Head Coach Discussion: Canned Ham, Who Is Our New Coach?

yeah, i've been done with ham for a while, but everyone here was getting on dlo for pouting when he got benched but the whole team has given less than max effort on many nights. sure, ham sucked the life force out of things, but you can have some pride and not get waxed by the rockets and hawks.

anyway, agree with helljumper's thoughts on this one.

i'm not as sure as others about the necessity for personnel changes. maybe i'll be proven wrong, but i think a lot of the defensive issues magically clear up if cam or vando starts instead of prince. if we swap out reaves or dlo for a defensive guy, we're only going to be getting a purely defensive guy (aside from murray, there aren't any 2-way perimeter players available right now), and we won't be able to score on anyone.

it's just going to get worse here for a while.

 

I thought had Ham did a decent job in the playoffs last year and I was a supporter. Seeing what Vogel did with KCP - kept playing him when he looked like crap because he believed in him and to watch him turn around makes me less inclined to be negative about coaches as we don't necessarily know what they are thinking short vs long term.

That being said the turning point was not this Prince nonsense which is bonkers but also the way he used JHS as a off ball shooter. That makes no f***ing sense and shows a coach who is actively not trying to put each player in a position to succeed but one who is trying to limit damage. That doesn't work at this level - good coaches always seem to get something out of every guy as every player in the NBA has some talent.

 

I get why the FO would be really hesitant to fire Ham. They were almost universally panned for making Vogel a lame duck in 2021-2022 after he'd won a championship and had another very good team derailed by injuries. Then you bring in Ham, which was generally viewed as a good hire at the time, and he manages to keep the Russ situation from completely imploding long enough for Rob to make a decent trade and we make a run to the WCF. I get wanting to have some stability since its been a mess for a decade now.

But this is untenable. All scheme/rotation issues aside (and there are a lot), its a circus after every loss now. The players are taking shots at him after every game and even the pretty mild-mannered Lakers podcasters/reporters like Trevor Lane and the Kamenetzky brothers are mocking him after every game. I don't think we can keep doing this for 32 games.

 

I get why, and you're right, but this just further demonstrates that they don't understand the big picture. That they got panned for the Vogel fire bc it wasn't his fault, it was on Rob (and LBJ/AD) for the bad Russ situation, plus Caruso mistakes and other mistakes. But they didn't want any accountability, they wanted a scapegoat and blamed Vogel.

That's different than the current situation where the coach is constantly making bad choices and failing the team, as well as constant excuses and hypocrisy in his post game interviews. All that means you should fire the coach asap. (And Ham was bad last season too, all the 3 guard lineups, not getting Russ to buy into a bench role like Russ is currently, taking way too long to adjust in the playoffs, etc. He was only forced into decent lineups by trading away some of his safety blankets, plus the fans and media clamoring for playoff adjustments which he was slow to make.)

But to the FO, it's like, oh, firing the coach was bad last time, so that means it's bad this time. And to Jeanie, it's like, I'm cheap (even though we're worth billions), and I liked Westbrook personally so it was Vogel's fault, and now I like Ham so it's not his fault. It's pure loser mentality. She doesnt actually want to win championships. I mean, of course she does a little, but it's a lower priority than her personal feelings about her relationships even though she self-admittedly doesnt know much about basketball.

They are doing God's work. Needs to be even more pressure.

 

I'm with you guys.
I didn't want to knee jerk comment on Salami's coaching decisions but he's doing things that cannot be defended.
This is all the more frustrating in that we had a good coach and a good team and we fired the good coach and blew up the good team.

And here we are.
Regardless Salami is not the way.

 

please Rob and Jeanie, end our pain!

 

Yeah, Ham getting it together would be great for everyone. It's frustrating because he is just digging his heels in further and is being very stubborn with his choices right now.

 

i have very real questions as to whether ham backed himself into a corner with some of his decisions. if he suddenly starts vando now...what if we start winning? is that a good thing or a terrible thing for him?

i think lebron and company are going to half-a** it until he's fired, anyway, though.

 

Agree this may be a possibility. Just a couple minutes ago posted this in Prince’s thread.

 

I do think he's worried about that but shouldn't be. Just make up some excuse and keep it moving. Winning does cure everything and if we go on a run then it will be okay. Yes, we will call BS on the excuse but will be happy the team is winning. He's got to act now though because the road to even the play in gets tougher with every loss.

 

If the FO doesn't want to fire Ham , trade Prince ..

 

i lol'd, but honestly, either/or sends the message i want right now.

 

Package them to Detroit. Win. Win.

 

if they won't fire ham by asb and no trade while also being multiple gm under .500, just rest AD rest of season

 

Sedano looked up some numbers.

Lakers record when Prince plays 25 or more minutes vs when Prince plays less than 25 minutes.

Prince 25+ min: 15-23 , 0.395 win%
Prince <25 min: 7-0 , 1.000 win%

Lakers record when Rui plays 20 or more minutes vs when Rui played less than 20 minutes.

Rui 20+ min: 14-8 , 0.636 win%
Rui <20 min: 10-16 , 0.385 win%

Ham: (hands in pockets) No conclusions to be drawn here, nope, zip, zilch, none, nada, nothing.