Ex-Coach Luke Walton Discussion

luke suckered us, same way gentry suckered pelicans into thinking they could be HC's

 

So... full me once?

 

I'm just super disappointed in Luke, not surprised as I've come to expect very poor decisions and management from him at this point.

- Preseason Ball/Randle/Kuzma showed good chemistry, regular seasons forces Ball to play with Ingram/Deng/Nance
- Ball needs to play with players that can shoot and run the floor, gives him players that can't shoot, won't shoot and ISO, way to maximize his skill set
- Randle poor game, but gets the super short least treatment while Ingram who isn't better than Randle at this point is free to make mistake after mistake after mistake without fear of being pulled. Randle is going to be so alienated at the end of season, he's not going to come back even if we strike out and want him too. It's a shame.
- Starts Deng at the 3, when clearly, CLEARLY, from last season any good he brought was at the 4 spot
- Offensively what are we doing? Multiple possessions Nance holding the ball at the top of the key for half the shot clock, running ISOs for players that can't ISO, just a mess
- Flat out cannot coach in game and make adjustments

He literally hasn't shown me anything that says, solid head coach. It's sad that the one thing that sticks with me about Luke is, "Ennis is biggest surprise of training camp".

 

im no bball tech guy but even i could tell they have no system on offense or d...some guy called in to post gm show n he pretty much said he doesnt see any type of sets in half court

 

Luke’s rotations were questionable last year as was his handling of multiple players. I am disappointed but not shocked tonight.

 

ah damn, it's happening

 

At this point Byron is the better coach. How awful is that?

 

When I think of Luke, I can’t help but think back when he was a player. That year when he tore it up with 3pt shooting and we thought we had a solid shoooter. Fools gold. He signs a nice contract with the Lakers, then turned into a brick mason.

By comparison, I think of the 34 game win streak he coached for GSW and how we thought that he was a great coach. Fools gold. He signs a nice head coaching contract with the Lakers, and the results so far are Byron.

I fear that we may be approaching that phenomenon again. Without overachievement this season, prepare for yet another coach next season.

 

naw, they're both terrible in their own way

 

I don't know what to think anymore; I wanted Luke. I was excited. Now? I think he's gone by next year if the team doesn't win more than 30 games. He was Mitch and Jim's hire; not Magic and Rob's, and how can we blame them for making a change if things don't improve?

Start over again...

 

My guess is that he was a big advocate of the Deng signing and he's still in the process of going down with that ship

Not until Luke stops playing, let alone starting, Deng at the 3 I don't see this getting better. Forget tape and actual evidence, DENG HIMSELF said he's 4 in this stage of his career.

Man up, Luke!

 

Luke+coaching=Luco? crazy stupid coaching

 

Too late to call Ollie?

 

Yeah. He's definitely got a lot to prove. I still like him but there's only so far that will get you.

 

I'm just going to quote myself on what I said BEFORE last night's game regarding Luke...

Of course...starting Deng with Ingram and Nance next to Lonzo...very smart coaching Luke! Let's put our point guard with not 1, not 2, but THREE guys that cannot shoot or create anything for themselves offensively!

Oh and 4th quarter....let's trot the starters back out there, but leave Lonzo on the bench because you know, studies show that rookies who play 30+ minutes and blah blah blah blah blah.

This was my fear with how Pre-season went. Start of training camp had me really worried regarding how Luke was approaching this season.

But I can't help but be upset with Magic and Rob as well. We badly needed shooting on this team and what exactly did we do about it this summer? Why did we sign Bogut? The roster is severely imbalanced and it doesn't help that Ingram hasn't improved as a shooter either. This will be a problem for us all year regardless of whether Luke figures it out or not.

I do agree that Luke is partially to blame for how he managed this team and the substitutions....but are we going to give Magic and Rob free passes too? The D-Lo trade is going to ring in my head every time I see him dropping 25+ points and we're still giving up 110+ with KCP as our starter....the whole "dlo and ball backcourt is a disaster defensively" is overstated at best because guess what? Now we're going to give up 110 but score 90 because nobody can shoot!!!

 

Inb4 Luke says he's sticking with this lineup for a couple games to see how they've respond.

 

We could discuss how poorly each player's performance was, but to me it was clear that Luke was the biggest problem. I've defended his rotations throughout preseason and chalked it up to the shortened camp, but he started losing me as soon as I saw Deng and Nance out there to start the game. We're instantly playing 3 on 5 and as bad as Ingram looked, we continue to put him in positions to fail. I've seen more structured offenses in pickup games at the rec center.

Last night was also a perfect example as to why some of us are fed up with the dumping on Randle. His occasional mental lapses are the least of our concerns, but he's made the scapegoat while Ingram is free to make mistake after mistake with no consequences. It's one thing to have Nance start to have Randle lead the bench, but when Deng is starting too, I'd begin to lose faith in my coach as well.