The difference 5 years makes. I remember so many of us wanting him gone, and now he's come back home to save the franchise!!
Just got this ESPN alert on my phone, looks like I'm a little late to this party. I'm pretty thrilled with this. Luke was clearly our guy, and probably was since the middle of this season, which is why they let B0ron hang around, as Luke couldn't be had yet anyway. Now I'm looking forward to seeing who he picks as his staff, and I can look ahead to the draft lottery. I'll also be rooting for Luke and the Warriors to win it all again and send LeBron home crying. Welcome home Luke, indeed.
There was a secret clause in his TWC contract that if he was still an assistant coach and the Lakers job became open, he'd automatically be forced to accept the job
I'm more interested in tacticians. X's and O's guys like Jeff Van Gundy, Ettore Messina, David Blatt, etc. The kind of coaches like Brad Stevens & Terry Stotts who can turn teams that pundits thought wouldn't make the playoffs into legit playoff teams. Luke is great at communicating with players and he's smart about the game, but he's not a tactician like those guys. We'll need that kind of coaching expertise to turn this franchise around quickly.
was leaning towards messina but i wouldn't have minded any one of him, ollie, or walton first time i've been happy with a coaching hire since god knows when. luke's presence should definitely help attract some good FA's now the question is who will his assistants be? wouldn't mind seeing shaw and/or fisher as assistants but they definitely need some sort of defensive minded assistant in there
Agreed, as a rookie coach, with a lot of young players, biggest pressure city outside NY, he will need a quality staff of good basketball minds. I'm confident he will make some good choices, because unlike our last coach, he genuinely seems like a humble guy. I don't ever see JVG taking an assistant role, but Blatt might. Messina I can't see leaving SA except for a head coaching job.
I guess they had to hire him as quickly as possible before he could change his mind. Interesting they didn't interview anyone else though.
Seriously thrilled we stopped wasting our youth. Now D-LO, Julius, JC, and Larry will be utilized properly and taught. No more isolations. More ball and man movement. More cohesion. Better chemistry. We'll be more in tune defensively.
I know you are disappointed, but wow, buzzkill. You should at least be happy that Luke is not Boron Scott.
I had switched over to the Messina bandwagon earlier, but obviously was ecstatic when I heard the news. This is what I said when we fired Byron. Luke is a moderate risk, but potentially VERY high reward. Like he could be the next Phil. Raised by the game. John Wooden, Bill Walton, Phil Jackson, Steve Kerr. Unathletic overachiever whose playing career was cut short by injuries but just extremely intelligent. He knows the importance of the low-post game (honestly, in his playing prime he was so fun to watch posting up and hitting mid-range fadeaways). Enthusiastic praise from key players on one of the best teams in NBA history. A better record as a head coach than the coach of the year. I just hope he doesn't fill his staff with "Phil" guys.
I'm glad they did that. Clearly that interview went great, but I always felt all along if Luke is your guy then make the hire. No need to delay the process if you believe Luke is gonna be your coach.
It was clear from minute one he was number one on the list. This is great news. Now let's put together a good staff for him.
^^^ Obviously you can't please everyone. Ollie was my choice, but I'm still ecstatic about Luke versus another year of Boron.
