Phil canceled a speaking engagement in Chicago for this weekend and happened to be at the Lakers facilities today in what officials are calling, "a coincidence." Me thinks the jumbo chair will be on the sidelines soon, along with Rambis and possibly Shaw as soon as L.A. can free him from the Pacers. Also, reports are that Dr. Jerry Buss called in the firing. Proving that he has more of a pulse on his team even when he barely has one himself, than his stup-traded son.
Agreed, but you gotta hand it to Phil, the crowd was chanting for him all night tonight and essentially just killed the idea of anyone else being hired. Which also means he can pretty much demand 15 million to coach this team as well as complete control of his staff. The rumor has it that he was to bring in a younger guy to groom for whe he actually retires...for realsies. I would like to see the, go in a different direction (Sloan) but if Phil placates Kobe and gets Dwight to re-sign, then I understand the reasoning behind it.
So did Alonzo Mourning at one point, and I don't think there's a single person here, myself included, who would doubt the man's hunger. As much as I'd like to belittle a cold, sometimes a cold can be enough to take you off your game.
He has a point though. Riley has always devalued the regular season. They just want to be in good shape for the post season. I would rather have another title than 73 wins and no title. Look at the Bulls from last year. Played every regular season game like it was game seven of a playoff series and nothing left in the tank for the playoffs.
I hope he punches one and is out for the year. If we could get ANY value in trading him, I would jump all over it
If any Knick player reacted that way....scratch that, any non Heat player. The masses would be HATE IN!!
Wanted to say **** you to the Bulls. They pushed Budinger which caused his tear in his Lateral Meniscus which was a non call which pretty much was like that the whole night. Chicago was allowed to play physical while Minny gets called for ticky tack ****.
Well that is a curveball. After mentally locked in to see Phil on the sidelines, it is a bit jarring to wake up and see the news of D'antoni. A few things to consider: Nash and Kobe will love this offense. Paul will be hobbling across half court by the time the first shot is up. I am not sure the Lakers are athletic enough to run the D'Antoni offense at all times. They are a veteran team with a lot of miles and nagging injuries. This move was made for two reasons in my opinion. Jim Buss cannot stand Phil and didn't want to hand over everything Phil was asking for, and they are trying to win this year with no certainties of Dwight next year. A simplified offense versus teaching the Triangle accomplishes the goal of winning more games sooner than later. I would not be surprised if this forces Mitch to churn the bench some to find some players Mike likes. Phil will coach again.
I think it was Kobe, to be honest. His comments this morning lead me to believe that he wanted this. Obviously Nash is on board, but I find it hard to believe that they would hire a coach around an injured 38 year old point guard who is newts this team. If they did, then they are in more trouble than I thought. Kobe and Dwight's input is all that matters in terms of players.
This is right. and you also have a coaching staff that likes to experiment during the season with certain lineups. They are going to do just enough to get the #1 seed and not a game more. Remember that they could have easily had the home court advantage on OKC, and decided to rest guys instead.
I think this motivates Phil to go elsewhere and coach. Jim Buss may have just awoken a sleeping dragon.
Doubt it. Where's he going to go? He has no interest in rebuilding a team and all the championship caliber teams already have locked in coaches.
When Collins Burns out in Philly, They might be able to give Phil the new challenge he needs. Build around Holiday,Bynum and turner. just a thought.
Antoni being hired will prevent the lakers from even reaching the finals. Leave the D out just like he does. As bad as Mike Brown is as an offensive coach, Antoni is actually 3x as bad on D. Amare even said upon his arrival in NY that he had never actually been taught defense at an NBA level. We're now probably locked in a Heat/OKC rematch barring upsets or trades
I think OKC trading Harden opens things up in the West moreso than people think. You could say that without Harden, the Thunder might not beat San Antonio. Right now, you have to think it's a toss-up between those two teams. Watch out for Memphis as well. They're always tough, and I'm not just saying that because they beat the **** out of the Heat last night. Then you have the Lakers, who are the Wild Card. Should be a fun season.
Fool's gold. The Lakers beat up on the Warrors and Kings. Both awful, awful basketball teams. You can make the argument though that letting talent simply play is the right thing to do though. The Princeton Offense was abandoned and they simply played pick and roll a d other basketball basics. That works fine when you simply are more alerted than the other tea but when talents is equal or close to it, the scheme becomes more important. The Lakers are spinning like crazy to protet Phil's reputation here, but Phil overshot. Good articles coming out about how Phil wanted Jim Buss to come backothimwithhis tail tucked between his legs.that combined with trying to wrestle power away from Mitch Kupchak (who is one of the best GM's in the game) made for a might pissed off papa bear (Jerry Buss). As Hardkore said, the Lakers essentially called Phil's bluff and Jim was probably all too happy to hire Mike D out of equal parts spite and due to himbeingafit for the Lakers. As far as Mike's defenses go, historically they aren't as bad as his reputation suggest. And Dwight Howard and even an aging Kobe help make for your defense to be better just on sheer talent.
I know it's easy for someone to say that about Collins, but I think Collins has been changing his mentality since he has been coaching the Sixers. He develops systems that fits around the players. I think it will be his choice to leave, not because the team fires him. It would be interesting to have Phil as a coach. I have no idea how his system would fit some of the players on this team. Either way, the Sixers have a nice core of young players, and should seriously compete within the next few years.
Don't know what's the big deal with D'Antoni and the Lakers. It was way obvious that he was going to get the LAL head coaching job. There were writings on the wall once D'Antoni left New York.
For such a "clutch guy".....Wade sure has a way of missing key free throws ....ALL THE TIME. Of course...a Bosh Offensive Rebound, and then a subsequent 2 free throws makes it moot. Chris Bosh is a badass.
