mosk33toe to continue with what I was saying..
We should have hired a defensive coach... The offense will be there, it's the defense that needs the work...
And it really wouldn't take much to switch the Lakers from the bottom half to the top half. Certainly doesn't require breaking the team up.
1. Resign Dwight to a max deal
2. Sign Cory Brewer... Make him the starting SF.
3. If MWP wants to cut his salary in half... Make him the sixth man. (If not, welcome back Matt Barnes)
4. Resign Earl Clark (who by now is going to be getting $3mil if he's lucky)
5. I'd shop Pau and see what is out there for him.. Whether I trade him or just sit on his contract to expire depends. If I could get a solid starting PF and solid backup PG. I'd probably pull the trigger.
Dwight , Corey Brewer and Metta will give you a huge anchor on defense.. If you can find that 1 guard who can lock someone down.. Then we'd be moving up defensively, without sacrificing offense.. With that we'd need a defensive minded Assistant Coach come in a la Thibbs with Doc Rivers.
It starts from the top down, and the top sadly is Mike D'antoni. I'll be objective for a second and say he's a good coach in certain situations. He was 1 hip bump away from making the finals, but he is not the right coach for this team. Beyond a defensive coach, we need a coach that Kobe will listen to and respect. Someone who pull him aside and say "WHAT THE **** ARE YOU DOING".
For instance tonight, your bigs are 12-20 tonight. When you look at that you see two things, first arguably your second and third best players on your team are putting up 20 shots total for a whole game. Secondly they shot over 50 percent. You need to get these players the ball, no matter what. It is inexcusable that Pau and Dwight have 20 shots total yet Jodi Meeks (who I like) is getting up 11 by himself. This is partly Kobe and Coaching. Coaching needs to realize we aren't maxing out Mike D'antoni's system we are maxing, out or trying to at least, Dwight Howard! Get him involved. Also Pau was killing his competition tonight, constantly he was being matched up with someone who couldn't guard him on offensive, there is no reason to not give him the ball every time, he's so skilled down there. Don't make something simple more confusing, just like in pick up ball if there is a short guy trying to guard your big man you keep feeding him the ball, and Pau can pass out the double team.
Mike D'antoni doesn't understand this, or doesn't want to. He's obviously stubborn with his rotations. You going to tell me a hustle player like Sacre couldn't get a few minutes when Pau was out there getting blown by? You going to tell me that there isn't a few minutes for Ebanks to do something? I mean Jordan Hill was barely playing until he went off one game. You can't be stubborn and an NBA coach. You can't not have adjustments as well. MDA's only adjustment is to keep going smaller. It doesn't work when your biggest asset is your size!
Kobe Bryant also needs to realize that yes he can get any shot he wants but sometimes he needs to sacrifice for the end goal. I know he's done his Magic Johnson imitation but he needs to find a nice middle between that and gunslinger Kobe. Also for whatever reason Dwight plays better when he's involved in the game, go figure! Same with Pau. We all appreciate your game and if anybody has earned the right to gunsling its you, but c'mon we got to take advantage of our size.
I'm the biggest optimist ever, and I will cheer my *** off if they make the playoffs. But if it meant not making the playoffs and firing MDA i'd do it. I just can't stand the brand of basketball we are playing, I never really enjoyed it with the Suns, I enjoy a more calculated slowed down pace where we just outsmart and out play our team. Now I watch them play and they just running up and down throwing up threes. That's a personal thing.
All the points you made are good, I'm a Pau fan so I hope we can get someone who will utilize him better, but if MDA is back i'm all for trading him, I don't want him to keep getting the brunt of the blame just because his coach can't put him in a situation to do well.
I'd love to have Phil Jackson back, but i'd take Bryon Scott, or Brian Shaw, people who know what it is to be a Laker and understand the brand of basketball they play.
It's been such a long season, by far the worst in recent memory. I just hope something good comes out of it, i'm not counting on it though.
So that ends my rant sorry for the long winded response, but if you'll excuse me I have a nice bottle of Oban waiting for me.
