Phil's Goodbye -- The Right Direction

[TylersLakers]

He said goodbye in May of 2011 with a wry smile, not a tear. Whatever emotion Phil Jackson had on the day he officially retired as the Los Angeles Lakers coach had long since been felt. His last words were ones of gratitude, not nostalgia.

"I said what I wanted to say, so I don't want to belabor this at all," Jackson said then to the assembled media at the Lakers' training facility. "Just wanted to come down and thank the L.A. fans. The Laker fans particularly have been generous to me. When I first came here they thanked me for coming to L.A. I hope they thank me for leaving."

http://m.espn.go.com/general/story?stor ... rc=desktop

Great article by Ramona Shelburne, who clearly has some sources and inside information with this team. It's a great question though, are we going in the right direction with the way Dr. Buss has set up?

Regardless of your thoughts on Jim Buss, this is what Dr. Buss wanted. With knowing how much he cared about everything surrounding this organization, would he really leave what HE built to the hands of people that have no clue what they're doing? Of course not. Every rookie employee/manager/coach/executive/owner is going to make early mistakes. I'm in a management position at work and I made a ton of mistakes when they first gave me the position. Still make some mistakes now. It's a part of becoming successful in whatever you're doing.

So, coming from someone who probably wouldn't be a Lakers fan if Kobe Bryant was traded back in 2007, we have to let this play out the way Dr. Buss wanted it. It's not as easy as passing the baton back to Phil Jackson whenever we're in trouble. Does it suck considering the situation were in with it being the tail end of Bryant's career and wanting to get him that last Championship? Sure. But, this is what was set in place by someone who truly cared about this organization. It's what we, as a fan base, have to support.

I also think that too many people and too many fans forget the one person who makes most of the basketball decisions on this team, Mitch Kupchak. I remember when this man was blasted the last time we were going through troubled waters. Jerry Buss didn't flinch. Amidst all the chaos, he stuck with Kupchak because he believed it was the best thing. When Jerry West, a figure in the organization who had just as good of a reputation as Phil does, was leaving to Golden State and everything was left to Kupchak, everyone (including Kobe) wanted West back. That would have been the easy thing to do, just like it would be to hire Phil Jackson right now. Buss didn't hire West back, he let Kupchak be himself and he made us a contender again and back to back Champions. Mitch is one of the most brilliant basketball minds in this game and if we were to hire Phil, it would pretty much make Mitch an assistant and I don't think he'd settle for that. At this point, Kupchak is a better personnel and front office executive than Jackson.

The bottom line is this: Dr. Jerry Buss loved this organization. He built it. This is the plan that he set up. We have to trust the process and let Mitch Kupchak and Jim Buss do their jobs.

[TyCobb]

Good post. Jim is off to a rocky start, but we'll know more with a larger sample size. Let's hope our next coach can provide the right energy for the organization.

[TonyMontana]

Good post mang!!

I agree with everything, and I do have trust in Mitch but its not Mitch that I have a problem with its Jim. I hope he steps aside and allows Mitch to do his job and not get in his way. We all know that the last call comes from Jim no matter how good Mitch can be.

I also want to add the difference between classy and a legendary coach like Phil.

"Just wanted to come down and thank the L.A. fans. The Laker fans particularly have been generous to me. When I first came here they thanked me for coming to L.A. I hope they thank me for leaving."



Now MDA comments.

If [the fans] are discouraged, then, you know, find another team to root for!!

[LLcoleJ]

I love Phil as much as anyone and I would have loved to have him back. But I was also weary of his lingering hold he had with the franchise/fans. I remember when he came back the second time and he said "I am not the panacea for this team/franchise"

I said what the heck does panacea mean? so I looked it up...

an answer or solution for all problems or difficulties

He was the right guy for us for many years, but we have to let him go, remember his greatness to the franchise and find the right direction once again.

The bottom line is this: Dr. Jerry Buss loved this organization. He built it. This is the plan that he set up. We have to trust the process and let Mitch Kupchak and Jim Buss do their jobs.

This is an excellent point that is often over looked. We all love and trusted Dr Buss and one the last things he did which happened to be really for the last 10 years was to put the org. in the right hands. I don't think he would have given the keys to Jim if he didn't think he could do it. So to that point we have to continue to trust Dr Buss even after he is gone.

[Kilroy]

Good post. Jim is off to a rocky start, but we'll know more with a larger sample size. Let's hope our next coach can provide the right energy for the organization.

I know you're on board with this, but for the guys like me that give Jim the benefit of the doubt...

Not too much larger a sample size... He pretty much HAS to make a splash this off season... The RIGHT draft pick and top Free Agent, goes a long way. And after next off season, we should be legitimate title contenders...
That's I think the length of rope he has to either tie it all together or hang himself.

His era legitimately starts after the finals. The bar is high, and there's not going to be a whole lot of room for error. He needs to be both lucky and good...

[LLcoleJ]

Good post. Jim is off to a rocky start, but we'll know more with a larger sample size. Let's hope our next coach can provide the right energy for the organization.

Another good point. I need to see a larger sample size in the Jim Buss era either way. There is no question that his back is against it right now. Lets see what he can do.

[ak7]

Having a military background I understand where the having "trust in a system" or in this case a "vision" is an important thing, but in that situation decisions are made that you actually believe in and can understand why they are made.

This has yet to happen with the new "regime" and until that happens I can see why most Lakers fans are going to be in a limbo.

[denimourson]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moSFlvxnbgk[/youtube]

seems appropiate

[LaLa]

With Jim, it was never about not putting a good team together, he proved that with acquiring D12 & Nash. But his main problem is putting his fkn ego away and hiring the right coach instead of always going left field. Had the chance to hire Phil, he messed that up and put the franchise back 5 years. So yeah, the title of the article shoulda been named Phil's Goodbye - The Wrong Direction

[gotokyo]

How deep of a hole will Jim Buss have to dig before you guys stop giving him the benefit of the doubt? How many years will he have to set this franchise back before you guys realize that enough is enough?


Please no more sample sizes.

I don't care if Jerry thought Jim was capable of carrying on his legacy. He clearly can't, this has been proven time and time again since he started making decisions.





Sent from my Nexus 5 using RealGM Forums mobile app

[Michael Lucky]

lol still trying to figure out what it is that Jim Buss did that was so bad? Hire Mike Brown over Brian Shaw? wow, what a failure there. Hire D'Antoni over Phil, oh wait, that was actually Jerry's decision (the actual owner). The only thing he's done that i've thought was a mistake and even then there's nothing to invest your money in when it comes to this year's FA is the two year 48 million extension to Kobe.

[myersia]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moSFlvxnbgk[/youtube]

seems appropiate

Already used that one in the Phil signs with Knicks thread. Great choice though

[ALL HAIL]

lol still trying to figure out what it is that Jim Buss did that was so bad? Hire Mike Brown over Brian Shaw? wow, what a failure there. Hire D'Antoni over Phil, oh wait, that was actually Jerry's decision (the actual owner). The only thing he's done that i've thought was a mistake and even then there's nothing to invest your money in when it comes to this year's FA is the two year 48 million extension to Kobe.

You're completely downplaying the MAGNITUDE of those two coaching hires.

When news dropped of the Mike Brown hire, we were all quite dumbfounded. Most knew, or at least felt, that he was an awful hire, and most thought it was pretty clear to see from the onset that he was not the right man for the job.

The Lakers didn't have to hire Brian Shaw. I get that they wanted fresh new blood for this team, but there were WAAAY better options than Brown who had already shown the world his inadequacies, especially as they related to handling his star (LBJ) and his offensive ineptness.

So to gloss over the hiring of Mike Brown would be unfair.

To compound the Mike Brown issue, the Laker front office, under Jim Buss, has set new lows in demystifying the aura or perception of the Lakers.

They have set many precedents that make the organization seem flustered, indecisive, out of control, and unstable.

Firing Mike Brown after five games, rather you want to admit it or not, was unprecedented for this organization.

The Lakers had always seemed like a top-flight, world class organization that was clearly ahead of the curve, with a very strong finger on the pulse of the "going-ons" of their own organization.

Firing Mike Brown after 5 games, again, rather you want to admit it or not, was a metaphor to all that were on the outside looking in that the Lakers were loosing their grip.

Hiring and firing Mike Brown was a tremendous blemish on the Lakers' front office ... it was absolutely huge my man. It looked really, really bad.

And then, ...........



........ this Laker front office (Kupchak, Jerry Buss, and Jim Buss) take the stain of the Mike Brown hire/fire and, instead of cleaning it to the point where no remnants remained, they SMEAR the stain incessantly, making it 100 times worse ..........



......... they hire Mike D'Antoni, who they will probably then fire at the end of his one complete season in which he captains the Lakers to their worst record in the history of their glorious existence ... another negative historical precedent that continues to sink the perception of this proud franchise.

Along the way of this D'Antoni era, the Lakers establish yet another negative historical precedent. They watch a player, who was the best player at his position in the league, willingly walk away from the organization after they openly pleaded and constructed huge billboards to convince him to stay.

These types of things have NEVER, EVER happened with this team, and to dismiss these events as merely "Brown over Shaw and Jerry Buss/D'Antoni over Phil" happenstance would be completely disingenuous and just plain wrong.

I'm really not blaming this entirely on Lucky Sperm. I have no idea who makes what decisions, so I feel much more comfortable just indicting the entire Laker front office.

[dockingsched]

Brian shaw isn't doing anything good in Denver this season, why is he even being brought up

[ALL HAIL]

Brian shaw isn't doing anything good in Denver this season, why is he even being brought up

To answer your question, Brian Shaw was brought up by your man Lucky to illustrate that Jim Buss' hiring of Mike Brown over Shaw was really not a bad decision because of the reason you just stated.

[RamAthorn101]

Well said sir

[DEEP3CL]

While everyone has made valid points and seems resolved to take a wait and see approach, being real about things we as fans won't see the Lakers take a step in improving until Jim and Jeanie get their sh*t straight.

Phil is gone and now we don't have that security blanket to keep clutching too.I'm not sure if Phil is going to be anu good at his new role. He NEVER took the time to develop rookies, didn't like playing them. He has a certain vision in how the game is played but all that correlated with his belief in the Triangle. I'm not sure if he can be all that convincing in getting players to NY.

Because he's not going to coach. We'll see how it works for him.

[TylersLakers]

While everyone has made valid points and seems resolved to take a wait and see approach, being real about things we as fans won't see the Lakers take a step in improving until Jim and Jeanie get their sh*t straight.

Phil is gone and now we don't have that security blanket to keep clutching too.I'm not sure if Phil is going to be anu good at his new role. He NEVER took the time to develop rookies, didn't like playing them. He has a certain vision in how the game is played but all that correlated with his belief in the Triangle. I'm not sure if he can be all that convincing in getting players to NY.

Because he's not going to coach. We'll see how it works for him.

Good point. That's the next point I was going to make.

Sean May is a hell of a player, isn't he? That's who Phil wanted in the draft when we had the 10th overall pick (when it was strictly Jim Buss' decision to take Andrew Bynum).

How would that Kobe Bryant for Shawn Marion and Jason Kidd trade?

Phil is going to make a lot of mistakes and if we would have hired him.. There would be no Mitch Kupchak for very long.

[BEazy]

In Mitch Kupchak I trust. I've been very critical of him these 2 seasons but he always pulls something off that we never expect.

As for Jackson, best of luck to him. He's going to need it with the mess he has to clean up in NY. Overall, I'm glad that we put our faith in a proven NBA executive like Kupchak rather than a guy that has the merits as a coach but no merits as a executive.

[Run-MKE 311]

Phil leaving is a hard kick in the gut, it just is. Clearly there were issues within the FO that were not going to allow Phil to have a place with the team going forward. That sucks to accept, but it is just the way it is. It really makes me cherish those two chips' on 09' & 10' and remember how much fun we all had with them.

I get a sinking feeling that Jimmy Buss is going down the Dolan route, I certainly hope not, but for now I have little reason to believe in the current direction.