Kupchak on Kobe Extension, Coach Search, and Draft

[LApwnd]

this makes me MAD!!! why wasn't this logic used on MDA hiring? They hired him to maximize Nash rather then the entire team. SUCH stupid/failed logic, to depend on a 39yr old pg at the time to be the focal point of your offense was beyond short sighted.

The thinking at the time was that Nash/Dwight would become an even deadlier pick & roll combo than Nash & Amare were.. They had no way of knowing that Dwight was going to refuse to set picks & demand the ball in the post.

yes thats understandable but at the same time like I said that entire offense i predicated on PG play and our PG was 39 years old with a bad back, offense was uptempo as well and we have a bunch of old legs. Also diff. between Amare/Howard PnR wouldn't have had the same dynamics, Amare developed a respectable jump shot something Howard still hasn't added to his game even now.

[dockingsched]

Kupchak on Coach Search:

"You do take into consideration the make up of your roster.

this makes me MAD!!! why wasn't this logic used on MDA hiring? They hired him to maximize Nash rather then the entire team. SUCH stupid/failed logic, to depend on a 39yr old pg at the time to be the focal point of your offense was beyond short sighted.

nash was the best pick n roll guard the yr before and dwight was the best pick n roll big the yr before, kobe and pau's pick n roll was devastating as well, a play they ran almost as much as the triangle. its pretty simple logic.

[LApwnd]

this makes me MAD!!! why wasn't this logic used on MDA hiring? They hired him to maximize Nash rather then the entire team. SUCH stupid/failed logic, to depend on a 39yr old pg at the time to be the focal point of your offense was beyond short sighted.

nash was the best pick n roll guard the yr before and dwight was the best pick n roll big the yr before, kobe and pau's pick n roll was devastating as well, a play they ran almost as much as the triangle. its pretty simple logic.

every team can run a PnR just ask Pho when they got the WCF w/o MDA, you didn't need a coach who only knows how to run one play and that wasn't the reason they gave us, the reason they gave us for picking MDA was to replicate SHOW TIME, how do you do that with a bunch slow old dudes? Here's the opposing logic, you had 4 players who could dominate the post in the paint in Pau, Metta, Howard, Kobe but yet hire a coach who's philosphy suggest that the post up the worse play you can run....great logic considering this team won majority of its championship based on POST PLAY

[dockingsched]

pau, metta, and howard could dominate the post...talk about being out of touch. sometimes i feel like people forget that the lakers under phil got bounced by the mavs with ease and then got bounced under mike brown. MDA did not take over a defending champ, he took over a team that had failed its last two yrs, one under phil jackson.

also, pau hasn't been able to consistently dominate the post since phil jackson desperately tried to get him to perform in the 2011 playoffs. metta as a post option isn't getting you anything, and howard received the most post touches in the nba behind al jefferson so no reason to even bring him up.

[TyCobb]

They played the max games several years straight including the Olympics. They had their rest under Brown and missed their opportunity with signing DAntoni.

[Slava]

To be fair Pau and Odom's decline started with them playing extended minutes early in the 2011 season after back to back championships thanks to Bynum's South Africa trip and delayed surgery.

[crazyeights]

And thanks to the FO going cheap on backup bigs. Ahem Theo Ratliff, ahem Joe Smith trade.

[LApwnd]

pau, metta, and howard could dominate the post...talk about being out of touch. sometimes i feel like people forget that the lakers under phil got bounced by the mavs with ease and then got bounced under mike brown. MDA did not take over a defending champ, he took over a team that had failed its last two yrs, one under phil jackson.

also, pau hasn't been able to consistently dominate the post since phil jackson desperately tried to get him to perform in the 2011 playoffs. metta as a post option isn't getting you anything, and howard received the most post touches in the nba behind al jefferson so no reason to even bring him up.

far better suited in the paint then seeing Pau and Metta jacking up 3's

[ArC_man]

pau, metta, and howard could dominate the post...talk about being out of touch. sometimes i feel like people forget that the lakers under phil got bounced by the mavs with ease and then got bounced under mike brown. MDA did not take over a defending champ, he took over a team that had failed its last two yrs, one under phil jackson.

also, pau hasn't been able to consistently dominate the post since phil jackson desperately tried to get him to perform in the 2011 playoffs. metta as a post option isn't getting you anything, and howard received the most post touches in the nba behind al jefferson so no reason to even bring him up.

Pau was dominant in the finals of the Olympics just before the season began. People were hoping to see him maintain that form for the whole season.

[BJGOAT3]

Mike Brown led the team to the 3rd seed in the lockout season, there was a large gap with the 2nd seed at the time but Lakers upgraded the roster to the extent that they could remove the gap. The whole Princeton offense setup failed miserably, there was no reason to try implementing a new system when the added players missed the training camp due to injuries. In an extremely panicked and reactionary way MDA hire took the team to the opposite direction which was impossible to implement within a regular season. The best thing to do was to let go of the Princeton offense, keep Brown and try to utilize the talent in a mediocre way, which would be enough for the 3rd seed once again, considering that Kobe played out of his mind all season. To give Brown credit, he used Bynum-Gasol much more effectively than MDA did with Dwight-Pau. MDA hire would have never happened, Brown would be fired in case of the probable playoff loss and Lakers could conduct a healthy search for a coach in the off-season while likely keeping Dwight although even if he still leaves, LAL would have this years opportunity a year early to implement a new system&coach.

[TonyMontana]

The title should read Mitch's "could've should've" plan A to plan Z. The whole Nash Howard and MDA experiment was a big failure and we paid and are paying the price for it. Time to move on. The problem I have is we didn't have a backup/contingency plan in case it didn't work out and we put all of our eggs on these three people for a "win now" plan.

But look at the three people. Howard lack of leadership, offense, maturity etc. Nashs age, his injuries, etc. MDA unproven, all offense no defense, douchebag. All three failures.

[Kilroy]

The title should read Mitch's "could've should've" plan A to plan Z. The whole Nash Howard and MDA experiment was a big failure and we paid and are paying the price for it. Time to move on. The problem I have is we didn't have a backup/contingency plan in case it didn't work out and we put all of our eggs on these three people for a "win now" plan.

But look at the three people. Howard lack of leadership, offense, maturity etc. Nashs age, his injuries, etc. MDA unproven, all offense no defense, douchebag. All three failures.

Nash and MDA WERE the contingency plan... CP3/Howard and probably Phil were plan A...

[NBAWestFan]

Kobe is not the old Kobe.

He is still a good player but he needs to be a real team mate
and realize that the NBA wins come for Teams and not individuals as did Duncan
and the only way he chases titles is to do what Tim did and re-do is contract for less $
now that he has been respected and give the $ to the younger players. Maybe the Lakers
can wait and see what has happens with Kobe but he has to have Big three to beat the tops teams of the NBA and he would be the oldest of the three and not have to score as much as the other two.

He expected Shaq to step aside and pass the torch and now he has to do the same and giving back for the team would show he is committed to winning in LA. Otherwise I see him still being all about Kobe as he always has been. A great player but a bad role model for kids growing up to model their games after an individual player vs a team player.

[Mamba Venom]

20 mil for Kobe would be fine. But that extra 4 a year is going to cost us Gasol.

[kblo247]

Kobe is not the old Kobe.

He is still a good player but he needs to be a real team mate
and realize that the NBA wins come for Teams and not individuals as did Duncan
and the only way he chases titles is to do what Tim did and re-do is contract for less $
now that he has been respected and give the $ to the younger players. Maybe the Lakers
can wait and see what has happens with Kobe but he has to have Big three to beat the tops teams of the NBA and he would be the oldest of the three and not have to score as much as the other two.

He expected Shaq to step aside and pass the torch and now he has to do the same and giving back for the team would show he is committed to winning in LA. Otherwise I see him still being all about Kobe as he always has been. A great player but a bad role model for kids growing up to model their games after an individual player vs a team player.

Tim ain't won shot since taking a paycut, he's never been a draw, he was a part time player for years, and he didn't pay state taxes his whole career.

I mean what has Tim's sacrifice accomplished? No Ring so its meaningless

[Dr Aki]

That being said....I'm going to go out on a limb and say something crazy.......I really think there is a 60% chance LeBron opts out. If you have watched him during the playoffs he is really getting annoyed by the Heat's other big three not stepping up. Would not shock me whatsoever if he turns this offseason into a frenzy. I could see Bosh leaving as well if they lose.

there's actually a 100% chance lebron/wade/bosh opt out

since all 3 aren't at the max, they will simply opt out only to re-sign for the max for 5 years, then sail off into the sunset together

there's very little chance any of them leave miami

[LApwnd]

That being said....I'm going to go out on a limb and say something crazy.......I really think there is a 60% chance LeBron opts out. If you have watched him during the playoffs he is really getting annoyed by the Heat's other big three not stepping up. Would not shock me whatsoever if he turns this offseason into a frenzy. I could see Bosh leaving as well if they lose.

there's actually a 100% chance lebron/wade/bosh opt out

since all 3 aren't at the max, they will simply opt out only to re-sign for the max for 5 years, then sail off into the sunset together

there's very little chance any of them leave miami

Mia is going to get hit with repeater tax every single year if this happens unless they field the rest of the team full of vet min and rookies.

[myersia]

That being said....I'm going to go out on a limb and say something crazy.......I really think there is a 60% chance LeBron opts out. If you have watched him during the playoffs he is really getting annoyed by the Heat's other big three not stepping up. Would not shock me whatsoever if he turns this offseason into a frenzy. I could see Bosh leaving as well if they lose.

there's actually a 100% chance lebron/wade/bosh opt out

since all 3 aren't at the max, they will simply opt out only to re-sign for the max for 5 years, then sail off into the sunset together

there's very little chance any of them leave miami[/quote]

I'm not sure about that anymore. If they lose to the Pacers (unlikely) then I wouldn't be shocked to see a little mix up. I can see Bosh leaving to be honest.

[NBAWestFan]

Kobe is not the old Kobe.

He is still a good player but he needs to be a real team mate
and realize that the NBA wins come for Teams and not individuals as did Duncan
and the only way he chases titles is to do what Tim did and re-do is contract for less $
now that he has been respected and give the $ to the younger players. Maybe the Lakers
can wait and see what has happens with Kobe but he has to have Big three to beat the tops teams of the NBA and he would be the oldest of the three and not have to score as much as the other two.

He expected Shaq to step aside and pass the torch and now he has to do the same and giving back for the team would show he is committed to winning in LA. Otherwise I see him still being all about Kobe as he always has been. A great player but a bad role model for kids growing up to model their games after an individual player vs a team player.

Tim ain't won shot since taking a paycut, he's never been a draw, he was a part time player for years, and he didn't pay state taxes his whole career.

I mean what has Tim's sacrifice accomplished? No Ring so its meaningless

Tim was one shot away from a title last year and has been back to the Finals. The Spurs Organization has showed how a well run team can come back throughout Duncans whole career. They are probably the favorites to beat OKC. The Spurs are one of the greatest teams since 2000 with one real Super star and some stars. But Most important they are one of the best Teams since the Bulls or Showtime. Great spacing, defense, head Coach, pick and Roll and offense.

[kblo247]

Kobe is not the old Kobe.

He is still a good player but he needs to be a real team mate
and realize that the NBA wins come for Teams and not individuals as did Duncan
and the only way he chases titles is to do what Tim did and re-do is contract for less $
now that he has been respected and give the $ to the younger players. Maybe the Lakers
can wait and see what has happens with Kobe but he has to have Big three to beat the tops teams of the NBA and he would be the oldest of the three and not have to score as much as the other two.

He expected Shaq to step aside and pass the torch and now he has to do the same and giving back for the team would show he is committed to winning in LA. Otherwise I see him still being all about Kobe as he always has been. A great player but a bad role model for kids growing up to model their games after an individual player vs a team player.

Tim ain't won shot since taking a paycut, he's never been a draw, he was a part time player for years, and he didn't pay state taxes his whole career.

I mean what has Tim's sacrifice accomplished? No Ring so its meaningless

Tim was one shot away from a title last year and has been back to the Finals. The Spurs Organization has showed how a well run team can come back throughout Duncans whole career. They are probably the favorites to beat OKC. The Spurs are one of the greatest teams since 2000 with one real Super star and some stars. But Most important they are one of the best Teams since the Bulls or Showtime. Great spacing, defense, head Coach, pick and Roll and offense.

And he won nothing. Kobe has played in More finals, won more rings, drew better across the board ratings, attendance, and merchandising wise while playing more han Duncan did when he made the "sacrifice" while paying no state taxes.

If tim doesn't get ring 5 his sacrifice is meaningless

SA also never was a dynasty since they never defended a title. They were a good team but they weren't fighting champions