Lakers Fans Must Have Memory Loss - Joe Chacon's Blog

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Joe Chacon's Blog

Lakers Fans Must Have Memory Loss Stuck

Posted on November 13, 2012 at 12:30 AM.

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Apparently fans in Los Angeles don't have memories that go as far back as May 8, 2011. If you recall, the Lakers had just been swept out of the Western Conference Semifinals by the Dallas Mavericks. Fans new the end had come to Phil Jackson's tenure and not only did they accept it, the city was looking forward to a change.

The team had become stagnant. Player's weren't playing with intensity, and each week fans had to suffer through some sort of drama instead of focusing on the actual game of basketball.

Perhaps other teams figured out how to defend the triangle offense, or maybe the players started to lose faith in the system. Whatever the problem, it didn't get fixed and Jackson's last game turned out to be a near 40 point loss.

Here we are over two years later and the majority of Los Angeles is losing their heads because they feel they were blindsided by the news that the Buss family has decided on Mike D'Antoni instead of the coaching legend.

The biggest reason fans don't like the D'Antoni hire is because they don't think this Lakers squad can keep pace with the type of tempo he likes to implement. Is it the ideal roster? No, but it's not a roster that can't conform to his system.

There would have been a major learning curve of the triangle offense for most of the team should Jackson have come back. Who knows how long it would have taken Steve Nash and Dwight Howard to flourish under the triangle -- if they would have at all. Not to mention, the entire bench aside from Steve Blake would have to figure it out from scratch too.

D'Antoni's offense is far from a surefire success, but he's going to bring emotion and passion back to this Lakers team. That's something I'm not quite sure Jackson would have brought with him. The biggest breaking point with Jackson coming back appeared to be his desire for control of basketball decisions as well as his request to stay back for a few of the long road trips.

In addition to his requests, the Lakers need somebody they can count on for more than a couple of years. They signed D'Antoni for three years with a team option for the fourth year. He is still young enough (61) to give the team a consistent presence on the bench should he be successful and choose to coach for five to eight more years.

Fans need to remember the feeling they had at the end of the 2011 season. Jackson does not guarantee a championship, and while it would have bee a nice band-aid to put over the wound, I'd have to believe based on what we last saw of Jackson that fans would still be dealing with the same inconsistencies the team had a couple of years ago.

I'll admit, I became a tad excited when I first thought of seeing Phil on the bench, but that's only because by nature all of the good times flood our minds. Once I had time to sit back and think about it, I became more weary of them bringing him back.

Hopefully the fans rally around D'Antoni and don't chant "We Want Phil!" whenever the team gets behind in a game.

Tommy Lasorda isn't coming back to manage the Dodgers, Pete Carroll won't be walking the Trojans sidelines, and Phil Jackson's career with the Lakers is over.

Sometimes it's better to take a chance and move on.

Joe Chacon is a staff writer for Operation Sports, a featured columnist for Bleacher Report, and the creator of CagePresenceMMA.com. You can follow him on Twitter @JoeChacon.

Comments

# 1 Eaglerock562 @ Nov 13

I do agree with many of your points, but the one thing that Phil Jackson has done over his coaching career and I haven't seen many other then Gregg Popovich do this multiple times is WIN. You take Phil Jackson and Gregg Popovich and there are 9 of the the last 15 championships (if my math is right starting from the 1998-99 lockout season). Would have been a short term contract, perhaps, but who knows. D'Antoni was my second man on the list, but with a starting five consisting of all-stars (all of them have been an all-star in their career), you focus on the second unit running your offensive system because your starting five are veteran enough and basketball iq smart enough to do what needs to be done. Then you implement your defensive strategy and a basic strategy of (1) stay between your man and the basket (2) get a hand up on shooters (3) box out your man seems to me (as a varsity basketball coach) the simplest of strategies. I don't doubt that D'Antoni can have a positive impact here, but I tend to believe what my eyes and ears have seen and despite what happened back in 2011, Phil Jackson still has 11 rings to that 1 sweep and that can't be argued.

# 2 Joe Chacon @ Nov 13

Very good points. I hear they are close to bringing in Nate McMillan to shore up some of D'Antoni's defensive shortcomings. But you know how reports go, we'll see what happens.

# 3 dorian813 @ Nov 13

boo, almost any coach could have a winning season with this, team just look at the heat the 2 years ago. d'toni system will not work in the playoffs against the elite teams. it happened to d'toni every year in phoenix. phil system = 11 rings. the lakers will make the playoffs and would've with coach brown but no rings until d'toni changes. at least the lake show saved money on the deal.

# 4 inkcil @ Nov 13

It's the beginning of a new end for the lakers...ha ha ha ha ha ha...

# 5 Gramps91 @ Nov 13

I'm pretty much with Dorian on this one. Defense wins championships, and D'Antoni has none.

# 6 DBMcGee3 @ Nov 13

Obviously D'Antoni is a terrible defensive coach, but the good news is that Kobe, Artest and Howard are 3 of the most elite defenders in basketball. I don't see any way they beat Miami regardless who's coaching, but I could see them making the Finals now that OKC has dealt themselves the Harden death blow. I love Phil Jackson and I still think he may have been the better hire, but he's also a bit of a drama queen and if you only get him half the time in road games, it's hard to gel as a team and learn a complicated system. Cheer up LA fans, at least Mike Brown is gone. WTF were they thinking with that hire?