Mike D'Antoni to the Lakers?!
I think this was the wrong call, Nate McMillan would have been my ideal replacement for Brown; his half-court grind style suits a team that is amongst the oldest in the NBA, as opposed to D'Antoni's run-and-gun system which won't hold up against the teams like Miami and OKC which are simply better transition teams than L.A.
Defence wins championships, I'm not sure how they haven't figured it out yet; even with all their offensive firepower, without an intelligent defensive scheme to cover the weaknesses of their perimeter defenders (Nash and Kobe - to an extent) they aren't setting themselves up for a championship run.
I think this was premature and could hurt them in the long-run.
Yeah TOL23,i also heard Jackson didnt want to travel to alot of east coast games...Thats no-no,for a head coach..But the main reason Jackson wasnt hired,was becuz he wanted a say so in management decisions..And the egomaniac Jim Buss wanted no part of that..Nor did they want to pay Jackson the 15 million a year he reportly wanted.....He and Jackson have a history of butting heads...Some felt that Jim Buss's dislike for Jackson was the main reason why Brian Shaw didnt get the head coaching job last time....
I guess Jim Buss couldn't stomach the idea of Phil d!cking both his sister and his old man out of the family business.....
This was about money. The Lakers just signed a $3 billion TV contract. What's more fun to watch? The triangle or run and gun? They're trying to get back to "Show Time" lol.
Problem is your team is old.
And lastly, it looks like they forgot that at the end of the day, it's about winning. Those Suns teams never won titles. Phil Jackson has won a title every where he's been and he's one of the best defensive coaches too.
D'Antoni will have to show some adapatability. More than he has in previous years. This roster isn't exactly the greatest fit for his system. It lacks shooters, team speed and Dwight is a reluctant PnR guy (although he's good at it). Gasol will need his paint touches too, but 2 paint bigs in at the same time doesn't fit D'Antoni's schemes.
He certainly won't help their defensive woes either.
If it really came down to P-Jax and and D'Antoni, this decision is puzzling. It probably wasn't a simple choice b/t the 2 though. It was more like D'Antoni vs P-Jax/more money/ more power and influence over personnel decisions/ more accommodations.
Why would the Lakers hire Mike D'Antoni over Phil Jackson, who's won 11 championships? Why hire Mike Brown in the first place? Why give Joe Johnson $123 million? Why have a lot of things been done?
The answer is, I have no idea. But this is a rumor I've seen.
The Lakers made the right call. It would have taken untill after the allstar break for Dwight, Nash and a few newcomers to learn a decent level of the triangle. I would imagine that mistakes would still be made entering the playoffs. Its a different animal than the Princeton but that doesn't make it any less challenging to perfect and make look effortless.
Since the Lakers want to "win now", the easiest and most productive offense is going to be 7 seconds or less. Lets just hope the Lakers conditioning level is up to snuff. Lets not forget that D'Antoni has never had a frontline like Howard, Gasol and MWP to hold things down on the defensive end.
Wow, those rumors read my mind, I was just thinking that there's no way Gasol and Howard are going to excel in this system, he doesn't want post up players, which is why getting Josh Smith and Korver would be huge for the Lakers.
Phil wanted too much, he wanted travel restrictions, a high salary, final say in basketball decisions, and a stake in ownership. But the ultimate reason was Jim Buss' ego, but I still think the Lakers will be great to watch, but I honestly can't see Pau, Artest, and Kobe running the lanes like Barbosa Stoudemire and Diaw used to.
I agree I don't understand how you don't even give Jerry Sloan an interview unless he wasn't interested. If Phil Jackson wasn't going to work, Jerry Sloan was by far the next best option in my opinion.
I wish the Lakers luck, but I don't imagine them being a championship team with D'Antoni at the helm.
I could see how Korver would fit, but not Josh Smith. What D'antoni's system requires, outside of the primary PnR guys, is players who can make quick, simple decisions and can shoot. That doesn't describe Josh Smith at all. He doesn't spread the floor any more than Pau does. The only reason why they should acquire Josh Smith is to give Dwight even more of a reason to stay...although Smith is expiring and wants a max contract despite not being worth it.
Marion under D'antoni shot over 3 3's a game at a slightly below league average clip (33-34%, league average is around 35). Josh Smith can't shoot at all. IMO, he's also a poor decision maker who likes to hold the ball to try to make plays. I think there'd be even more spacing problems with Smith than there'd be with Pau.
I wouldn't say it was Buss' ego.
I mean, if your head coach wants to be paid more than any other coach in the league, not go to away games, not go to practice if it's not in Cali or Arizona, have a say in basketball decisions AND a stake in ownership... you have to draw a line somewhere. You can't pay someone double than most coaches while doing only a third of the job.
I mean, if you go to apply for a job and start with "I want to get a bigger check than everyone here but I'm going to work when I want, the hours I want, as much as I want, be in charge of personnel, and I want a piece of your company"
You're not going to get the job. I don't care who you are.
^You beat me to it, I was about wonder why no one had mentioned Nate McMillan.
He's the best coach because his teams play a tough grind it out half court styled game, and his defense is great as well. He's the perfect coach for all of these vets and Kobe would still get his fair share of Isos and he'd know how to get Pau and Dwight both their fair share of touches in the post, although his system might not use Nash's strengths very well.
If what I just read isn't hog wash, looks like Phil Jackson is not the next coach for the Lakers, but it's Mike D'Antoni. Will be interesting to see how the bigs fit in his system...
http://www.cbssports.com/nba/blog/eye-on-basketball/20945111/report-mike-dantoni-to-be-the-next-coach-of-the-lakers