Lakers

[Joe Public]

I hope I'm wrong, but recent history makes it seem that Jim Buss is on the path to turning the Lakers into the Oakland Raiders of the NBA.

[smokymountainrain]

I hope I'm wrong, but recent history makes it seem that Jim Buss is on the path to turning the Lakers into the Oakland Raiders of the NBA.

The Lakers screwed this up by not hiring one of the best coaches of all time, and handled it poorly, but Mike D'Antoni, despite popular opinion, was a good hire.

[TripletDaddy]

They just seem like jilted lovers sometimes, like they take it all super personal.

I do wish the media in SLC would hold the Jazz accountable more, instead of being a bunch of rah rah enablers.

Of course they take it personally. So do the fans. There is a massive expectation when it comes to the Lakers. The fans invest a lot into the team (literally) and view it with a great sense of civic pride, with the team being perhaps the strongest unifying force in Los Angeles, specifically during the playoffs. Hard to explain unless you are a part of it, but it is true.

[Joe Public]

The Lakers screwed this up by not hiring one of the best coaches of all time, and handled it poorly, but Mike D'Antoni, despite popular opinion, was a good hire.

So was Jon Gruden.

[smokymountainrain]

So was Jon Gruden.

The Lakers have Kobe, Nash, D12 and Pau. Gruden could coach that group to an NBA title.

[Joe Public]

The Lakers have Kobe, Nash, D12 and Pau. Gruden could coach that group to an NBA title.

And we'll see if D'Antoni can. The fanbase expectation here - realistic or not - was that, with those pieces, Jax would pick up one or two titles over the next three or four years. D'Antoni will now be measured against that expectation.

[The_Douger]

Of course they take it personally. So do the fans. There is a massive expectation when it comes to the Lakers. The fans invest a lot into the team (literally) and view it with a great sense of civic pride, with the team being perhaps the strongest unifying force in Los Angeles, specifically during the playoffs. Hard to explain unless you are a part of it, but it is true.

To people on the outside, it's just another big market team with drama.

I just like watching the zoo.

[Non Sequitur]

I think D'Antoni is a better fit for this team right now. The Lakers have a small window -- a year and a half and then it's over. The triangle offense isn't something the team is going to master within that window. Howard would have to learn it, and Nash would have to learn it. D'Antoni's offense, on the other hand, isn't that difficult to implement and nobody run's it better than Nash.

[Flystripper]

I think D'Antoni is a better fit for this team right now. The Lakers have a small window -- a year and a half and then it's over. The triangle offense isn't something the team is going to master within that window. Howard would have to learn it, and Nash would have to learn it. D'Antoni's offense, on the other hand, isn't that difficult to implement and nobody run's it better than Nash.

The offense will be great. I worry about playoff basketball though. I am not sure Antoni's system gives the Lakers the best chance to win given the current roster, but we will see. It might work, but it is far from certain.

[Surfah]

The offense will be great. I worry about playoff basketball though. I am not sure Antoni's system gives the Lakers the best chance to win given the current roster, but we will see. It might work, but it is far from certain.

I am hopeful that experience will help them come crunch time. That Kobe, Pau, MWP, Nash, and Jamison will know how to set up a half court offense and grind out games.

[TripletDaddy]

I suppose that if MIA can win a title in spite of Coach Spo, then LAL could win in spite of Mike D. Both teams are heavy with talent and MIA isn't exactly a lockdown defensive squad, either.

LAL should have made a run at Doc Rivers, if only to :stirthepot: in BOS for a few days.

[Surfah]

I suppose that if MIA can win a title in spite of Coach Spo, then LAL could win in spite of Mike D. Both teams are heavy with talent and MIA isn't exactly a lockdown defensive squad, either.

LAL should have made a run at Doc Rivers, if only to :stirthepot: in BOS for a few days.

I agree. At least put it out there in the media. Kind of like the Lakers going after Phil. I am convinced now that Jim never even considered Phil.

[Flystripper]

I agree. At least put it out there in the media. Kind of like the Lakers going after Phil. I am convinced now that Jim never even considered Phil.

I look to the future with trepidation. Jim does not have my confidence.

[TripletDaddy]

Jax's shadow will loom large over Mike D

One reason the Lakers and Phil Jackson worked so well together is that they looked at the world the same way: gazing down their nose at it.

It always seemed that the high chair Jackson was perched upon on the Lakers' bench, ostensibly to comfort his ailing hips, was a perfect metaphor. It was less a seat than a throne, a symbol of basketball royalty.

It was in keeping with a franchise for whom its front-row celebrities, its outrageous fortune in acquiring talent and (oh, yes) its 16 titles always seemed to be shouting out the same chorus: We are the Lakers and you are not.

And in case anyone needed a reminder, lo and behold, injured guard Steve Blake made it to a doctor's appointment Monday by catching a lift with Kobe Bryant . . . in his helicopter.

Is this how it works in Milwaukee?

The Lakers will find out soon enough if this is how it works with Mike D'Antoni, whom they shockingly hired late Sunday night instead of Jackson, who had led the franchise to five titles since 2000.

If you buy the version of the Lakers' coaching search — the one that everybody involved is backpedaling from — that Jackson severely overplayed his hand by asking for an obscene amount of money, control over personnel decisions, and relief from a schedule that might be strenuous for a 67-year-old with bad knees, artificial hips and a fused spine, then the rest of this season (and perhaps beyond) will be colored by this account.

Attached to each loss, each bit of stunted development, and each step that ultimately stands between the Lakers and an NBA title will be a price tag that the Lakers were not willing to pay and a simple question:

What would Phil have done?

It is not necessarily fair to D’Antoni, but it is the price of being royalty, where the opportunity is as great as the expectations and the world view is taken in looking down one’s nose.

[BGRTHNUMEGO]

I wonder if Kobe would've stayed closer to Danny Green on that last shot if he hadn't been so worried about chomping on his jersey. He dropped the jersey chew quickly once he got hung up on the screen.