Jamel Irief

I'm not against D'antoni so much as I am bringing in a new coach and new system with the season already started. I would of forgiven this for zen master because he's the greatest coach ever.

To their credit it's still REALLY early in the season and Nash hasn't really played yet so the team was going to have to adjust to a new PG anyways.

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Basel

Like I've seen others suggest, would be incredible if Mike brought in Nate McMilan as his assistant coach.

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Wilt_The_Stilt

It will be interesting to see what kind of rotation changes we make. I could see Blake getting his minutes handed over to Morris. I could also see Kobe sliding to the 3 more often with Meeks at the 2.

Also curious to see how Pau fits in.

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"We've learned Kobe Bryant has been asked to run the Federal Reserve. The feeling is, he can do more with three quarters than most of us can do with a whole dollar."
--Peter Vescey, NY Post

Jamel Irief

BTW, death to Basel and Cris for making it think it was all but official and Phil was coming.

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King Sancho Fantastic

Yeah I'm worried about how Pau fits in too. He could be the odd man out if things don't click.

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Rumble, young man, rumble...

Jamel Irief

I just remembered, wasn't D'antoni Kobe's idol growing up in Italy? So he already has a relationship with our starting backcourt?

why would Pau be the odd man out? D'Antoni has always worked well with versatile big men (Marion, Amar're, LaFrentz, Frye). Wouldn't Dwight be the odd man out? when did he ever coach a low post only guy besides Shaq?

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The One

Or you can blame me.

I said it was a 100% chance they will choose Mike D'Antoni well before we heard Phil's demands. Mitch's press conference gave clue to this.

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King Sancho Fantastic

Kobe chose number 8 because Mike D was his favorite Italian player growing up supposedly.

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Rumble, young man, rumble...

Basel

I was just reporting what I was reading.

Mike was indeed Kobe's favorite player growing up, plus he loves the guy from their experience together with the Olympic Team. Kobe's completely on board with this, and we all know Nash is. He already said having D'Antoni come in would be a seamless transition for him.

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King Sancho Fantastic

The unicorns are safe...


for now.

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Rumble, young man, rumble...

Basel

Phil might've been asking for the moon, but after all he's done for the franchise, they should've just given him the damn thing.

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Luke

And I think the defense thing is overblown. Remember that 80% of our starting lineup is above average to great defensively. Mike did not have that luxary in Phoenix.

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Formerly VanillaPrice

Jamel Irief

No, you go die. "A source close to the Lakers" as quoted by some guy on twitter or whatever is not the same as the Lakers themselves saying Phil's 95% likely to come over as you lead me to believe.

You RUINED my weekend. I hope you get some extra back hair.

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Seuss

Mike definitely hasn't has a team as talented as this Lakers team, but he's also terrible with adjusting outside of his system. If he can't incorporate iso's for Howard and Kobe, the team is not going to thrive with Nash's P'n'R, but this isn't a great shooting team.

When Suns had Boris Diaw, he was used at the high elbow, with Amare staying low. That will definitely be the case for Gasol and Howard.

It's going to be very interesting.

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The Best Damn Babe Thread

ii9ce

Phil was probably LA's first choice but demanded too much money + benefits. Have to keep in mind that LA has the highest payroll out there and the lux tax is like..what, 30mil!?

Phil was paid 12m in his final year with LA and had nothing to give. He could't get off the bench during games and was talking about only coaching home games etc. For 12mil!!! And I would't put it past Phhil to ask for a lot more than that thinking the Lakers a desperate and will do anything to win.

D'Toni is not my first choice but after Phil, his as qualified as anyone else out there. Guys like Mcmilan excel getting the best out of limited resources...what we need is a system and guy that can man/ego manage and, I may be wrong, but I think D'Toni may be able to get it done. Two of the big names already like - Nash and Kobe.

My only worry is the Defence and I dont think the team is built for up and down ball...there are too many teams in the league better at it and better suited players.

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Bill Russell, the greatest. If you dont believe, count the rings.