbrook has the absolute worst shooting percentage of any of those 181 players.

Yet the Oklahoma paper labels Durant as "Mr. Unreliable"

It reminds me of something Thomas Boswell wrote in the 1970s. He was talking about baseball, but it applies to any sport. He wrote that when a team underachieves, the team's best players are almost always blamed -- no matter who is really to blame.

[vick]

It reminds me of something Thomas Boswell wrote in the 1970s. He was talking about baseball, but it applies to any sport. He wrote that when a team underachieves, the team's best players are almost always blamed -- no matter who is really to blame.

Right on, but I think it's probably even worse in basketball, because it least in baseball people basically understand that the impact one player can have is limited, whereas in basketball it's just plausible enough (but wrong) that a single player can transcendentally lead any group of bums to the title, so you get idiocy like how LeBron James "couldn't get it done" in the playoffs (despite having possibly the single best individual playoff run ever). I'm sure in his career Durant's teammates will have some good shooting performances which, in an astounding coincidence, will happen to coincide with Durant becoming more reliable.

[Olympic Fan]

Right on, but I think it's probably even worse in basketball, because it least in baseball people basically understand that the impact one player can have is limited, whereas in basketball it's just plausible enough (but wrong) that a single player can transcendentally lead any group of bums to the title, so you get idiocy like how LeBron James "couldn't get it done" in the playoffs (despite having possibly the single best individual playoff run ever[/URL]). I'm sure in his career Durant's teammates will have some good shooting performances which, in an astounding coincidence, will happen to coincide with Durant becoming more reliable.

Mention of LeBron's early struggles reminded me of Jordan and how long it took him to be recognized as a winner.

Both James and Jordan won their first titles in their seventh season in the league -- both at age 27.

Not many superstars led their team to multiple championships at an earlier age. Kobe won his first ring at age 21 when he was in his fourth season. But was Bryant the man at that point? The Lakers dominant player that season was Shaquille O'Neal ... who was 27 years old and in his seventh NBA season!

Right now, Durant is 25 and in his fifth season. If he matches James/Jordan je ought to win his first title in June of 2016 -- just before he heads to Rio to help Coach K win another gold medal.

PS The one star who breaks the mold was Bill Russell, who won a ring in his first year and by the time he was in his seventh season, he had six rings. Although it's only fair to point out that the Celtics also had Hall of Famer Bob Cousy in 1957 -- and he won his first ring that year in his seventh season (age 28).

I would suggest that we wait until AFTER player's seventh season before we start wondering if they are winners.

[Deslok]

Mention of LeBron's early struggles reminded me of Jordan and how long it took him to be recognized as a winner.

Both James and Jordan won their first titles in their seventh season in the league -- both at age 27.

Not many superstars led their team to multiple championships at an earlier age. Kobe won his first ring at age 21 when he was in his fourth season. But was Bryant the man at that point? The Lakers dominant player that season was Shaquille O'Neal ... who was 27 years old and in his seventh NBA season!

Right now, Durant is 25 and in his fifth season. If he matches James/Jordan je ought to win his first title in June of 2016 -- just before he heads to Rio to help Coach K win another gold medal.

PS The one star who breaks the mold was Bill Russell, who won a ring in his first year and by the time he was in his seventh season, he had six rings. Although it's only fair to point out that the Celtics also had Hall of Famer Bob Cousy in 1957 -- and he won his first ring that year in his seventh season (age 28).

I would suggest that we wait until AFTER player's seventh season before we start wondering if they are winners.

Uh... James title win was in his 9th season, not 7th(would have been difficult to be the same age as Jordan in his 7th season, since James went pro out of HS and Jordan came out as a junior from college).

[Olympic Fan]

Uh... James title win was in his 9th season, not 7th(would have been difficult to be the same age as Jordan in his 7th season, since James went pro out of HS and Jordan came out as a junior from college).

You are half right ...

I misread James' numbers in that he won his first ring in his seventh PLAYOFF season ... it was his ninth year in the league. His first two teams didn't make the playoffs.

But their ages do line up when they won their first titles.

To be exact, Jordan was a bit older when he won his first ring. He was born Feb. 17, 1963 and made his debut at age 21 in the fall of 1984. But since he didn't turn 22 until the season was two-thirds over, he's officially counted as a 21-year-old in the 1984-85 season.

James was born Dec. 30, 1984 (two months after Jordan made his NBA debut). He was actually 18 when he first played in the fall of 2003. But since he turned 19 before the season was a third over, he is officially listed as age 19 for his rookie season.

Both were officially 27 when they won their first rings (as was O'Neal).

But you are right, that was James' ninth season, not his seventh. So the fact that their ages almost exactly line up makes more sense.

Interesting that all the guys I've talked about had to join forces with another HOF quality player to get that first title -- Jordan with Pippen, Kobe with Shaquille, LaBron with Wade ... even Russell with Cousy.

I'm not sure Durant has found his HOF teammate yet -- as noted earlier in this thread, I'm not sold on Russell Westbrook.

[uh_no]

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-bask...uble-coach-pay

welp, they scared uconn into offerring ollie a well deserved raise...

someone should start a business of this...take a college coach with a taste of success, charge to hype him up as a possibility for NBA jobs, and then the school offers him more money to stay.

[Henderson]

You are half right ...

I misread James' numbers in that he won his first ring in his seventh PLAYOFF season ... it was his ninth year in the league. His first two teams didn't make the playoffs.

But their ages do line up when they won their first titles.

To be exact, Jordan was a bit older when he won his first ring. He was born Feb. 17, 1963 and made his debut at age 21 in the fall of 1984. But since he didn't turn 22 until the season was two-thirds over, he's officially counted as a 21-year-old in the 1984-85 season.

James was born Dec. 30, 1984 (two months after Jordan made his NBA debut). He was actually 18 when he first played in the fall of 2003. But since he turned 19 before the season was a third over, he is officially listed as age 19 for his rookie season.

Both were officially 27 when they won their first rings (as was O'Neal).

But you are right, that was James' ninth season, not his seventh. So the fact that their ages almost exactly line up makes more sense.

Interesting that all the guys I've talked about had to join forces with another HOF quality player to get that first title -- Jordan with Pippen, Kobe with Shaquille, LaBron with Wade ... even Russell with Cousy.

I'm not sure Durant has found his HOF teammate yet -- as noted earlier in this thread, I'm not sold on Russell Westbrook.

I agree about Westbrook and (if I understood you correctly) about the inadvisability of getting too down on Durant for not winning a championship yet. He becomes a free agent just before the 2016-17 season, which would be his 10th, though he'll only be 28 (if my poor math skills are working). If OKC doesn't find him a HOF buddy by then, he may have to go find one himself. By that time, he's going to be really tired of the albatross folks have already hung on him. The OKC press has already chattered a bit about the Wizards, since Durant is from there and maintains strong ties.

[Duvall]

Let Westbrook be Westbrook?

[Des Esseintes]

Let Westbrook be Westbrook?

The guy's pretty great. He has his problems, but you're looking at a top ten overall player. OKC would have been an extremely tough out for the Spurs (and Heat) last season had he avoided injury. If Durant has something holding back his title dreams, I think the culprit is far less Westbrook than an in-over-his-head Scotty Brooks and that cheapskate, Seattle-screwing ownership group.