TAKE THIS WITH A GRAIN OF SALT

[DimesD]

It's all a huge mess, Dwight is a whiner, Dontknowi sucks and Buss is an incompetent moron. They need management first, someone that understands how to build a team. They need a coach secondly that understands how to use the players he has and not just run a system that he thinks works because he doesn't understand how to adjust or do it any other way and thirdly, it really doesn't matter if Dwight stays or goes, he isn't that good a player. He doesn't know how to lead and cries when he has to listen.

I agree with you regarding Buss. He doesn't understand that bad leadership and management can topple even a world power. (the mortgage melt down and Bush borrowing for his war for instance)

However, I don't agree that Howard and his his character flaws take away from how significant his presence is in any organization. He is that good of a player - immaturity was something that coulda been addressed by the 1 man he requested - Phil. Jim Buss said eff you to that, and that's what we have now. A franchise going down the tubes. And we need to go all the way down.

I don't blame Howard at all for his decision. His new team is better, especially if they can get Josh Smith (part of the pitch I presume) Other teams moved mountains to try to get him - he just saw the Clippers moved several mountains to appease the wishes of Chris Paul. The Lakers came in with D'Antoni. = Beginning of lotto era.

 

[OutlawImmortal]

The further we've fallen this season, the more I've thought about that CP3 trade!! Could have had Dwight and CP3 locked up this year. Fuck it, no choice but to move on now as a fan and hope Short Buss gets lucky. At this point we're hoping for another miracle Pau trade.

 

[Retroram52]

Ain't going to happen Outlaw because Short Buss is such a brain-dead dope who thinks people will respect his arrogance. Alot a good that did with Phil, Howard, and my guess is Kobe will tire of it and bolt as well.

I'll give the little bastard three years and he will have totally ran this franchise into the ground. A number of us went through this with the Rams. It sucks but you get a self-absorb idiot in control and things go down the shitter in a heartbeat.

 

[OutlawImmortal]

Our franchise could fall. It's unlikely but possible, happened with the Celtics, Paul Pierce was a chump year in, year out up until they got KG and Allen. It happened to the Raiders and Rams. I just would find it hard to believe Short Buss would let the franchise burn before letting it go, he knows his father would turn in his grave if we fall from grace so to speak.

 

[Retroram52]

Lets hope so Outlaw. I see you've seen the complete collapse of the Raiders. I used to relish them as much as I do the Rams. This Mark Davis is completely in over his head but Al, during his dementia years, completely imploded and took the franchise with him. It is sad to watch even today.

 

[trojanfan12]

Our franchise could fall. It's unlikely but possible, happened with the Celtics, Paul Pierce was a chump year in, year out up until they got KG and Allen. It happened to the Raiders and Rams. I just would find it hard to believe Short Buss would let the franchise burn before letting it go, he knows his father would turn in his grave if we fall from grace so to speak.

Additionally, I heard an interview with Kevin Ding, the Lakers beat writer from the OC Register. He is usually pretty accurate on anything re: the Lakers. Apparently, there is some sort of "stipulation" (not his word) that enables Jeannie to take control of the basketball side of the franchise if Short Buss doesn't perform well enough. Apparently, even though Short Buss is in charge of basketball operations, Jeannie is in charge of the franchise as a whole. In short, if I understood what he said correctly, Jeannie is Jim's boss!!

According to Mitch, there is a plan in place for next summer and always has been. The Lakers knew all along that they were going to have "enormous financial flexibility" (his words) going in to next summer.

The Lakers knew going in that there was a chance that Dwight would walk away at the end of the season, so in reality, they are in no worse shape than they would have been if they had never traded for him and given what he has shown re: leadership and winning, the Lakers may actually be in better shape without him!!

 

[LucklessPadresFan]

I never got the D'Antoni hire by the Lakers. First, his scheme requires lots of team speed, and the ages of many of the Lakers didn't seem to fit into that type of offense. Second, there was not any excitement whatsoever about the hire. LA is a marquee town and the D'Antoni hire seemed a bit anti-climatic. I don't think it's too much of a stretch to predict that as long as D'Antoni is with the Lakers, they go nowhere.

 

[trojanfan12]

I never got the D'Antoni hire by the Lakers. First, his scheme requires lots of team speed, and the ages of many of the Lakers didn't seem to fit into that type of offense. Second, there was not any excitement whatsoever about the hire. LA is a marquee town and the D'Antoni hire seemed a bit anti-climatic. I don't think it's too much of a stretch to predict that as long as D'Antoni is with the Lakers, they go nowhere.

It seems that the idea behind the D'Antoni hire was to move the Lakers back to a team that is more like the "Showtime" Lakers of the 80's!! Not a bad goal!!

For that type of offense, D'Antoni is a good coach, but he is going to need the players to run that type of system. While I would rather have Phil, I am at the point where I am willing to give D'Antoni a fair shake, especially if the Lakers can get players who are more suited to his offense.

Remember, it wasn't too long ago that he had the Suns basically within a Robert Horry cheap shot on Steve Nash of making the finals and the Knicks were fine offensively with him as coach until Carmelo the ballstopper came back.

Barring a miracle of some sort, we can expect the Lakers to take some lumps next season and then start getting the necessary players to run the system in the summer of 2014!!

 

[LucklessPadresFan]

I understand what you're saying, and back to Showtime would be awesome indeed. It just doesn't seem like a good fit. Maybe the coach and the team will gell this year now that Howard is gone. But D'Antoni has to find a way to turn Gasol into a much better center. It's far too easy for opponents to get into his head and get him off his game.

 

[Retroram52]

I am not sure the showtime mode of offense is doable in today's league where a lot of teams have speed and defenses designed to stop it. We would have to find some pretty good talent to pull it off and one year is not necessarily going to do it.

Dontknowi is definitely not the coach for any offense. HE just too stupid for any team. A coaching change will be necessary as well. If Jeannie does take over, Phil will then be her consultant and things will be much different which is the role Phil really wants anyways.

 

[trojanfan12]

I understand what you're saying, and back to Showtime would be awesome indeed. It just doesn't seem like a good fit. Maybe the coach and the team will gell this year now that Howard is gone. But D'Antoni has to find a way to turn Gasol into a much better center. It's far too easy for opponents to get into his head and get him off his game.

You have to remember, with all of the injuries last season, it was impossible for the team to find any consistency and gel!! Gasol could actually be a pretty good fit in D'Antoni's system with his passing skills, ability to hit a shot more than 5 ft. from the hoop (unlike Dwight) and overall high basketball i.q.

A lot of people think D'Antoni and his offense are a bad fit because of the "7 seconds or less" stuff. That is not the nature of his offense. His offense is based on ball movement. It's "move it or shoot it"!! It's about using ball movement and player movement to get an open shot.

When the Lakers got to have their main players together for more than a game or 2 at a time. They actually looked pretty good in his offense.

 

[trojanfan12]

I am not sure the showtime mode of offense is doable in today's league where a lot of teams have speed and defenses designed to stop it. We would have to find some pretty good talent to pull it off and one year is not necessarily going to do it.

Dontknowi is definitely not the coach for any offense. HE just too stupid for any team. A coaching change will be necessary as well. If Jeannie does take over, Phil will then be her consultant and things will be much different which is the role Phil really wants anyways.

His offense seemed to work just fine in Phoenix and in New York before Carmelo the ballstopper came back.

 

[Retroram52]

You might be right Trojanfan12. That success remains to be witnessed. I think there is such an undercurrent of contempt for this guy by the players that any offense he implements will not be ultimately successful.

Sometimes when players want to exert their choice for coaches at the professional level, they sometimes collude by their poorer play to get a coach replaced. We witnessed it this past season when the chemistry just was not there and everything with Lakers seemed arduous at best.

So it remains to be witnessed whether Dont'knowi can pull-off any rebuilding effort. I my guess is, I think not!!

 

[Kold]

I'll give Dantoni one thing, if he can get the right type of pieces to run his offense, it could be successful. I still have my problems with that offense however.

 

[OutlawImmortal]

I wouldn't be surprised if we made the playoffs but the chances we have to succeed in the playoffs are slim to none at this point. Our bench is going to be terrible most likely. We let Earl Clark go but at least we have Devin Ebanks eating cheetos on the bench.

 

[Retroram52]

lol! Excellent Outlaw. That about sums up the state of the Lakers franchise these days!!!