Lakers need a Coach

[SoCalDukeFan]

Mike Brown was fired.

I would assume that this time and at this stage of the season K will not even be mentioned.

Hope they go with Mike D'Antonio.

SoCal

[nmduke2001]

Phil Jackson could always use another ring.

Seriously, why would Brown even consider the Princeton offense after they signed Nash? Nash is perhaps the best high pick and roll player ever (with all due respect to Stockton). Just let Nash get the ball to guys in the best place to score.

[MChambers]

Phil Jackson could always use another ring.

Seriously, why would Brown even consider the Princeton offense after they signed Nash? Nash is perhaps the best high pick and roll player ever (with all due respect to Stockton). Just let Nash get the ball to guys in the best place to score.

Quinn Snyder? Hey, there's a chance.

[JasonEvans]

Kobe should be player coach. That way Kobe cannot get mad and undermine the coach.

-Jason

[Matches]

Stan.
Van.
Gundy.

C'mon Lakers.. you know you want to...

[Cameron]

Whether or not Kobe actually wanted Brown gone -- the "Death Stare" aside, Bryant reportedly was in the camp of Mike Brown backers -- Brown did this to himself. He should have played with a style that was befitting of his players, a system that they were familiar with, especially since the majority of the success that this particular group of Lakers has accumulated (Nash and Howard not included) happened while operating under Tex Winter's Triangle offense. Kobe and Gasol, in particular, are nearing the end of their careers and have a very limited time table of success left. To upheave the entire LA system of success under these guys and start afresh was a bad move and why Brown is without a job. They never should have hired him to begin with. That is now plainly obvious.

My bet is that Phil Jackson is already involved and will be back to usher Kobe out of the NBA in style as they go on to win one more title and then retire together. Why else would such a dramatic move be made this early into the season?

[J4Kop99]

I'm listening to ESPN LA Radio as I write this and the Coach K speculation has begun. The hosts also mentioned that coach K's odds of becoming the next lakers coach are 2:1, according to Las Vegas. (I haven't been able to find those odds anywhere, though)

As a longtime fan of both the Lakers and Duke, I see absolutely no possibility where Coach K leaves Duke to coach in Los Angeles. I doubt the Buss family even contacts him. Having said that, we all know why his name is being brought up.

However, regarding the D'Antoni speculation, I doubt that as well. According to Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski, D'Antoni recently had knee surgery and will not be physically able to coach until late December.

Here is the tweet:
Adrian Wojnarowski ‏@WojYahooNBA
Knee replacement surgery expected to keep Mike D'Antoni unable to coach until late December, league source tells Y! Sports.

-Also, while D'antoni did coach Nash, that was a long time ago. I do not think Nash can run that type of offense for an entire season and I also do not think the Lakers roster fits D'Antoni's system. I guess trading Pau Gasol is an option but that opens up a whole 'nother can of worms.

It just doesn't seem too likely that Jerry Buss, Jim "Fredo" Buss, and Mitch Kupchak are willing to keep interim HC Bernie Bickerstaff on the sidelines for almost two months waiting for Coach Mike D. (Unless the Lakers go on a big winning streak)


The list is down to 3 for me:
1.Phil Jackson (Although I don't see this as the formality that others are making it out to be)
2. Jerry Sloan (Master of the P n R, hard-nosed coach with a ton of experience)
3. Nate McMillan (he was a finalist for the Lakers vacant head coaching spot before they ended up hiring Mike brown)

[theAlaskanBear]

Whether or not Kobe actually wanted Brown gone -- the "Death Stare" aside, Bryant reportedly was in the camp of Mike Brown backers -- Brown did this to himself. He should have played with a style that was befitting of his players, a system that they were familiar with, especially since the majority of the success that this particular group of Lakers has accumulated (Nash and Howard not included) happened while operating under Tex Winter's Triangle offense. Kobe and Gasol, in particular, are nearing the end of their careers and have a very limited time table of success left. To upheave the entire LA system of success under these guys and start afresh was a bad move and why Brown is without a job. They never should have hired him to begin with. That is now plainly obvious.

My bet is that Phil Jackson is already involved and will be back to usher Kobe out of the NBA in style as they go on to win one more title and then retire together. Why else would such a dramatic move be made this early into the season?

All this talk about the Lakers and the Princeton offense and hating on Brown is ridiculous. The Lakers had a top-10 offense with new players and new system. They will only get better with more Reps and practice. The problem is that the defense is the 27th in the league, and because they are not healthy. Nash is injured, Dwight hasn't played in 8 months and is not at 100% yet.

Another problem is the media. Jeez. 5 games is waaaay to soon to fire a coach.

That said, D'Antoni or Stan Van would be upgrades. Plus think about the Karmic Justice-tm that would be the Lakers hiring Van Gundy to coach Dwight. Bwhahahaha.

[J4Kop99]

All this talk about the Lakers and the Princeton offense and hating on Brown is ridiculous. The Lakers had a top-10 offense with new players and new system. They will only get better with more Reps and practice. The problem is that the defense is the 27th in the league, and because they are not healthy. Nash is injured, Dwight hasn't played in 8 months and is not at 100% yet.

Another problem is the media. Jeez. 5 games is waaaay to soon to fire a coach.

That said, D'Antoni or Stan Van would be upgrades.

Haha, after Dwight ran stan-van out of Orlando, the Buss family is going to bring him to LA, to coach dwight again? Talk about one way to get Dwight to leave after the season.

--regarding the poor defense: The lakers, due to their lack of understanding of the offense, have turned the ball over about 20 times per game. That's the reason the defense is as poor as it is. Sure, Nash is injured, but would he really help on the defensive side of the ball? I do agree that as Dwight continues to get closer to 100%, the defense will become better and better, but right now, the entire team is lost. Lakers fans are left asking if Mike Brown even did anything during training camp and the pre-season.

Without any context, sure, 5 games is too soon. However, if you have watched this team closely over the past year, I think you would agree that Brown was not the guy for the job.

[J4Kop99]

Edit to my original post:

ESPN LA radio said that Mike D'Antoni has 2:1 odds, not Coach K. My apologies

[brevity]

Kobe should be player coach. That way Kobe cannot get mad and undermine the coach.

-Jason

Grantland is way ahead of you. Complete with visuals.

http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-triangle/post/_/id/42456/kobe-bryant-reacts-to-rumored-mike-brown-replacements

[uh_no]

I vote for calipari.....give him enough money and he'll leave UK....

[fitimi1]

Did not take Dwight Howard very long. Guess that after Orlando, it proves he is a quick learner.

[darthur]

All this talk about the Lakers and the Princeton offense and hating on Brown is ridiculous. The Lakers had a top-10 offense with new players and new system. They will only get better with more Reps and practice. The problem is that the defense is the 27th in the league, and because they are not healthy. Nash is injured, Dwight hasn't played in 8 months and is not at 100% yet.

Another problem is the media. Jeez. 5 games is waaaay to soon to fire a coach.

That said, D'Antoni or Stan Van would be upgrades. Plus think about the Karmic Justice-tm that would be the Lakers hiring Van Gundy to coach Dwight. Bwhahahaha.

They also went winless in the preseason. Preseason doesn't matter true, but still... 1-12 doesn't look so good, especially with these players.

[tele]

All this talk about the Lakers and the Princeton offense and hating on Brown is ridiculous. The Lakers had a top-10 offense with new players and new system. They will only get better with more Reps and practice. The problem is that the defense is the 27th in the league, and because they are not healthy. Nash is injured, Dwight hasn't played in 8 months and is not at 100% yet.

Another problem is the media. Jeez. 5 games is waaaay to soon to fire a coach.

That said, D'Antoni or Stan Van would be upgrades. Plus think about the Karmic Justice-tm that would be the Lakers hiring Van Gundy to coach Dwight. Bwhahahaha.

If they were going to fully go with the princeton offense in the regular season it would be a big change from how the nba game is usually played during the season. The p. offense requires a lot of motion and effort by the players away from the ball. If you watch an NBA game live, it's pretty obvious that most players away from the ball aren't usually expending all that much energy. Over the course of a long season, veteran players with a number of old knee ankle etc injuries aren't going to be too keen on setting off the ball screens and running back cuts. There would be more than two players with injuries flaring up.

[tommy]

If they were going to fire Brown because they didn't like his offense, why didn't they do it in the off-season once they knew who would be on the roster? They totally panicked, and I would bet dollars to donuts it was the ever-immature, ever-impatient Kobe Bryant who went to management and said "I'm done with this guy. Get him out of here." And then I am also confident that it wasn't Kupchak or Jerry Buss that decided to make Brown walk the plank, but the also immature and erratic Jim Buss, who nobody around here trusts even a little, but whom his dad has given increasing power in recent years. I mean, come on. Brown got to coach ONE regular season game with this team with all the guys healthy. One.

Jackson is negotiating now, and apparently what he wants is "more control over basketball operations" and the right to not go on all the road trips. Translation of the former: "I don't want to have to talk to or certainly answer to Jim Buss."

The shame of this is that the team will improve, whether the coach is Jackson, Sloan, McMillan, Dunleavy, or anyone else. Just like it would've improved had Brown remained the coach. But the fact of the improvement will be seen as validation of the coaching move, when it would've been inevitable anyway.

[tommy]

The Lakers have hired Mike D'Antoni (http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/story/_/id/8622773/mike-dantoni-hired-next-coach-los-angeles-lakers-sources-say), not Phil Jackson.