Am I wrong to blame luke for coaching the team bad

[lalalaker]

FIrst off let me start by saying there are fundamentals that should be in place in every coaching in nba. I watch other games besides lakers and all good teams i see have things in common which i dont see in lakers for past few years. We all pretty much sure expected luke to coach this team like how he did at gsw where like kerr emphasizes ball movement and off the ball screen and cutting. I see luke right now as some1 who is hard headed into trying to prove to the world that he can coach and coach differently from others hence the stupid run and gun offense. I see luke scared or incapable of teaching a proper half court system bc maybe he dont know how or just dont like it but for all we see his lakers offense at half court is nothing more than a high school style. How often than not lakers get a open shot at half court.How much time do we see the team set solid screens that force opponents to defend on mismatch, how often do we see off the ball screens that gets some1 open ? I sure dont see much and these are the things that other good teams do consistently. All i see is luke making his team play like slugs on half court bc players dont know wat to do since luke has no system in place to give his players roles. I really really hate seeing a player having to signal his teammates to set a pick when other teams do it automatically and quickly so that the defender cant react fast enough. we got players callin for a pick which is stupid bc it tells the defender that screen is coming so he can be ready for it. This is professional sports why the hell are we doing something so amateur and not be fixed. My feeling all along is i cant blame players for playin bad bc these players arent coached into how they should play constantly. They play fast they play smart they get players open shots i dont care about the make or miss at this point i want to see lakers get good shots overall. Imagine if gsw had svi he would be playin for rookie of the yr for sure. also i reason i hate luke he has the tendency to play more vets rather than young players when we all expect luke to develop these young guys for future instead of wasting time. It may not be on luke cutting thomas bryant by i liked his style and energy and wished luke actually gave him a fair shot of quality time instead of playing him and stop using him bc he had like bad 3 mins or 5 mins at meaningless games. I hate that lukes idea of run and gun doesnt prioritize rebounding before running bc wat the hell is good about it if you end up not getting the possession in the first place

Enough for offense now let me speak defense and lukes stupidity. We all heard him say positionless basketball but for all we see luke hasnt dont anything to back up his claim. Aint nothing about positionless basket ball means chasing his assignment over the screen making the helper having to help as well to leave oppoenets wide open for a layup or a three. What the hell is he teaching these guys when luke personally up front saw how gsw switch defense over any screen and interchange assignment to create much more favorable matchup. why is luke making the lakers chase the defenders everywhere instead of switching and making the lakers the bottom five in defense. I can surely punch luke in the face before the season started that kuzma cant play backup 5 no way no how bc of his physique. small ball 5 needs a all around heavier body like draymond or randle or zbo who is heavy and tall enough to not be beaten physically and how the hell did luke think kuzma would be able to withstand defending marc gasol, embied, drummond, cousins, KAT, jokic man should i go on lol. Idiot to think about it from start but like i said luke has these stupid idea that he wants credit for being different which is stupid. Luke wants these guys to learn to ride a bike before they learn to walk.

All these claims i shouted from last year about the stupidity of lukes coaching just for magic to prove to me i was right. I always said to myself it is stupid to think bball lover like me would ever think about how i wouldve coach better than luke but now it seems really realistic to my nature. What makes me really sad is that i preached about this from last year and cant imagine how much better lakers wouldve been had they do wat i am askin luke to do here cause i know for dam sure the flaws im mentioning is there and if fixed lakers would surely and i repeat surely be at least 7-3 at this point. I would like to hear anyones view of my complain about luke and be happy to discuss it. some may agree some may call me stupid but i wanna hear wat you guys think.

[Spanish_Laker]

A lot of things are wrong with this team (defense, FT, 3pt shooting, defensive rebounding, coaching, inconsistency, etc) and certainly Luke is one of them.

[Kilroy]

Luke has made some mistakes for sure... But you have to look at the players and weigh those mistakes against the flaws in their games...
Personally, I see nothing surprising about our performance so far, other than how little effort LeBron puts in on D... No, not saying it's his fault, but can't say it's Luke's either.

We're a poorly structured team right now... Pop may be able to get us to play a little more cohesively, but outside of him, I would not bet on any other coach in the league, active or retired (Phil), being able to do a whole lot more with what we're putting on the floor right now.
(Phil would demand control of personnel decisions anyway, and would want to build a Triangle Friendly roster... That takes a few seasons.)

Things are getting tighter also... Improvements are happening... They're figuring it out.

I'm probably the biggest Magic Johnson fan as a player on here... But he's being an absolute Jackass in this case. And as a Coach/GM, it's pretty normal for him to make these Jackass moves... I think he's threatened by Luke's popularity and realizes the more successful the team becomes, the less power he's going to have over Luke and the less ability he'll have to veto Luke's personnel requests. If he's going to eliminate Luke from the picture, it's now or never.

I also think Magic's feeding info to Stephen A to help build the public case and socialize Luke's eventual firing...

So I think as Laker fans, we have to resist buying into the growing media blitz-negativity around Luke right now... It's manufactured and political, not based in reality, IMO... Don't fall for it.

[Marionettetc]

I'm generally not a big fan of blaming the coach in sports unless there is proven gross incompetence. I don't believe Luke has shown that so far.

We have a lot more issues than practice routines and time outs.

[Ball so hard]

Luke has made some mistakes for sure... But you have to look at the players and weigh those mistakes against the flaws in their games...
Personally, I see nothing surprising about our performance so far, other than how little effort LeBron puts in on D... No, not saying it's his fault, but can't say it's Luke's either.

We're a poorly structured team right now... Pop may be able to get us to play a little more cohesively, but outside of him, I would not bet on any other coach in the league, active or retired (Phil), being able to do a whole lot more with what we're putting on the floor right now.
(Phil would demand control of personnel decisions anyway, and would want to build a Triangle Friendly roster... That takes a few seasons.)

Things are getting tighter also... Improvements are happening... They're figuring it out.

I'm probably the biggest Magic Johnson fan as a player on here... But he's being an absolute Jackass in this case. And as a Coach/GM, it's pretty normal for him to make these Jackass moves... I think he's threatened by Luke's popularity and realizes the more successful the team becomes, the less power he's going to have over Luke and the less ability he'll have to veto Luke's personnel requests. If he's going to eliminate Luke from the picture, it's now or never.

I also think Magic's feeding info to Stephen A to help build the public case and socialize Luke's eventual firing...

So I think as Laker fans, we have to resist buying into the growing media blitz-negativity around Luke right now... It's manufactured and political, not based in reality, IMO... Don't fall for it.

I'm truly flummoxed by the bolded part.

I went ahead and removed the controversial line... I don't want the thread to get derailed over it and in the context I put it, it seemed more 'emotional' than I intended. I'll PM you and we can discuss it that way if you'd like. - Kilroy

[milesfides]

No, because of player turnover and a flawed roster.

Magic’s anger is predictable because it’s often a reaction to deflect responsibility. But make no mistake, KCP and Beasley were awful signings. They spent 15.5m on our two deepest positions and neglected our weakest at center.

However, Tyson Chandler and McGee can’t solve the Lebron-Kuzma defensive liability either.

[Dr Aki]

Too much rotation tinkering.

Set it in stone, let guys know what their roles are.

Guys are constantly adjusting on the fly, not knowing who's on the floor, and getting confused on defense and offense

[lalalaker]

I agree with the rotation tinkering as far as the starter are that thing should be set and easily figured out the bench unit is something luke is allowed to tinker. Hear me out, ingram says hes never comfortable in the way he plays can blame luke for not having a system on offense so BI has to think soo much in how to run the offense.

Dont we all want to see luke actually run a good half court set with solid screen and roll and off the ball screening to get shooters open more? I sure hate seeing lbj and lonzo and rondo having to figure out how to initiate offense bc there is no flow to it.

If i had to complain about lakers other than luke is lonzo and his stupid hot potato mentality on half court where hes the farthest thing from playing pg and only gets assist mainly on fast breaks. My verdict is trade him and hope it becomes a high draft pick bc nothing and i repeat nothing has changed from last season no aggressive atk to rim no taking over on offense nothing has changed and i surely hate luke for saying something so stupid like being satisfied with lonzos progress like dude there isnt any to dimwit. Ingram looks uncomfortable playing bc he dont know wat to do on offense that makes him think too much. KCP shouldnt play at all unless injury limit us, i do like chandler as backup, hart and kuzma and lbj no complain for me. SVI deserves more play time and development luke tends to not give worthy player a fair shot

[Landsberger]

Luke was a good coach for a development team that wasn't supposed to be relevant other than to Laker Fans. He was a homer who had some success driving the Lamborghini up in GS. His lack of pedigree and time on the bench was offset and hidden somewhat by the inexperience of the team. I will add that he was the choice of the previous regime that Magic came in to erase.... not just replace.

I posted and ducked last year when I questioned if he could handle veterans and a team that was "supposed" to win. You typically do not find "instant contenders" with inexperienced coaches.

Luke's actual performance has left me a scratching my head quite a bit. Young players need consistency around them and he does the opposite. There are wild opinions on who plays defense and who doesn't as fans watch one on one scenarios however that isn't what true championship defense is. It's a team of player who know what the other is doing. This leads me back to the lack of consistent lineups being an issue. Now lets add in the defensive scheme of switch everything and where it leaves our better rebounders when the ball is shot. The offensive system in the half court is terrible at the beginning and end of games. The forcing of the ball to either Bron or Ingram while the rest fo the guys read and react is way too easy to defend and Ingram isn't a guy who can succeed in that type of system. Having our best ball handlers and play makers playing off the ball is not a bright idea.... and when those 2 don't shoot particularly well it's even less bright IMHO.

I think Luke will have a little leash here to try and get some systems in place and settle on a line up and rotation. If he keep changing things nightly then this team will not gel in all likelihood and the pressure of LA will claim him. Not what I'd want but then again he needs to be accountable for the schemes on both ends at some point.

[Sofa King]

I blame the coaching staff not just Luke. His coaching staff looks weak and only Brian Shaw has real NBA coaching experience. The other guys are Mark Dancing Madsen and some guys that Luke knows.

[gts1]

at this point i'm more tempted to blame the front office for this rosters dysfunction on the court... when they signed Lebron my hope was they would stand pat but instead we lost Randle (wouldn't he be a godsend right now) and got a bunch of vets (5) on one year contracts with no stake in the season other than showcasing their skills for a contract with somebody else next season... the one year contracts are totally counterproductive to building a team with long term goals. so fine they did that but the for Magic to be the one pointing the finger at Luke is just nonsense, he's getting exactly what you would expect this early in the season

[snaquille oatmeal]

Honestly, I blame us for having unrealistic expectations. We are right on track of where we are supposed to be. Sure it would be fun to win all the time, but we are not Golden State so let’s just be who are right now.

[AcecardZ]

It’s way too early to come to this conclusion. If they’re still playing like this after game 30 then it might be time to question Luke’s performance.

Remember all the people calling for Spoelstra’s head when LeBron, Wade and Bosh first united?

[playboy jeanie]

Too much rotation tinkering.

Set it in stone, let guys know what their roles are.

Guys are constantly adjusting on the fly, not knowing who's on the floor, and getting confused on defense and offense

I dont mind the tinkering early on. With a group of players, you have to see how they can mesh on the court, in games. 50 games into the season, this would be a problem. But right now, its early to judge how some combinations work out.

[Dr Aki]

Too much rotation tinkering.

Set it in stone, let guys know what their roles are.

Guys are constantly adjusting on the fly, not knowing who's on the floor, and getting confused on defense and offense

I dont mind the tinkering early on. With a group of players, you have to see how they can mesh on the court, in games. 50 games into the season, this would be a problem. But right now, its early to judge how some combinations work out.

It's been game to game tinkering. Noones been able to find any proper rhythm. I'd be tinkering in 4-5 game spurts, not this often

[DanishLakerFan]

I know there is room to improve with Luke, but

Brad Stevens has the same roster as last year. 7-6.
Luke Walton has a new team. 7-6.

At 7-6 the Lakers are exactly where everyone predicted they would be, so why is Luke getting flak while Stevens gets a pass?

[lalalaker]

because brad stevens actually took his team all the way to the conference finals with kyrie injured but was balling. Lets praise luke once lakers even make the playoffs