Pringles To Save The Day?

NBA Rumors ‏@NBARUMORS
According to sources, Lakers have identified Mike D'Antoni as a possible replacement for current head coach Mike Brown.
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Whether you like D'Antoni or not, I think the bigger thing is, if this report is true, this will only snowball until Brown gets fired and it shows the Lakers aren't waiting for much longer.

Well it's not like we are playing good defense now anyway.

JLaker17 wrote:Well it's not like we are playing good defense now anyway.

Agreed. I know people are going to come in here and say that our defense will be horrific, while true compared to top defensive coaches, compared to Brown there won't be much drop off.

What exactly are we getting defensively from Brown? Nothing it's been terrible and him being labeled as a defensive coach is the biggest lie in sports. The dropoff between Brown to Pringles on the defensive end won't be that much, if at all.

Now offensively, Pringles blows Brown out of the water. Has Nash and Kobe's respect and he can probably manage a rotation unlike Potato.

Brown gives us nothing, Pringles would give us offense and a nice rotation. Bring in a defensive minded assistant coach (Rambis) and if we can play average defense, our team will be that much better.

At least they would have fun-- playing fast, free, and supporting each other. That alone would lead to better energy on defense and for rebounding. Lacking confidence is a big deal. Look at the confidence that nash gave to average (if that) guys like Dudley, Gortat, Frye, etc. Nash and Kobe respect him. And he knows how to manage minutes (he did it with Nash and others who were nursing injuries, etc.) and mix rotations (keeping starters with scrubs --often staying with only an 8 or 9 man rotation). Pringles would be fine with me.

And MOST IMPORTANTLY -- running offensive sets that the guys are comfortable with and enjoy would lead to much less turnovers (with more confidence in shots), and fewer turnovers makes the defensive much better.

The defense might actually be better off with D'Antoni...and it is not because of scheme or anything like that. Just think, only an idiot (Brown) would play 40+ minutes to guys like Kobe and Pau consistently, and also play Howard the same amount when he is just getting back into basketball shape. Our bench sucks right now point blank, but I do think they would improve (as anyone would) if they had "SET" roles and minutes (Meeks stated this early on). With a better rotation, and use of minutes it should allow for guys to play better defense, and overall better production. The players are most likely tired, and this is only going to get worse as the season goes on. It's pretty easy for other teams young guys (and even older who actually has a coach that can manage minutes) to score on our guys who have been played into the ground.

I'd rather not have any type of potatoes as coach.

Get Brown out of there. I don't mind if they run the Princeton offense. In fact, I think it's good for our personnel. But Brown's substitutions have been strange. He cannot manage minutes. He seemingly cannot command the respect of the team. And he is absolutely ineffective at making adjustments.

Something tells me that there would be immediate mutual respect between D'antoni and several current Lakers.

Magic Skywalker wrote:I'd rather not have any type of potatoes as coach.

Good one!

Kobe's always admired D'Antoni's open court ball... hoping Phil would actually let the Lakers run back then when Pringles was the West All-Stars coach. We'll finally get some returns from the Nash investment.

Not my first choice for his lack of philosophy on D, but he's miles better than Brown at this point. Maybe if Brown does get canned for him, one of the assistant coaches will be retained to handle the D. Shouldn't be too tough a task once Dwight is up to speed in his conditioning.

Also, might be a rumor now but after the inexplicable hiring of Potato Head... anything's possible at this point.

Now we can't bring a coach who runs a different system. Sloan would be good but we may have to forget abt this season then. Best solution will be makin eddie jordan the head coach and try him this year if it doesnt work then go after sloan in summer.

C'mon, Pringles made Quentin Richardson and look like a capable player, that means something...

Defensively, they are already beyond pathetic so there is literally no drop-off... Not a D'Antoni at all, but at least he can manage minutes, have a consistent rotation and players will not tune him out...

D'Antoni's system is as simple as it can get... plus he's got Nash to lead on the floor.



^^^Ironic it has purple & gold colors already!

juninho wrote:Now we can't bring a coach who runs a different system. Sloan would be good but we may have to forget abt this season then. Best solution will be makin eddie jordan the head coach and try him this year if it doesnt work then go after sloan in summer.

What system?

At this point, I will support anything that will make this team play better. And I do think they would play better under D'Antoni. His offense if effective and entertaining, if nothing else. But I do think he has some intangibles, would have an easier time commanding the respect of the players, his rotations would be a lot better (let's face it: your average CL poster would probably have better rotations then Brown) and I'm pretty sure he would not run the starters into the ground.

Look at us now: Kobe is hurting, Nash is out for "at least one week", which realistically means around two weeks. Pau is playing 40 a night and barely has any lift. Dwight was lucky to be in foul trouble so he got some rest.

And, please, look at this 5 Brown had on the floor last time:

PG: Morris
SG: Blake
SF: Metta
PF: Jamison
C: Hill

I'm not sure what he was thinking there. So, while I will say it again: I don't have a problem with the new offense, learning process and all that, I do have a problem with how he is managing the team, his rotations and him not being able to adjust during the game. So, I'll support Pringles instead of Brown, sure.

I wonder if Kobe and Nash have planted seeds with Mitch about Brown?

What must Nash feel? The ultimate professional and warrior. Comes here - a franchise he loved to compete against, hasn't won a single game, finds himself if swirls of drama and controversy, and now is injured. No fun or satisfaction at all.

Having Nash and Dwight and not focusing on PnR is stupid and a waste of talent. Kobe wanted this offense for his own selfish reasons - so he would be free in the offense and get good looks. This offense is ok for end of games and half court sets. But most of the game should be running and PnR with this talend.

They fire Brown and hire Pringles, I bet Jamison starts (Frye roll) and Gasol comes off the bench with Meeks, Blake, and Hill. As soon as they dump DJO for West, then we can run Nash more with the second unit guys and Kobe -- Nash, Meeks, Kobe, Hill and Dwight. Clark would be of use for running too.

Ron would be limited to closing game for defensive sets since he can't finish on the run and istnt a great spot up guy.

I hope this happens. I can't take Brown anymore and I want to see some joy in the Laker's faces.

Id take Pringles over Brown, but that says alot more about how terrible I think Brown is than me viewing Pringles positively.

I don't want D' Antoni. I want Brown gone but I think Pringles is just another bad idea. His teams play no defense and we are going to need defense if we are going to beat the elite teams in the playoffs: Spurs, OKC, Miami. The poor defense has been one of the most glaring problems so far this year.

In addition D' Antoni's run and gun is not going to work here with 2 7 footers, MWP and a thirty-five year old Kobe, not to mention a thirty-eight year old Nash who isn't getting any younger!

I know this is just a rumor floating around, but if it has any truth it will be another terrible Jim Buss coaching hire.

Why not go after Jerry Sloan? He's a defensive coach with an offensive system that will work with this personnel.

Sad state of affairs when anyone looks good compared to what we have. There are coaches out there with a winning record on their resume that would do better than Brown but wouldn't take us over the top. I think D'Antoni falls into that category as others have stated.

Personally, I'm hoping for Larry Brown or Jerry Sloan. Something though tells me Sloan wouldn't want this job for personal/lifestyle reasons. He doesn't seem like a big city kind of guy. He lives on a farm in the offseason. Spent all those years in Utah. Maybe I'm wrong. Both would be terrific in my opinion. Both preach defense and effort and keep it simple on offense. Both have commanded respect in this league.

I'd just let Eddie Jordan take over head coaching duties than hire Pringles.

The only coach I'd be interested in hiring is Sloan. Sloan ran a system offense in Utah. It's not what we run here, but he generally let his assistant coach (Phil Johnson) handle the offense and stuck to game management. I'm sure he'd have no problem letting Eddie Jordan do his thing.

^ Thing I don't like about Eddie Jordan is that the Princeton offense would still be here with him. I'd dump Brown, the Princeton, and any coach associated with the two.

Sloan would be best here...pick and roll...hard nosed defense. Let's get him a ring also

The Princeton isn't the problem. The problem is game management. Striking a balance between winning games and learning the offense.

I agree about Sloan. Better than both alternatives, probably. Commands respect. Knows how to use a great PnR guard and skilled big men, and can match wits and adjustments with guys like Pop, Doc, Karl, etc. But I am concerned that today's game -- small ball with speed and athleticis -- may be beyond his comfort zone and abilities to change with the times. Is that why he and D. Will butted heads? Among other reasons?

But D'Antoni, I think, would get more out of Jamison, Meeks, and Gasol. We know he would get more out of Nash than Brown. How would he use Kobe? Would be interesting. Kobe won't like playing JUST the Richardson/Hill/Ray Allen type rolls. I am sure he would use Kobe in many PnRs too.

I also think that D'Antoni would make Blake, DJO, Morris, and even Duhon useful players. Blake is limited becuase he has no floater and can't finish. But a guy like DJO -- that would be interesting. If not, we waive DJO and Morris and get West and Pietrus (remainder of exception).

Nash, West, Blake
Kobe, Meeks, West
Ron, Pietrus, Kobe
Jamison, Gasol, Hill
Howard, Gasol, Hill

Rotating those players (with limited-but-set rolls for Ron, Meeks, Pietrus, Hill, and Jamison) would be effective and keep our stars fresh. I would like to see this happen. I have been depressed watching the Lakers since Brown took over. The Buss family can't be happy with the lack of entertaining play AND wins.

Can we play that 1990 Loyola Marymount style of offense? You know, full court press, if they get it past half court they get an easy basket, but they gotta run for 48 minutes with us and we win 160 point type games.