Brian Keefe Perhaps that willingness to speak his mind stems from his NBA coaching roots, as he started as a video coordinator under Gregg Popovich. Keefe had previously worked as a college assistant at South Florida (2000-01) and Bryant (’01-05), but his first NBA role came in San Antonio, where he even won a ring for the Spurs’ 2007 championship in his second season. “That was a blessing to be able to start your career at a place to see how it really should be done,” Keefe said. “Obviously starting with R.C. (Buford) and Pop and those guys — but just how to do things the right way and being around all those great players. You just feel like a kid in the candy store trying to learn as much as you could. It was a fantastic environment for a young coach.” From there, he joined the Thunder for the next seven years before spending the last two seasons with New York. A 1996 Second Team All-Big West selection and Perhaps that willingness to speak his mind stems from his NBA coaching roots, as he started as a video coordinator under Gregg Popovich. Keefe had previously worked as a college assistant at South Florida (2000-01) and Bryant (’01-05), but his first NBA role came in San Antonio, where he even won a ring for the Spurs’ 2007 championship in his second season. “That was a blessing to be able to start your career at a place to see how it really should be done,” Keefe said. “Obviously starting with R.C. (Buford) and Pop and those guys — but just how to do things the right way and being around all those great players. You just feel like a kid in the candy store trying to learn as much as you could. It was a fantastic environment for a young coach.” From there, he joined the Thunder for the next seven years before spending the last two seasons with New York. http://www.nba.com/lakers/news/160913-coaching-staff-brian-keefe/
Jesse Mermuys One was a First Team All-Pac-10 honoree at the University of Arizona and the other was playing at local Glendale Community College. But Luke Walton and Jesse Mermuys bonded through offseason hoops during their college days, and now they are working together to push the Lakers into the future. As one of the assistants on Walton’s staff, Mermuys has a hand in shaping the culture of the team, which has been defined, to this point, by its positivity. “When you’re around Luke, you’re happy,” Mermuys said. “You’re in a good mood. You just can’t help feeding off of his energy and his vibe. He has an unbelievable knack for just making you feel good. He keeps things fun all the time. “And I think he wanted to establish a culture where we’re working at such a high rate and we’re trying to outwork every other team, but we’re doing it and enjoying it and it’s fun to do it and we want to do it.” The goal for this season, of course, is to develop the Lakers’ young core of talent, including D’Angelo Russell, Jordan Clarkson, Julius Randle and Brandon Ingram. For Mermuys, who radiates positivity both on and off the court, there is just as much of an opportunity to learn from these players as there is to coach them. “I think when you have that mentality and an appreciation for how amazing these guys are mentally and physically, how could you not be positive?” Mermuys asks. “I get to work with D’Angelo Russell, Julius Randle — those are big-time talents that I get to have the opportunity to work with, coach and mentor on a daily basis. How could you not be positive? I don’t know.” http://www.nba.com/lakers/news/160912-coaching-staff-jesse-mermuys?cid=tw
Yeah yeah yeah that's all the same happy horse bleep Byron used to say about the young guys to make em feel good. Oh wait.......
Meet the Staff: Theo Robertson Before heading up to Las Vegas, Luke Walton joked with his coaches that Summer League would be just as competitive for the staff as it would be for the players, saying that any coach who lost a game would be replaced for the next contest. Jesse Mermuys led the Laker to a 3-0 start, but the team faltered in tournament play, losing to Cleveland on July 14. With Los Angeles' consolation game the following day, Walton went to dinner with Mermuys and 29-year-old Theo Robertson, where he offered the now-player development coach a chance to lead the Lakers. Robertson — who spent the last two years alongside Walton at Golden State as a video coordinator and video intern — seized the opportunity. In his first shot as a head coach, the Lakers stayed competitive with Utah all game before losing, 92-88. But the experience wasn't lost on Robertson. “It really speaks to both Luke and Jesse — just their willingness extend me that opportunity to really grow and be in that seat, which is completely different,” Robertson said. “Get my feet wet and lead that group. ... From a competitive standpoint, I had a blast doing it. Just looking forward to another opportunity to do so." In the meantime, Robertson will trade in the clipboard for some sneakers, as he is tasked with "on-court skills development" for the Lakers. Keeping up with L.A.'s young roster will be a challenge, but certainly isn't a deal-breaker for Robertson, who ended his five-year collegiate career at California in 2010. As a senior, Robertson was named Second Team All-Pac-12, led the league in 3-point percentage (44.0) and helped the Golden Bears to their first conference title in 50 years. He also left with the school's all-time best career 3-point clip (45.3), which has him saying, "I'm taking the title," in a hypothetical shootout among the Lakers coaching staff, which includes former sharpshooters like Jud Buechler, Brian Shaw and Brian Keefe. Cal came back into Robertson's life in 2012, as he spent two years as a graduate manager and director of operations for the program. From there, he found himself at the center of basketball, becoming a video intern for the Warriors. In his first season, Golden State ended a 40-year championship draught, reminiscent of his Bears' breaking their conference title streak. For a man who was born in Pittsburg, Calif., and went to De La Salle High, it was something of a basketball renaissance for his Bay Area squads. "It was cool to have that level of pride around your teams," Robertson said. "I don’t know if it’s quite on the level of even being in L.A. so far — everywhere you go it’s like people bleeding purple and gold. You go to Summer League and our games are sold out, which I thought was crazy.” The next season saw the Warriors finish the regular season with a record 73-9 mark. Though the team didn't end up winning the championship, Robertson still absorbed plenty of lessons from Golden State. “You take bits and pieces from everybody, and I think you’d be a fool not to,” Robertson said. “You’re watching the way Steph (Curry) works out. You’re learning from a holistic perspective on life from guys like Andre (Iguodala) and Shaun (Livingston).” In particular, he learned from working with All-Star forward Draymond Green. “It’s really hard to say one person, but I would probably say Draymond, just because of the way he sees the game, particularly from a defensive perspective,” Robertson said. “Then just the competitive fire that he brings on a nightly basis. I found myself probably gravitating toward him, picking his brain, probably a little bit more as others.” Having spent two years with the NBA's most successful team at the moment, Robertson hopes to be able to rub a bit of that off on the Lakers. “Some of our key objectives are to just teach them how to play basketball the right way — or at least the way we see it and the way we feel it should be played,” Robertson said. “And that’s ball movement, player movement — any time you’re standing, that’s the only time you’re doing something wrong.” For Robertson, this teaching means getting out on the floor with the guys and, if need be, jawing at them a bit. “I go back and forth with all these guys,” Robertson said. “Ever since I got out there, they’ve been begging me to get back on the court, and I’m just like, ‘Man, you guys are 19 and I’m gonna be 30 this year and I’ve had three hip surgeries. I can’t do it like that.’ I wouldn’t even pretend to think I can. It’s been fun and that’s the fun part about it: when you get out there and mix it up and talk a little trash now and then.”
really looking forward to this. it will be a very tough adjustment for some of the players, if not most.
