Tell me the Lakers don't need a REAL head coach...

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

Alright...Lakers have been playing like garbage and I haven't been very happy. I've been down with the Lakers since I was born, so I have to get to the bottom of this...Provided the players they have, Lakers can easily be a force in the NBA, but right now there's no chemistry, no experienced coaching, no teamwork, no defensive efforts, no independance (other than Kobe, of course)....The Lakers need someone to bring them together, someone to place the players in their correct roles, someone to inspire, and most of all, someone to coach them back to the top...Rudy Tomjanavich wasn't bad, but he didn't get to finish what he started...Look at their record month by month, when Frank Hamblen stepped in the wrong position as head coach, everything started going downhill...


Pre-season: 6-2
November: 9-6
December: 6-6
January: 8-7

Total: 29-21


As you can see, the first few months when the Lakers were playing under Rudy-T, they weren't playing bad at all...Now Frank Hamblen  stepped in as head coach on February 2nd...In between Rudy's resignation and Kobe's injury, the Lakers seemed to have given up hope...Look at their record after Frank Hamblen became head coach...

February: 5-8
March: 5-11

Total: 10-19


Coincidence? I think not...Now what the Lakers need to do is pursue Phil Jackson...I'm not saying Phil will turn the same Lakers into championship contenders, but he can easily make them a force, and with a few slight modifications, they can easily become contenders...Now I have provided proof that the mid-season coach switch really affected the Lakers, so I hope the Lakers orginazation does something about it and I hope they do it quick...PeACe

[OneHittaSpitta]

i dont think its Hamblen's fault man. Isnt he running the same system that was in place to begin with? Its the players not responding. When Rudy T went out, im sure it was a blow to the team. A team like the Lakers, with the success over the last few years, and with all the talk of them not even making the playoffs this year, had a very fragile confidence. Rudy leaving, killed it. It was the players job to respond, Kobe's job to lead. None of that happened, and now the easy scapegoat is Hamblen.

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

Hamblen can't reach the players, he's not a head coach, he's not meant for this job...Lakers play like they lost hope.

[hisairness]

You have to look at the T-Wolves.  Who can say Flip Saunders wasn't a good coach?  The players were having problems of their own and weren't focusing on what he had to say.

The Lakers just had too many issues going around.  I don't think it would've mattered who came in after Rudy T, things wouldn't have gotten better.

[OneHittaSpitta]

Lakers play like they lost hope.

thats what im sayin tho, they lost hope when Rudy T retired. It was Kobe's job to get the team going, he's supposed to be the leader. The coach is the coach, but every team needs a leader on the floor, in the locker room, etc. Kobe didnt step up to that challenge.

[KING VerbalAssaulta]

its called an early soft schedule...i tried telling everyone they'd be a 500 team way before the season started...and i was wrong...they're worse    good job kobe

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

You have to look at the T-Wolves.  Who can say Flip Saunders wasn't a good coach?  The players were having problems of their own and weren't focusing on what he had to say.

The Lakers just had too many issues going around.  I don't think it would've mattered who came in after Rudy T, things wouldn't have gotten better.

T-Wolves are in a completely different situation than the Lakers...The T-Wolves stayed with basically the same roster, but have been playing shitty due to injuries (Cassel), lack of ambition (Sprewell), and subsiding chemistry...Lakers, on the other hand, are a brand new team who are yet to play together as a team...That's where the need for a fitting coach steps in...Lakers can easily be so much more than what they are...PeACe

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

Lakers play like they lost hope.

thats what im sayin tho, they lost hope when Rudy T retired. It was Kobe's job to get the team going, he's supposed to be the leader. The coach is the coach, but every team needs a leader on the floor, in the locker room, etc. Kobe didnt step up to that challenge.

Hell yea Kobe did...Kobe's been guiding the players more than Frank Hamblen, don't you ever see him play? All of LA has been talking about how Kobe is doing Hamblen's job, encouraging the players, letting them know when they're playing out of position, etc....It's been known...But obviously, they still need a coach...The Bulls wouldn't have gone anywhere if Jordan was their only coach...

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

its called an early soft schedule...i tried telling everyone they'd be a 500 team way before the season started...and i was wrong...they're worse    good job kobe

It has nothing to do with the scheduale, Lakers have had a pretty evened out scheduale, it's just that they've been losing to good AND bad teams lately...Kobe's the only part of the organization that isn't the problem...

[hisairness]

its called an early soft schedule...i tried telling everyone they'd be a 500 team way before the season started...and i was wrong...they're worse    good job kobe

It has nothing to do with the scheduale, Lakers have had a pretty evened out scheduale, it's just that they've been losing to good AND bad teams lately...Kobe's the only part of the organization that isn't the problem...

How is Kobe the only part that isn't a problem?  He doesn't trust his teammates or give them a chance to play.  Why do you think that everybody is standing around watching Kobe?  It reminds me of that movie "Celtic Pride."  The Utah Jazz have a player who never passes the ball, so his teammates just watch.  At the end of the movie, he does pass the ball and it smacks his teammate in the side of the head because he didn't expect it.

Anyway, that just popped in my head.  I'm not trying to start an argument, I just want to know your view of how Kobe isn't a problem in the organization.

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

its called an early soft schedule...i tried telling everyone they'd be a 500 team way before the season started...and i was wrong...they're worse    good job kobe

It has nothing to do with the scheduale, Lakers have had a pretty evened out scheduale, it's just that they've been losing to good AND bad teams lately...Kobe's the only part of the organization that isn't the problem...

How is Kobe the only part that isn't a problem?  He doesn't trust his teammates or give them a chance to play.  Why do you think that everybody is standing around watching Kobe?  It reminds me of that movie "Celtic Pride."  The Utah Jazz have a player who never passes the ball, so his teammates just watch.  At the end of the movie, he does pass the ball and it smacks his teammate in the side of the head because he didn't expect it.

Anyway, that just popped in my head.  I'm not trying to start an argument, I just want to know your view of how Kobe isn't a problem in the organization.

LOL, Kobe isn't even considered a ballhog by haters anymore, you're living in the past, there's stats that prove against that, such as his team-high average 6 assists...It's already been known that Kobe is like a mentor to these players and is trying to get the players involved as much as possible...But unfortunately, the players rely on Kobe to take care of things... They just all stand around the 3-point line and fire up shots as soon as they get the ball...People like you make me laugh, because you probably haven't seen a Laker game all season, yet you're trying to tell me how the Lakers play and why they're playing that way...

[acbaylove]

The truth is in the middle. Kobe is a guy who gets other teammates involved in 3/4 of the match, usually. He's averaging 6 assists per game, an impressive stat for a SG (he's in the top15 of the whole NBA). But he's not an assist-man, anyway. The "problem" is that in the 4th quarter usually he takes 90% of the shots, even if doubled or tripled. And he forces a lot of shot, so that produces a lot of turnovers. It happened with Shaq in the team too, cause Phil didnt want Shaq to go to the charity line having a 0/2 performance. So, you know, to shoot 90% of the times in the 4th quarter was his job with Shaq, and it's his job in todays post-Shaq Lakers too. There's only a difference: Shaq. Those players gotta understand that they dont have Shaq in their team, so they cant let Kobe play alone. They should try to take some responsabilities more. Lakers coach said several times that Odom should be more selfish, cause he's like afraid to take a pass from Kobe. Odom is the one who's not taking his responsabilities, and he has admitted it. There's a game Lakers have lost, i think against Golden State, where Kobe had the ball for the last shot, he passed it to Walton, and Walton instead of shooting from 3pts (he was alone!), he gave the ball back to Kobe, and time expired. I think that's the best photography of the season!! Lakers teammates needs to be more involved!! That's the key! And, to back on topic, that's a work the coach should handle, not Kobe. So yes, the Lakers need a good coach.

[OneHittaSpitta]

Lakers play like they lost hope.

thats what im sayin tho, they lost hope when Rudy T retired. It was Kobe's job to get the team going, he's supposed to be the leader. The coach is the coach, but every team needs a leader on the floor, in the locker room, etc. Kobe didnt step up to that challenge.

Hell yea Kobe did...Kobe's been guiding the players more than Frank Hamblen, don't you ever see him play? All of LA has been talking about how Kobe is doing Hamblen's job, encouraging the players, letting them know when they're playing out of position, etc....It's been known...But obviously, they still need a coach...The Bulls wouldn't have gone anywhere if Jordan was their only coach...

Being a leader on the team isnt about telling everyone what to do. Hell, Vlade probably has more basketball knowledge then Kobe, based on league experience. Its about motivating your teammates. If Kobe wants to win as bad as u say he does, he has to get everyone else to want it just as bad. If not, theyll just keep losing. Thats where he's failing as a leader. Directing traffic on the court is the easy part.

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

Lakers play like they lost hope.

thats what im sayin tho, they lost hope when Rudy T retired. It was Kobe's job to get the team going, he's supposed to be the leader. The coach is the coach, but every team needs a leader on the floor, in the locker room, etc. Kobe didnt step up to that challenge.

Hell yea Kobe did...Kobe's been guiding the players more than Frank Hamblen, don't you ever see him play? All of LA has been talking about how Kobe is doing Hamblen's job, encouraging the players, letting them know when they're playing out of position, etc....It's been known...But obviously, they still need a coach...The Bulls wouldn't have gone anywhere if Jordan was their only coach...

Being a leader on the team isnt about telling everyone what to do. Hell, Vlade probably has more basketball knowledge then Kobe, based on league experience. Its about motivating your teammates. If Kobe wants to win as bad as u say he does, he has to get everyone else to want it just as bad. If not, theyll just keep losing. Thats where he's failing as a leader. Directing traffic on the court is the easy part.

He does wanna win, but given what he has he's done all he could...There's not much more he can do, he might as well be the team mascot too...He doesn't have much to work with, that's all I'm saying...Jordan obviously had much more than what Kobe has now...PeACe

[King Of L.A.]

Lakers play like they lost hope.

thats what im sayin tho, they lost hope when Rudy T retired. It was Kobe's job to get the team going, he's supposed to be the leader. The coach is the coach, but every team needs a leader on the floor, in the locker room, etc. Kobe didnt step up to that challenge.

you're a stupid moron. what do u mean he hasn't stepped up to the challenge? i bet u havn't watched one laker game all season. you're just going by their record. kobe is always talking to his teamates on the floor, trying to lead them. Frank Hamblin is a horrible coach bottom line.. hes might be a good assistant but thats as far as he'll go in NBA. Lakers had a winning record when Rudy T was their. once he leaves, everything went down the drain.

look at the Denver Nuggets. Earlier this season they were on there way to be the worst team in the NBA  Now look at them Once George Karl took over they're a totally diffrent team and playing the best basketball in the NBA right now. That just shows you how important a coach could be.

Lakers need to get a Larry Brown. Hes a winner. LA also needs to make alot of trades this offseason. This team was horribly put together by Mitch Kupchak. He should be fired.  As long as LA has point guards like chucky atkins & tierre brown they will never be a playoff team.