Reaction To Kobe Bryant Interview...

^ Besides Brown I think our coaching staff is actually excellent. Chuck is a great assistant coach. Bickerstaff and Eddie Jordan have both seen success as head coaches and they make excellent assistants. I'm missing someone...

Kobe's the man.

A big concern of mines was maybe MB micro-managing the offense and thus limiting Nash from doing what he does, but they have both said once again that Nash can do his thing down, but for now Nash prefers to get the Princeton down as soon as possible first.

Sounds like the guys have confidence in the offense and where they'll stand once everyone is comfortable running it. I share that confidence.

Brown probably wont be replaced anytime soon, so he could help get the team on the right track by validating his reputation for being a defensive coach and get a grip on the freaking rotations. I cant say I have alot of faith that that will happen, but he does have a solid coaching staff backing him, and KG did assure me that anything's possible(eeeee!!!!!), so Im hoping.

Tobias Funke wrote:Brown probably wont be replaced anytime soon, so he could help get the team on the right track by validating his reputation for being a defensive coach and get a grip on the freaking rotations. I cant say I have alot of faith that that will happen, but he does have a solid coaching staff backing him, and KG did assure me that anything's possible(eeeee!!!!!), so Im hoping.

This... If he were to get fired, in my opinion it'd have nothing to do with the offense and everything to do with his awful rotations and the struggling defense.

My main problem is not when a defense gets beat. There's no defense that will work 100% of the time. But the problems I see with this defense are the same as they've been since Brown took over. The same exact holes and the same exact problems. Namely pick and roll D and passing big men. Passing big men kill us. I think the pick and roll D will get better as Howard starts getting his timing back, but the rest is up to Brown to make adjustments... I'm sick of seeing the same issues defensively...

I don't necessarily have a problem with the offense alone, it's how Nash is being used, Metta having the ball too much, terrible bench rotations, not giving bench guys consistent minutes, playing guys out of position, never making adjustments, bad defense, and riding guys like Pau into the ground. But hey, all we need out there is simply more effort right guys! The offense will take care of itself, we just need more effort on defense, another gem from the brilliant mind of coach Brown.

kray28 wrote:Kobe isn't really justified in telling us to "shut up". We're the paying fans, we pay with our wallets and our emotional investment. We have a right to voice our concerns. We have a right to be skeptical.

Aside from that, I would agree that he makes a somewhat compelling argument. It's just that it's kind of hard to swallow with Brown and the coaching staff we have.

^^ It's ironic because you Kray, almost always have Kobe's back - so you know something is amiss here. Yeah, I agree, I think it's a bit condescending of Kobe to say it. I get his frustration, but I think it's misdirected. The team is losing and it's disorganized. You can blame it on lack of chemistry thus far, and I know that there is truth in that. But man, the coaching has just been terrible. And you can't really get past that. And it dates back to last year as well.

At some point in time if it isn't working out you just have to recognize it and move on to whatever's next. I don't know what is going to happen here, but it reminds me so much of the Del Harris years and subsequent firing. The difference between now and then is that we don't have the luxury of time in Kobe's final years to be jerking around with offensive experiments, not to mention disorganization on the defensive end. Laker fans expect more than this.

It is normal for the fans to be worried. Or just disappointed. So, I'll have to disagree with Kobe here. At least partially.

Maybe they know what they are doing; they can see their own progress in practice etc. -- but we don't see it, so we're kind of left in dark. And that obviously results in frustration.

Additionally, while he does make some good points, I think it would be more logical to use some easier plays such as devastating P&R to build the lead, and mix it with some Princeton as well, so they can become more comfortable in real game situation. Then, continue working on the new offense in practice, and once you think it's truly ready, show other teams what you got and destroy them in the process. Also, tell the bench to use the Princeton as much as possible, and mix it up with some iso plays for Jamison and P&R for Pau and Dwight if they are playing with the bench. I am one of the first people here to say -- I understand the need for the system; our bench benefits from it, and Nash ball is not enough come playoffs (or if he, god forbid, goes down). I get it.

But here is something Kobe does not address: their horrendous communication on defense, which results in us losing games. Yes, they are scoring on the offensive end. Efficiently, as he says. Why? Because, for god's sake, you have 2 of the top 5 players in the league on the floor, an all-star 1 & 4 etc. Of course you can score (on talent alone). But this is not enough since your defense is atrocious (Metta and Dwight don't communicate well, Pau doesn't have a clue what's happening, and you, Kobe, are also to blame for your 'lazy, gambling D' approach (I know you're reading this ). Sorry, but it's true. This needs to be fixed, and I know it will be, but let's not pretend we're fools who can't see it.

Additionally, Brown's rotations... what's up with that? One game, play Meeks (who is a good player), and in the other game, take away his minutes so you can play Ebanks out of position. Also, Jamison. What's up with that? Mix 2 starters with the bench and let the guys play their natural roles at SG, SF and PF.

Basically, he makes some good points, but conveniently skips these other issues. Shut up Kobe, and put a good product on the floor.

mike brown will ruin Meeks and Ebanks. It has already started. play Jamison at the 4 and you get to play both Meeks and Ebanks. his rotations are beyond terrible and that will never change...he has backups for Kobe but won't play them...just bc bball players are cocky and have huge egos and think they can play 40 mins a night doesn't mean mike brown should let them. that's the difference between a coach who played in the nba and one that didn't. players won't respect you unless you've got rings and you won't be able to understand how players think and what they need. one of the biggest probls I think mike brown has is that he didn't play and thus leading to a ton of problems

Weezy wrote:I don't necessarily have a problem with the offense alone, it's how Nash is being used, Metta having the ball too much, terrible bench rotations, not giving bench guys consistent minutes, playing guys out of position, never making adjustments, bad defense, and riding guys like Pau into the ground. But hey, all we need out there is simply more effort right guys! The offense will take care of itself, we just need more effort on defense, another gem from the brilliant mind of coach Brown.

Especially on fast breaks. Give up the rock man, you'll get it back... maybe. But seriously, I'm cool with the offense. It after all help the Nets reach the finals two years in a row. They just happened to run into a couple of hall-of-fame coaches that kept them from winning it all. I know this team will be very good with this offense once they learn it making them very hard to defend. But I agree, the defense or lack of it, second chance points, and turnovers is what's really frustrating to watch. It doesn't matter how much talent you have, but when you turn the ball over 24 times, your chances of winning are slim. If they can at the very least cut that aspect of their game down, they will win some games.

I just watched some video (Skipp and Smith) on ESPN and I agree with Kobe - patience ... but I can also see some truth to what Skipp was saying ... triangle unlike priceton allowed more modifications IMO (it could be static at times, it could be fast and fluid, posting and such) however the way I view the princeton offense it is more of a constant motion/cuts which doesn't suit kobe or this team ...

Edit to the original post:

I gave a few points on what I thought of last nights game, as well as my prediction against the clips. I'm thinking hopefully I can get a few community members together and talk about the lakers. For the community, from the community. If anyone is interested in that idea, please let me know. Hope you enjoy it.