Phil says we'll probably have different personnel next year--interesting.

Phil's got this evasiveness and smugness that kind of rubs me the wrong way.

I don't like the fact that he didn't admit to making mistakes and said he tries not to focus on his mistakes because it may cause the coaching staff to overcompensate.

Regardless, he's Mr. Nine Rings. We have him so we might as well have faith in him. His track record is amazing.

Is there anyway I can get to the page, and the vids not be on autoplay? Thanks.

Go Lakers!

PJ wants new personnel. Heck maybe he shold have used the ones he had.

He talks about players being stressed but he is the one who stressed them by over using them and refusing to go deeper into the bench.

He is just a phoney looking for excuses to hide the fact he can't coach at this level unless he has players named MJ and Pip and Kobe and Shaq. Outside of that he is zero rings.

If he wins next year it will be the players not PJ who earn the chaampionship. Too bad Jerry Buss won't do anything about this as Jim Buss recognized the fake and called him out for dissing players in the press.

WTF Phil is a joke! He must be smoking some powerful weed. Because he said nothing! Jerry Buss fire this mofo now!

Benjamin,

PJ can be infuriating in his obfuscation, but I think he's right to focus on the future. That's the zen in Zenmaster. It sounds like he's already starting to visualize the next season. I have to say, that makes me excited with anticipation about what this next Lakers team is going to look like and play like.

In many ways, it seems that it is harder for us fans to let go of what happened in the Finals than it is for the team's management, which is already plotting the future.

I think there will be some surprises. A couple of guys are going to be told, "We're not going to be able to give you as much playing time as we know you would like, so we've found you a situation we think will be more up to your expectations." To conjecture which players are going to get that message would probably just make me wrong, so I won't try.

All in all, we're in a better place than we were a year ago, and that's not too shabby. Go Lakers!

KEY WORDS:
"DIFFERENT PERSONNEL / DIFFERENT WAY OF PLAYING"

You know what that means?

That means no more run/gun baskeball.

That means no more jacking up 3s in the regular season to try to beat teams.

That means no more just trying to outscore other teams.

That means the TEMPO for next year's team will change.

This team will turn into a precise, execution team. A team that wants to score on you and get back on defense ala San Antonio and Boston.

A team that relies on locking YOU down in times of need instead of "Kobe save us!!!".

Watchout for the Lakers next year. We are going to win by the straight lock-down method.

I think this is why PJ doesnt worry about the triple-tower starting lineup. He is going to SICK Lamar on team's best scorer like a crazed dog. He is going to make LAMAR our Tayshaun Prince.

THAT'S WHAT HE MEANS BY SACRIFICE.

The Thing is if Lamar plays SF and Pau and Bynum are behind him, he can afford to play tight D because we have guys to clean up the mess.

I'm already excited by next year.

WE ARE GOING TO BE MONSTERS.

Can you imagine.....??

A healthy Bynum with an Artest added to the mix...

It would be sick and might not even be fair.

Artest and Buss must have something going on, how could they not? I guess we will know on Friday.

My money is on Artest opting out with something already discussed and pre-arranged between the 2 parties. Buss should be ashamed of himself to make Artest beg to come to the Lakers.

Somehow, Someway Dr. Buss get it done. .

Who is Soft?

BD

OH, NO!

POOR, POOR PHIL'S WHISKERS ARE TURNING WHITE!

SOMEBODY DO SOMETHING!

HAD THE GENIUS PLAYED MY SON MORE......................THE PARADE WOULD HAVE BEEN IN L. A............................

It's funny how people question Phil. Did he not just get to the finals? With a team that has players that are not All-Stars (except Kobe)? Enough said.

Posted by: hectorartm | June 22, 2008 at 09:39 PM

No he did not. Again our layers played exceptionally well and got us there in spite of PJ. With a team with the best player on the planet and failed to coach is rediculous. We deserve better. The players deserve better.

Good day Laker fans,
Phil Jackson, without a doubt, is a fantastic coach overall.  He realized that his team overachieved and went with his regular lineup and substitution patterns the whole way, especially in the Finals (without Bynum for that matter).  Sure, most of us questioned how he should have used other players defensively to offset Boston's attack (ie.  more minutes for Ariza, inserting Newble and D.J. Mbenga).  Here's the deal.  If you think about his philosophy in coaching, he loves to let his players discover themselves (in other words, have htem play it out!) much more than micromanage them.  I think this is where players over time under his belief system, especially young ones, start to develop character and hopefully toughness.  His hands off approach (as it so seems) at times can be frustrating to all of us.  This approach obvioulsy works since he already has 9 rings to prove it. 
Considering Phil had a young team this year, this experience was probably a bit more challenging for him just to get the most out of them. Guess what, he DID!  As you know, he has always preferred having savvy veterans run his triangle offense on the floor with size (Pippen, Harper) and those who created mismatch problems for other teams (Kucoc, Shaq).  He did not have that kind player for the last couple of years to run this scheme besides Fish (who was absolutely great this past year btw and during their 3-peat years) who is undersized by his standards but had a lot of heart and smarts to get the job done.This all comes down to the most important aspect of his team:  DEFENSE! 

He might want to look down the Staples Center hall at Mr. Michael Cooper (a proven Laker performer in his hayday) to add to his staff.  Heck, if you guys haven't been keeping up with his coaching performance thus far in the WNBA, he's getting the lady Sparks to play serious DEFENSE with a rookie named Candace Parker and, of course,  a veteran named Lisa Leslie!  Just tonight, his ladies forced the Indiana Fever (who are no slouch team) to shoot under 30% from the field and absolutely dominated the defensive backboard (although tunovers were a problem for his team).  As a result, they now have the best record in the league and are looking to get even better as the team continues to develop together offensively and DEFENSIVELY.   BTW, their team defense (FG %) is one of the tops in the league.  The recipe has been laid down by Coop and the organization.  It's all about ATTITUDE and WINNING with D!  That's what the Zen master may consider to complete his so called teachings of patience and inner discovery.  He does not need to do it all by himself.  Changes are certainly in order from everyone on the team (players and coaches).  The sacrafice, like he stated, must happen on the defensive end.  That my fellow fans, will cure a lot of problems. 
Remember, there are other teams looking to get even better in our conference and division and will love nothing more than to knock us off our expectation pedastal this upcoming season.  Nothing is a guarantee, but DEFENSE is always a guarantee when it comes to championships.  I'm sure Detroit, San Antonio, and yes, Boston can relate to that in this decade.  OOPS!  Even our 3-peat team.  Laker pride!   

AK/BK, why wasn't there one reporter calling out Phil's stupid roation and lack of in-game adjustment? Shame on you media types.

Rick,

Yeah, that makes sense. I'm excited and worried. I see Phil making serious short term mistakes in line-ups, not calling time-outs, and not demanding a better defensive effort all season long.

I think he does get more than average out of his players and he helps teams become stronger by inflicting adversity in the form of playing through rough spells instead of giving them a timeout. I think his limited coaching in the game is probably good. Nobody likes to be micromanaged. And the team should have the tools to run the game well by game time.

A military discipline, micromanaged, defensively focused team has won 4 of the last 10 championships. I think even the great Phil Jackson could learn something from that coaching staff.

It's what we don't see that makes me wonder/worries me. What does he do in practice? How much does he focus on defense? How much does he yell at guys who don't take the open shot at the end of the shot clock (Luke)?

I worry that he's set on this one approach that could still be improved.

That the Lakers management has moved on from the loss in the Finals suggests to me they're content with how they did. As a fan, I'm not and I don't really appreciate them settling. We're stuck with them so... whatever.

Yep, the management will move some players and we're not sure whom, but some guesses are better than others. The Times did mention Odom was a strong candidate and they did try to trade him and not Kwame for Gasol. Kobe is a very poor candidate to be moved. Another thing we know is that teams with powerful, respected, established head coaches tend to move players the coaches don't like. Maybe Phil doesn't kick people out of town like Nellie, but he did call Kwame soft, he did get hit in the face by a Brian Cook towel and he had described the (I wish I could just forget, mostly have) play of Smush Parker as a struggle.

Can anyone think of another player that Phil Jackson has mocked recently?

I'm hopeful for the future too. The front office has been slow to make the changes for which many here have clamored, but they eventually made the changes.

I hope we can compete against a more experienced Hornets, a rapidly developing Blazers with a healthy Oden, a healthy Rockets with stifling defense, a Mavericks with Jason Kidd better integrated at point guard, a likely improved and healthier Spurs, and the same old pain in the butt Jazz.

More importantly, I hope we can compete against a dominant Celtics and always tough Pistons.

Can we integrate Bynum by the end of the season? Will he stay healthy? Can we develop a defense to deal with later playoffs/Finals? Can we get a strong defensive small forward that can shoot 3s that we desperately need? Can we do all these things and still keep Odom as a sixth man? Will Phil prove Red wrong, that he can win without exceptional talent (maybe Kobe/Bynum/Gasol/Odom is exceptional and Red was right, but we win anyway)?

Some of these questions can only be answered late in next year's postseason. Some of these questions will define the legacy of the current front office.

Do you see,

I was a bit frustrated with my initial comments, but I have to say that you're assertion that PJ's detractors are coming with more evidence than the 9 champs and two more Finals appearances is laughable. So it seems what you're saying is that one or two, or maybe even 3 series in a single postseason are better evidence than an entire career of success? I don't know what court that would hold up in. You also say that the Lakers were "heavy favorites" in the last two Finals' they've lost, but who labels them as such? So because the cats at ESPN and other media outlets label the Lakers the better team before the ball has been tipped, they are held up to a standard. All I see coming out of the reporters these days is BS. They say what they say to get people to watch games. It has nothing to do with being reliable in their predictions, or accurate for that matter. Vegas may have had the Lakers as favorites, but not by much, and if so only to attract a favorable amount of betting on the games.

So, sort of like I said in the first post, I think the arguing is pretty moot. Nobody knows what is going to happen, nor can anyone say exactly why things happened the way they did. In the end, everyone takes the blame for the loss, then you move on. It's a team, so Phil can't take all of the blame, just his share.

*_______________________________*
Get Well Fairweather Fatty Bandwagon
*_______________________________*
(01) FAITH - OWNER
(02) EDWIN GUECO - Driver
(03) Mamba24 - Slow down on those meds. Fatty! LOL!

Hopefully Jordan will work twice as hard this summer as he did last summer. If so, he will start next year.

Jordan Farmar will be an NBA all star soon. He will be up there with Chris Paul and Deron Williams.

Gdchild,

"AK/BK, why wasn't there one reporter calling out Phil's stupid roation and lack of in-game adjustment? Shame on you media types."

Actually, Phil was asked (by BK, in fact) about anything they may have viewed as mistakes, what they would have done differently, and his answer didn't get into specifics,stating that he didn't believe in looking back, and they focus on the future, that while you try to learn from history, if you dwell too much in it, you usually repeat it. Just from that, you can take away plenty.

A) Even if he won't flat out say so, Phil is basically acknowledging that he would have done certain things differently.

B) That he's not interested in talking about what those things would have been.

If you think the latter element is reasonable, fine. If you think that's a cop out, then Phil exposed himself as a coward. But either way, his stance has been laid out, which, in my mind, is quite revealing in and of itself. To sit there trying to grill with rephrased versions of the same question doesn't serve much purpose and isn't what these interviews are about.

Beyond that, and perhaps speaking just for myself, most of the questions I've had in regards to Phil's rotations and in-game decisions I've either asked or someone else asked during the games themselves. Because of that, I saw no need to bring up an "asked and answered" question. He made decisions I agreed with and others where I didn't (which I wrote about at the time), but in the case of the latter, I got Phil's viewpoint at the time they happened. Since I know the answer, I don't need to ask again.

Also, I didn't find Phil's rotation, on the whole, to be "stupid," meaning I'd have no need to "call him out" for it. It had nothing to do with being "afraid," as you seem to be inferring. If you want to say my opinion of his rotation makes me an idiot, that's your opinion and you're entitled. That said, I may be an idiot, but I'm not an idiot reluctant to speak his mind. There's a difference. I bring this up because your question itself is overly assumptive, that everyone in the room agrees with you but just doesn't have the sack to say anything. It's kind of arrogant, really.

AK

Pig Miller,

Wow. Those 103 days are going to feel like an eternity.

GO LAKERS!

Lakafo0,

We've already sent in an email about the autoplay. But it's not something we can fix on our own. That's the tech people.

As for Artest taking the MLE, Marc Stein reported an email exchange between ESPN and Ron Ron where he said the MLE is out of the question.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs2008/columns/story?columnist=
stein_marc&page=steinsixquestions-080620

Granted, the way he changes his mind every ten seconds, a statement from Ron Ron isn't really worth the paper it's written on (to paraphrase the old adage). But that's where he's reportedly at, for the time being.

AK

Hey Guys,

I for one was unhappy with PJ's substitution patterns in the Finals. Something kept telling Pj's gonna make it happen. And we won ugly by two games.

For the posters who want PJ out, who would you want to replace PJ? (Be realistic, No Pop or Scott who are both in contract)

Is it just an improvement of opportunity for using players in key situations?

Are you tired of the System?

Is it the defense?

I will still support PJ, but I am frustrated with the last 2 finals appearances.

VS. Detroit, that was injuries (Malone and Grant) and Lakers in fighting.

VS. Boston, I just thought they were the better Veteran laden team, and our Coaching Staff was was Hard-Headingly bulling without maneuver.

Regards Guys and Have great day!

Mamba24,

Can't help to comment even on the rest period, I've to answer the post or the call of my idol, Mamba24 as you made me a driver to FF Bwgn. Is Fatty not feeling well? I'm sorry to hear that. He must be suffering from the heat wave exhaustion in the West.

As I read some posts while having a time out, I can't stand but laughed at some of them. People adored Coaches and Laker players as if they are Greek Gods and PJ as the role model of all Coaches. I wish you read more on the history of Laker players and coaches and compare them w/ today's era. If you have nothing to compare you'll always look at the present as the best of everything. It is like when we have Smush here, he has a legion of followers called smushcalade b/c he made 20pts on some games and closed their eyes entirely on pts. lost. The same thing happened when we have Ceballos in mid nineties who made 50 pts. in one but declared weird ideas that he was the franchise player so he was entitled to some vacations, his legion of fans adored him for such confidence. He was traded with Horry, after a while the focus moved to Rob Horry as the only player out there. As time goes by, Laker fans in a premier city should also grow with the team and attain maturity. Yes, we have improved tremendously compared to the past 4 years but to say, that our players today will dominate the future of NBA, here we go again......... our conjectures remained unproven......try to stay back and look at it from a basketball fan perspectives. Even during off season, we focused too much on the Lakers and missed the overall picture. We closed our eyes, FAIL TO THINK or rationalize objectively, just follow the drumbeating of Mamba24 in declaring: Lakers today, tomorrow and forever. And If you don't agree with the proclamation of GHFers, you are a plain troll. LOL!

Fatty - I wish you a speedy recovery!

Jon K. - I was looking at CNNSI, and there is a basketball article that lists the free agents for the summer. I was trying to find a list of 3's that either a) play great defense or b) can stroke a 3. Only unrestricted FAs are included.

Defense list:

Najera
Maurice Evans
Keyon Dooling

Unfortunately, that's about it.

Here's the article: http://tinyurl.com/6n8quf

You're right whiners, Phil Jackson has to have a player as good as Michael Jordan on his team to win a championship. Since we don't have the best player in the league let's fire him . . wait . . . nevermind.

AK/BK, thanks for the response.

It's that I just didn't see articles, if any, questioning Phil's coaching in the Finals. It seems to me that either the media guys ignored it or were unwilling to call him out.

Mamba and others,

Thanks for your thoughts.

As you all know, I love reading and commenting on the Lakers Blog. I just wanted to explain why I wasn't around much during the Finals.

I had one good story while taking a ride in the Ambulance to an Arizona hospital.

I wear Lakers shirts and shorts for my pajamas.(like I've said before, dress like a champ, even in bed) Fortunately, it didn't hurt my care, but was definitely a conversation piece in Suns territory, being wheeled around on a gurney in Lakers garb.

From the responding paramedics, to the attending ER nurses and Doctors, everyone had something to say about the Lakers and Kobe.

The paramedic, "Lakers fan uh?!" To which my daughter spoke out. "Dad hates the Suns, especially Steve Nash. He thinks he's a punk."

To the nurse who gave me the gown to put on while saying sarcastically. "You can keep your Lakers shorts on if it makes you feel any better." Which I did, of course.

And as one examining doctor said, "you don't how hard it is for me to see the Suns out and the Lakers in the finals."

It didn't lessen my pain, but it did make me feel better.

With you in building a Championship team, one comment at a time.