It's so hard to get a clear view on this stuff... I mean there's just absolutely no rhyme or reason to the rotations and specifically to who is starting and when. I honestly get making the kids feel like they had to earn it. I really understand that mentality even if I disagree with it. However, why start Russell yesterday? Why not the day before? Was there something in the Spurs game that made Byron realize it's time? There's no catalyst for these moves they just kind of happen. I hope it was Jeanie who made the call to do things this way, but I don't think so. I think this has been a carefully orchestrated tank job from Byron, Mitch, and Jim from almost the beginning of the season. I believe they thought Russell and Randle would be more able to contribute sooner. I believe they thought Byron would be better. I believe they thought Kobe would be more effective somehow. I believe they thought this season they would be more interesting than they've been. Turns out they were disastrously wrong on all those counts and it turns out they're all likely to be fired because of it. FA this summer was predicated on this season being a success. The enormous failure of Byron, Kobe, Mitch, and Jim this season has put their FA plans in a huge bind. I don't know who is in control over there but soon it'll be just Jeanie when she cleans house.
A carefully orchestrated tank plan by Mitch? Yeah, ok, I can see that. Him carefully and slowly explaining it to Jim, who agrees to go along with it as he sees no options and hopes to swing for the fences and save his a** this offseason, sure. B0ron "carefully orchestrating" anything other than how to trick a team into giving him millions of dollars to coach for 4 years or maybe a nice sandwich, you're giving too much credit. Mitch seeing how bad B0ron was on his own, stepping back into the shadows and not intervening, letting him drown in his idiocy, that's easier for me to buy. B0ron is an out of touch, clueless, stubborn joke of coach who surrounds himself with guys in cheap suits he calls assistants. I refuse to believe he was part in crafting this in any other way except maybe being commanded to do it after seeing how freaking awful Kobe was to start the season and realizing the mess they had set up for themselves/anchored themselves to. As for Russ, I agree, choosing to start him now makes no more sense than any other time, I firmly believe he was commanded to do it already.
I don't give Byron credit. Mitch probably expected more of him. I'm not saying Byron is some genius tanker, I'm saying Mitch has orchestrated this situation to tank us. Byron simply is doing his part by being a terrible coach.
Exactly what I think. Byron has coached this poorly many, many times before. You don't set yourself on a breakneck pace to become the worst coach in NBA history (record-wise) without being a truly crappy coach. Kobe's Tour and Byron are a PR distraction. Mitch and Jim just put one of these things up... ...to distract us from this
http://www.silverscreenandroll.com/...-phil-jackson-jim-buss-jeanie-buss-management Phil Jackson 'definitely in play' to join the Lakers in 2017 By Harrison Faigen @hmfaigen on Feb 22, 2016, 10:02p 42 Stephen Dunn/Getty Images That would coincide with Jim Buss' self-imposed deadline for contention. TWEET SHARE (533) PIN With the Los Angeles Lakers struggles over the past few seasons, the management team that has built the recent rosters has understandably started to feel their as though their seats are a little warmer. Lakers vice president of basketball operations Jim Buss set a deadline for himself to get the Lakers back to at least the Western Conference Finals by next year (the summer of 2017, a deadline his sister has said multiple times that she will hold him to), and reaching that goal appears highly unlikely. This deadline, coupled with the Lakers' struggles, have led to rumors of a Lakers' reunion with former head coach Phil Jackson, who would take over basketball operations in his third stint with the team. While the chances of Jackson joining the Lakers this summer were shot down by a recent report, and Jeanie Buss herself said that she is not trying to lure her fiancee to run her basketball team, rumors persist that the man known as the Zen Master could return to run the organization he coached to five of their 16 NBA championships. Bill Oram of the O.C. Register appeared on Kurt Helin's PBT Podcast, and he reported that there was a definite possibility of an eventual Jackson reunion should Jim Buss not pull off a miracle and return the team from the lottery to contention in a single offseason (emphasis mine): "I don't see [a Jackson return this summer] happening, and again I'd have to be reminded what his buyout or opt-out with the Knicks is, because it's not this summer. He's locked in for another year. I do think it's entirely possible in one more year, that wouldn't surprise me at all. Do I think that is the right decision? I don't know, I think that the Lakers would probably be well served to kind of get out of the same gene pool that they've been in for the last 20 years and move forward, but Jeanie obviously has a very intimate relationship with Phil and it probably makes more sense for them to be in the same organization than in different organizations. I think that's definitely going to be in play, if they don't change things up and hire some top level management this year, I think that when Phil becomes available if the Lakers are still in the market, it's going to be a natural fit." Jackson has had some success since joining the New York Knicks as team president, most notably in drafting standout rookie Kristaps Porzingis with the fourth overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft. However, Marc Berman of the New York Post reported that Jackson does have an opt out in the summer of 2017, and while the Knicks apparently think Jackson will complete his contract, it would make some level of sense for him to want to be closer to his fiancee, who just also happens to (possibly) have an opening that summer for the exact position Phil would want. Most of this is speculative for now, but it appears that Phil Jackson could indeed find his way back to the Lakers. Again. Whether or not it will happen or if it would be a positive remains to be seen. You can follow this author on Twitter at @hmfaigen.
If we approached Luke this summer, would he be interested if he thought Phil might be coming back and he would have to run the Triangle instead of what they're doing so well with the Warriors? Is it necessarily true that Phil would impose that on him?
I don't want a GM forcing a system, but I don't mind the triangle if our coach wants to use it. We have the personnel.
Yeah I don't mind some triangle sets at all. I'd like to run a more open system, but it's not like we have a ton of shooters right now to justify that.
I think Phil would impose it on a coach he hired. Would he do it to a coach in place that had a bright future like Luke (we think) if Luke was here first. What would prospective coaches think of the specter of Jackson coming back in a year? They just CANNOT bring Boron back one more year. Need a new coach ASAP.
I don't disagree, but most GMs in the NBA and NFL hire coaches that share their idea of a system and draft accordingly. If I owned a team, I couldn't imagine hiring a coach before a GM.
I think it's 50/50 that Boron is back. It may be one of those things where Jeanie doesn't say a word knowing she will get to bring back Phil next season at which point she'll let him hire the coach he wants. I am 100% totally against bringing Phil back. We need to move on. What has Phil really done in New York? Cleared off some salaries and drafted one player? A player that was expected to go at about that spot anyway? Who else was he going to take at #4? Mudiay or Hezonja? Keep Phil away from us. He will hire some ex player of his to run the triangle, probably someone with no real coaching experience. I could totally see him hiring like Horace Grant or something.
I love Phil, but I do not want him back here as well. Let's move on from trying to recreate magic from the past. We need forward thinking personnel, the game has changed and we need people capable of changing with it. Phil will probably hire his people again, probably Shaw as head coach and Rambis/Fisher/Cleamons as assistants. We'll be stuck in mediocricy for 3-4 years trying to learn the triangle. Or we can always end up getting some of the bigger FA with Phil running the show and end up being contenders quickly. Who knows, I'm just having a wonky morning.
1. I'd rather have Jerry West steering Basketball Operations than Phil. 2. I'm not sure how Ryan West works with Phil given his Dad's history with Zen. 3. I'm hesitant on using the Triangle mainly because Tex Winter is no longer around to guide it. Phil was the master handler of personalities, but he leaned heavily on Tex for making the system work. 4. But, IF we are not going to lure Jerry West back then Phil is a better option than Jim Buss. 5. Luke would be fine incorporating some Triangle elements. Maybe a Triangle / Golden State hybrid. 6. Clarkson & Russell both averaged over 46% from three in February. Clarkson was over 53%. That's approaching Splash Bros Lite territory. 7. Both Clarkson and Russell are really hybrid combo guards. That's a perfect type backcourt for the Tri approach.
Yeah when Phil was brought up not too long before this interview I initially recoiled at the thought, but we actually do have pieces that fit the Triangle. D'Angelo is a big guard that can post, but can also space the floor as the shooting guard if need be. Clarkson can't post, but he can definitely space the floor. Julius can post up and has shown some promise as an isolation player. I know the stats aren't great, but I think that's a function of the system/roster. Given some shooters, I think he can be a very effective isolation player. Still, I'd much rather run an open system right now like what the Spurs and Warriors use. Some Triangle sets would be great in the half-court (much better than what we have now), but I'd like to see more man/ball movement than what the Triangle gives you.
IMO, the Triangle works best to calm things down and get back to fundamentals when you're playing too out of control. The spacing and sets are great at ensuring you are in the right place at the right time. However it runs counter to how a lot of players have grown up playing ball, so I wouldn't want to mess with the rhythm of the players if they're playing well running a little more freely. So I'm fully in favor of running the Triangle as a team's base, but not every time down the court.
Definitely. The Triangle would do wonders for us when we have no offensive rhythm out there. So many times Lou Williams comes in and Jordan can't run the offense like D'Angelo can. Then our offense turns into Lou either driving and picking up fouls or... nothing... The Triangle would do us wonders when we hit snags like that and we can just run it for a minute to see a high percentage shot. Then again any reasonable motion offense could accomplish that so... I don't know. Just give me Luke Walton with his two year apprenticeship at GS and let's get rolling in the modern direction. We can run a Triangle set or two with it.
