Any Regrets Over Mike Brown and MDA?

[Big NBA Fan]

Hey guys,

I am an occasional poster on Real GM, but I am just a general NBA fan who doesn't really support any particular team.

My question deals with two ex-Lakers coaches, Mike Brown and MDA.

Do some of you regret that they are no longer in LA? We know Brown was fired just 5 (!) games into the 2013 season, which I think was harsh on him. Dwight rushed back from a major injury and Brown led the Warriors and Cavs to the NBA Finals and is an elite defensive coach.

And MDA was being constantly criticized for not being Phil Jackson, and Magic Johnson pretty much chased him out of LA by constantly lamenting not hiring Phil instead.

Given the job he has done in Houston, do you agree he was overly criticized with the Lakers?

Would you guys prefer that either one of them was coaching the Lakers now instead of Luke? And who do you think is a better overall coach between Brown and MDA?

Just eager to hear what Lakers fans think of both coaches.

[Kilroy]

MDA is a regular season coach... Call me when the Rockets win something. I think a lot of people will be shocked when they get 'shocked' in the second round. I'd also really like someone to point to something MDA is doing as the "Coach" of that team other than telling Harden and CP3 "Good Job" on the huddles... He's along for the ride, like he was with Nash in Phoenix.
Brown was a complete disaster in LA... He got married to the gimmicky Princeton Offense he was trying to implement but didn't have the strength of character to get his team on the same page. So he changed it, lost the team and Kobe, and was immediately and justifiably fired.

So No... No regerts...

[Big NBA Fan]

Thanks for the first response and I am looking forward to many more on this issue!

Anyways, I disagree with you on a few issues.

MDA was a Robert Horry hip-check away from winning the whole thing in 2007. How is that his fault?

And MDA was crucial for Nash; Steve was NEVER a serious MVP candidate until he played for MDA and then when Mike quit and Terry Porter took over and installed a more traditional offense, Nash resisted and Porter was fired soon after taking over and scrapping the SSOL offense. MDA always gets the most out of his point guards. (Harden, Nash, Lin, Marshall, Felton)

And believe it or not, the Princeton was NOT the issue; it was the defense and it would have improved over time with a healthy Dwight (One of the greatest defensive centers ever) and Brown really knows how to coach defense.

Plus, the 2012 Lakers gave the Thunder a real scare in Games 2 and 4 without the super under-rated Lamar Odom and Brown actually got a phenomenal year out of Bynum.

Plus, Mike D has learned that you do need to be pretty good defensively to win a title which is why he hired Bzdelik as his D-Coordinator in Houston.

I, for one, think Mike D never had a chance and Brown was fired prematurely.

[Slava]

We're happy with Luke and its going to be awhile before Mike Brown gets a head coaching gig. MDA was just the wrong person at the wrong time.

[LAKESHOW]

MDA couldnt coach defense. Brown couldn't coach offense. Luke is a young up and comer. Son of a basketball player. Played and won here, and picked up a coupla things from Jax. Tutelage under Kerr. Solid pedigree, although several would disagree with Dad part. anyhow, He is familiar with the warriors system of play. Has good assistants, in particular a guy like Shaw, who proved to be valuable in Indy when PG and him were together. Some also would disagree with that, but here and now cannot be denied. Shaw has been a solid aaaistant. Especially if he can help land PG. Luke builds chemistry first and it shows pretrade. He has a strong developmental trait in his coaching ability. I see tremendous growth and development of players under his tenure here. Emphasizes ball movement and anyone can bring the ball up and initiate offensive sets. Luke is in my mind the best available coach out there. And I'm glad he's in our side.

[Danny Darko]

Definitely regret hiring those two guys in the first place.

I've grown to appreciate MDA more as a guy and for getting a lot out of certain types of players in an elite way. His pairing with the lineup in Houston had in combination with DM being aggressive on the market to get him his kind of guys is perfect to optimize his talents.

However- He had Paul F'ing Gasol and Dwight Howard, and he would not change anything to set the team up for success. He has some glaring weaknesses and LA had just about every kryptonite in the locker and front office including a history of championship bigs, lack of modern perimeter shooting, and a GM that did not want to shake up things around Kobe that he had assembled previously.
Also- he ran kobe into that achilles in all likelihood

________________

Brown- even though he's probably learned a lot under Kerr, I am so glad he's where he is, because if Kerr retires I believe Brown will be the end of the dominance and cohesiveness there.

[scoobs07]

MDA might of worked out if he had the correct type of players to work with. We either hired the wrong coach for the roster that we had at that time or we failed to acquire the correct players for the offense. Having the twin towers of Gasol/Howard was a horrible fit for MDA and put him in position to fail.

[dub81]

Mike did not have the horses to run his offense.

Imagining Zo running his offense would be fun to watch.

[Slink]

I think Phil Jackson should have been given another chance. But the assumption was that Mitch didn't want him interfering with front office affairs again.

[Dr Aki]

They shafted Mike. The guy was a good coach, had solid ideas and spoke eloquently about them. But he probably wasn't the right type of coach at the right time.

He just had personalities he couldn't control, let alone trying to get Dwight to do anything other than complain about not getting the ball. And Kobe was going to go Kobe without Nash there to moderate him on the floor. He just didn't have the gravitas to commands their respect. Then out of the blue, we canned him without much chance, then hired the guy who tried to maximise Nash instead of Dwight.

If you put Mike with Luke today, with this group of players, he'd work wonders.

MDA was also a good coach, had solid ideas but he never had the right personnel. I mean who hires D'Antoni to coach Kobe, Pau, MWP and Dwight? That was a doomed relationship from the beginning

[Dr Aki]

Mike did not have the horses to run his offense.

Imagining Zo running his offense would be fun to watch.

But the horrific defense though

[TylersLakers]

D'Antonio was the wrong coach at the wrong time, unfortunately. Doesn't mean he's a bad coach, obviously. Wish him all the best in Houston. He deserves it. I thought he was quite humorous actually.

Mike Brown, I feel less bad about that. He wasn't good.

I'm happy with Luke. Absolutely.

[stan francisco]

Mike Antoni knows no D.

Mike Brwn knows no O.

Regrets? Hiring them. I was equally pissed both times for the reasons above. Plus, Mike Antoni is a pompous a-hole.

Perfectly happy with Luke. His mentors tell us that he comes from a royal line of basketball pedigree: Bill Walton, Coach John Wooden, Tex Winter, Phil Jackson, Steve Kerr. Played with Kobe, Shaq, Horry and other all time winners. Is a champion as a player. Knows how to handle stars and role players alike.

I'm happily keeping Luke for a good 4-5 years over either of the Mikes, even if they did it for free. I'm sure Jeannie, Magic, Rob all agree.

[Spens1]

absolutely not, we weren't terrible with Brown but we sure weren't great and sure weren't competing and if we scored 90 it was a good offensive game half the time. We were attrocious with Pringles, no other words for it, was terrible, we could score in abundance but no one could defend to save themselves, granted, the squad was no where near athletic enough for a D'Antoni team.

[Marionettetc]

No, LOL

[Revived]

Mike did not have the horses to run his offense.

Imagining Zo running his offense would be fun to watch.

But the horrific defense though

It all depends on the personnel. Morey put a bunch of defenders around Harden and now Rockets have a top 10 defense in the league. If Pelinka did the same with Lonzo then there's no reason to think LAL would have a good defense as well.

Lonzo in MDA's offense would be honestly amazing. I think he'd put up better numbers than Harden.

[xSABOx]

Mike Brown was a disaster. Hated the hire and never liked anything did here...

MDA is one of my favorite coaches in nba history for his approach to offense BUT he wasn’t a right fit for our personel. As much as everyone wants to blame him for not making it work with Pau and Dwight, fact is we were behind the 8 ball of the upcoming pace and space revolution. Poor roster management led to the demise of that era.

Surrounding Kobe and Pau with shooters like Dallas had should’ve been the strategy if you’re hiring Mike D.

Either way, Mike Brown sucked and MDA wrong place wrong time.

[Edrees]

Both very puzzling coaching hires. I was OK with Pringles, he's a good coach though I don't think his style is good in the playoffs. but Mike Brown was the worst coaching hire i've seen in my life. At least Byron Scott was an intentional tank commander.

Thank god we got our act together and hired Luke.

[kobe_vs_jordan]

Biggest regret from MDA was that we hired Shaw. Honestly think we hired MDA too early. Brown should never be more than assistant.

[BEazy]

Regret over Mr. Potato Head and Pringles?? This is a joke right?

The only regret was not getting Phil Jackson back and hiring that dumbass Pringles... Seriously **** both of those coaches.

Luke Walton is 1000000 times better than both of those failures.