[:: LAKERS 2014 THREAD | POLL: Who Should Coach Next Year? ::]

[grandtheftbike]

Raja who? I don't know this kid. I don't need to know this kid

 

[kal-el-8]

Raja who? I don't know this kid. I don't need to know this kid

maybe he wasn't hugged as a kid, i don't know

 

[pmatic]

defensive anchor raja bell 

Kurt Thomas!

And D'Antoni's last season with the Knicks, they were very good defensively.

 

[had pants]

Coach Mike D'Antoni said Friday he hopes that Steve Nash and Kobe Bryant can play Jan. 28 against Indiana, right after the Lakers' seven-game road trip, their longest of the season.
Speaking to reporters at the Lakers training facility in El Segundo, D'Antoni said the two stars would return "about the same time. Hopefully both of them are ready."
Bryant and Nash have each played six games this season.
Bryant missed 19 games while recovering from a torn Achilles' tendon, returned briefly but was sidelined again because of a broken knee. He is averaging 13.8 points and 6.3 assists a game.
Nash hasn't played since Nov. 10 because of nerve damage in his back. He is averaging 6.7 points and 4.8 assists.
Kendall Marshall is now the sixth starting point guard for the Lakers, who have seemingly become part of a larger NBA injury epidemic at the position.
The Clippers are set to play the Lakers on Friday without Chris Paul (separated shoulder). Just this week, Eric Bledsoe underwent knee surgery for torn cartilage, and New Orleans guard Jrue Holiday was declared out indefinitely because of a stress fracture in his leg.
"That’s the one good thing, it can’t happen to us again because we’ve got them all out," D'Antoni said of the Lakers' point guard injuries.
D'Antoni was then asked if sports medicine had advanced since the old days of presumably drinking beer or smoking cigarettes after a game.
"I don't drink and smoke ... although I'm thinking about starting, just the drinking part," he said.
The Lakers (14-22) have lost nine of their last 10 games. They are 10 games behind the Clippers (25-13) in the standings.
D’Antoni said the apparent increase in point guard injuries probably came from improved diagnosis techniques, compared with those in past decades.
“We had [injuries] all the time, except with MRIs they diagnose them a little bit better. You played with them and you didn’t know you had them,” he said. “But now you’re out four weeks. It’s better for players’ careers and it’s better for the health of them in the long run.
“Before you just saw them tape ’em up, play and take a painkiller, you’d be fine. That wasn’t the right way to do it, and now they’re doing it the right way.”


http://www.latimes.com/sports/laker...e-nash-20140110,0,2054016.story#ixzz2q9S9qhbx

Nash...either 1) increase his trade value (most likely not) or 2) just hang it up.

 

[kookcle]

One blowout loss to a good team really pissed people off

Nobody was this mad when the Bucks beat us at home.

I was way more upset after that game.

 

[sohi 23]

I'll never get upset at a loss.

 

[jab step]

Bottom line for all you people.

If you think Marshall, Sacre, Pau, Young, Kaman, Meeks, Kelly, etc should be locking teams down, you are not smart.

Period.

Not smart.

Those are NOT quality defenders. Hill and Wes are the two best on the roster. That's not good when they are your best two.


Get. A. Clue.


Phil, Pop, Sloan, Doc wouldn't get that group to do anything either, quit blaming coaching for half a roster playing poorly.


Unbelievable.

I'm not sold on D'antoni yet. I'm so/so on him. I can't evaluate him based on this season. The injuries have been ridiculous and our roster right now is ugly. He did do a good job earlier on this season. The media who were making fun of the Lakers before the season showed their typical flip flop ways and were talking about the Lakers making the playoffs once Kobe comes back and gets accustomed to the team 

. The team was playing well, better than their 10-9 record. Keep in mind they gave away a few games, such as that Spurs game, and I chalked that up to inexperience of our young guys. 

I gotta disagree with you about Hill being one of our best defenders. He really isn't 

. I know he's got this crazy energy and that sometimes blinds us, and we think he's good defensively, but I really haven't seen him do much defensively. I've seen him get lighten up though. 

With all the criticism D'antoni gets about defense, I laugh when people crucify him for playing Sacre. He's playing Sacre because he's one of our best big defenders. I think Sacre is clearly better than Hill in this regard. He plays Sacre over Kaman because of his defense as well as his rolling ability. So the guy plays a defensive player and still gets crucified for not playing Kaman. 

My criticisms with D'antoni this year are probably that he can work Kaman into the rotation. He isn't as good defensively as Sacre and does get too dribble happy/chuck happy, but he's got moves down low and that can be used. D'antoni doesn't truly believe in the post up, which I'm not sure I can agree with . Also, I think D'antoni should play Hill more. I don't think he's that great defensively, but his effort on the boards really has helped the team at times. I know his reasoning for not playing Hill is that he's an energy guy that gets tired easily, which I agree with, but I think he can use more minutes.

On a side note, this is just my opinion and it popped up in my head after yesterday's loss. But I've been seeing how bad D'antoni is and how great Rivers is compared to him, especially after some sound bite where Rivers was talking about their defense winning the game for them so far, and D'antoni said something about the offensive end. I think Doc RIvers is one of the most overrated coaches out there. It's funny how the perception of him changed after one ring and how the perception of a person can change after a championship. Still feel like Thibs was as important for Boston as Rivers. Also from what I recall Boston hated Rivers, even ESPNs very own Bill Simmons kept saying Rivers sucked because of his failures in Boston. They progressively got worse before the big three came along. Just goes to show that in the end of the day you need talent to win games.  

 

[mosk33toe]

Haha no training camp barely over .500, playing Kobe 80 mins a game, very impressive. You keep backing this joke of a coach. I can't anymore. It isn't even the players as much as it is his system but whatever. I don't work for the Lakers and neither do you, ill enjoy what I can with this season.

no point in arguing. Happy Saturday y'all.

**** mike d'antoni!

 

[kingjaffejo]

I don't understand why everyone is so up in arms about Mike D. The Lakers know they have to get rid of him as the coach for the next run. But there is no point of getting rid of him now.

Just let his contract run out and hire the next coach when available. Right now the Lakers don't have a roster that deserves good coaching lol

 

[essential1]

You sure they "KNOW" they have to get rid of him?


It's funny that it's fans who are the ones who are so certain Mike D'Antoni is a terrible coach. You'll find very few around basketball, and very few who wrote for a living about basketball who will say Mike D'Antoni is a joke, or a terrible coach.

Before you go find the articles of someone who says Mike D'Antoni sucks (they exist), there are more people who defend him around basketball than detract from him.

 

[vindeezy]

Realtalk...pringles is whatevs to me...yes, nobody can win consistently with the roster as is at the moment. At the time, they coulda hired better...they coulda hired worse. I cannot get a true assessment on him..let alone anybody with the body count always off kilter. Are they a biproduct of the system or alleged mismanagement of mins?? Who the hell knows. There are aspects that need to be improved...but its a culmination of things..not just one. Fact of the matter is...there are some holes..glaring ones, with or without injuries, like front court athleticism...and the big question...is the bad defense a trickle down from the sloppy play? Or tempo (quick shots and long jumpers leading to long rebounds and run outs)....points in the paint and second chance points are the biggest culprit to me. Some of it is pau..some of it is the overall roster...some of it is pringles/the staff....it is what it is.

Off topic...ive watched alot of clips on exum amd listened to his interviews. I love this kid. He has length..is athletic enough..uses both hands..good body control..mid range skillsets and can shoot from deep...moxy...and appears very grounded and humble. I see alot of penny hardaway and a dash of kobe...if he gains 15 lbs of muscle and develops a back down game....he will be NICE. if we "inadvertently" "lose gms"(through the course of nature)...id love this kid.

Parker/wiggins/exum/smart/levine/young..

My wing player priority order.

 

[kingjaffejo]

1st of all I don't need to look up any articles of anyone defending him OR praising him. I "know" what I can see with my own eyes in the realm of basketball. Not just the average fan.

But whatever you feel about Mike doesn't change the fact that his style of coach doesn't equate to championship basketball. Period.
When the game slows down and you are going possession for possession and you have to adapt to the changes of the game and series quickly ...there's nothing in that in his skills and philosophies. Damn good coach tho. Gotta give him that.

As I said before there isn't any reason to get rid of him now. Red A. couldn't come alive from the dead and coach this roster into a winning record. Lakers FO will wait until the true rebuilding starts after a year.

And another thing great coaches all depends on your star players. You don't win in this league without stars. Stars greatly dictate style of play. You have to have your star players excel in that coaches style of play philosophies.

 

[goldmember]

School me on this

If This team end up with the 2nd worst record in the west after lets just say Jazz, what are the chances of getting one of the top 1-5 pick?

 

[essential1]

School me on this

If This team end up with the 2nd worst record in the west after lets just say Jazz, what are the chances of getting one of the top 1-5 pick?

Depends on how bad rest of teams in East did.

 

[vrai1]

One blowout loss to a good team really pissed people off

Nobody was this mad when the Bucks beat us at home.

I was way more upset after that game.

i see your point, but the Clips are not just any good team, they're hometown rivals.

 

[pmatic]

His style doesn't win championships? Look at the last three NBA champions.

 

[daddyrabbit251]

None of the previous NBA champs played a MDA style of basketball...

The only team that really ran and pushed the ball was the heat. The heat wear teams down defensively, running the floor thru TOs. Other than that they run a lot of backdoor screens, screens near the elbow and iso sets.

 

[pmatic]

The Mavs?

 

[daddyrabbit251]

The Mavs?

Negative... The Mavs played great perimeter defense with Kidd defending SGs and guys like Stevenson and Marion guarding the other wings. Then u had Tyson protecting the rim.

The Mavs also got extremely lucky and had a team full of straight shooters that all got hot at the same time. I'll never forget Peja's playoff run at like age 40 but Carlisle put them in sets offensively that got the shooters good looks...

After the Xavier injury I sat back and watched to see if dude would make any adjustments to the way he coached and he didn't. U cant have 8 guys dressed and ready to play and coach the game like u have 12. That's a simple adjustment, SIMPLE. Slow the game down

 

[pmatic]

Valid points, but I don't see why the Lakers can't mirror their roster like the Mavs in the next three to four years.

 

[licensed to ball]

DaddyRabit with dat real talk

 

[BIG LEEMELONE]

Valid points, but I don't see why the Lakers can't mirror their roster like the Mavs in the next three to four years.

Meh.... not taking anything away from the mavs but that was kind of a fluke. A bunch of old guys that hopped in a cryogenic chamber right before the playoffs (they literally did this), shoots lights out and beats the beta version of Miami. 80% of that roster regressed immediately after the finals. Not something I would try to replicate but Pdx is the young version of that team and I'm not sure they are legit contenders

 

[pmatic]

Blazers will flame out in the playoffs because their defense stinks unlike that Mavs team.

 

[mosk33toe]

I agree! The shear arrogance of a coach who wont adjust his system is just ridiculous. I'm not saying we have to be the greatest defensive team of all time, but we have to have some sort of plan. Like I said for the last 2 years he's been trying to fit a square peg into a circle hole.

 

[kingjaffejo]

DaddyRabbit thank you!
Someone actually watches! You can't win a championship with Mikes style only because in the playoffs you are forced to play slower and lean on your defensive schemes
Miami Heat runs n guns through high defensive pressure in the perimeter and turnovers. It still starts off defensively