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Reports: Lakers to hire Mike Brown

5K views 68 replies 33 participants last post by  Damian Necronamous 
#1 ·
#69 · (Edited)
I'd also like to add in that the fact that Mike Brown only has a 4-0 sweep on his Finals resume means jack squat.

We have a veteran team that knows how to win and should be able to handle the bright lights. We don't need a coach for "championship experience". That's what we needed back when we re-hired Phil. These guys have now been through enough together that they don't need to be coddled and babied to greatness. Fisher, Kobe, Pau and Odom have tons of experience in big games - we do not need any particular coach for this. We need Mike Brown to get these guys to utilize each other's strengths and play with an undying passion to outwork their opponents - something that we didn't have this season.

To be honest, I don't believe that a championship-caliber team can wear themselves out in the regular season. I don't want to have the mindset that we'll take it easy in the regular season and save our energy for the playoffs. That creates an atmosphere of arrogance and a false sense of security. In order to win titles, you need to habituate yourself to giving 100% effort every second on the court, and you need to make a habit out of beating the NBA's other top teams. The Lakers should always be striving to have the best record in the league because playing at 100% in the regular season is the only way to prepare yourself for playing at 100% in the postseason. There's no such thing as "flipping the switch". In this respect, I'm sort of saying that we need Mike Brown more for what he can do in the regular season than what he can do in the playoffs.

Yes, I understand that going hard for 82 games can result in injuries. However, the way to mitigate that risk is not by pulling on Kobe and Gasol's reins...it's by adding depth to the team! I want to see a team next year that has 5-6 legitimate options off of the bench. That means making the most out of our second round picks, using both our MLE and BAE, and maybe even using our trade exception. A deeper rotation will not only translate into less stress on the court for Kobe (since he'll have more guys who he can trust to score), it will also create a better atmosphere for the entire team because more guys will feel as though they're contributing. You read the exit interviews this year - we had too many guys like Luke Walton whose only comments after the season were that they wished they could have been able to be a bigger part of the team. That's not good for team chemistry. I'm not saying that these guys should have played - I'm saying that we need to get more guys who can!

The two teams in the Finals this year have two very different make-ups. Miami is a team made up of 3 stars and a bunch of crappy and totally replaceable parts. The Mavericks are a team led by one star who's surrounded by reliable and deadly options. When the Lakers are at their best, their make-up is a combination of these two formulas. We need our two stars to play to their potential, but be surrounded by 6-8 guys who can pick up the slack if they don't. If we get a roster that can provide Kobe and Pau with more options, and Mike Brown gets us to play the kind of defense that our personnel has the potential to play, we will beat Miami in the Finals next year and win #17.

By the end of next season...
Kobe Bryant: 33
Pau Gasol: 31
Lamar Odom: 32
Ron Artest: 32
Andrew Bynum: 24

We sure as hell are not too old. Talk to me in 2 years about that.
 
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