Lakers Thread

[air gordon]

with that in mind, what coach would want to be in that potential lame duck status?

[Andrew]

Someone desperate for a head coaching gig, I guess. Perhaps they'll end up promoting from within, let them coach another limbo season.

[Jackal]

I'm glad tank commander was let go, he was in a shitty situation but his handling of the players was just as shitty.

I'm on the Messina hype train, I'd love for him to come back to the Lakers. Big no-no would be Jackson with his gospel preaching stuff while grabbing stripper ass on the side and I'm fairly certain Luke isn't leaving.

Thibs would have been a nice choice as well, not sure if he wanted the same role he got with the Wolves though, I'm good with Mitch K making those decisions.

phpBB [video]

This guy comes off as intelligent, is accomplished & thinks the inside and outside game both matter. Make it happen LA.

[mp3]

David Blatt 2.0?

I actually think Blatt would be perfect for the young Lakers as he would of being for the Cavs if they hadn't signed LeBron and traded Wiggins for Love.

Right now iam hoping that the knicks take a long look at BBlatt now that Thibs is off the table.

[Jackal]

Don't know about him being Blatt 2.0, he's coached under Pop for the past 2 seasons and he's been with LA under Mike D (who oddly enough would suit this bunch we have now, but shit if you're benching Gasol for Clark then fuck you anyway).

I'm rooting for Blatt, he seems like a guy who got a raw deal with getting Lebron, I'd be fine with him with the Lakers too but I really want Messina.

The Lakers just need direction and stability at the HC position. Did I mention he's been with Pop?! Those Spurs fellows aren't too shabby a bunch.

[Andrew]

Lakers get permission to interview Warriors' Luke Walton for head-coaching job

So, they did have a plan, after all.

[air gordon]

The Lakers just need direction and stability at the HC position. Did I mention he's been with Pop?! Those Spurs fellows aren't too shabby a bunch.

Could say the same thing about ownership/management

Jim boylen didn't do jack shit this year

My guess is Walton is the new coach

[mp3]

Walton would be my guess too.

[shadowgrin]

Walton will fail in LA. He looked good at GS because Curry made him look good.

[NovU]

Perhaps Walton is what the rebuilding Lakers need. He's young and so are the Lakers. Given his stature fans and young Lakers probably will be able to overlook his mistakes as they learn to play together. Long term marriage is where the Lakers needs are and he's probably it. With either Simmons or Ingram, this will be a fine team in a few years.

[Jackal]

Bill has gone on record advising against taking the Lakers job. Also Houston has asked to interview him as well.

I'm still rooting for Messina to win out. My choices are Messina - Walton - Blatt - Ollie(?) if he's in the mix.

Just don't fuck it up with someone like Rambis or George Karl. Or Mark Jackson. Shudder.

If it turns out to be Luke I hope he surrounds himself with seasoned assistant coaches.

[mp3]

Walton will fail in LA. He looked good at GS because Curry made him look good.

I kind of agree with this being that that team is so good I could probably coach them and have a decent win/lose record.

That being said we just don't really know what type of coach Walton really is because of this being his first really coaching job since he retired as a player, at least when Gentry took the Pelicans job we had seen him before with the Suns.

[air gordon]

Gentry perhaps is an example of the walton/GSW theory. He was supposed to be an offensive innovator, fresh off his stint with LAC. he comes to NOH and their offense is just as crappy as it was with Monty Williams

Or Donovan with the Thunder. Is OKC doing anything different than what Brooks had them doing aside from defending worse?

on side note-
i'd like to pass on an interview Doris Burke did with David Locke:
http://lockedonsports.libsyn.com/episod ... oris-burke

in general i think sideline reporters are a distraction to the game/broadcast and i think burke doesn't offer anything special when she's in studio. after hearing this interview, i came away impressed. around the 35:00 minute mark she offered some thoughts on bryant. surprised to hear her call out her espn colleagues on that as well as the blatt situation in cleveland.

[[Q]]

So are coaches interchangable? Outside of Phil Jackson & Popovich, of course. They're on another level.

[Jackal]

I don't think they are. Thibs got a lot more out of the same bunch compared to Hoiberg.

There are just different tiers of coaches and some overachieve with the group they have at times as well.

[Andrew]

on side note-
i'd like to pass on an interview Doris Burke did with David Locke:
http://lockedonsports.libsyn.com/episod ... oris-burke

in general i think sideline reporters are a distraction to the game/broadcast and i think burke doesn't offer anything special when she's in studio. after hearing this interview, i came away impressed. around the 35:00 minute mark she offered some thoughts on bryant. surprised to hear her call out her espn colleagues on that as well as the blatt situation in cleveland.

Definitely a good listen.

[Kevin]

It's official, they named Luke Walton as head coach. Motherfucker. I'm done.

[Andrew]

A good hire, but I'd keep the expectations low until he starts getting better personnel to work with.

[[Q]]

That was fast. It was obviously in the plans after the Scott announcement and Luke seemed like he really wanted to be back

[Jackal]

Byron Scott isn't the head coach of the LA Lakers anymore.

Hope Luke hires some badass assistants now. What's Scal doing these days? All benchwarmer-coaching team assemble!

[[Q]]

Would be funny to see him hire Shaw, Madsen, Rambis, Lue, & Fisher as assistants

[Jackal]

Rambis is gonna be the HC of the Knicks
Lue is HC of the Cavs
Fish is dick deep in Gloria
Wouldn't mind having Shaw back in Lakerland.
I think Madsen will be retained or assigned the D-League HC job again.

If we're talking bout crazy white guys dominating a la Walton, they should give a call to the Ammo.

On a serious note though; maybe he can take Jarron Collins along with him from GS.

Kevin: here's a nice read regarding Walton: http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/15433 ... nal-lakers

Let me put it like this as one fan to the other: they could have done much, much worse. I'd give Luke a chance before "being done".

[[Q]]

Assuming the Lakers keep their pick and they dump Young, I like the look of the starting lineup:
Russell
Clarkson
Simmons/Ingram
Randle
FA Center (Monroe?)

[Jackal]

First things first, those ping pong balls better land our way come the 17th.

There's a lot of work to do with that starting 5. Randle needs to seriously work on his tunnel vision/off hand. I am impressed with his ability to rebound though. Hope he works on his jumper too.

Clarkson needs to work on his defense. He's much too athletic of a player to be that bad as a defender.

I'd rather they try for Whiteside or Ezeli before Monroe. They need defense in the middle with such a weak defensive starting 5. Heck, I'm just glad Luke will potentially play Black more.

Isn't Simmons a 4? Can he play the 3? I've read he doesn't have an outside shot. Who would you pick between Ingram/Simmons?

What about Harrison Barnes? Would you throw the max at him?

I hope they don't try to get Derozan. He seems like an inefficient chucker aka Kobe-wannabe.

I just don't want us to blatantly be tanking this year. The last couple of years have been terrible with how obvious the tanking was. Just be competitive. I'm not expecting the playoffs even, just..don't throw games by playing guys like Williams and Ryan Kelly big minutes.

[Andrew]

FA Center (Monroe?)

He's not a free agent.