Much has been written about the 2012-2013 Lakers and let’s face it, there’s a lot to talk about. The team made a few blockbuster movies during the offseason when they acquired Steve Nash and Dwight Howard, but so far they have yet to live up to the standards that so many placed upon them. I must commend them for their removal of Mike Brown, albeit it may not have been the most cordial of dismissals. Five games is a fairly small sample to use as your timetable when considering the termination of your head coach. However, it was the right decision. Mike Brown is not a good coach. While in Cleveland, he celebrated a much overrated tenure under the stewardship of a guy named Lebron James. Now, those Cleveland teams weren’t what a lot of NBA pundits would have you believe they were. They were not deep teams, and for the most part were not comprised of good players surrounding Lebron. I mean come on, remember when Mo Williams was an allstar simply by being associated with Lebron? I digress, back to the Lakers, Mike Brown was an extremely bad decision in the first place, which was later rectified by his removal. When faced with the decision of whom to choose as Brown’s replacement there were really only two primary candidates. The first, was none other than Phil Jackson, 13 year coach of the Lakers and 11 time overall NBA championship coach. The other guy was Mike D’Antoni.
The Lakers chose D’Antoni.
Unfortunately, for the rest of this article it’s going to seem as if I think everyone involved with the Lakers’ current situation is overrated, but hey, such is the case. Phil Jackson is overrated. Let me repeat that. Phil Jackson is overrated. Has Jackson ever had any ounce of success with a team that wasn’t absolutely stocked with the NBA’s best players? Of course you can say, “Well who has?” Look at Popovich’s Spurs right now. Do they have any business being as good as they are? Look at how Doc Rivers has held his Celtics together time and time again. Look at the Bulls, THEY HAVEN”T HAD DERRICK ROSE ALL SEASON! Yet Tom Thibodeau has them at the 5th seed in the East. When Phil’s teams aren’t absolutely stacked, he’s a pretty mediocre coach. Having said that, the Lakers were absolutely foolish not to put him in the driver’s seat once Brown was dismissed. Jackson just works with the Lakers and almost more importantly, he works with Kobe. Too much importance is often placed on chemistry, but not in this case. The Lakers have a lot of egos, none larger than Mr. Bryant’s, this is Phil’s craft, managing personalities. He may not be an X’s and O’s mastermind, but Phil will keep the ship afloat. The idea that the Lakers passed on Phil Jackson to this day perplexes me.
Mike D’Antoni is supremely overrated. Mike D’Antoni’s Suns teams were a lot of fun to watch. They had a ridiculously fun style to behold, with a group of likable players, none more so than his point guard Steve Nash. For three years they won their division and twice made it to the Western Conference Finals, D’Antoni was also coach of the year for the 2004-2005 season. I forget though, how many championships did they win? How many finals appearances did they have? Oh yeah, none. Sure championships aren’t the only measure of success, unless of course you’re talking about the Los Angeles Lakers. The NBA franchise with the second most banners, 11 in all (That’s right 11, not 16, sorry Lakers fans you don’t get to count the championships in Minneapolis, the team made the poor decision not to change the name clearly centered around the Great Lakes region in Minnesota, you don’t get points for lack of creativity. How many banners do the Thunder have, none, but Seattle has one and that’s where the team came from. Game. Set. Match). Let’s not even discuss the mess that was his tenure with the Knicks, who needs defense anyways right?
The recent Lakers teams have been so successful due to their huge height advantage over their opponents. That guy named Kobe didn’t hurt either. What does D’Antoni decide to do, play Pau Gasol very limited minutes, at points almost benching him. Great thinking Mike! D’Antoni has since changed his stance and Gasol is getting on the court when healthy, but these are the kind of mistakes that cost games. These are adjustments Jackson would have known not to make, thus placing the Lakers in a more favorable playoff seed. D’Antoni is in love with Steve Nash and so were many NBA fans… 5 or 6 years ago. Nash is not going to be the wheel and deal point guard of old and running the offense through him is a mistake. Nash is still a great shooter though, and this should be his most used asset.
Kobe’s gonna Kobe. Let him do what he does. Forget all the nonsense of him playing point guard, defending point guards, all of it, he’s a 2 guard and one of the best players in the NBA. Don’t fix what isn’t broken.
Which brings us to this guy…
He only gets the little clown nose because, although a distraction, he is still putting up decent numbers, not superstar numbers by any means, but solid. Anyone surprised by Dwight’s near bipolar mood swings and withering in big moments, should be ashamed of themselves. He want’s the glory and the fame but will never do what it takes to earn it. Yet still, Dwight is not the main issue here.
Mike D’Antoni, I’m surprised he has lasted as long as he has. I’ve said before, and I still say that the Lakers will make the playoffs. They could even potentially give the spurs a little trouble, not the Thunder, but make no mistake about it, they will lose that first round series. That’s when the fun begins for Lakers fans. Phil Jackson will be available and you better believe he will let that be known to Mitch Kupchak. The Lakers made the mistake of giving D’Antoni a 3 year deal, however, money has never been a concern for the Lakers. Will they cut their losses on the deal, sign Phil and make one more run before Kobe fades off into NBA history? Only time will tell, but I can’t lie I really hope they do, it’s just more interesting that way.
