That feeling of winning sure was fleeting.
Looking to carry over their momentum from a dominant win over the Pistons, the Lakers simply couldn’t get it done tonight. Lots of things went wrong in this one but if there’s one thing that stood out it was the fact that the Lakers played from behind in another game and couldn’t dig themselves out of the hole they found themselves in.
In the first half the Lakers shot an abysmal 34% from the floor while allowing the Jazz to shoot 48%. Add to that nine first half turnovers while allowing the Jazz to score 28 points in the paint and the Lakers got behind the eight ball early and never recovered.
Sure, in the 2nd half they fought hard. Their defense clamped down, their offense started to do some things well, and they showed a fair amount of grit in making a push to cut the deficit to four points. But when they needed to, they couldn’t string together the stops they needed nor execute on offense well enough to get over the hump.
There’s a lot of blame to go around in a game like this:
- The players themselves looked listless for most of the first half.
- The coaches aren’t really putting players in position to succeed by having Antawn Jamison chase quick wings around the three point line and having Ron guard undersized SG’s that run him off picks and attack him off the dribble when he’s closing out on them hard after helping in the paint.
- The Lakers big men, in particular, weren’t active in defending the rim and didn’t read defenses as well as they could have when the Jazz blitzed them with double teams.
- The bench shot 4-15 from the floor and was outscored 36-12.
I could go on, but you probably get the picture. The nine point loss actually looked better on the scoreboard than it did on the floor.
So, ultimately, I guess the best way to describe this game is that it’s the same story as the other losses with a couple of different plot twists but the same ending. Kind of like the Ocean’s Eleven trilogy only worse. If you’re looking for good news, the Lakers have six straight home games that they can try to use to turn change the early season narrative. If you want to still take the glass half empty approach, this team doesn’t look ready to change their narrative at this point.
Young Neil says
My fellow fans…
We can’t stand for this. We’ve got to do anything we can to get Mike Brown fired. Getting it trending on Twitter is a start. If anyone goes to the games, try to start up chants. Call into the radio and voice your displeasure to the media. As long as this clown is coaching our beloved Lakers, it’s only going to get worse. If we can start a grass roots movement, hopefully the Buss family and Mitch will have no choice but to fire Mike Brown.
AusPhil says
Short and to the point. Accurate writeup Darius, and a headline that puts a somewhat humourous spin on what we’re all feeling right about now.
Funky Chicken says
Dear DirecTV,
Never mind. Take your time negotiating with TWC. I can wait.
Sincerely,
Mortified Laker Fan
AndresGarcia says
I’m as depressed as the players look out on the floor.
Justinb says
Just a terrible game by the lakers tonight. Guess Ill get underway the calls for for mike brown to be fired, I held my tongue through the preseason and even when the team was playing like s*&^ in the first 3 games, I gave hime the benefit of the doubt. But its like he has no idea how to organise rotations. He was supposedly hired because he was more prepared but at some point you have to question if he has any idea what he is doing.
The final straw for me was the third quater when he was running the howard – hill – jamison – ebanks – morries lineup. How does he think this will ever work against any nba team, let alone utah.
This is a lineup that cant shoot, hence cant space the floor. They cant take there man off the dribble and yet somehow he expects it to score. HOW??? Add to the fact that Utah is a team that is deep in the frontcourt and literally all they have to do is double team the entry pass to dwight with any of kanter, millsap, favous or jefferson and the entire offense is doomed. Any coach with half an idea would defend it this way and yet brown somehow thinks this will work.
Its just stupid to ever run this lineup, let alone run it when you are trying to get your team back in the game. So long as Brown is benching meeks, playing ebanks and jamison out of position and in general acting like he has no idea what he is doing I dont see how anyone can justify him being a head coach of a nba team let alone a head coach anyway. Your coaches job is to maximise the talent on the team. When he is doing the opposite what hope do you have.
Ps Im new to posting on the site wasnt sure if i should post this here or the previous page so i just did both, sorry if that nnoys anyone. Guess thanks for letting me rant
Kevin_ says
Lakers should just practice fundamentals for the rest of the week. Boxing out, positional defense, entry passes, help defense, finding the open man. Just work on fundamentals and build from the ground up if Brown means what he says about this being a process.
Blake, Ebanks, Jamison, Morris, Hill were 6 – 25 and 2 – 12 from 3. Starters can’t make such a huge difference up every game. Somebody on the bench has to take it upon themselves to lead that group. Morris is wild and out of control give DJO one game see what he can do.
No Princeton. No Film. Just Fundamentals. Build from the ground up this team is out of whack.
Mike says
Please fire Mike Brown and replace him with a potted plant. The plant will do everything Mike Brown does on the sidelines during games, and it won’t cost 4.5 million a year. Hell, I’ll coach the team. I’m sure I can get the players to ignore me and play with no effort as I make pointless and idiotic substitutions just as well as he can, and I’ll do it for a tenth of his price! I might even win a few games by accident, which would make my winning percentage much better than Brown’s.
Ko says
Quoting James Worthy on TV after tbe game:
I don’t know what Mike Brown is saying to these guys but they are Playing without passion or desire.
SMACK! Right across the head from Laker winner and respected analyst James Worthy!
Wake up Buss family, Brown turned 4/5 of the DREAM TEAM into a LOTTERY TEAM!
tviper says
what a waste. at least everyone on this forum can see the obvious. agree with young neil above, the tweeting, signs, chants, calls, etc. to fire brown must begin in earnest to save the season. hopefully mitch is on the phone right now with phil.
milesaugust says
I agree with Funky Chicken, kind of glad I can’t watch this train wreck right now.
I was against them trading Gasol, but I see why it may be necessary, if not too late. Younger legs, preferably wing players are needed asap.
Watching the Clips tonight, I miss Matt Barnes…
Ko says
For those who like to leave messages.
Laker Offices: 310-426-6000
Knock yourself out.
Cdog says
I’m on board. Coach has got to go. They have tuned him out. Light the twitterverse up. The only team the Lakers have beaten might be one of the worst 3 teams in the League.
Despicable.
arliepro says
Brown needs to go NOW, while there’s still enough of a season to salvage. At the very least, we need a coach who can motivate his guys to perform up to their abilities, get them on the same page, and turn them into an honest-to-goodness team. I’ve never been so sickened by a Lakers performance in all my life.
Shaun says
So I only got to catch the second half – but yeah, more of the same that we have been seeing.
It seems to me that our Karma changed once we traded Lamar, who in his own right has not been the same since our seperation- but it just seems like we need glue guys to bring the team together – it looks like no one likes each other on the whole team, in watching other games in the league we are the only ones that look like this and the only thing that comes close is the way detroit looked against us but we ave looked that way in every other game.
I mention Lamar but even having a guy like D.Fish in the rotation may be a good thing just for everything that he does for the team behind the scenes. If anyone watches the association you can see that is the role that jerry stackhouse plays for the nets – old guy to keep the younger guys up to speed while also adding some heart to the team in the same way that rasheed is now providing to the knicks – Tyson Chandler recently stated that Rasheed has been a huge positive influence on the whole team from a chemistry perspective and influencing the younger guys.
Right now it looks like no one on the team has any chemistry at all and Brown leading back from his days with Lebron just does not seem to have the personality/charisma to control,motivate, engage players the way that Jackson, carlisle, rivers, or popovich can. Lebron never connected with his then teammates which included good guys like varejo, mo williams, gibson and now these guys dont even talk to each other – obviously lebrons decision to leave is a part of it but after watching them in the playoffs you could tell by lebrons body language that he had enough with the team in the saem way that kobe looked tonight.
On top of this rotations are bad, offense is bad, defense is bad, long minutes for starters – timeouts are called irrationally and I think the bigger offense is changing total philosophies year to year – if he won the job on trying to create a san antonio model with twin towers and then moves to princeton the following year it pretty much means he failed the previous year or did not know what he was doing last year and now this year it is even worse – lets say we go 5-10,8-14 he should get fired and one has to question if he will ever be a head coach in the league again.
I mean with everything we and everyone else has seen things are just not working
If you are jerry or jim I mean you can see this in the fans, the posts, beat writers, players, coaches, media, season ticket holders – We are all a family and have a deep association to this team I feel in a different way than most teams in the league as we have seen success over and over and we know what it looks like and want that but this is not that and its obvious …obvious that it will be hard for us to seriously compete this year which brings up the next question … what are the chances that Dwight leaves? and what does that mean for the franchise for the next 10-15 years if we lose him, how will that effect the time warner deal – this seasonis on thing but there are also bigger things to look at.
Laker4life says
It’s time to panic now when coach brown is rambling next play 47 times in a interview this is gonna be a long season
RoP says
Not only are the rotations a joke with the Jamison at the 3 and MWP/Blake at the 2 thing we’ve seen from Brown, but he is killing our starters with huge minute totals.
It’s one thing to damage the brand by being inept, it’s another to damage the assets in our players. We’re sacrificing long term health for immediate wins and we’re not even getting those wins.
Lakers have to make a move, and don’t talk to me about having to transition to a new offense because honestly it looks like this team just implemented their system yesterday: just no chemistry or comfort.
LT mitchell says
The offense should be fine eventually, as long as there are plenty of P&R’s and and occasional transition opportunities sprinkled in to the Princeton. The team has invested too much time learning the offense to abandon it when and if Mike Brown is fired. The team has competent assistant coaches as well. All this team needs now is a head coach that can see the big picture, understands the importance of resting veterans, particularly the ones playing injured in their 17 season…a coach who understands his roster and sets rotations to their strengths…..a coach who does not try his best to kill the confidence of his young players…..a coach who doesn’t force lineups to make this team as slow as humanly possible……a coach the players and fans can respect. Getting rid of a coach at this point is a huge gamble with the short window of opportunity this team has, and I suspect that is the main reason Kobe publicly supports Brown, but I see no other option at this point. Brown has proven to have a devastatingly low basketball IQ, and his daily panic attacks does not help in his decision making, nor can it help the atmosphere of a team trying to win a championship. I still think this team has the talent to overcome Brown’s deficiencies, but I certainly do not want to wait to find out.
springfield lakers says
Fire Mike Brown, Blah! Blah! Mike Brown Doesn’t Know Anything! Blah Blah!!!!
End of the day, if you’re an NBA player and you can’t knock down an open shot. Don’t blame mike brown for it.
The princeton offense relies on each player reading and reacting to the defense. Is it really that hard for NBA players to think???? ‘Hey, i can’t pass it to him because his defender is all over it’
Maybe it is too hard……and the reason why it has never won a title. Perhaps we should dumb it down for these Athletes. I am in agreement with most of you on this forum as far as the princeton has to go. Not because the team is losing, but more because the lakers don’t have the luxury to waste half a season learning a new system which seems very very difficult for them to comprehend and utilise. This team is supposed to win either this year or next, at the current rate, 8th seed seems unlikey.
I still think we need to be patient. Brown really needs to have a pep talk to the lakers. There is no pride, no energy, no determination…..all the aspepcts we should be seeing from each and every player in the purple and gold uniform. Even if they don’t believe in the princeton, they NEED to believe that DEFENSE WINS GAMES. The only reason why the lakers are playing so horrible is because of all the turn overs. You can blame princeton all you want, but currently……..turnovers are demoralizing the players. TURN OVERS ARE NOT MIKE BROWNS FAULT. The players are finding it hard to adjust.
1) Either remove the princeton offense and place in a different standard offensive scheme.
2) Remove mike brown from head coach (which ultimately will remove the princeton)
I honestly dont think mike brown is to blame ENTIRELY for all the losses. If Jerry Sloan or Phil Jackson were coaching and the lakers played with the same passion they will still lose.
Remember Phils last playoff series as head coach of the lakers???? AWFUL! no pride, no will to win. u can place the blame on everyone else, but remember the 5 on the floor are the only ones that can make it happen to get that ‘W’
Joel says
Th lakers have been to big and slow on defense for the 3rd year straight. How does mike brown fix it? He throws out there bigger and slower line ups. The guy just can’t manage a team.
Joel says
Another point.
Mike brown should have ran the Princeton last year with players like fisher and bynum and employed the San Antonio strategy this year now that he has bigs that will run. He’s just ass backwards.
harold says
I know we should be reasonable and all, but wow, it’s hard.
onanoman says
Funny, maybe it’s my imagination, but reading you guys and the K Bros, it’s really starting to sound like the coaching issue is simmering pretty bad. The issues the Lakers are having sound more and more like coaching flaws (rotations, playing time, roles, defensive matchups, motivation) than transitional issues. I’ve never been a Brown man, but interesting to see even the pundits start to express such doubt so soon. (Though I’m sure you’ll all insist this thing takes time and counsel patience…for a bit longer, anyways.)
RG says
Mike Brown needs to go. Just look what Rick Carlisle is doing with the 4-1 Mavs who went through a huge roster overhaul this off season AND are playing without Dirk + three other rotation players. Also, i gotta mention, i absolutely love the commentary in this blog. Very insightful. Often eloquent. And always fun to read. Especially as a Laker fan. In fact, some of you guys might actually do a better job in Mike Brown’s seat. And the scary thing is, I’m only about 50% joking.
nimble says
Pau has completed his shelf life very sad to say.I have been saying this 60-70 FGA a game will be dooming Lakers.Kobe should shoot more even though Neil Paines and other disguised Kobe haters of the world say the other way around.
The Dude Abides says
Apparently, the fans aren’t the only ones who think Mike Brown needs to go. The players are grumbling behind the scenes, according to Hoops World: “Fans have already started calling for Brown’s job and many of his players have started wondering if he’s the right person to lead the team. Behind closed doors, they’ve questioned Brown’s rotation and how players have been utilized through four games.”
There’s more in the article that’s pretty damning, especially the part about free agents over the summer. Link below, annoying autoplay warning:
http://www.hoopsworld.com/nba-pm-mike-brown-on-the-hot-seat/
The Dane says
I wonder if the presence of Eddie Jordan – a former head coach with some success under his belt – was an insurance policy if the Mike Brown experiment would fizzle again.
Thing is, this season cannot go down the drain as part of a new transition process to a new coach and yet another system. Kobe, Pau and Nash are just too good and too old for that. So if a new coach is needed, then better sooner than later, and preferably one that is already on the staff… which would mean that the training camp didn’t go wasted.
It shocked me when even level-headed Pau said that MB does get kind of nervous at times, when referring to the starters entering the game in the fourth period of the Detroit blow out.
Eddie Jordan for head coach? I think it might be the best solution the way things are atm.
Good thing is, Mitch and the front office are not afraid to pull the trigger, but also never seems to panic, so I guess they know what they are doing with Brown. He just does not come across as someone who knows what the h… he is doing.
Kevin_ says
Lakers are 1-4. With 77 games to go.
After you finish bashing Brown ask yourself. What are players other than Kobe, Dwight, Pau bringing to the table? Even then Dwight isn’t rebounding like he should and Pau phases in and out.
Blake, Jamison, Morris, Ebanks are collective garbage who would fail to find 10 mins a game on other rosters. Thought there was depth on this team but there’s not. Unless those 4 guys collectively bring something to the table every night Lakers will continue to lose to playoff teams.
The Dane says
Kobe stares down Mike Brown: http://cjzero.com/gifs/KobeStaresBrown.gif
It is easy to turn on the coach, and even easier when he never convinced anyone, and didn’t shine in his former gig either.
The Dude Abides says
Oh, nice gif. Seeing Kobe stare at Brown like that really seals it for me, Brown is definitely gone sooner rather than later. Sort of a foreshadowing moment, just like the moment in January 2008 when everyone knew that another Brown (Kwame) was on his way out of town (mass booing at Staples in that awful game against Phoenix).
Anonymous says
This seem similar to what happen to Mike D’Antoni, player feel they should get more playing time or what not so they play like shit to get their coach fire. Then once the coach is gone, they play the same way the coach told them to play except with more urgency and end up winning more games.
The Dane says
If Jamison really cannot raise his game… then the Lakers might wanna consider a vets min for Kenyon Martin. He has stated that he is willing to take that, and would be a great defensive tandem with Howard.
The Dane says
Henry Abbott admits that Kobe is playing as one of the very best in the league atm…. and just loves what he sees from Dwight Howard: http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/51111/dwight-howard-on-the-ground-floor
He points out how Howard looks out of shape, gets out-run down the floor and doesn’t finish with the authority he used to do… but sems convinced that he is just recovering from surgery, and that explains it:
“But here’s the scary news for the rest of the league: Despite the dearth of highlights, if Howard improves even a little bit, he’ll be an MVP candidate nonetheless. Digging through the most advanced data and video shows that Howard has been incredibly effective, with production up there in the neighborhood of LeBron James, Chris Paul, Bryant and Carmelo Anthony.”
Snoopy2006 says
The Lakers FO’s patience has always been beneficial. We’ll see if it is this time. I don’t think we’ll see MB canned unless the players godirectly to the Busses. Although personally i think that time should be fast approaching.
When the calls to fire Spo came, they didn’t seem to have a ton of merit. With MB, his mistakes are easily visible and becoming nearly impossible to defend. This last bench shift really makes it seem like he has no idea how to put players in positions to succeed.
yar says
Also from that article:
“While the three-game losing streak increased the amount of frustration in the locker room, it first surfaced several months ago. After the Lakers acquired Howard and Nash, several veteran free agents wanted to sign for the minimum so that they could compete for a championship in Los Angeles. However, Brown made it clear that he wasn’t going to expand his rotation regardless of who signed. This scared away the free agents and kept the Lakers from further bolstering their roster, which frustrated many players.”
Unbelievable. To go from playing Steve Blake to playing Ron Artest at the 2 is hilarious. Ron should never play 2, if anything he should be playing power forward, as should Antwan Jamison. Meeks was hired to back up the 2, and was a STARTER last year. Mike Brown, PLEASE GET A F$%#ING CLUE. He already wasted one year of Kobe’s twilight.
sT says
I missed the game and I am glad I did, apparently. The .gif ‘@The Dane November 8, 2012 at 12:47 am’ of Kobe staring down on Brown makes me think that he may be thinking that he has just lost another season to get another chip, but I do not know what he was thinking when he was doing that, I cannot read minds. Remember Kobe said a couple of seasons ago that he just lost a year of his life for nothing.
I am starting to feel real bad about this season, the bench is just terrible, and the coaching decisions are questionable
Sky says
Springfield Lakers: “Fire Mike Brown, Blah! Blah! Mike Brown Doesn’t Know Anything! Blah Blah!!!!
End of the day, if you’re an NBA player and you can’t knock down an open shot. Don’t blame mike brown for it.”
—
No, you’re right. Don’t blame Mike Brown. Just blame his victims. Makes sense. After all, isn’t that what American society excels at?
The point is not that Brown is responsible whenever certain players fail to box out or fail to make an open shot, it’s as Darius FINALLY pointed out: he’s not putting them in a position to succeed. At all.
I mean come on… a classic example of this is Jamison at the 3. What the hell? You’re asking a 36-yo who’s already porous defensively to help recover against younger, more agile wings while still being able to stretch the floor?
And along these lines, why are Metta and Blake getting more burn at SG than Meeks?
Why are our starters logging so many heavy minutes again when it’s obvious that they will lose anyway and playing them for extend periods only fatigues them quicker — opening them up to injury and decreased efficiency?
No, Brown isn’t responsible for shooting the team’s free throws or grabbing boards or anything on a crucial play that may cost the team a win. But to say he isn’t culpable is just as patently false, and if you believe otherwise, you need to pull your head out of the sand.
Gary says
I know im being extreme but If Mike Brown cannot get the lakers to win the next game, he should be fired immediately. There is a certain standard of excellence that the lakers must maintain especially with such a talented team. It appears Brown is incapable of figuring out roles or playing time for his bench. He loves to overplay his starters who are all old except for Dwight. Speaking of Dwight, how does he feel about this lakers team? Im sure he didnt leave orlando to join another struggling team that wont be able to win rings. We have to fire Brown not only for the integrity of the franchise but also so that we have a good chance of keeping Howard.
Gr8 Scott says
I’m ready for Mike Brown to either get us on a 9-10 game win streak or resign.
Spartacus says
Lakers need a glue guy like Lamar Odom. D. Fisher or even Luke Walton type. Guys who are a locker room character that pumps the team up and gives inspirational speeches. Right now Mike Brown is not doing that and somebody from the roster must stand up and take that role of Motivator! I agree with guys that we should #FireMikeBrown, with his questionable rotations and long minutes for the starters. But at the end of the day it is still the 5 guys on the floor who needs to communicate with each other. I dont see the team communicating in defense or in offense. Either these players dont trust each other or they dont trust their coach or the system he is using. One thing is for sure “something or someone has to be change”
BigCitySid says
Fact: At 1-4 the Lakers now have the WORST record in the West & the 3rd worst in the league, only surpassing Washington & Detroit, both whom are winless.
Takes a lot of the luster (if there was any) off of the Lakers only win since it was against the Pistons.
Tom Daniels says
OK. The lakers are a talented team, but the concern is lack of speed. How do you resolve that? Certainly not by playing a whole bunch of guys DOWN one position. Jamison. MWPS. Ebanks. It is crazy. You have Meeks at SG. Ebanks at SF.
Mike Brown seems to over think everything. The man is just too clever for his own good. Simplify. Play guys at their natural spot. Lead.
Not ready to fire him today. But tomorrow?
rr says
Snoopy,
Your point WRT Spoelstra is reasonable, but as I and others have said, time is not on the Lakers side, as it was on Miami’s. What worries me most about this situation is Howard–now that the Lakers have made the move and traded all the picks, the future of the franchise is basically him, and how do you think he feels about the team right now?
I originally said 15 games. Kevin is right; the Lakers’ bench is very bad, worse than I thought. But at the same time, Brown isn’t running the team well, and I think he is making the personnel problems worse, rather than ameliorating them–as a good coach is supposed to do,
Daniel says
The bottom line through 5 games is that they are not playing with ANY intensity, emotion, desire or passion. It is disgusting to watch. Do they even like playing basketball?
Pau is a lion when he plays for Spain but, with the Lakers he is a lamb. He is not confident, generally passive, and it seems like it has become a chore for him. MWP needs to be benched.
The worst part is Mike Brown. The rotations are horrible, the way he uses players is terrible. He does not do well with young players either.. He is inconsistent with the minutes for the bench players. How can you become comfortable with a role, when you have no idea what that role is or even if you will be playing that night? He plays players out of position. Destroying a players confidence is what he seems to do best. I want to have some patience and hope things will get better, but I do not see any improvement, only LESS effort.
david h says
darius: i usually take a deep breath to help myself calm down. took a few of those after last night’s debacle in the city they call salt lake.
the next head coach will be afforded the same respect and timetable because that’s how the buss organization works. the next head coach will be scrutnized and analyzed to no end because that’s how the laker fan base works. the next head coach is due because that’s how the buss organization and laker fanbase work in tandem to provide the best and capable nba championship team.
to ask coach brown why the offense is not working is not a fair question for him because he is not familiar nor versed in offensive coaching capabilities. the converse, to ask coach brown why the defense is not working is a fair question for him because he is familiar and versed in defensive coaching capabilities; or so we’ve been sold on that idea. when i hear coach brown speak to the media after games, in particular last night’s game, I’m hearing an analyst, not a coach.
so when coach brown resigns, in one deep breath he will be remembered as a good guy, someone willing to stay the course, whose reputation as a defensive analyst will be treated with due respect and whose offensive shortcomings doomed himself and ultimately the laker organization to provide him due deligence in a respectful manner.
coach K anyone?
Go Lakers
Mattal says
Mike Brown has among the largest and most expensive coaching staffs in the league. I beleive this is because he is trying to cover up for his short comings. I think Mitch and Jim have got to ask themselves if having a head coach so devoid of any offensive and defensive approaches is the right way to go.
I believe that a head coach should stand for something, have a unique approach that he believes so strongly in that he can instill enthusiasm fo it in his team. Mike Brown is plain vanilla delegating offensive and defensive schemes to assistants. That concept works in football where you have 60+ players on a team. However, basketball is much more intimate. You need the head coach to stand for something so the players can look to him for leadership.
I’m sorry but Mike Brown is invisible as a head coach. He was given a 4 year contract. Yet each year he keeps trying to re-invent either the offense or the defense. He has no philosophy of his own therefore he stands for nothing and the team has no idea what his role is and it shows.
By the way Mike Dantoni is available. I also beleive he coached Steve Nash, who would be a big help in implementing the D’antoni offense on the fly which is important when you have to make a in-season coaching change.
Craig W. says
I didn’t watch or listen to the game – ‘I am on an anti-Time Warner kick’. I read the summary above, but not the comments – ‘I am too upset’ I just went to NBA.com and looked up the minutes played for this game.
No starter played less than 36 min. Hill was at 22 min and everyone else far less.
Hey MB — If we are losing with our starters playing so much that they will be worn out by the end of the year, except perhaps for Dwight Howard, then you need to find a different solution.
I don’t care if we lose, you have to give the younger players a chance to find a groove. 5 min a game won’t get anyone any meaningful experience.
Perhaps it is time to stop playing MWP at the 2 and Jamison at the 3 – they obviously are overmatched in key areas of their weakness – they are not young, athletic players any more.
Craig W. says
Comment on the new format: The problem with eliminating the numbers preceding the comments is that it is almost impossible to revisit a thread and find where you left off from the last visit – I know I commented at about #20 in the old system, but have no idea where I was in the new one.
Gr8 Scott says
I agree totally, and why are the more recent comments posted on the bottom of the article. Makes as much sense as the guys who put this current team together..
Leo says
Mattal – I think you hit on something. Mike Brown came to us with the pedigree of being a ‘great’ defensive coach. Yet his Laker teams have not been anything close to even being good defensive teams. His offense was so horrible last year that it felt like Kobe went 1 on 5 all season.
In his second year one would think that he would be building on his first year – yet it feels like we are starting at square one. He’s just a guy – he adds nothing himself. He needs assistants to do the heavy lifting. That does not work in the NBA. Great coaches have a philosophy – look at PJ, Popovich and Reilly.
While the Laker bench is a disapointment – you can’t expect your second line players to be productive when your starters aren’t as productive as they should be.
Question – how could Pau look like one of the best players in the world at the Olympics and Mike Brown can make him disappear?
It is beyond time to make a change.
Pinch says
Annoyed by what I’ve seen in these first 5 games, as a Lakers fan living in the UK (United Kingdom) with a time difference of +8 hours. Whenever I can I’ll try to watch my team play at ridiculous hours (2-3am). I don’t pretend to know everything about the game, but I do believe I’m knowledgeable enough to provide my thoughts on the current Lakers.
I’ve personally said all along that I’ll give this team at the very least till the All-Star break to figure things out, now I’m actually wondering if it will come to that before something is drastically done to sort out the mess I’m currently viewing. However bad the Pistons were, I actually thought the Laker’s had turned a corner.. we’re too passive, the opposition in all the games I’ve seen other than that one game against the Pistons are far more active than the Lakers.
Pau Gasol.. has one good game, another bad one the next day. 5 points? ARE YOU KIDDING ME, I don’t even remember him going to the FT line. PASSIVE play. D12 on a bad day gets you 15+ points and effort, Pau Gasol gives you NOTHING on a bad day. We’re better of playing Hill in the starting line-up when Pau plays like this.
Another point I’d like to make is what’s up with MWP playing as a SG and Meeks not getting a single minute of game-time?
I’m pretty sure he was brought in to provide shooting of the bench, a bench that is incapable of scoring through these first 5 games I’ve seen, they’re not providing defense and certainly not scoring. What are they giving you? Why is Meeks sitting on the bench?
Steve Blake 2-10 FGM-A
MWP 3-12 FGM-A
D12 7-11 FGM-A
D12 taking 1 more shot than Blake and 1 less than MWP, how is that possible? Use him more often, he’s ridiculously efficient.
They better get their act together ASAP, lose more games and you’ll put yourself in a situation where you’ll HAVE to start winning games.
Ko says
Brown will never resign. He knows it would be his finish as a NBA coach.
My contacts inside the NBA family say management is now talking to other candidates. If the right guy says yes to the right amount, Brown will be gone by next week.
Now blow up this bench and they might make the playoffs. Sad to watch.
david h says
darius: one final nail in the coach brown coffin: steve lavin.
ko: counting on your info to be correct.
Go Lakers
Leo says
Ko – assuming your ‘contacts’ are accurate (I’m not sure they are as Jim Buss just gave Brown a public vote of confidence and it would seem that any coaching inquiry by the front office would be incredibly secretive at this point) – who are the Lakers talking to? Please say D’antoni.
Aaron says
This is not all on Mike Brown. I will blame him for playing Jamison over Meeks and perhaps for losing out on Leandro Barbosa as rumored… But that’s it. The rest is on the decline of Pau, the back of Dwight, the age of Nash and the talentless Lakers bench.
Edwin Gueco says
Here is my take on Lakers string of losses.
It used to contentious issue on the Coach, it seems based on what I read in past two threads, majority point the finger on the Coaching issue, chemistry and bad bench. I have been accused as bias when I raised this point in the preseason but now we are coming to realization that Lakers have a common problem. I will not say that they cannot be improved but surely they’re not motivated based on their skills. If you were forming a team and given players by the name of Howard, Kobe, Gasol for the start, can you not expand and compete for Championship. It is a matter of surrounding these three with young able bodies who could bring them the ball and PRESTO, we are back to contention. We all know the solution but getting there is the most difficult part. We get into argument of protecting the status quo, the established system as if they’re ingredients toward success. If you were Mitch, Jim and Dr. Jerry; don’t they feel the same way on this issue? In fact, they should be more concerned because there is huge investment with the Lakers heavily as well as their reputation with other investors, their advertisers. Such relationship is not permanent, once this team get into disintegration phase, like Howard choosing to opt out, Kobe retires it will be hard to rebuild especially if they are surrounded by scrubs.
I really feel Lakers management should now go “fall back” solution. They should prepare the replacement Coaches who would take over this team once they reach final verdict. There should not be surprises and leave the season hanging nor sacrifice the first 20 games with a .500 performance or even less. There gotta to be a solution, cut the tumor now. If the 2nd team are not worthy to maintain and train to be on NBA level, it’s time to get into replacement mode gradually acquiring good players in D’League and Euro League who could shoot, run and defend. Is that really that impossible? How come Utah and Portland who are considered rebuilding teams could assemble that kind of group that could support their stars. Why can’t we support Kobe, Dwight, Gasol and later on Nash with NBA caliber players? To me, Sacre, Morris are too raw; Duhon, Clark and jamison are too old. Maybe we can hang on Antwan for more hope but there should be reliable players. out there.
Edwin Gueco says
Here are my positive takes that can easily manufacture points:
A. Combination of Gasol and Howard. Two tall guys one soft and tender, the other one a finisher in the post. If you let Gasol be more aggressive to drive to the post everytime he has the ball, easily Howard could help him through p & r or follow-ups. This combination is hard to defend especially if Kobe is also around the vicinity. Why is MBrown getting into complexities in making this union work?
B. Combination fo Meeks and Blake. We all know that these two players have shooting skills. They were hired by the Lakers for that purpose tho’ Blake is trying to be 1 but his skills is set shot. If you design plays where these two players are given the green light to shoot at will on the outside, I think somehow they will be confident. It takes time sharpen those skills but if you have it, you just continue developing it like what we saw from ex lakers like Horry, Fox and Fisher. They helped Kobe and Shaq to get those rings, it was all PJ forward thinking of developing gunners. He did that to the Bulls when he got gunners like Steve Kerr, John Paxon, Toni Kukoc, Brian Armstrong. Their skills were tapped and developed until they became cold assassins on the outside.
C. Lastly, Pick and Rolls Players. Well, we have Nash and Dwight; Nash and Gasol; Kobe and Gasol; Kobe and Dwight on and on …… any simple minded Coach can think of these combination and make it work? Why is it so hard to implement with this current Lakers team?
EL Lobo says
Take a cue from the la kings management which won us a stanley cup.
They fired their coach and brought in Daryl Sutter.
He made them more responsible and accountable on their play.
He showed great leadership for the players and was tough when needed.
This gave coach Sutter the respect and the formula for winning.
Damn i hope the lakers fire Brown because he has none of these traits.
Love the Kings and Lakers.
Kings are winners now.
Lakers need to act now.
Magic Phil says
How can people blame the players when they’re not playing in their original positions?
Ko, I hope you’re right.
LT mitchell says
“After the Lakers acquired Howard and Nash, several veteran free agents wanted to sign for the minimum so that they could compete for a championship in Los Angeles. However, Brown made it clear that he wasn’t going to expand his rotation regardless of who signed”
Just….wow.
Gary says
@mitchell if thats true, Mike Brown should resign or get fired right now. To think a horrible coach like Brown restricted our opportunity to get free agents is unbelievable.
Scorchee says
If you are a smart GM or owner….
And you make a decision to fire the coach…
But you need to find a suitable replacement and it’s not certain you will.
Why would you say anything but, “we support our current coach.”
(Always leave the door open, even for the possibility that there is not a good enough replacement ot the possibility that some how and some way the Lakers turn it around really quickly.
Radius says
Point for debate: Fire Mike Brown is step 1 for everyone (even I am close to second guessing), but what is the next step? Who will be the coach.
Sky says
Radius: “Who will be the coach.”
—
Realistically, I’d say Jordan was hired not only because of his knowledge to the Princeton but as an insurance policy. He and Bickerstaff both have HC experience, but this is still Jordan’s offense, and the offense is not really deserving of any blame here.
Once you realize that they’re not even running a pure Princeton or even “Wizards-style” Princeton, because Brown insisted on adding in his own strong-corner sets; once you realize that Brown is the one who’s insisted on a “positionless” offense, not any of his assistants; once you realize that Brown is the one responsible for rotations, managing minutes, and making in-game adjustments, then it’s very hard to believe Jordan could be any worse than him.
People here will no doubt gag and immediately suggest fancier names.
“Eddie Jordan? Screw that. I want D’Antoni. McMillan. Sloan. Fratello. Phil. Jeff Van Gundy.”
But how logical is it to believe that the Lakers FO would not only fire Brown so soon after publicly endorsing him, but then also bring in a coach who might install an entirely new offense?
I for one don’t believe it’s likely, not because I wouldn’t like it to be, just that I can’t see either Buss or Mitch coming to the conclusion that such a drastic action would help their title chances THIS year.
Ultimately, who knows though? It was “bold” thinking that got Brown hired in the first place.
DieTryin' says
Jim Buss, as reported today by Ramona S., said of Brown that he ” could not believe that someone who works as hard and is as prepared as Mike Brown would have these issues” while expressing his support for Brown. No one doubts that Mike Brown is a hard worker and that he is prepared. But the reason why he has proven so inept as the Lakers coach revolves around a leadership deficit. Mike Brown cannot run back on transition defense for his players but he can insist that this happens. The fact that this is not happening is as direct evidence as possible that this team does not respect the man. This would not happen with Jerry Sloan. Have you ever seen a Sloan coached team, regardless of talent level, not work hard for 48 min? Once hearts and minds are lost one can no longer effectively lead.it is for this reason that a coaching change is necessary and should not be considered impulsive or rash. The example El Lobo cited above about the turnaround experienced by the Kings when Sutter was brought in is very apt and provides further support for why there is no upside in waiting…
Tra says
I was one who was preaching patience for this season and who cut Coach Brown some slack last year due to reasons (CP3 Veto, Lockout, Short Training Camp, Limited Practices ..) that has been spoken upon by several individuals within the FB&G Community. That time has now come to an end.
There’s a Laundry List of reasons why I have come to this conclusion (Starters playing too many mins, Players balling out of position, Substitution Patterns/Bench being used incorrectly, Unacceptable Defense, Meeks not being given an opportunity ..) But what I saw last night was a team that was listless, lackadasical and who played without any passion/sense of urgency. They looked emotionless, defeated and definitely unhappy. All those are signs that the coach has lost the team/the personnel has tuned him out.
If this happens to be the case, the FO needs to move fast to kill the cancer before it spreads (hope that by using that phrase, I’m not offending anyone). The Lakers, as currently constituted, are built to win not now. But RIGHT now … Jim. Mitch. Save the season.
jack says
Most people pointed the finger on the coaching issue, chemistry and bad bench. But the bench issue can also be traced to the coach based on the following article:
“http://www.hoopsworld.com/nba-pm-mike-brown-on-the-hot-seat/”
“Brown made it clear that he wasn’t going to expand his rotation regardless of who signed. This scared away the free agents and kept the Lakers from further bolstering their roster, which frustrated many players.”
Why would a coach not try to improve the roster and a weak bench?
Paul L says
The only plausible reason that mike brown hasn’t been fired yet is that they are still negotiating with PJ to come out of retirement.