Lakers fire Byron Scott

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/lakers-fire-head-coach-byron-scott-article-1.2613184

tj gets his wish.

Guess they weren't impressed with 38-126.

Hard to keep your job when you win 21 games and actually do worse the following year...

Charles Barkley's comment on last night's post game show on Scott's two years of coaching LA and subsequent firing:

"Wait a minute!! He won 38 games with that trash? He shoulda got a raise and a contract extension!!"

Paging Luke Walton

paging Luke Walton

kdp59 wrote:Paging Luke Walton

paging Luke Walton

I would have liked the Lakers to fire Byron a week ago and at least interview Scotty Brooks.
I would be happy with Luke Walton as the Lakers head coach.
Luke wasn't in the league for 10 years because of his athleticism. He has a very good basketball mind.
Luke played for years under Phil Jackson and now is the assistant coach for the Warriors.
Luke knows what it takes to win championships.
Basketball is in Luke's blood, I would expect him to be successful.
Byron Scott is a good guy, but didn't do well with a very young roster.

steve3344 wrote:Charles Barkley's comment on last night's post game show on Scott's two years of coaching LA and subsequent firing:

"Wait a minute!!  He won 38 games with that trash?  He shoulda got a raise and a contract extension!!"

I agree. If Byron Scott is pink-slipped then Jim Buss should be walking out the door right behind him. He chose Mike Brown, Mike D'Antoni and Byron Scott. That's 5 years of chaos because management doesn't know what kind of game they want to play and have patience to build around that vision, and that includes putting the right coach in and letting them get it.

Brett Brown is still hanging in there with Philly. When Hinkie was running the show that could mean several things but if he's still employed now that Colangelo is in and Hinkie is out then that says that they like what Brown wants to do and recognizes that the organization has not given him what he needs to succeed. Injuries to Embiid, Saric still in Europe, the trade of All-Star Jrue Holliday for Noel, the trade of Evan Turner for Danny Granger (and immediate release of Granger) and the trade of ROY Michael Carter-Williams made Brett's job impossible.

Kobe's injuries and decreasing athleticism; the trade for Hibbert, who makes Sully look like a gazelle; those things made it very tough for Scott. He does share some of whatever blame is to be laid down for the choice of the immature D'Angelo Russell.

Firing Scott for the poor performance of the Lakers is, in my opinion, even less fair than Morey firing McHale. At least Morey gave McHale talent. The talent are a gaggle of prima donnas, but they are talented. Scott wasn't even given that. He was given a kindergarten, a couple of has-beens and Brandon Bass (who came off the bench to speed the development of one of the kids, Julius Randle).

I wish Byron Scott well. I didn't like him when he was a player, that is to be expected, but he didn't deserve to be treated like this.


bob



.

bobheckler wrote:

steve3344 wrote:Charles Barkley's comment on last night's post game show on Scott's two years of coaching LA and subsequent firing:

"Wait a minute!!  He won 38 games with that trash?  He shoulda got a raise and a contract extension!!"

I agree.  If Byron Scott is pink-slipped then Jim Buss should be walking out the door right behind him.  He chose Mike Brown, Mike D'Antoni and Byron Scott.  That's 5 years of chaos because management doesn't know what kind of game they want to play and have patience to build around that vision, and that includes putting the right coach in and letting them get it.

Brett Brown is still hanging in there with Philly.  When Hinkie was running the show that could mean several things but if he's still employed now that Colangelo is in and Hinkie is out then that says that they like what Brown wants to do and recognizes that the organization has not given him what he needs to succeed.  Injuries to Embiid, Saric still in Europe, the trade of All-Star Jrue Holliday for Noel, the trade of Evan Turner for Danny Granger (and immediate release of Granger) and the trade of ROY Michael Carter-Williams made Brett's job impossible.

Kobe's injuries and decreasing athleticism; the trade for Hibbert, who makes Sully look like a gazelle; those things made it very tough for Scott.  He does share some of whatever blame is to be laid down for the choice of the immature D'Angelo Russell.  

Firing Scott for the poor performance of the Lakers is, in my opinion, even less fair than Morey firing McHale.  At least Morey gave McHale talent.  The talent are a gaggle of prima donnas, but they are talented.  Scott wasn't even given that.  He was given a kindergarten, a couple of has-beens and Brandon Bass (who came off the bench to speed the development of one of the kids, Julius Randle).

I wish Byron Scott well.  I didn't like him when he was a player, that is to be expected, but he didn't deserve to be treated like this.


bob



.

Bob,

How did Byron deserve to be treated? The Lakers had options on his contract and chose not to pick them up.
There has to be some way to gauge Byron's performance if you are going to ignore wins/losses.
There's way more to this firing than performance.
This is just as much about the future.
Is there any top free agent out there that is hoping to play for Byron Scott? I very much doubt it.

The Lakers hired D'Antoni to coach Dwight and Nash. That didn't work, so you move on.
Mike Brown was a very good coach in Cleveland but he was stuck with a Lakers team of older players, bloated contracts and little flexibility to make trades or free agent signings.
Byron Scott was hired for a very tough job but he was willing to take the hits for the organization, knowing they weren't going to make the playoffs.
The Lakers did much worse than expected under Byron.

Byron Scott is an old school coach, like Kevin McHale and George Karl.
Those guys don't seem to do well with very young players.
The Lakers need a new fresh direction.
Kobe is gone. Hibbert is gone. Nick Young will be gone. Byron Scott is gone.
Thanks for your time guys, but that era is over now.
Jim Buss has said that if the Lakers don't make it to the Western Conference Finals during the 2016-17 season, he will step down.
I expect Jeanie Buss and the Buss Family Trust to hold Jim to that promise he made if the Lakers fall short.

tjmakz wrote:

bobheckler wrote:

steve3344 wrote:Charles Barkley's comment on last night's post game show on Scott's two years of coaching LA and subsequent firing:

"Wait a minute!!  He won 38 games with that trash?  He shoulda got a raise and a contract extension!!"

I agree.  If Byron Scott is pink-slipped then Jim Buss should be walking out the door right behind him.  He chose Mike Brown, Mike D'Antoni and Byron Scott.  That's 5 years of chaos because management doesn't know what kind of game they want to play and have patience to build around that vision, and that includes putting the right coach in and letting them get it.

Brett Brown is still hanging in there with Philly.  When Hinkie was running the show that could mean several things but if he's still employed now that Colangelo is in and Hinkie is out then that says that they like what Brown wants to do and recognizes that the organization has not given him what he needs to succeed.  Injuries to Embiid, Saric still in Europe, the trade of All-Star Jrue Holliday for Noel, the trade of Evan Turner for Danny Granger (and immediate release of Granger) and the trade of ROY Michael Carter-Williams made Brett's job impossible.

Kobe's injuries and decreasing athleticism; the trade for Hibbert, who makes Sully look like a gazelle; those things made it very tough for Scott.  He does share some of whatever blame is to be laid down for the choice of the immature D'Angelo Russell.  

Firing Scott for the poor performance of the Lakers is, in my opinion, even less fair than Morey firing McHale.  At least Morey gave McHale talent.  The talent are a gaggle of prima donnas, but they are talented.  Scott wasn't even given that.  He was given a kindergarten, a couple of has-beens and Brandon Bass (who came off the bench to speed the development of one of the kids, Julius Randle).

I wish Byron Scott well.  I didn't like him when he was a player, that is to be expected, but he didn't deserve to be treated like this.


bob



.

Bob,

How did Byron deserve to be treated? The Lakers had options on his contract and chose not to pick them up.
There has to be some way to gauge Byron's performance if you are going to ignore wins/losses.
There's way more to this firing than performance.
This is just as much about the future.
Is there any top free agent out there that is hoping to play for Byron Scott? I very much doubt it.

The Lakers hired D'Antoni to coach Dwight and Nash. That didn't work, so you move on.
Mike Brown was a very good coach in Cleveland but he was stuck with a Lakers team of older players, bloated contracts and little flexibility to make trades or free agent signings.
Byron Scott was hired for a very tough job but he was willing to take the hits for the organization, knowing they weren't going to make the playoffs.
The Lakers did much worse than expected under Byron.

Byron Scott is an old school coach, like Kevin McHale and George Karl.
Those guys don't seem to do well with very young players.
The Lakers need a new fresh direction.
Kobe is gone. Hibbert is gone. Nick Young will be gone. Byron Scott is gone.
Thanks for your time guys, but that era is over now.
Jim Buss has said that if the Lakers don't make it to the Western Conference Finals during the 2016-17 season, he will step down.
I expect Jeanie Buss and the Buss Family Trust to hold Jim to that promise he made if the Lakers fall short.

"Jim Buss has said that if the Lakers don't make it to the Western Conference Finals during the 2016-17 season, he will step down."

He better start practicing walking down stairs right now.

steve3344 wrote:

tjmakz wrote:

bobheckler wrote:

steve3344 wrote:Charles Barkley's comment on last night's post game show on Scott's two years of coaching LA and subsequent firing:

"Wait a minute!!  He won 38 games with that trash?  He shoulda got a raise and a contract extension!!"

I agree.  If Byron Scott is pink-slipped then Jim Buss should be walking out the door right behind him.  He chose Mike Brown, Mike D'Antoni and Byron Scott.  That's 5 years of chaos because management doesn't know what kind of game they want to play and have patience to build around that vision, and that includes putting the right coach in and letting them get it.

Brett Brown is still hanging in there with Philly.  When Hinkie was running the show that could mean several things but if he's still employed now that Colangelo is in and Hinkie is out then that says that they like what Brown wants to do and recognizes that the organization has not given him what he needs to succeed.  Injuries to Embiid, Saric still in Europe, the trade of All-Star Jrue Holliday for Noel, the trade of Evan Turner for Danny Granger (and immediate release of Granger) and the trade of ROY Michael Carter-Williams made Brett's job impossible.

Kobe's injuries and decreasing athleticism; the trade for Hibbert, who makes Sully look like a gazelle; those things made it very tough for Scott.  He does share some of whatever blame is to be laid down for the choice of the immature D'Angelo Russell.  

Firing Scott for the poor performance of the Lakers is, in my opinion, even less fair than Morey firing McHale.  At least Morey gave McHale talent.  The talent are a gaggle of prima donnas, but they are talented.  Scott wasn't even given that.  He was given a kindergarten, a couple of has-beens and Brandon Bass (who came off the bench to speed the development of one of the kids, Julius Randle).

I wish Byron Scott well.  I didn't like him when he was a player, that is to be expected, but he didn't deserve to be treated like this.


bob



.

Bob,

How did Byron deserve to be treated? The Lakers had options on his contract and chose not to pick them up.
There has to be some way to gauge Byron's performance if you are going to ignore wins/losses.
There's way more to this firing than performance.
This is just as much about the future.
Is there any top free agent out there that is hoping to play for Byron Scott? I very much doubt it.

The Lakers hired D'Antoni to coach Dwight and Nash. That didn't work, so you move on.
Mike Brown was a very good coach in Cleveland but he was stuck with a Lakers team of older players, bloated contracts and little flexibility to make trades or free agent signings.
Byron Scott was hired for a very tough job but he was willing to take the hits for the organization, knowing they weren't going to make the playoffs.
The Lakers did much worse than expected under Byron.

Byron Scott is an old school coach, like Kevin McHale and George Karl.
Those guys don't seem to do well with very young players.
The Lakers need a new fresh direction.
Kobe is gone. Hibbert is gone. Nick Young will be gone. Byron Scott is gone.
Thanks for your time guys, but that era is over now.
Jim Buss has said that if the Lakers don't make it to the Western Conference Finals during the 2016-17 season, he will step down.
I expect Jeanie Buss and the Buss Family Trust to hold Jim to that promise he made if the Lakers fall short.

"Jim Buss has said that if the Lakers don't make it to the Western Conference Finals during the 2016-17 season, he will step down."

He better start practicing walking down stairs right now.

Everybody needs to be held accountable.
From Byron Scott, to every member of the Buss family to Mitch Kupchak.
If Jim leaves, I could care less.
I only want progress and success on the court.

If the Lakers get a top 2 pick and can attract at least one of the top free agents, the Lakers could get much better pretty quickly.

The Lakers need a coach who has the temperament, skills, and experience to develop young talent. I don't think Walton is the right guy for that -- he needs a few more years under his belt, and he doesn't have any track record building a losing team of young players into winners.

Brooks would've been a good hire for that, but he's off the table. The thing is, it may not matter much who the next coach is -- if they follow through on the Jimmy Buss scenario and he's out the door, they may get a new GM as well. GMs like to pick their coach, so a year or two from now, the Lakers may be in the same spot, looking for a new coach, which means the next guy is just a caretaker, like Byron Scott was, only hopefully less old school and able to communicate with the younger players.

Outside wrote:The Lakers need a coach who has the temperament, skills, and experience to develop young talent. I don't think Walton is the right guy for that -- he needs a few more years under his belt, and he doesn't have any track record building a losing team of young players into winners.

Brooks would've been a good hire for that, but he's off the table. The thing is, it may not matter much who the next coach is -- if they follow through on the Jimmy Buss scenario and he's out the door, they may get a new GM as well. GMs like to pick their coach, so a year or two from now, the Lakers may be in the same spot, looking for a new coach, which means the next guy is just a caretaker, like Byron Scott was, only hopefully less old school and able to communicate with the younger players.

I like Scott Brooks but he couldn't get OKC to the next level.
You can't really blame a lack of talent for not putting OKC over the top.
Another name high on the list Ettore Messina who is an assistant coach for the Spurs.
He was a very successful coach in Europe and an assistant with the Lakers and Spurs.
I am still hoping for Luke Walton.
He's smart, well respected and has been around the game since he was in diapers.

It may be a two-stage thing -- one coach to develop the players, another one to get them to a championship level. It's really rare to have one coach who can do both.

Hiring Scott was a mistake from the start. But at least now the Lakers can choose a direction.



KJ

k_j_88 wrote:Hiring Scott was a mistake from the start. But at least now the Lakers can choose a direction.



KJ

The direction lately has been south. Due south.

k_j_88 wrote:Hiring Scott was a mistake from the start. But at least now the Lakers can choose a direction.



KJ

What top tier coach was going to coach the Lakers two years ago with no Dwight, Nash or Gasol?
Byron did mostly what the Lakers wanted.
Let the kids play, manage Kobe's last days on the court, don't win too many games, etc.
Mission accomplished...

Coaching the Lakers the last two seasons was almost a no win situation.
Byron didn't get a raw deal as Bob suggests he did.
I would expect the Lakers will sign the best college coach unemployed NBA coach.
It will be a premier coaching job again, now that the direction of the team is heading north after hitting rock bottom.

Outside,

We HAVE the coach who can develop young players (already happening on a daily basis) and then take the team to the upper levels of the playoffs. Brad Stevens will do both for the Cs before his first contract runs out.

wideclyde wrote:Outside,

We HAVE the coach who can develop young players (already happening on a daily basis) and then take the team to the upper levels of the playoffs.   Brad Stevens will do both for the Cs before his first contract runs out.

While it's yet to be proven that Stevens can take a team to the upper level of the playoffs -- his playoff record is 2-6, and he hasn't even won a series yet -- I agree that Stevens could both develop young players and coach a championship contender.

As I said, those guys are rare. It's rare being a coach who is championship-worthy, and the subset of those coaches who are also good at developing young players is smaller still. Stevens appears to be one of those guys.

Bill Walton say he would tell Luke not to take Lakers job:

http://www.silverscreenandroll.com/2016/4/27/11524616/la-lakers-head-coaching-rumors-luke-walton-bill-walton-lute-olson