emplay: Jim Buss Interviews

[FrozenIceCubes]

Before calling shots lets not act like Dr Buss did not make many mistakes as a owner including hiring Magic Johnson as coach and Paul Westphal ..he also could have done a better job in keeping Kobe and Shaq together a little longer but decided to go to a different direction...

[ArC_man]

yeah nah, jim buss needs to go, Jeanie is the one with the basketball brains out of the siblings

put her in charge and hopefully we can regain our position on top of the basketball world

[Spens1]

yeah nah, jim buss needs to go, Jeanie is the one with the basketball brains out of the siblings

put her in charge and hopefully we can regain our position on top of the basketball world

oh god



well as long as we don't have that sort of situation it wouldn't be worse

[Sofa King]

we discussed analytics - will blog some of that tomorrow

FULL STORY - http://www.latimes.com/sports/lakers/lakersnow/la-sp-ln-jim-buss-defends-scott-lakers-analytics-20150828-story.html

"There are parameters that I need to see on a guy but that doesn't mean he fits the team. That's where Mitch comes in, he knows the numbers, but he also sees if he's a fit," said Buss. "Then you go to Byron Scott, is this a guy that you like? Is this a guy that fits the team, does he complement the other players?

"Analytics doesn't really get to that human detail of, 'Does he fit with this guy?' Percentage-wise and stat-wise he does, but you have personalities, style of play, coaches that have a style of play and you have to put that all together.

"If I don't like a guy statistically or analytically then I might come in and say I'm not in favor of this. If he passes my test, then I just let [Kupchak and Scott] figure out who is the better fit."

[Lakers_Forever]

It was decent interview and good to hear his promises even though they might be hallow and without any substance. One has to realize that as the owner, me might step down and let some one else be the Vice-President of operations, but ultimately I think he would fire Mitch Kupchak and blame him for the failures. He has already deflected some of the blame for hiring Mike Brown and then Mike D'antoni to his sister, Mitch Kupchak and the late Dr Jerry Buss. I still shake my head when I think about the fact they could have had Phil Jackson who would have known how to handle and keep Dwight Howard on the team. Signing Chris Paul who was a free agent would have been a slam dunk with Phil and Howard and the Lakers would have been contenders

[dockingsched]

^^in your scenario where it's a slam dunk to sign Paul, are we gonna just pretend that just counting Howard, Kobe, and Pau wasn't already going to cap out the lakers?

[pdub15]

Jim made a interesting point.. He said he was beind Phil Jacksons return and the Pau Gasol trade it looks like his dad pushed him over in selecting MDA over others because of Dr Busses desire for showtime basketball I honestly think Jim Buss can be a great owner the problem is .. The media and the public won't let him be known as a good owner despite the fact that he's shown he can make the big move to put the Lakers over the top...

It's not the first time Jim has said this. He said this a few months after Dr. Buss died. Never said it when Dr. Buss was alive. I find that odd especially since Dr. Buss loved Phil Jackson.

I think you have a distorted view of the past. This is what Phil Jackson said at the end of his tenure as coach of the lakers:

In his final news conference that season, he noted that he did not have much of a relationship with Jerry or Jim Buss, and said, "When I leave here, I don't anticipate Lakers management will call me up and ask my advice.

Personally I'd day Dr Buss tolerated Jackson because of all the winning though I admit tolerated may be a bit harsh. He definitely didn't love him Jackson, that's just fantasy. There's a reason DrBuss didn't include Jackson in his succession plan.

Phil Jackson said that Mitch called him at midnight and said Jim has decided to go with MDA.

Jackson said that eh? Cause latimes has Jackson quoted with this:

"When I left [the interview], [Lakers owner/executive] Jimmy [Buss] was pretty happy about it and [General Manager] Mitch [Kupchak] was still saying, 'We're going to keep interviewing people,' and I think the ultimate [decision] kind of rested with Dr. Buss and he made the decision in the hospital the day after," said Jackson.

Mitch himself said it was Jim's decision to go with MDA. Dr. Buss and Phil actually had a great relationship. He actually love the fact that Jeanie and Phil were dating and wanted them to before hand. They weren't as close as Magic & Dr. Buss but they had a good relationship. It is well known that Jim has never liked Phil out of jealousy. Jeanie herself in multiple interviews has said Jim was behind not bringing Phil back.

[dockingsched]

^^^You know in today's day and age of "Google" and the "Internet" you can't just go making things up. Please post a link where Mitch said the MDA hire was strictly Jim Buss'.

[So Gutta]

yeah nah, jim buss needs to go, Jeanie is the one with the basketball brains out of the siblings

put her in charge and hopefully we can regain our position on top of the basketball world

What evidence do you have to support this? She has strictly been on the business not basketball side of the organization for decades.

[Spens1]

well, i would say she's married to Phil Jackson but the knicks........

honestly she just seems to have a much better idea about the game of basketball in interviews

also it would be very hard for us to do worse than Jimbo

[FrozenIceCubes]

Can anyone confirm to me rather Jims comments about this season being about building a core is about accepting the fact that there is a good chance the team misses the playoffs? I don't see what good Jims comment brings when Season ticket holders only want to hear the word "success" and "competitive".

[pdub15]

^^^You know in today's day and age of "Google" and the "Internet" you can't just go making things up. Please post a link where Mitch said the MDA hire was strictly Jim Buss'.

In a interview shortly after it was announced that the Lakers decided on MDA over Phil Jackson on KCal 9 when asked why they went with MDA over Jackson Mitch specifically said "Ownership wanted to go in a different direction." At that time Dr. Buss was already very sick and not involved with basketball operations because of his illness. We both know Jeanie wanted Phil back so it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know it was Jim. Since than Jeanie has stated in multiple times that Jim told her there was no room for Phil when she asked him. You can trust websites and articles so much. The truth to every story is listening to the people speak about it who are part of the story. They will tell you what really happen directly or indirectly every time.

[crazyeights]

Before calling shots lets not act like Dr Buss did not make many mistakes as a owner including hiring Magic Johnson as coach and Paul Westphal ..he also could have done a better job in keeping Kobe and Shaq together a little longer but decided to go to a different direction...

I agree with the sentiment of your post, Dr. Buss while absolutely should be appreciated, was by no means perfect. (I recommend reading "Showtime" by Jeff Pearlman. Fascinating read.)

You mean Paul Westhead, though, and to be fair to Dr. Buss, if it weren't for Jack McKinney's accident, Westhead would have never risen to head coach.

And from what I understand, Pat Riley was an impromptu hire live at a press conference and that was all on Jerry West, who Buss wanted to coach.

Both of these events tell me that Jerry had his share of awful and amazing luck in coaching hires.

By the time it came to hire Phil, it was a no-brainer. Simply put, I don't see a lot of inspired coaching moves on Dr. Buss's end either, except for his hiring of Jack McKinney, the architect of Showtime.

[Kilroy]

^^^You know in today's day and age of "Google" and the "Internet" you can't just go making things up. Please post a link where Mitch said the MDA hire was strictly Jim Buss'.

In a interview shortly after it was announced that the Lakers decided on MDA over Phil Jackson on KCal 9 when asked why they went with MDA over Jackson Mitch specifically said "Ownership wanted to go in a different direction." At that time Dr. Buss was already very sick and not involved with basketball operations because of his illness. We both know Jeanie wanted Phil back so it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know it was Jim. Since than Jeanie has stated in multiple times that Jim told her there was no room for Phil when she asked him. You can trust websites and articles so much. The truth to every story is listening to the people speak about it who are part of the story. They will tell you what really happen directly or indirectly every time.

So you'd choose to ignore both Jim and Jeanie indicating that their dad had the ultimate call in that one? Both have said Jim went to Dr Buss with both options, assuming they'd go with Phil, but Dr Buss wanted MDA/Showtime.

Which is exactly why he chose not to renew Phil's deal after Shaq was traded... He spoke of his desire for Showtime repeatedly throughout the years. And the coaching names that came up in association with us have all indicated that desire.