You know when Gail Goodrich calls you out, the Lakers can be assured that performance in game 6 they put on was very un-like Laker Basketball. After the unbelievable magical season, for that to happen just hurts and opens up questions about the make-up of the team. The toughness issue has to be resolved, I never thought a Laker team stigma would be SOFT!

GET ARTEST BUSS!!! We have to many soft players.

BD

As everyone knows, i am not on the trade Lamar bandwagon but if we do decide to trade him, Richard Jefferson is available. The nets want to trade him to clear salary for th 2010 Labron sweepsta. They probably have already called Mitch. The question is does Dr. Buss want that Kind of payroll after Andrews extention begins. As far as Artest? The guy gets bench for shooting his team out of games. His J is no better then Lamars, Like Lamar he gets most of his points in the paint

Edwin Gueco,

Bynum will make 2.7 million next season, not 15 million.

The total salaries for 08-09 at this point are 75 million, not including
Vujacic, Turiaf, Karl, Mbenga, Newble, or anyone else they might
sign.

michael h,

>>>As everyone knows, i am not on the trade Lamar
>>>bandwagon but if we do decide to trade him, Richard
>>>Jefferson is available.

The plus is that he's a better scorer than Lamar, he's a
quality starting SF, and he's good friends with Luke.

The minus is that he's even softer than Lamar.

hobbitmage-

Due respect, but if 20 rebound games are your measuring stick, you're being totally unfair. Nor is that a particularly good measure of how well a guy is rebounding. Overall Odom had 44 double doubles in 77 games. Not bad (tied for 8th in the NBA). His PER, if you're a Hollinger guy, makes him a top 45 player. As for his average, you're a little off. In December and January, he was over ten a night, once Gasol arrived, that jumped by about a couple a game. It was his scoring and FG% that really went up, not his rebounding. More than that, I just don't accept your contention that before Gasol arrived, LO wasn't playing hard, or that the only explanation for his improved play is that he started trying harder after the trade.

His role on the team changed. Suddenly he wasn't asked to be a primary scorer- something he's not hardwired to do- and his game flourished. It's nto that he wasn't playing hard before, but LO was being asked to do things he wasn't suited for. Should he be able to do them? Probably, but he's just not that guy. So be it. He wouldn't have to be on the upcoming Lakers teams.

As for the list of SFs, in fact LO has guarded some of them, and is capable of sticking many to most as well as anyone else might (there aren't many players in the league who shut down Melo every night, for example).

BK

LO at the 3 has created mismatches but it wouldn't beat Boston. They were daring him to shoot and he couldn't make them pay.

Magic became a good shooter over a summer. I don't think Luke and Lamar's mechanics are strong enough to make that happen. It will more of same. With Andrew on the floor, the 3 should draw people out not in.

Lamar is a class guy, a true blue Laker and a loyal teammate but that opportunity window keeps steadily closing. In the end, it's not really about Lamar, it's about the timing of his contract. The bar is officially as high as it goes, anything less than a ring isn't good enough.

LTLF,

You wrote: You do know that Trevor shot 50% for the season, though most of that
was driving to the hoop for layups or dunks. He shot 27% on 3-pointers.
If he could up that to about 35%, then his defense would be enough
to move him ahead of Luke and Vlad on the SF depth chart.

I had hoped that he would have returned far faster than
he did just to see how he would work. I liked Ariza at
SF before the finals. I wish he'd gotten more playing
time. Before we got blown out in game 6 I thought
the Lakers defense was ok. After watching what
Boston did to our offense and "how" they did it to our
offense, I'm convinced that a change in mentality has
to happen. Most of our guys are not naturally that
way and haven't become that way playing with Kobe.
Installing Artest would seriously upgrade the defense
in both skills and attitude. At least that's what I think.

:)

I have created a lot of disturbances in your thoughts. Anyway, I am with you that we should just tweak the team and get the upper hand. However, weigh the advantages and disadvantages as detailed in my attached letter. This afternoon, I mailed this letter to Mitch Kupchak et al and contribute something concrete, not merely wishful thinking. It is not a perfect plan, they have to find ways how to make it work.

With humility, I'm sharing it to the blog for your perusal. Should you not have any objections or remarks, then I would take a time out from the blog till July 1st. I have done my duty as a Laker fan. Thanks to everyone, AK/BK for great work as always and enjoyed the season with the Blog Family. Here is my long letter (with apologies for it contains numerous scenarios and numbers)

******************************************************************

Dear Messrs. Kupchak, Jim Buss or Dr. Buss:

We made a great stride this season and reached the Finals for the 1st time since 2004. We failed to bring home the O’Brien trophy back to Los Angeles by just only two wins. The story of the year was a combination of remarkable improvement of young players, inclusion of new ones through trade and the embarrassing collapse in the Finals. The noticeable improvement of young players were: Bynum, Vujacic, Radmanovic and Farmar compared to their previous seasons performances. The inclusion of Ariza and Gasol changed the complexion of the team which resulted us to join the big dance in June. However, it is noticeable that we lacked the tenacity to defend the post, the experience to step up to the next level while anticipating salary hikes in the next season that may exceed luxury caps. As a fan, I would like to present my perspectives. There are many opportunities on hand in the free agent market while Lakers do not have any 1st round draft picks in the next two seasons. Here are my propositions for changes:

OPTION PLAN A. Radical (Major) Changes

Unload the contracts of the following players through trades to 1st or 2nd rd draft picks or trade with other teams under the player scenarios:

Lamar Odom 14.5M
Vlad Radman 6.0M
Luke Walton 4.4M
Chris Mihm 2.5
Sasha Vujacic 2.6 (We’ll surely lose him because many teams are willing to give him MLE 6.5M)

Total Salaries Unloaded 30M

Free Agents available under Player Option

For PG: Monta Ellis 2.0M/ Jennero Pargo 2.0M/Juan Calderon 3.5M

For SG: Baron Davis 16.1M/Gilbert Arenas 12.8M Andre Iguodala 4.0M

For PF: Ron Artest 8.4M/Elton Brand 16.1M/Josh Smith 3.0M

For C: Nenad Krystic 2.7M/Emeka Okafor 7.0M

Note: Assuming all these chosen F/A are healthy and could play at their previous performance

It is not financially feasible to take every F/A available with players option but imagine the inclusion 2 or 3 of the F/A’s plus the draft players taken from the trade and mix them with our current line-up. Below I have mixed different scenarios and it will really put this team to another level. We cannot blame players for being soft in defense, for disappearing in big games in offense and in need of fast PG to be competitive in the West.

Incoming Lakers, after removing the above players and the remaining ones for next season based on proposed salary structures:

Kobe SG 21.1M
Pau PF 15.0M
Ariza SF 3.1M
Turiaf PF 2.5M
Fisher PG 4.6M
Bynum C 2.7M
Karl PG 0.5M
Yue PG/SF 0.5M
Farmar PG 1.1M
Mbenga C 1.0M

Total Salaries $ 52.1M

DIFFERENT SCENARIOS FROM F/A MIX

Assuming we got 3 players on the

Scenario 1: Calderon, Davis, Artest = total salaries of 24.3M.
Scenario 2: Pargo, Iguodala and Okafor = 13M
Scenario 3: Calderon. Brand and Iguodala = 23.6M
Scenario 4: Arenas, Smith, Pargo = 17.8M

*Bynum will be eligible qualifying offer in 2009-10, perhaps, make some sacrifices by pegging starting salary at 6.5M similar to MLE by July 9th and progressive revision similar to Fox deal in '00. Sasha will be the sticking point how to bring him aboard because of possible better offers with other teams. Jordan Farmar is not due yet but becomes an excess if there is an abundance of PGs coming aboard. He is relatively slow and a small PG in the West, he should consider switching to SG.

OPTION PLAN B. Slight (Minor) Revisions of Present Line-up

Trade the following players to a 1st round draft pick PG

1. Luke 4.6M
2. Mihm 2.5M

Bring in the following players:

Kobe 21.2 M
Pau 15.0 M
Odom 14.5M
Vlad 6.0M
Sasha 4.5M
Fisher 4.6M
Bynum 6.5M*
Farmar 1.1M
Turiaf 2.5M
Ariza 3.1M
Mbenga 1.0M
Karl 0.5M
Yue 0.5M
2nd rd draft pick 58th pick
1st rd draft pick from trade

Total Salaries $81M

Note:
1. Odom and Radmanovic will be fully evaluated in Feb.’09 for possible mid-year changes.
2. *Bynum’s contract will be pegged at starting 6.5M as mentioned earlier.
3. Reconstruct Kobe’s salary to 20M per year with additional playoffs bonuses guaranteed for 5 years
4. Reconstruct Gasol’s salary to 13M per with additional incentive playoffs bonuses guaranteed for 5 years

Despite our progress this year by leaps and bounds, I would prefer Option Plan A than B i.e if all the plan scenarios work that we unload our players to draft picks present or future and cherry pick on the free agents on player options. Why?

1. Improve defense and rebounds from starters to bench
2. Add experience to line up with proven athleticism
3. This is the only year when some qualified F/As or "dream" players become available at player option
4. Less luxury taxes exposure

Imagine the line-up of Option Plan B under:

Scenario 1 where Lakers added Calderon, Davis, Artest

Davis/Fisher/Karl/Yue
Kobe/Calderon/Farmar
Ariza/Turiaf/Draft Pick
Artest/ Ariza/Traded Draft Pick
Bynum/Gasol/Mbenga/Traded Draft Pick

Under Scenario 2 Lakers added Pargo, Iguodala and Okafor

Pargo/Fisher/Karl
Kobe/Farmar/Yue
Iguodala/Ariza/Draft Pick
Okafor/Turiaf/Traded Draft Pick
Bynum/Gasol/Mbenga

Under Scenario 3 Lakers added Calderon, Brand and Iguodala

Calderon/Fisher/Karl
Kobe/Farmar/Yue
Iguodala/Ariza/Draft Pick
Brand/Turiaf/Draft Pick
Bynum/Gasol/Mbenga

Under Scenario 4 Lakers added Arenas, Smith and Pargo

Pargo/Fisher/Karl
Arenas/Farmar/Yue
Kobe/Ariza/Draft Pick
Gasol/Turiaf/Draft Pick
Bynum/Smith/Draft Pick

Anyway, you look at it there is tremendous improvement in the radical changes. I have painted a dream scenario that we can make all things work as planned. It is better to have a blue print plan than having no plan at all. Of course, there is a learning curve on the triangle and camaraderie issues involved in bringing in new members but if they want to achieve to the next level, I don’t see any reason why they will allow their egos get on the way.

Make your choice Messrs. Mitch, Jim and Jerry and thanks for considering my recommendations.

I remain as a faithful fan as always since 1969.

Sincerely,

Edwin Gueco

*************************************************************

Edwin Gueco,

>>>If u read again my post, by July 9th that will change if
>>>we want to retain Bynum. Ask LakerTom, this is his
>>>novelty idea. In fact, he mentioned $ 80M for 5 years
>>>which is very possible so I projected it only to $75M.

Okay, maybe I was confused. Were you quoting the salaries
for next season (2008-2009) or the year after (2009-2010)?

Bynum's salary for next seaon is set. He can't change
it. It's the year AFTER that that he will make more.

As for how much more he will make, assuming he improves
as much next season as he did this season, then a $75
million contract might be realistic, but it wouldn't be 15, 15,
15, 15, 15. It would start at something like 12 and go up
from there.

Looking at the big name players who got extension offers
last summer, Luol Deng, Ben Gordon, Andre Igoudala,
and Emeka Okafor all got offers over 50 million that they
turned down, and now probably most of them will get
LESS offered to them this year. And arguably all of them
have shown more than Bynum. Kevin Martin accepted
a deal for $55 million, and he has shown much more than
Bynum to this point.

And pretty much every team in the league is tapped out.
Every year there are 1 or 2 teams who have cap space,
and everybody else has the MLE or less to offer. And
even the teams with lots of cap space know that the Lakers
can (and probably will) match any offer they make to Bynum.

So based on what we've already seen, my guess is that
this summer the Lakers will offer to extend Bynum for
something more like 40 to 50 million. If he turns that down,
then next season he would still have to show some
improvement over this season to work his way up to a
max offer.

Andrew Bynum is good, but so far he hasn't shown that
he can be as good as a Dwight Howard or an Amare
Stoudemire. For Bynum to get a max offer, he's going to
have to show that kind of production.

But for next season, he will make 2.7 million, regardless
of what he makes in the future.

to that blogger who thinks people like me are morons and/or idiots for wanting Nine Rings to go, a few words.
First I don't call you names for wanting to keep a coach who has been universally ridiculed by nearly every sportswriter across the nation. If you like, I'll post the links from these experts (which you are not) that range from PJ's ineptness at adjustments to being "Out Zenned" by Doc Rivers
I for one have, realized that PJ was a fraud after the Detroit series, when the network miked Detroit's huddle and coach Larry Brown made those famous remarks that Nine Rings wouldn't adjust to what his team was doing. Fast Forward to this year's finals and you can only admit that Phil is a one dimensional coach that is so arrogant and set in his ways that he can't see the forest for the trees.
Add to that he couldn't manage the Shaq Kobe feud, where he did the cardinal sin of taking sides, his tell-all book that further destroyed Kobe's character, and finally failing to prepare his team for this years Finals, check that he prepared his team to fail, the reality of the fact that the game has passed him by is unquestionable.
But I am sure you can counter with "Phil Jackson has nine rings", but that doesn't pull any more weight, it didn't stop Doc or the Celtics did it? It didn't make them shudder to think that they were going up against the mastermind (ha) of Phil Jackson's coaching ability. they just played their style knowing Nine Rings wouldn't do anything to stop them.
Many bloggers throughout the season bitched and moaned that we didn't defend the 3 point line and that we got abused by teams like Sacramento and Portland or that Luke Walton did not have game, and his failure to adjust in-game, and his refusal to play defensive minded players.
So many facts that people like you ignore. "Yeah but he has nine rings, he has nine rings. Well guess what, Nine Rings will always be known as Nine Rings, because this game has passed him by.
The NBA is so competitive, each year teams get stronger and stronger, you know San Antonio will get a key player, you know New Orleans will be even better, Portland is just going to be a monster, Utah will improve, and Houston will be tough.
The scary part about those teams is they play defense, something that is an after-thought to Phil Jackson. What, you think all of a sudden Nine Rings is going to become a great defensive coach.
The Lakers were lucky that the stars were aligned just right to get them to the Finals. But when the stars faded and the Lakers needed real coaching, Phil failed them, plain and simple. Sometimes you don't get what you paid for.
Posted by: Do You See What I See | June 19, 2008 at 11:19 AM

I completely agree. PJ is totally at fault and he should be thrown under the bus instead of the players who he wants to throw under thebus. Heck he did not play half of them especially when they could have helped.

Good Morning Charles--Good Morning Everyone....
Well it was an outstanding season--what a great ride---of course the finals could have been a little better, but like all of the more intelligent TRUE LAKER FANS have said, I am extremely proud of this team and this season and enjoyed it as much as any past season...
Winning the West as the top seed with every play off team with above 50 wins was nothing short of excellent in my book...
AND, more importantly, our future looks blindingly bright indeed...
Now the talk all summer will be of trade senarios with everything from reasonable to out right absurd---but that's all part of the fun...
I really don't think sweeping changes be made, but improvements should definitly be pursued...
Lamar's and his contract should be a major bargining chip, but should only be used if the advantage is clearly there...and patience may be the key, ala Kwame
Pau should not be on the trade blocks and again only be considered if there is some mind blowing deal out there...ditto with Kobe and Bynum (no sheet Sherlock)...
Sasha and Ronny should be brought back and I hope that happens...
I hope that Koby Carl and Mbenga return as well...I think Famar will become better and better and I hope he doesn't get traded...Mihm may have to be some trade fodder...
Two of our biggest liabilities also have extremely bad and undesirable contracts that will be all but viturally impossible to move....If Mitch can pull off a trade involving Puke and or Rad he will be nothing short of a genius or the greatest used car salesman in history...
What I really would like to see, and indeed, think has a good chance of happening is the Lakers attracting a big free agent for less than market value---we need another Rick Fox type signing...Elton Brand, Shawn Marrion, Baron Davis, Okafor, Igoudala etc....
The bottom line?.....wait for it....The New Lakers Dynasty has begun with this season and all the accomplishments thereof indeed... HUZAH !!!

AS ALWAYS, AS EVER, STILL YET ANOTHER GREAT DAY TO BE A LAKER FAN !!!
GO LAKERS !!!
Posted by: Floyd | June 19, 2008 at 11:21 AM

some parts of your post makes much sense to me. I would keep Odom and use him on second unit. He can play SF or PF when BU Center comes in. Ariza can come in at SF and even though I am not a big fan of Artest he could come in as FA.

I would keep Mbenga and get rid of Luke. Hold onto Rad and see how he fits and if all works well he can be used for mid season trade. but I think he will improve.

Off season needs to work on hitting 3 consistently if allowed to play by PJ and develop post game with KAJ.

Love the Lakers

Doo You,
Jackson managed to get one of the youngest teams in the league to the finals, and within 8 points of winning the title. This in spite of the off-season turmoil, the season-ending injury to the anchor of the defense (made worse by the fact that it wasn't thought to be season-ending), losing Ariza, the top perimeter defender, for half the season, still unhealed injuries to Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisher, the slowest set of point guards in the league, very inconsistent play from Odom, Vlad, Walton, and Vujacic. He very effectively worked Gasol into the system, managed to lead the team to the best record in the West, beat HOF coaches Sloan and Popovich.
And teh experts you refer to almost unanimously picked the Lakers. But the problem couldn't be that the Celtics were just a better team, with home court advantage,with more options at the disposal of the coach, much more veteran, and that the Lakers got a mediocre series from Kobe, and very inconcistent play from everybody else. No, it couldn't be that the experts gave too much weight to the Celtics first two series; it must be Jackson's fault
Posted by: exhelodrvr | June 19, 2008 at 01:01 PM

ex,

Since I replied twice to you and you have not replied back I will jump in on this. (I must admit I have not read all the threads so forgive me if I missed your reply).

REPOST

Ex,
Fineally something I can wrap my hands around.
I respectfully disagree that Doc had better players. I think the Lakers had the better team.
JustaLakerFan,
It's very simple - PJ did not have the options to work with that Rivers had. A wildly inconsistent Lamar Odom, a Kobe whose shot wasn't falling, point guards not quick enough, Vujacic three point shots not falling, Gasol playing decent defense and rebounding, but being over-powered while on offense, Turiaf not getting any rebounds, Radmonovich playing horrible defense, Luke Walton playing poorly. Ariza and Mihm not ready for playing yet, as they showed when given the chance. Overall a significantly less amount of experience.
[ OK yes LO was inconsistant but who had him out there? Pull him out and TALK to him and let him you what you expect out of him. In other words coach him.
Same as Kobe tell him to drive to rim and shoot lay up or dish or expose illegal D more. No more fade away jump shots if they are not falling.
As for quick point guards I saw positive things especially from Farmar when he dribble penetrated attacking the rim. Even Fish did good when he did the same. PJ should have told them to continue to do the same.
Radman did decent job against PP and way much better than Luke. As soon as Rad went out and Luke in PP had green light and lit him up for 8 straight points. The only thing about the last game is Rad did decent defense but his shots were not falling.
Vujacic shots not falling in last game but if so why leave him in? That is coaches decision. As for Turiaff playing out of position as well as Pau (both are PFs) then why not go for size with Odom at sf to guard PP Turiall to hassle KG and Pau/Mbenga vs Baby, Perkins and Brown. PJ has the players just does not use them. Also Cassel was eating JF and DF but was shut down by Ariza. Ariza could have then posted Cassel up. Mihm should never have been on the court as PJ refused to give him PT to shake off rust before playoffs. Mbenga would have been the go to guy as big off bench.
Luke never should have been on court as he is too slow and can't shoot a lick. He is bad matchup for playing against Celtics. And Ariza was ready when used properly as he held Cassel to zero points when matched agaist him and made steals. But again PJ did not give him many minutes to play to shake off rust.]
The Celtics had three scorers in the starting lineup; the Lakers had one, and two "sort ofs". The Celtics had three scorers on the bench (counting Cassell), the Lakers had one "sort of". The Celtics had good rebounders on the bench, the Lakers didn't.
[ Sorry but the Lakers had size and rebounding strength and that was left unused. Defense wins games. Lakers had a team but you need to use the cards you have and not mis use them and then throw the players under the bus after the game.]
The Celtics roster was better; JAckson did a very good job getting the Lakers two wins, and coming very close in three other games.
[ again I respectfully disagree as Lakers had the better overall team but they were not used. Doc kept telling his players we are team of 12 but PJ used only 7-8 and in the wrong places. Jackson did nothing especially coaching as the players stepped up for those 2 games in spite of PJ not doing a thing coaching wise all series.]
Posted by: exhelodrvr | June 18, 2008 at 08:11 AM
JLF
Posted by: JustaLakerFan | June 18, 2008 at 04:58 PM

Ok, I take "morons and idiots back" But with you pouting about Phil it will not change the fact that Phil here for 2 MORE YEARS!!! GET IT IT???

[ best thing to do with PJ is kick him upstairs as consultant and let his contract expire]

With team like Doc has, it would a big failure not winning, after all they been a heavy favorites even before season begins. At the same time ONE MORE TIME - do you remember what prediction was for Lakers team before last season? Best case scenario - 7th 8th seat and exit from 1st round, worst one - lottery. And you telling me Phil did not do anything with all the injuries, with people moving in and out lineup, getting Pau incorporated on the middle of season, losing Bynum and etc.
[Yes I remember thgat the players won in spite of PJ. Do you remember how PJ refused to go deeper into the bench when we had a lot of injuries and wore out the starters while fighting for conference title? Remember losing to sub 500 teams because our starters were worn out? Remember Fish getting foot injury playing extended minutes instead of saving him for finals? Yeah sure PJ did a wonderful job of nothing. ]

Please just a reminder, how Doc finished all the previous seasons, hah? Celtics had been butt of all jokes for how many years? Because of one under the table deal between 2 former Celtics to get 3 ALL Stars on the same team and resurrect this otherwise dreadful franchise this an also Phil’s fault?

[Same thing applies to PJ. Do you remember how we finished the last few years? Was that PJ's excellant coaching? how he got Ariza and Pau and still blew it]

How about flood on Mississippi river?

[Shoot can pin that one on him but I would argue he was probably a factor in all the So Cal fires with all the hot wind he was blowing.]

Which is actually bring me to conclusion – coaches indeed important but this is the PLAYERS who actually perform (in case of Lakers players esp. in the Game 6 did not)
on the court. Coach only can do so much, he can not induce Lamar to work on his jumpshot or avoid stupid offensive fouls, while driving to the rim, neither he can not lock Vlade or Sasha in the gym until they will produce respectable % FG not in one game, but every game, neither he can teach Luke to defend or shoot. It’s up to them; after all, they are PROFESSIONALS and they’re getting compensated pretty lavishly.

[No he can't but he determines what players are on the floor and if they are not performing it is his obligation to substitute some one in who can play. Especially sticking Luke in and every time he did Boston went on a run. Was that Walton's fault or PJ for putting him in? I could write more on this but point made.]

Each coach just working with pieces he has at hand. And guess what, I hate to admit, Doc Rivers had much better pieces. If you switch teams, I’m fairly certain; Phil would’ve accomplished the same result with the current Celtic’s roster. As some other coaches in this league…
Posted by: LAL_Fan | June 19, 2008 at 01:42 PM

[ I disagree completely. I think the Lakers had and are the better team. I also strongly believe the Lakers lost for two reasons.

1) Yes I will go there and I believe the series was fixed by the NBA and the refs helped the Celtics win the championship.

2) PJ refused to use the bench properly and we had better matchups available.

If the teams were reversed and PJ coached the C's then the Lakers would be the champions.

One more thing to everyone who is calling for heads to roll.
In regards to Phil Jackson, how can you even consider firing a guy who got the supposed "SOFT" Pau Gasol and the supposedly "DISAPEARING" Lamar Odom into the friggen finals.
You guys are blasting the players saying they are soft and have concentration problems then want to fire the coach that "COACHED" these same soft players into the finals?
What sense does that make? Does anyone here really believe that Doc Rivers could have taken a team that has Ronny Turial as the back up center into the finals? Or any coach except Popovich?
SERIOUSLY listen to yourselves!!!
See how the arguement works against itself?
If Lamar is has troubles keeping focus (which is bull crap)than perhaps the coach helped him to get where we got, ever consider that? Same with Gasol if he is so friggen soft then how did he get all the way to the finals? Maybe it was the coach that helped him get there?
OR MAYBE THIS IS ALL BOGUS AND WE GOT BEAT BECAUSE TEAM IS YOUNG AND INEXPERIENCED and NEEDS TO LEARN FROM THIS SO KEEP THE COACH AND TEAM TOGETHER SO WE CAN WIN IT NEXT YEAR.
Posted by: BrandonC | June 19, 2008 at 03:21 PM

BrandonC

You need to listen to yourself. PJ did not coach a lick and yes B Scott, Pop, Doc, and most coaches out there could have coached Turiaff as backup and won. Remember RT played his heart out (pun intended) and was a workhorse. I think the other coaches would have used Mbenga at center with RT at PF his normal position. But PJ just does not get it.

I have not blasted the players as soft and criticsed PJ for starting that cr@p in the press. Heck coach is supposed to motivate not humiliate. No the players won inspite of him and with Kobe coaching and pride in themselves. No PJ does not get credit here.

Young and inexperienced. Heck before playing this series most people were claiming we were deeper because we had more players with play off experience. Now using inexperience as an excuse. Nope don't cut it.

Passionate Laker Fan,
since we own the draft rights of Sasha...we can offer him more than any other team in the league and since we're over the cap already, I don't see why the Buss's won't go over a bit more by re-signing Sasha.
Also keep in mind Sasha is one of the team's hardest worker, he's tall and fits in the triangle.
I certainly hope and feel like he's coming back. Ronny too. By the way my confidence has a bit to do with the fact that these two dudes are really close with Kobe. Though he's not the GM...he certainly has some influence on role players staying, as does PJ.
Go Lakers!
Posted by: Faith | June 19, 2008 at 03:42 PM

Faith,

Yes as our FA we can pay more. I also think that since he is our player we can sign him for more without counting against the cap. Someone more knowledgable can answer taht part but I think we can.

Long Time Laker Fan:
As I mentioned--Phil said himself in game 6 that he wanted Kobe to take over. It doesnt look like phil did anything other than just tell kobe to do his thing.
Unless he was lying... which I dont thing he was because Kobe was trying to get shots, but he had no space to get a decent look. It's a coache's job to get him that space. Dont even get me started on the defensive failures. Also, in the last two games PJ was playing some weird combinations on the floor. To me this is the sign of a coach who cant really figure out what is going on and is desperate to make something happen. There's no doubt that he's a great coach but I think more than anyone else, Phil Jackson is to blame for this loss.
Posted by: James Deen | June 19, 2008 at 05:07 PM

I agree and think PJ is a great coach whose time has come and gone. He definitely was responsible for this championship loss.

I believe Phil gave Mbenga a few minutes when Turiaf get ejected in game 4 of the Utah series and he was horrible. He fouled on almost every play and was out of position on others allowing easy baskets. It's too much to expect someone like that to come in after not having played much against real opponents and play well. The same goes for Newble. Ariza played with some energy in game 4, but was ineffective the rest of the series, and Pierce blew by him on almost every play.

Greg Cleghorne,

Stop posting you idiot!!!!!!!!!!! Unless you have somthing intelligent/new to say don't just keep posting the same old crap.

JustaLakerFan

Didn't mean to ignore

So strange that some people can't admit the obvious
Sometimes you have to keep hitting them in the head with that lead pipe.
I think the reason most people don't want to attack PJ is because they buy into his routine. Phil is one shrewd politician/orator/comedian/crook.

Posted by: Do You See What I See | June 19, 2008 at 10:05 PM

I agree with yo and don't mean to imply you ignored me but it was Ex who ignored me and I used your post (I agree with) to let him know he ignored me.

We completely agree on PJ. As I have said he is a dinosaur whose time has come and gone.

We need to extract oil from that body because that is the only value left in him.

justa,
I have decided not to spend any more time responding to your views on PJ, it's clearly not worth my time. When you say that the Lakers roster was superior to the Celtics, it shows that you just don't get it.

Posted by: exhelodrvr | June 20, 2008 at 09:54 AM

I have no problem with that except to say I respectfully say the Lakers are the better team and you are the one who does not get it.

Since you refused to dispute my beliefs with concrete examples that support your stance is evidence enough that you don't get it and are basing your beliefs on misguided loyalty to a loser who can't win unless he has an all star team. MJ and Pippen, Kobe and Shaq. Since you don't want to reply just think about it that 9 rings came with those players on the teams he coached (non coached) to championship. And no other time has he coached a team with great players like that. Including teams with the best player in the world on your team for last half od decade. HMM.