Mike Brown FIRED!!! (pg 126 via USA TODAY)

Give it up to the guy. Even through all of the distractions of the trade rumors and the failed CP3 trade he has managed to turn our team into a blue collar, hard working hustling team that busts its azz. We may have trouble executing plays but there hasn't been a question about effort on this team

2009/2010 we had a damn good defensive team but they never played suffocating defense like they do this year. Our team defense has been a huge reason why we won the last 2 games. You could say he has revived Ron's career by moving him to the 6th man role and making him responsible for the bench production and Ron has taken it well.

Good start for Brown. Kobe respects him and the team is responding to him so to that hats off

Not yet...

I like the D a lot, and I do appreciate that we have a renewed energy. Now the offense really needs some work. Perhaps it'll look better with Bynum out there.

So far, I've seen things I like and don't like. First and foremost, I love that he preaches defense. I see him up doing some actual coaching during the game. From what I've read, he's only taught 1/3 of the offense so far. That's encouraging. I also love him moving Ron to the lowpost. He's a bull on the low block and with him feeling involved and making shots, his confidence is growing and his shots are in rhythm.

What I don't like is the game 2 (Sacramento) substitutions. If it was a one game experiment, knowing the players would be dead tired for game 3 and 4, I'll give him a pass. If it was to figure things out, Stevie Wonder could see it wasn't gonna get figured out. I also don't understand why Barnes hasn't played in 2 of the games. Last but not least, he needs to reign Kobe in some. I'm as big a Kobe homer as anyone here, but the TOs and shot selection needs to be addressed. We have some guys who can really shoot and are open, but Kobe is going one on three. He needs to nip it now.

I already appreciate him 100% more than I did when I heard the news of his hire.

Yeah I'm starting to like his defensive approach but his rotation is bugging the hell out me...

Barnes should start, if he's not going to, bring him off the bench with Ron, Murph, Bob, Blake. Use Kapono situationally, not Barnes.

He's a huge geek. Like really, a huge awkward dude in interviews, but he's doing some things I like on the court, so I'll pass on hating.

Center Court wrote:Barnes should start.

To be honest I dont think he has a set rotation outside of the starters and Blake, Artest and McRoberts, hes gonna go 11-12 deep and use the right guys depending on the matchup. Tonight the Knicks went small so he used the speed lineup of Blake, Barnes, Kobe and Artest out there if we go up against a big lineup like Memphis or OKC you might see more Murphy in there

What I like is that I don't see the difference between 1st and 2nd team. Both are productive on both ends of the floor.

It's nice to have a coach who is actually coaching during the game ... the titles obviously speak for Phil but there wasn't anything more annoying than Phil being as lazy and indifferent on the bench as the team was on the floor ... Brown takes timeouts when needed ..

I was not as against this hire as everyone else because I wanted to give him a chance.

So far I've seen a lot of things that I like. He knows what he's doing defensively. This team really doesn't have the pieces to be a good defensive team but he's doing a great job of teaching them ways to be effective. When Bynum comes back this team can be a defensive juggler knot.

His rotations aren't great and I'm nervous about it if it continues. Also his offense is iffy. I think with the talent on this team, it's possible to have an offense that's not top notch and these guys will find ways to score. We've got an incredibly smart team for the first time in a long time and I'm excited to see these guys continue.

I like this: his team is playing hard. Guys fight for every ball; they don't look disinterested on the court. They play good defense and you can clearly see the effort. I really appreciate it as a fan.

I must admit I am growing to like him. At first I wasn't very hopeful and definitely was never shy to bash the guy when he was in Cleveland, but he's proving himself in LA. I feel like he not only knows he has big shoes to fill but he also has the live up to expectations of coaching the best franchise in the NBA. He can no longer coast through and ride LeBron while beating up on mediocre teams, he actually is SUPPOSED to win a title and his effort and enthusiasm seem to show it.

John3:16 wrote:So far, I've seen things I like and don't like. First and foremost, I love that he preaches defense. I see him up doing some actual coaching during the game. From what I've read, he's only taught 1/3 of the offense so far. That's encouraging. I also love him moving Ron to the lowpost. He's a bull on the low block and with him feeling involved and making shots, his confidence is growing and his shots are in rhythm.

What I don't like is the game 2 (Sacramento) substitutions. If it was a one game experiment, knowing the players would be dead tired for game 3 and 4, I'll give him a pass. If it was to figure things out, Stevie Wonder could see it wasn't gonna get figured out. I also don't understand why Barnes hasn't played in 2 of the games. Last but not least, he needs to reign Kobe in some. I'm as big a Kobe homer as anyone here, but the TOs and shot selection needs to be addressed. We have some guys who can really shoot and are open, but Kobe is going one on three. He needs to nip it now.

Agree with this, especially the underlined part.

I was waiting on someone to start a thread like this. It's refreshing to see Brown's rotations and him actually playing young guys like Ebanks and Goudelock. Phil is still Phil, but it's been fun watching Brown thus far.

Mike Brown's ability and competence as a regular season coach has never been in question.

I'm just praying this guy has an answer for the Heat.

Good writing is good wherever you find it and often it gets shared back and forth between LG and CL and vice versa. Here's a great post on the Brown hiring from HBA....when it went down, and the thread was appropriately bumped again today:

Posted: Wed May 25, 2011 1:59 pm Post subject: Lakers Organization Valuing Defense over Offense

"I was sick yesterday and out of it and way too busy with work until about 1 hour ago, when a friend of mine sent me a blackberry text with one word: Brown. I became ecstatic.

Gentlemen, today is a good day in Lakers History. Or perhaps yesterday, more accurately. The Lakers as an organization have long been known for their Hollywood style and their entertainment value. But, let's be honest, nothing entertains more than winning and this past season, we failed to do that with a payroll befitting a champion.

As Mike Brown was hired, the Lakers chose, or perhaps Jim Buss convinced his father that, maybe it was time to change the culture of what this Lakers team has always been known for first. With the hiring of Brown, we now know one thing and one thing clearly, the Lakers value Defense first over Offense. That's not to suggest offense won't be valued. We shouldn't worry about Mike Brown's capabilities as an offensive coach because we know he will hire an offense assistant. It will be incumbent on him to do so. If reports are true about this coach in Europe, then offense will indeed still be a factor, but just a different form of it. But what we will know as fans, when we go into any game or series, is that our defense will be a constant because the head coach demands it. More practice time dedicated to it. More focused teachings and more studying of opponents. Players will be held accountable.

Before I sign off this post, I want to remind you of a game and two series that stick out for me:

Lebron 2/18 points, 10 turnovers in game 1 of the 2007/2008 2nd round. The Cavaliers had the lead with under a minute to play and if not for PJ Brown making that jumper, the Cavs likely win. The score in that game: 74-72. That's how difficult it was to score. That team took the Celtics to 7 games and nearly won. It was Lebron and by all accounts a bunch of hustle, defensive role players. Recall we only took the same Celtics team to 6 games and had we been able to simply defend our 24 point game 4 lead, we likely may have won that series. We have far more offensive talent to tap into to produce a better outcome than that with not much worse defensive talent if any.

And then there's the performance of that same Cavalier team in 2006/2007. They beat Detroit and went to the Finals and faced San Antonio. YOu could say they got swept and such. But the fact is, that team shouldn't have been there to begin with. They weren't good enough. People may cite Lebron going off, but I cite the fact that he was able to do that and his team still played phenomenal defense. Kobe has gone off before in losses. Game 5 in Boston most recently. Only for us to get no stops to help erase the deficit. That's one example of many of a Kobe game where Kobe goes off, but the stops are nowhere to be found to allow a comeback.

Those are two examples of teams Brown coaches with inferior talent. Should we presume that all the credit goes to Lebron. And if so, then what credit should a coach vs. his players have. Lest we forget, before Brown, Lebron was a mock defensively. And so were the Cavs contending chances. Before we go dismissing the hiring of Brown, we should first learn what he will do for a team armed with a plethora of offensive weapons, but no ability to get the defensive stops it needs when those offensive options fail to come to fruition.

Today is a good day to be a Lakers fan, and for once, I am proud to say I am. Kobe or no Kobe!!"

I didn't really down the hire much to begin with.. My first thought was our offense will be ok no matter what.. He addresses our defensive issues.. & that seems to be the case.. Loving his rotations too sans Luke still seeing the court

karacha wrote:I like this: his team is playing hard. Guys fight for every ball; they don't look disinterested on the court. They play good defense and you can clearly see the effort. I really appreciate it as a fan.

This!

My only real complaint is that it seems Kobe is working to hard to get his on the offensive end. This might be because of missing Andrew as an inside offensive source, or just Kobe eager to show his stuff after the long offseason and having something to prove after the sweep. But just the same, i don't want him to have to do so much on the offensive end all season long. no matter how miraculous his surgeries were.

otherwise, really liking the mentality and effort of the team.

I'm waiting to see how he'll manage Andrew's come back in the starting lineup. Andrew and Pau have never played well together.

Drew in his usual honest self assessment mode said:

"I won't be able to play major minutes at this point," Bynum said. "I'll be a little bit winded, probably. So, I'm going to be out there working on my game."

To which Brown said:

"He better be ready. Obviously, if he can't go then I'll take him out, but I'm not going to ease him in to nothing. There's no easing in to anything for him."

I like this tough love approach on Brown's part. But I am thinking that Brown needs to watch Drew's fatigue factor carefully because when you get fatigued is the time your chances of getting injured skyrocket. We obviously do not need Drew getting injured. So play him the minutes, but maybe shuffle him in and out a bit to give him some quick rests.

It's also funny that after the last game, Kobe made a crack about Drew "earning his money". I think what Kobe meant there was that Drew wasn't going to get the kid glove/limited minutes treatment anymore. He's now a full time starter who plays typical starter minutes (35 minutes a game).

I sensed a little resentment there on Kobe's part. You can tell that Drew has a ways to go earn Kobe's respect. It's understandable.

As for Drew...I appreciate his honesty. But the time for talk is over. Just shut up and play.

This is good for Bynum. I don't think Phil used him to his full potential.