Mike Brown New Lakers Head Coach

It doesn’t matter who coaches the Lakers next year. When you have to follow an all time great coach like Phil Jackson people are gonna ve scrutinizing your every move. Especially when your only a year removed from back to back titles. I wish him the best but following someone like Phil is gonna be hard work.

I don’t know it is a good hire or a bad hire but I don’t think it was the right hire. Kobe and some of the other players openly stated they wanted Brian Shaw to be the head coach. Shaw has been with the Lakers for a while now and has been learning from Phil Jackson now he will likely get a job somewhere else like Golden State. Just don’t understand why the Lakers wouldn’t want to give him a chance and at the very least show some loyalty to Shaw.

Kobe is obviously unhappy. Seems like he’s being politically correct by either giving short responses or just staying quiet. Kobe saying he was "surprised" or "confused" by this hiring is a bad sign.

The Laker’s had a great run but with an aging Kobe and Odom, a frequently injured Bynum, an inconsistent Gasol, and a not so conducive supporting cast, I think it’s a safe bet that their dominance is coming to an end… a la the Spurs. Yes they will be a second round playoff team but the roster will require a significant tranformation to contend for a championship.

Does defense win championships?  Not sure. Defense keeps you in games but scoring more points that the other team puts your team over the top.

I want to say that offense wins championships, but a lack of defense loses championships.  I think balanced teams win the most.  The 1994 Knicks didn’t win the title because they couldn’t score much.  The 1995 Rockets won because Hakeem Olajuwon was unstoppable from about 15 feet in, Clyde Drexler could score pretty well, and they had guys who could hit a ton of 3’s.  They weren’t really known as a defensive team, but Hakeem could block shots and defend the paint with Robert Horry and Mario Elie being solid defenders.  All six Bulls championship teams had a great mix of offense and defense, as did the five title teams with Kobe and Shaq/Pau. 

What the Lakers do need is a commitment to a good offensive/defensive blend.  They probably can’t be the top defensive team in the league.  Their strength could be in being top 5 in defense and top 5 on offense.  The Mike Brown coached Cavs with LeBron didn’t lose because they lacked defense.  They lost because all they ran on offense was iso’s for LeBron.  They had a great regular season team but in the playoffs they were just a team with one great player and a bunch of role players.  The Lakers need an upgrade at point guard, some shooters off the bench (why did they trade Sasha?), and a more diverse offense since Kobe can’t go one on five anymore (he lacks the explosive first step he used to have, plus he can’t get as much lift as he used to). 

Acquiring Dwight Howard will quickly make this coaching decision a relatively moot point.  I am a Laker fan and can only hope that somehow someway, this coaching hire has something to do with bringing Howard to LA.  If not, I don’t get it.