Lakers Fire Mike Brown

[HayGator]

http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/story/_/id/8610888/los-angeles-lakers-fired-coach-mike-brown-source-says

Kobe says c'ya!

[deebo65]

beat me to it. Damnit man. That being said, not surprised at this move at all.

[RattlerGator]

CRAZY !!! So, the speculation is they're bringing Phil back. Ho hum.

[HayGator]

Phil's burnt..... weed

[ThePlayer]

Love seeing the Fakers struggle.

Let the Kardashians coach 'em.

[REM08]

^^^^ I love it also.

The NBA is a players league. There are a small handful of NBA coaches with true power.

[ThePlayer]

^^^^ I love it also.

The NBA is a players league. There are a small handful of NBA coaches with true power.

I love how you lose at one place in the NBA...and then get a new job a year or two later.
The NBA loves a proven loser.

[bakaduin]

I do feel like Mike Brown is a poor coach but this seems like a move of desperation. I imagine with more time the team would gel no matter who the coach is.

I don't know that there is a sport in which the coach is less valuable than NBA basketball.

[PowerGator]

I do feel like Mike Brown is a poor coach but this seems like a move of desperation. I imagine with more time the team would gel no matter who the coach is.

I don't know that there is a sport in which the coach is less valuable than NBA basketball.

1. Baseball
2. Basketball.

A close second.

[gatordd]

Mike Brown cannot coach offense. Especially when he needs to be crative with so many players needing the ball

[ArtVandelay]

Lakers ownership made clear that buying out the remaining three years on Brown's original $18 million, four-year contract wasn't an obstacle to making a coaching change.

Poor Mike. He get $13.5 million to not work.

[gatordee]

So is Mike the real loser here?

[ThePlayer]

So is Mike the real loser here?

No, America is....because they don't get to witness Kobe and his Fakers implode.

[HayGator]

1. Baseball
2. Basketball.

A close second.

Rays Joe Maddon is very important to that franchise, but generally I would have to agree.

[SwampFox]

Stan VG is awaiting the calll... :grin:

[ThePlayer]

Stan VG is awaiting the calll... :grin:

Unavailable...he does my taxes.

[NitroSmoke]

So much for the "vote of confidence" he got yesterday from Buss. As usual, that is the kiss of death.

[regurgigator]

I do feel like Mike Brown is a poor coach but this seems like a move of desperation. I imagine with more time the team would gel no matter who the coach is.

I don't know that there is a sport in which the coach is less valuable than NBA basketball.


The coach is not as important in basketball as in football (not sure about baseball), but as a Heat fan, I'm hoping the Lakers don't bring back Phil! :grin:


Maybe more importantly, as someone who respects Kobe as a great player but doesn't think he belongs anywhere near discussions about GOAT players, I hope they don't find a coach that can help get these Lakers to a championship. The whole "Kobe won 6 rings" thing and the inevitable comparisons to Jordan would be torture. And, I'm sure I'd hear them the rest of my life :sick:

[bakaduin]

The coach is not as important in basketball as in football (not sure about baseball), but as a Heat fan, I'm hoping the Lakers don't bring back Phil! :grin:


Maybe more importantly, as someone who respects Kobe as a great player but doesn't think he belongs anywhere near discussions about GOAT players, I hope they don't find a coach that can help get these Lakers to a championship. The whole "Kobe won 6 rings" thing and the inevitable comparisons to Jordan would be torture. And, I'm sure I'd hear them the rest of my life :sick:

IMO basketball coaching at the NBA level is 80% keeping egos in check and 20% actual coaching. There is no other sport where all star players can dominate like bball.

[NorthCaptivaGator]

Do they make one more run at coach K, he has the NCAA ring, the gold medal, only thing left is the trophy?

[GatrHeel]

Do they make one more run at coach K, he has the NCAA ring, the gold medal, only thing left is the trophy?

I don't have any lost love for Coach K, but the timing of this makes me think they don't have a shot at him. There's no way he'd do that to Duke with a brand new season starting tonight. Maybe after the season, but not now.

With the Laker's payroll, I'd bet they're looking for a big name post haste. They won't wait.

I'd also bet they had someone (not sure who) in mind before they took such a drastic step.

[ThePlayer]

Do they make one more run at coach K, he has the NCAA ring, the gold medal, only thing left is the trophy?

He's not anywhere but Duke in your lifetime.

[Singaporegator]

There are a (very) few coaches that actually make a difference in the NBA. Phil Jackson is certainly one. The Lakers could not win with Shaq & Kobe until the Zen Master joined . Pat Riley i think is another who made a difference. He was an essential part of the Showtime Lakers. I think Pop is another one. Who else? Sloan, but he never won it all. Don't know about Kobe in the GOAT discussion but who is the GCAT? Got to be Phil.

[Jaggator]

Calipari is available if they're ready to pay him 8 million per year to leave Kentucky.

[Juggernautz]

That didn't take long!

[madgator]

The Lakers are an abortion of a roster....short of Phil Jackson or Pat Riley there is nothing that will save this group.

5-6 seed in the playoffs tops. Either OKC or SA will make the finals

Miami Heat are going to win again this year.

[sleeze]

There are a (very) few coaches that actually make a difference in the NBA. Phil Jackson is certainly one. The Lakers could not win with Shaq & Kobe until the Zen Master joined . Pat Riley i think is another who made a difference. He was an essential part of the Showtime Lakers. I think Pop is another one. Who else? Sloan, but he never won it all. Don't know about Kobe in the GOAT discussion but who is the GCAT? Got to be Phil.

I hope they dont bet Sloan or Phil.

Those 2 coaches can certainly make the difference.

[Singaporegator]

I hope they dont bet Sloan or Phil.

Those 2 coaches can certainly make the difference.

If Phil is willing it is an absolute no brainer. No other coach can command this team of egos just by walking into the locker room.

[tilly]

ESPN reporting that Phil is interested....but as an Orlando fan, I hope they implode...I hope that Howard finds the grass is browner on the other side.

[rserina]

I posted a thread over the off-season expressing skepticism about their move to the Princeton, and that was before they brought in Howard. It just isn't a good fit for most teams, especially when you have a great pick and roll point guard, iso scoring guard, and low post finisher in Howard. Not sure the triangle is much better, either.

Regardless, I thought it was pretty sophomoric to dump him this early. The Lakers did a terrible job of managing everything since Jackson retired, from the Brown hire to the failure to upgrade the roster last year to this debacle. I feel bad for Brown because he is an outstanding defensive coach who has kind of been put in two unbelievably mismanaged organizations.

[twodaparty]

^^ Don't feel too bad for him. Dude is walking away with some nice $ as a parting gift...

[number1]

The Lakers are an abortion of a roster....short of Phil Jackson or Pat Riley there is nothing that will save this group.

5-6 seed in the playoffs tops. Either OKC or SA will make the finals

Miami Heat are going to win again this year.

So just forget all about Jerry Sloan?

[chompalot]

I posted a thread over the off-season expressing skepticism about their move to the Princeton, and that was before they brought in Howard. It just isn't a good fit for most teams, especially when you have a great pick and roll point guard, iso scoring guard, and low post finisher in Howard. Not sure the triangle is much better, either.

Regardless, I thought it was pretty sophomoric to dump him this early. The Lakers did a terrible job of managing everything since Jackson retired, from the Brown hire to the failure to upgrade the roster last year to this debacle. I feel bad for Brown because he is an outstanding defensive coach who has kind of been put in two unbelievably mismanaged organizations.

Triangle would be great for Howard...not so much for Nash.

[rserina]

Triangle would be great for Howard...not so much for Nash.
I don't know. Shaq was actually a pretty good passer and decision maker on the low blocks, not to mention had a better back to the basket game than Howard does. We can at least agree that you can't quite find much worse of a system for Howard than the high post motion.

[corpgator]

Great, they get Jackson back.

You could argue that in the NBA, the coach doesn't matter, but then when you look at coaches to actually win a championship, you see that only good ones do. Well, except for Spoelstra. When you have the best player in the game by a mile, it's easy.

[rserina]

Great, they get Jackson back.

You could argue that in the NBA, the coach doesn't matter, but then when you look at coaches to actually win a championship, you see that only good ones do. Well, except for Spoelstra. When you have the best player in the game by a mile, it's easy.
Spoelstra is hardly a bad coach. I don't know why some insist he is. The guy turned around the post-Shaq Heat and made then decent despite terrible personnel decisions, then he found a way to get a terribly ill-fitted set of stars to mesh over two years with one of the more creative hoops schemes since Tex Winter or Pete Carrill.

[sleeze]

Spoelstra is hardly a bad coach. I don't know why some insist he is. The guy turned around the post-Shaq Heat and made then decent despite terrible personnel decisions, then he found a way to get a terribly ill-fitted set of stars to mesh over two years with one of the more creative hoops schemes since Tex Winter or Pete Carrill.

Agreed,,,, Spoelstra is a creative and good coach.

[chompalot]

I don't know. Shaq was actually a pretty good passer and decision maker on the low blocks, not to mention had a better back to the basket game than Howard does. We can at least agree that you can't quite find much worse of a system for Howard than the high post motion.

Good thing that with the triangle, Howard would be positioned down on the strong-side block. He probably wouldn't be doing much pick-and-roll, but he can be pretty devastating down low--requiring a double team.

[corpgator]

Spoelstra is hardly a bad coach. I don't know why some insist he is. The guy turned around the post-Shaq Heat and made then decent despite terrible personnel decisions, then he found a way to get a terribly ill-fitted set of stars to mesh over two years with one of the more creative hoops schemes since Tex Winter or Pete Carrill.

Yeah, he's a good coach, but he's not in the league of Jackson or Popovich, but who is? In the end, I think NBA coaches do matter, but you still have to have the talent. There's no other league where there is so much talent constantly on the court/field at one time as in Basketball.

Every team is stocked full of talent, so only the ones with good coaches win it all.

[madgator]

So just forget all about Jerry Sloan?

I didn't even know he as an option....thought he was officially done

[madgator]

Spoelstra is hardly a bad coach. I don't know why some insist he is. The guy turned around the post-Shaq Heat and made then decent despite terrible personnel decisions, then he found a way to get a terribly ill-fitted set of stars to mesh over two years with one of the more creative hoops schemes since Tex Winter or Pete Carrill.

I agree that Spo is a good coach but to say that it took an act of genius in order to make what they have work.

that grouping is FAR from ill-fitting....

[Dreamliner]

Dwight Howard shows up and another coach is fired. Coincidence ?

[rserina]

I agree that Spo is a good coach but to say that it took an act of genius in order to make what they have work.

that grouping is FAR from ill-fitting....
First of all, I never said it was an act of genius. But tell me how many other teams have tried to go "positionless." Rivers couldn't do it and that's one of the reasons Allen left.

Second, the 2010-11 team was very ill-fitting. Your two best players (James and Wade) were both ball dominating wings who can't spot up. You had very little floor spacing at all because the fives (Anthony, Dampier, Ilgauskus) had limited range and were fairly to terribly slow footed. Your third and fourth best players were both fours, neither being a good rebounder or ball screen defender. They desperately needed a point guard who could shoot, which is why they made Bibby their starter after picking him up midseason. That team was ill-conceived and ill-fitting and lost when it faced a team in Dallas with the offensive balance to expose mismatches and the presence around the rim to defend the finishing abilities of James and Wade.

Then last year they failed to upgrade their two weakest positions (one, five) and brought another wing in Battier while returning one from injury in Miller, giving them a surplus of twos, threes, and fours. Spoelstra did a great job in my opinion of convincing that frontline of Bosh, James, and Battier what "positionless" responsibilities would mean for them and it resulted in a pretty impressive championship run, despite injuries to two of its three best players.

[NorthCaptivaGator]

Great, they get Jackson back.

You could argue that in the NBA, the coach doesn't matter, but then when you look at coaches to actually win a championship, you see that only good ones do. Well, except for Spoelstra. When you have the best player in the game by a mile, it's easy.

Unless your Mike Brown, I guess, and Eric Spoelstra the first time

[madgator]

First of all, I never said it was an act of genius. But tell me how many other teams have tried to go "positionless." Rivers couldn't do it and that's one of the reasons Allen left.

Second, the 2010-11 team was very ill-fitting. Your two best players (James and Wade) were both ball dominating wings who can't spot up. You had very little floor spacing at all because the fives (Anthony, Dampier, Ilgauskus) had limited range and were fairly to terribly slow footed. Your third and fourth best players were both fours, neither being a good rebounder or ball screen defender. They desperately needed a point guard who could shoot, which is why they made Bibby their starter after picking him up midseason. That team was ill-conceived and ill-fitting and lost when it faced a team in Dallas with the offensive balance to expose mismatches and the presence around the rim to defend the finishing abilities of James and Wade.

Then last year they failed to upgrade their two weakest positions (one, five) and brought another wing in Battier while returning one from injury in Miller, giving them a surplus of twos, threes, and fours. Spoelstra did a great job in my opinion of convincing that frontline of Bosh, James, and Battier what "positionless" responsibilities would mean for them and it resulted in a pretty impressive championship run, despite injuries to two of its three best players.


What you are talking about are issues involving personnel and their individual limitations and not necessarily the system that was being employed.

My opinion has been that the NBA has effectively been "positionless" since pretty much the mid '90s. Once the great center run of the '80s and early '90s guys were gone. The league has revolved around the pick and roll. Which means you have to have a top notch ball handler (could be a PG but not necessary). You need a athletic/versatile big man that can knock down an 18 footer. And you need a dependable outside shooter. Now preferably the outside shooter is 6'6+ more for defensive purposes.

is that a universal rule? no, of course not. But the point is that many teams have been successful without utilizing traditional personnel/positional uses.

Offensive systems are designed to create mismatches. When you have LeBron James on your team, I don't care who else you have. You automatically have a mismatch and a HUGE one at that. Dwayne Wade is another player that gives you a advantages in mismatches. They don't have to be "PGs" just guys who can create mismatches and make good decisions. Again, it doesn't have to be a traditional PG.


I think this whole "postionless" label is basically ridiculous to be honest with you. When you have 2 guys that are natural on the ball mismatch creators and argubly the best pick and roll 4 man in the NBA. You're going to be really good not matter what. I don't care what system you play or what you want to call it.

Kind of like the triangle offense. That "system" is really easy to look good considering the cast of players that you have had running it.

Jordan and Pippen
Bryant and Shaq
Bryant and Gasol

all hall of famers and 3 of those 5 are considered top 10 all time NBA players. So what is it really? The system or that fact that you had great players in the primes of their careers running it?


As for the Heat. The only real differences between year 1 and year 2 were defensive improvements in the surrounding cast, more dependable outside shooting, and the fact that LeBron didn't defer to Wade down the stretch in year 2.


The Heat were at their best last year when James had the ball and every one just got the hell out of the way. There was nothing really that complicated about it. That's why I said it didn't take genius.