Mike gone from lakers

Realgm is reporting mike has left the laker organization as head coach...

Yeah he wanted a little more security, than just 1 year I guess and they would not guarantee picking up his contract for the year after next so he resigned......with a gun to his head. And Magic's tweet apparent to the effect "Happy days are here again" so I heard, not the classiest thing to tweet. Barkley didn't care for it. Another reason I've never been fond of Magic OFF the court.

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2014/05/charles-barkley-scolds-magic-johnson-for-celebrating-mike-dantoni-resignation

beat

Mike knew management, Kobe and Pau didn't want him back and that there was a chance he could still get fired.
So, the Lakers got what they wanted and probably saved $4m by not having to pay D'Antoni. Maybe they agreed on a small buyout but I have not heard that.
Mike was hired to coach a mostly healthy Nash and Dwight Howard team. Those days are long over.

So TJ....

who do they pick now, I'd think they would want someone fairly soon, before the draft I'd imagine.

beat

beat wrote:So TJ....

who do they pick now, I'd think they would want someone fairly soon, before the draft I'd imagine.

beat

My first choice is Kurt Rambis.
They could make an offer to Steve Kerr, John Calipari, Ettore Messina, Lionel Hollins, etc.
I am not sure they want to sign a coach before the draft.
If they draft Dante Exum, maybe they want a more guard oriented coach.
If they get into the top 3 and draft Joel Embiid, maybe they sign a triangle oriented coach like Rambis.

Chuck is often spot on with his opinions.  In this case, I agree.  

Sometimes you just shouldn't share your thoughts, like Magic did.  The problem is that egos get in the way of the filter you need to control your thoughts getting past your mouth, getting on twitter or getting on some other electronic medium.  You often get your foot jammed in where the filter should go.

There is another article at the FTW site that suggests that Kobe take over the coaching duties as a player-coach.  The article does mention that "officially", it is against the CBA rules, but it does offer a work-around.

IMO, Kobe is too demanding - at this time - to be a good head coach.  I believe there would be a mutiny well before the all star break.

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2014/05/kobe-bryant-lakers-player-coach

gyso

Hi,
Here is an interesting take on the topic by AWoj.
IMO, no matter what coach LAL bring in it won't bring them back on the 10-best NBA teams. They need much more than that. They are, kind of, in the same shoes as Celtics.

AK

Barkleys comment is obviously right on, Lakers are gonna struggle for awhile.

The CBA doesn't allow anyone to be player-coach anymore, and the "workaround" offered in that article isn't much of a workaround -- hiring someone to be a cardboard cutout coach while Kobe serves as the real coach. In the modern NBA, with all the responsibilities that go with being a coach, that would never work.

Besides that, Kobe has the worst temperament for a coach. He should never ever ever coach. Ever. The only reason the article suggests it is because they basically consider Kobe uncoachable.

Bill Plaschke in today's LA Times makes two points -- 1) the pressure is on Jim Buss to make a smart choice for coach, because he's screwed up his choices so far; and 2) they need to do like Boston and get a guy who will be there throughout the rebuilding process, and Kevin Ollie of UConn is Plaschke's suggestion.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/basketball/nba/lakers/la-sp-lakers-dantoni-plaschke-20140501,0,4656314.column#axzz30TW6ZIE7

Rambis would be a good choice. Right now, the Lakers need all the solidarity and minimum of upheaval they can get. And Kurt's familiarity with the organization, the players, the league, and recent trends in the league, as well as his links to the past would be great complements to his basketball intelligence. Kobe's situation could well become an elephant in the room, and Kurt would be as solid as anyone I can think of in addressing what direction that takes.

Sam

I do think Derek Fisher could also be a great fit.
He is very close and works well with Kobe plus he supposedly has a good relationship with players like Durant and Westbrook.
He might be able to help lure top free agents to LA over the next few years.

Here's another name to possibly add to the Lakers options: Tom Thibodeau

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on-basketball/24547684/report-lakers-to-seek-permission-to-talk-to-tom-thibodeau

I like the idea of either Derek Fisher or Kurt Rambis.

Thibs would be interesting, too. He has a good track record.



KJ

A little difficult to envision a defense-first team on the Showtime Stage, but I suppose the Lakers could go after Thibs. It's not as though the team has a current identity to undo.

Sam

So it turns out TJ and I were both right.  Antoni (is it ok to omit the "D" now that he's no longer associated with the Lakers?  The Lakers, btw, were 29th of 30 in points allowed last year under Antoni) is not going to be the head coach of the Lakers next year and the Lakers front office once again looks callous and inept in how they treat their coaching prospects (Shaw, Brown, Phil and now Mike).

My choice, not that anybody's asking for a Celtics fan's opinion about the Lakers, is Rambis.  As far as Thibs goes, I'm not sure his personality (both personally and coaching priorities) are a fit for the Lakers.  He is chafing, a bit, under Jerry Reinsdorf because he is getting second-guessed.  Brad Stevens talks about how the Celtics need "defensive DNA".  Do the individual players on this Laker team have "defensive DNA"?  I don't.  Do you think Thibs hasn't noticed how the Lakers have been treating their parade of coaches and coaching prospects over the past few years?  Unless you're John Calipari or Celtics assistant coach Ron Adams or someone who would kill for their first NBA head coaching job you would have to think twice (or demand a longterm contract like Brad Stevens).  Would the Lakers offer someone a 5-6 year contract?  I think at best they'd get a 3-4 year contract.  That's the window of opportunity Jim Buss gave himself to turn things around.  I don't think the Lakers would commit themselves to anybody in (Jim) Buss regime past that.  Thibs is, however, probably the BCA.  I think Rambis would get it done too, though.  Certainly, as someone who is closely associated with the Lakers organization, he'd be given more rope and that's what anybody who takes over that team needs.  They need a lot of rope.  It's going to take more than just Kevin Love to turn this around.

Obviously I'm not shedding any crocodile tears for Antoni, but hiring a run-and-gun coach for an old, old team was capital D-U-M-B in the first place, and then firing him (handing him his hat or however you want to characterize this nudge to the door) after a year in which the Lakers were just ridiculously injury riddled at key positions, is enough to make you wonder wtf is going on in those offices.

When Pitino "nudged" Red out the door, we suffered as an organization.  When Red came back after the Pitino departure, we began to see daylight again and, when Red died, we suffered again.  It took years before we were able to get the right management team (Wyc and Danny) back in place and start the difficult task of turning things around.  The Lakers' "Red" was Dr. Jerry Buss and when he died they took a BIG BIG hit.


bob


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