HANG TIME NEW JERSEY – Mike D’Antoni, not Phil Jackson, will be the next coach of the Los Angeles Lakers.
D’Antoni, who resigned as coach of the New York Knicks just eight months ago, signed a four-year contract to coach the Lakers’ star-studded roster.
Mike Bresnahan of the L.A. Times was the first to report the news and the Lakers made it official shortly thereafter. According to Bresnahan’s source, Jackson was “asking for the moon.” Apparently, the Lakers weren’t that desperate to rehire Big Chief Triangle.
D’Antoni has great relationships with both Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash, but the hire brings plenty of questions, which makes him a much more fascinating hire than Jackson would have been. The questions start with defense (as they always have with D’Antoni), but there’s no guarantee that the Lakers will be that great offensively.
Nash and Dwight Howard are great fits for D’Antoni’s four-out, one-in offense. But the other Laker starters might not be able to provide the spacing needed for Nash to operate the pick-and-roll at optimum efficiency. Bryant, Metta World Peace and Pau Gasol are great players, but they’re not great 3-point shooters. And we already know that the Lakers’ bench is subpar.
So it will be very interesting to see how the Lakers’ perform on both ends of the floor. Expectations are obviously high and other contenders have a head start on the drive for the 2013 NBA title.
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh!
Id say its a good move by the lakers. D’antoni is probably the only coach who could work out a system for nash and kobe. Jackson has never coached a great point guard before. Plus, its also a good move in the long term, for Dwight would certainly thrive in D’antoni’s system when Nash and Kobe had retired.
The current lakers personnel does not fit the type of players this offense needs to flourish. The suns were best when the had Marion at the four. Obviously pau is not anything like Marion, he doesn’t have the motor or the decent outside presence that’s needed to be spread the floor the way they need. This current roster reminds me of when shau went to the suns and dantoni was run out of town for not being able to adapt to make it work.
Howard will be long gone after this year. Houston or Brooklyn
what about fish aye bro
i agree.. d’ antoni was a good choice for the Lakers roster. smart pick.
really? WOW hahahaha more losses to win l.a way to go.
i challenge you to a 1 v 1 lebron? hmu bruh!
Kobe can shoot 3′s efficiently
Jamison can score in the corners 2
Jodie Meeks too! He might finally start doing well!
30% for his career….
Also tell Metta he’s not a great 3 shooter, he’s still going to take a bunch of em.
He barely shot 30% last year and D’Antoni doesn’t coach defense that well. Offense may win games, but defense wins championships. I question D’Antoni’s system. Offensely it’s great, but defensely it’s the worst system I’ve ever heard of.
Sorry John but why you say:
“Metta World Peace and Pau Gasol are great players, but they’re not great 3-point shooters”
since Pau is a Center and he doesn’t have to shoot 3′s… smh….
Ever heard of Channing Frye? Pretty good 3 point shooter, he’s the kind of player you’d want in a system designed for Nash to pick n roll in.
ya idiot but he’s not on the lal squad
Because Dwight plays centre so Pau at the 4 will be required to space the floor as 1 of the ‘outside 4 in the 1 in 4 out strategy that D’Antoni adopts. Read the context and learn the game…
because he was talking about D’Antoni’s patented 1-in 4-out offence and why it won’t work with the LA roster.
Sorry Alessio Laker, but why you no read properly?…. smh….
Wow, you are a Laker fan and you haven’t seen Pau play on the perimeter or at least seen his midrange game? You must find it very hard to get your eyes off of Kobe then. Last year Pau Pau was shooting more 3s than ever in his career and he can make them, although not at a good percentage. And please, he is a power forward just like Garnett and Duncan, it just so happens that the team is better playing guys like that at center.
smh at *genius* Laker fan once again…
yeah… i’m a lakers fan and you should see the stupidity i put up with on lakersnation.com
Unless the PF is calley Dirk
This should be interesting. I was hoping to see Phil Jackson come back but I am interested to see what D’Antoni can do for the team. Only time will tell.
umm im glad phil jackson didnt come back, he wants to leave when its only kobe now they have a star team he wants to come back
d antoni is a great coach..goodluck to him..lakers dont have problem in coaching, the problem is team chemestry.
Am sure the front office wanted Phil aswell but, they wanted to hire a coach only, and he wanted more, I wanted Phil back, but if it did’n't work out, let’s stop worring before we know what Mike D’Antoni can do with the team.
worst than mike brown.
those were my thoughts too… idk we’ll see.
Wow, this ought to be interesting. Haha.
not happy at all! they brougut a worst coach than mike brown
hate it when teams brougut a worst coach than before.
Haha, Matt! Me too, just hate it when someone brougut anything, really…
True, Brown does an isolation system while D’Antoni uses a 7 seconds or less system that doesn’t have any good defense in it at all. It’s dumb. Why didn’t the lakers hire Jerry Sloan instead? jerry Sloan uses P&R system which works fine in LA and it least he knows how to coach Defense unlike D’Antoni.
Good luck LAL, I think real result will come next year tho, not this year.
Good Luck Mike, Hope you are gonna build a spectacular offense, I hope even more you manage to build a solid defense too.
I wonder what PJax was asking. D’Antoni is already doomed as being “second choice”. Still there will be no title with this team. I stil think that KB and Nash don’t fit together in ANY offense.
wrong n00b.
They will still succumb to Thunder. OKC has better chemistry, bench and will probably have home court advantage. They are playing together for several years now except for Martin, who is currently thriving there as a 6th man.
Bad move…bye bye defence,bye bye title…
Bryan Shaw could be better solution in my opinion.
He should’ve been Phil’s replacement the first time around.
Or Derek Fisher if he was willing. Even Jerry Sloan could have done a fine job.
Good decision for the LA! Mike is the suitable coach for these players and has a great relationship with Steve Nash, our key player to improve the others players, specially bench players without enough experience.
stop talking like you’re a part of the squad. I’m a lakers fan and it drives me nuts when other fans say “we need”, “our players”, etc. We’re frickin fans, not trainers on the bench.
Take it easy mhm 35, he is just stating his opinion. You must think you’re top dog or something. you keep making smart a$$ coments to everyone like you know everything.
So they’re not gonna have any defense. Meaning they won’t win a title. Horrible choice of coach because a great offence, alone, doesn’t seem to win championships these days. Were the Knicks any good with him? No. Were the Suns any good? Yes, but they still didn’t win a Championship (Although cheap shots from the Spurs had something to do with that too) which at the end of the day is all that matters. If by some miracle they do manage to have a good defense what they really need now (And which I thought was way more important than getting a new coach) is getting a new bench. Worst bench in the NBA. They can’t do much of anything good because they have no talent whatsoever.
Without any doubt that’s ‘Kobe’s coach’ and the Lakers organization did everything possible to keep Mamba happy. Though I tend to believe that D’Antoni will not spark any big time winning in LA land because offense wins games while defense wins championships and Mike knows less than nothing about what solid defense is all about.
In other words OKC should be very excited about him coaching the LAL since Lakers will not be a threat in Western Conference under Mike’s guidance.
Oh snap!
Seven seconds or less baby!
Wow im pretty excited !!
let’s wait what happens next
Im not feeling it, the guy has no charisma, no grunt, no poise, still remembering how he got schooled like a little boy by Jackson and made a sour face, Phil told him to sit down and it was like a father to a son…
This is LA!
You need more than hype, NY is used to loosing, here they want daily results!
Ok… you obviously don’t know New York. They’re used to losing but they don’t accept excuses any day regardless. They are as bad as Lakers fans in that regard.
good move by the lakers. Nash will be hisself under dantoni, thank god princeton offense is in the trash, gasol pick and pop, howard pick and roll with kobe getting open, woo wee thats the offense thattl make the lakers win
I agreee with you Moe. I don’t know why everyone else is hating. Phil was not hired because Nash would not be a good fit for the triangle, at least for now, it would take him a season or two perhaps.
But now D’Antoni needs to know what defense is!
Should have been Phil :((
Come on,again somebody talking about Lakers will drive for 2013 title? No way with that team.
shut up man the only thing that was keeping them from winning games was TO’s and a bad bench
Aand is it just me who Thinks jerry sloan would’ve fit better with these lakers right now?
I second that notion sir
I actuallu agree. But then remember how D-Will ran him out of Utah and got traded to New Jersey?
NO Not D’Antoni we will never win with him… defense win championships. NOT run till you drop. This team is to old to go at his pace. B Shaw would of been much better…
no defence for the lakers i guess
We want Phil !
I see the lakres making 120 points and giving up 128, just like in the good old days in Phoenix…
I didn’t expect P-Jax to come back but I so hoped the Lakers wouldn’t sign Mike D’Antoni. Might as well have kept Mike Brown…
No way… the d’antoni system never won anything.. DEFENSE wins championchips.. somebody tell that guy. He played a roster of only seven players with the Knicks with NO DEFENSE at all… and he NEVER complained about Melo keeping the ball too long, glad he’s now back in the westcoast… His coaching style is nothing for the eastcoast..
This is Howard’s team now period
Not a good move by the Lakers, but its always worth a try, the drawback here is the defense, Mike D’antoni’s up tempo offense is really great but not yet tested for a very deep playoff run. I hope the move benefits the Power Quad of Nash,Bryant,Gasol and Howard. Lets see how this works.
wow…great…hope for the best for the lakers…hope mike would turn the table around…i’m a big fan of lakers in the philippines…gudluck guys…
nice
I don’t know exactly how I feel about this move. I think D’Antoni is a great coach but he has lagged at the defensive end. He know’s how nash likes to play so maybe he can find a bring his max talents out and mix it in with the rest of the squad. Very excited to see the outcome, they already seem to be doing better without Brown so we will see.
Simply awful we just replaced garbage with garbage, the Lakers management has got to go!!
Well, I hope that this works!! I’ve been a Lakers fan since I was 13 years old and I’m 36. I’ve seen the lakers winnig champion chips because of their great talent , but also great coaching! I remember them not making the playoffs in 2005 , understanding that it was a really bad team, but with not a lot of improvement they make the playoffs in 2006 & 2007. Why? Cause of a good coach! 2008 put some pieces together make the finals and taking the Celtics to 6 games blowing a 24 points lead in game 4 missing 2 starters in Bynum and Ariza. Now, the only thing that I can say about D’Antoni is that he had a great team in Phoenix suns , but no rings. Came to the Knicks and that went really bad! To the point that he had to quit!!! Hey, maybe Phil was asking for too much and D’Antoni is more convenient , but I don’t like him. I hope that it works.
championships!!!! It is late out here.
I like how people think that just because D’Antoni becomes coach that Kobe, Dwight, Metta and Gasol just instantly forget how to play D. I mean these are defensive players of the year and defensive first teamers, and you guys are worried about D?
I think D’ Antoni is the perfect fit for the LAKERS. El -Ey is always an Offensive Team. I really dont worry much of the DEFENSE, bcoz Of D-Howard is in the CENTER. we can see the improvement soon…. as NASH go back to play :). KOBE still the BEST OFFENSIVE PLAYER. NASH & HOWARD in a PICK-EN-Roll with PAU on the Wings??? hmmmmm this is really Fun to WATCH hehe :p
With Phil we could have a chance….with D’Antoni….noway…a delusional start….panic, change of coach….choosing a coach which is no defensive minded….nothing that brings a title…..hope for that but it’s not realistic….
I wish they could have convinced jerry Sloan, DOn Nelson, or even jeff Van Gundy to coach. Except JVG is questionable since his borther Stan was fired because of D12.
eit everybody just wait to happend, give him a chance, we havve all the potential to make it happend, he is a good offence worker and it is real that deffence wins championchips but a good offence kills defence so lets see what happend, one step at a time!!!!!
All the talk about defense is just stupid. Defense is a matter of commitment, of being willing to put in the effort to do unglamorous things. The basics are the same everywhere. Kobe has shown that commitment and with Howard in the middle and everyone else HAPPY because the offense is clicking, the defense will improve accordingly. The perfect choice of coach for this team (btw: Phil Jackson is the most over-rated coach in the history of basketball. Without Jordan and Kobe he would be a complete nobody!)
I can make this Laker Team look great as it’s coach. Mike D’Antoni has no Defense. Even if Howard is great in defense, he alone can’t make it happen. Poor poor LAKERS.. The OKC Thunders will swallow you whole. KB24 + DH12 + SN13 + MDA = LOSERS !!
Who are the Thunders?
a team that beat your Lakers last year…hahahaha
Pick and Roll rules!
Lakers need Phil Jackson, not another rubbish coach
pj 0-4 vs dallas
pj= 70.4% win ratio
D Antoni doesnt believe much of defense…could be a potential problem for LA. but cross our fingers
well, what a disappointment…………wish you luck, lakers
There’s your banner #17. LOL!
If Phil thought he could win a championship, he would have taken the job.
i agree…he knows that this team will not go that far…2nd round exit again maybe?
Its not fair to compare the knicks defense to LA. Way better defenders in los angeles, a fact, that we could never say about the knicks, except Chandler. I, personally, still would have gone with Shaw.
Bold decision by the Lakers and the right one. Showtime is back in L.A.
Dwight and Nash will thrive with D’Antoni and Kobe has matured enough and lost enough the past couple of years to buy into the system. Gasol may have the hardest adjustments to make but believe me, it’s on now.
He’s not Phil Jackson…he also isn’t Mike Brown.
what “moon” jackson talkin about? its better offense. but i think lakers will also do another move that bring back coach shaw. to make it complete. and make it also good fit in the lakers coaching staff. the laker will win the title this time not only in the coach and also the players that can do there everything in the game. gudlck L.A. ur always champions in the world for me.
-k.BLACK MAMBA24
They are in no better shape than they were with brown. His philosophy won’t fit..
D’Antoni is good but he doesn’t fit the Laker system. His plays and forte are run and gun, you can’t expect Kobe,Howard, Gasol and World Peace to do that run and gun. Lakers’ lineup is a set up halfcourt system which D’Antoni isn’t known for. Nash can push the ball but who’s gonna do the running in 48mins. NONE. bad move Lakers
go caguioa ….
like John said, a very fascinating move by the lakers! out of all coaches that were in the discussion, d’antoni is the easiest way out of this mess. now the lakers can blow out mediocure teams until the playoffs start, but will get bumped out as soon they have to play talented and well-coached teams in the playoffs.
since the lakers want to win right now, they need to make some big trades to get more reliable shooters. d’antonis system will never work with the current laker roster!
soooo either in a month Mike will be fired and Dwight will be demanding a trade.
cant believe it wont be Phil…wtf did he ask for a lot of money…he is too old to be greedy..he should be worrying about the legacy he will leave…i know he is already a hall of famer but with the lakers line up he and his coaching ability he could make his name a lot better…
Chuck Person and Brian Shaw were better fits but they aren’t popular enough. LAL has nothing to do aginst OCK. Miami back-to-back champions 2013.
the moon that was jackson talking about is taking the whole lakers staff on his own just like being an owner.. but jim buss doesn’t want that because he will lose his job
It’s a good choice but Phil would have been a great choice. we will see how D’Antonio 7 seconds strategy will be handled by the lakers superstars especially with a age is a factor for some.
Showtime in l.a.???? Black MAMA….. D’antoni is or was known for run and gun….. which means playing fast on offense… 75% offense 25% defense relying on speed…. which is not suitable for l.a. or nash at this point of his carrer….. Fast pace offense ain’t suitable for a team with 2 bigman on their lineup but for kobe who cares… He’s a ballhog anyway … He’ll just take a shot then run whatever the outcome….. All they need is to set a play in half court to maximized their ability (BIGS) … But not running…. Can they match up the HEAT with small lineup??? with that kind of bench…. I’ll have to say… Goodbye title hopes…. They might get swept in 1st round if they are lucky reach the playoffs…. If they face the clippers bye bye lakers….
I think he’s the logical choice,next to Phil of course.
Think of it this way: they have the best PG who executes pick and roll to perfection, and the have the most athletic big man that also thrives in the pick and roll offense. Not to mention Kobe and Pau, who can also do the same thing. Now they only need to have someone RELIABLE to shoot threes. Mike will do the same thing they did in Phoenix with Nash and Amare.
Only problem is, they really need someone to step up defensively. Dwight can’t do it alone all season. Artest is a step slower because of age. Kobe can, but he can’t be burdened with that job, he needs to reserve his energy to score. And we all know Nash, though as great as he is in the PG spot, can’t defend more athletic guards in the league like Westbrook or Rondo.
Hoy come on !!! The Guy took this decisión doesnt want to see lakers on finals. This coach is mediocre!!!
I’m not a laker fan, but when steve nash and the d antoni joined LA… it gets me excited!
wowowow lakers GOOOOOOOD LUUCK and this year will be a GG. should have hired phil jax. instead . SMFH.
go run and gun. i like this offense. its entertaining
Better win 4 games in a row not the other way around, otherwise, someone will give that death stare and you’re gone! Or, if you lose 3 in a row, resign immediately! Don’t wait for the death stare!
@Jones17
Oh really?? Guess what, Pau will never be a 3-point shooter, threat like Frye is so watch more Nba next time
before you open your mouth .Smh…
@matt
Pau was never a 3-point shooter, he is a Center.
So guess who ain’t reading the text properly…smh…
that’s the point.
He won’t work in the 1 in 4 out offence because dwight will be the 1-in, and pau will have to be on the outside
This is the only offence D’Antoni runs, so IT DOESNT WORK FOR LAKERS WHICH IS WHAT THE JOHN SCHUHMANN WAS SAYING IN THE FIRST PLACE
READ AND TRY TO UNDERSTAND BEFORE YOU POST …smh…
i’ll explain further because i actually don’t think you understand at all.
1 player down low, 4 players around the 3 point line
Idea being when dwight has the ball down low and is posting up, another defender is going have to come to help / double, leaving a player open on the outside for a 3pt shot
this is what d’antoni does, all he does
gasol, artest, kobe – none of them are great from 3pt land. so this will not work.
do you understand yet?
Might as well give the west coast to OKC,Clippers,Or Memphis, or spurs. The Lakers are no longer Championship contenders “This year”!! Mike D’antoni has no off ball movement like san antonio -no Defensive coordination,I think the lakers offense will flourish under D’antoni but the Defense will (just like NY Knicks) be one man dependent of howard (just as Tyson chandler was utelized) which is risky because howard fouls Wayyy too much ,and offensively howard will now have pick n roll plays with Nash ,most leading to a foul and if Howard cant step up his FT% then the center offense might see a decline…Pau Gasol should look like a SUPERSTAR now under D’antoni though. #Mixed Emotions
Sorry but It’s the worst decision, D’antoni is a loser and has no ranking for a team like the Lakers
So much for the BIG personality that Mike Brown lacked. I dont think D’Antoni has it either.
We LAL fans should give mike d antoni a chance. :> phil asks too much money. lakers prioritize in signing dwight in a long term.
TO ALL YOU L.A. FANS I HAVE 2 WORDS GOOD LUCK.
We had this clown Mike Diantoni in NY and im telling you now you guys are not going anywhere with this clown.
All he knows is shots shots shots shots. Pay attention in timeouts he is clueless he goes the whole timeout designing a play and right before the end he says AND GET BACK ON DEFENSE (AND GET BACK ON D? is this guy nuts first get back on D then your lousy offensive schemes).
Press conferences when he loses he talks about how the shots werent falling down when he wins GUYS WERE HITTING THERE SHOTS.
Defensively all he tells them is just switch every time merry go around on D he is clueless only knows pick n Roll and shots we suffered with this guy for almost 4 years and he can only coach mediocre players not stars when Melo came to NY he couldnt coach him you think he can coach KOBE whos more in your face type of guy? i cant wait to watch his press conference now that hes on another team ill actually enjoy the comedy.
cant believe this smh at the lakers. i ve been a lakers fan all my life now all i see is lakers going down stream not questioning this coach’s intelligence but with an offense like 4 out 1 in how is that helping out starters ?????? first of all D12 is gonna have a nice time yes cause hes alone inside and thats his game but what happens to pau whos also gd on de inside i knw yall int gon get pau shooters 3 thats just like turning over de ball best we just bring it down n give it to de other team. meta nt a great outside shooter as well, kobe well hes kobe he goes to work from anywhere. now all i see is another mike brown just that his name is D’ Antoni lakers are doomed. Phil we need u.
he was great in Suns and bad in Knicks , lakers need to improve ofence so he will help them, but he really needs some help for defence . lakers will be fine
I’m no longer a laker fan the lakers Jim buss Ian Mitch need to go I will not watch another game or buy any lakers anything a very poor choice very sorry for laker fans all over
Look ill admit that the Princeton offense may not have been the perfect fit but… The last time Phil Jackson coached the Lakers we got swept just like Mike Brown got swept the year after. The problem is we don’t have a fast point guard who can score and defend and apparently we have zero effort from anybody on our bench. I wanted Brian Shaw.
We were just gonna overpay Phil Jackson to sleep on the sideline and run that out of date triangle. Mike D’Antoni can coach, and today’s NBA is all about getting up and down the court. I don’t know if the Lakers have the personnel for this change I guess we shall see. On that bench issue I noticed Jordan Hill had 14 points the game after Mike brown was fired, He had 8 points last night and D. morris had 7. All the games the Lakers have lost this year could’ve been won with 8-10 points from somebody on the bench. It came 5 games too late for Mike Brown #oh well
Oh my God. why Di Antonio. Come on Phil
“Bryant, Metta World Peace and Pau Gasol are great players, but they’re not great 3-point shooters.”
Kobe is not a great 3-point shooter? c’mon…
Shoots around 30% for his career… Not so good
run and gun babyy!!
nba title 2013
still think they should of offered Brian Shaw the job the good thing is that Steve Nash and Kobe knows his offense but thats about it we need to play defense alot better its going to be a nail biting season not sure if they will win a championship though i love the lakers hope they prove me wrong.
That does it. What is with Jim Buss and running this team ragged? They are OLDER. They DON’T FIT MIKE D’ANTONI’S SYSTEM! Phil was CLEARLY the better choice, and now the defense will suffer as well. Jim Buss is the main problem for this team. He needs to listen to his father, or the Lakers will continue to be mediocre.
I WOULD PREPARE TO RETAIN BAKERSTAFF AS A HEAD COACH THAN OTHERS. SIMPLY, BECAUSE HE LET THE TEAM TO WIN 2 CONSECUTIVES GAMES AFTER MIKE BROWN WAS FIRED.
phil wanted the gm job not coaching
I don’t think LAL front office is done. I expect GASOL to be moved soon.
who ever is making the decision in management doen’t know anything of basketball. bnut you have to give the they have money.
you get what you pay for,
boo.. don’t like this at all, exactly, is worse than brown.
brown nice guy but made to look good with lebron.
d’antoni terrible descision maker, and a frustrating coach. he may work for a while but still
always be second best, which is the first lost. and hes not even close to second best anyways.
and what laker team aims for number 2 ?? makes no sense!
but the players will decide who they want…. by loosing with him
and Jackson will be back, Jackson may have asked for the moon,
but still, don’t you think he’s worth it. he’s worth moon sun and stars,
the only one who should be there end of story.
lakers will see, and players will pull their strings to get jackson eventually.
thank god, that was THE movement!! I was afraid that jackson would be back and as a result, the team would play in the maximum, because amongst others, jackson always was the best coach to have for the vedettas being happy. Besides, triangle offence is great and his decisions as a coach are great too! So, as a lakers (better: a bryant’s) hater, I didn’t want them to have another championship, at least as long as bryant is active, and I was afraid that by obtaining jackson, lakers would have found the piece they miss. Now, thank God, they have a coach who runs a great offence, but he has heard anything at all about defence.
That’s really great because now lakers are capable of offering great highlight material (this team is capable of showtime, as good as magic was able to offer) but at the same time, their coach is a guarantee, hands down, that they won’t be champions. They could be at western finals though, and have some epic losses. Great scenario! thank you lakers! you’re the best!!
As I’ve come to realise.. not only is the good tactics what metter the most, but the heart to be the best. I believe that’s what LAL have the strongest.
Lakers games will be exciting to watch!
Would have liked to seen Phil Jackson come back.. Even Jerry Sloan and Bryan Shaw would have been better choices..
so much bias in the thing the guy wrote
They brought in Steve N and they could not use him well under Mike B..So this is not a bad move then, but time will tell.
very good observation…MIke`s system does not fit Nash…& i know Kobe doesnt want the new offense as well just he played with it anyways!
Time to get on the horse and actually work for it Lakers (why the hell are they even called the Lakers, that was MPLS, they should be the LA Stars) besides that, D’Antoni is a great coach and has won with much, much less, Lakers cult, shut the F up and cheer for the team damnit. Quit crying, that’s Kobe’s job fools!!!
Just hope D’ Anthony can bring great chemical reaction to Lakers.
what makes you think that lakers will drop their defense? Kobe, Howard , Gasol and MWP are still great defenders, this offense is going to be a plus to their game. And what coach tells a team not to defend at the other end of the floor? Please people use your critical thinking.
D’Antoni never had that type of defenders in his team…
Lakers is like a samurai blade…lethal, deadly & strong…it only needs a good swordsman… D’antoni may not be as good as Phil but he could surely make these blades sharper…
Lakers all the way!!!!
I think it was bad move they should have been taken the Phil he was proven to win rings mike none bad move bad move
i am glad Lakers office turn down Jackson offer he is to greedy, old,does not worth that much his time is up,maybe fishing in Montana goodbye Phil have nice retirement .Mike D’ Antoni is really great coach he will be really good fit, he just never had a opportunity or luck like Phil Jackson to have Jordan,Pippen or Shaq And Koby. Good luck to you M.D’Antoni i know you can win this time to prove to everybody you ability.
Interesting observation. Mike D’ Antoni (MDA) wasn’t lucky? Really? OK. Lets see. Steve Nash and Amare in their prime and 2 time MVP Nash running things??? Really? MDA didn’t have all-stars on his team? They had a deep bench and could put up points in a mater of 5 seconds if not less. That Suns team this past decade could have won it all on at least 3 years that I recall. They didn’t win because they lacked the type of coaching you need to win. MDA is a great coach, but Phil is an excellent coach. Phil is not that much better than MDA, but he has what it takes to win; in fact, he’s done it 11 times. I’d love to hear your response on that one friend. No hard feelings.
…and maybe the truth is that The Lakers can’t afford Phil anymore…financially…Phil put the Buss’s family desire for another ring in a very simple action…if you want it ,than you have to sacrifice things for that…simple…but not good enough for the Buss’s EGO…Phil is not cheap anymore lads…but it their call…I think that we won’t see another RING for a very long time in LA
Lakers has become the new Knicks changing coach every season, horrible choice should just let the Bernie Bickerstaff finished the season…
Best of luck L.A. Lakers!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well think about it ,its a smart move for L.A Mike D’Antoni is an offence master,so he prob have a good way to mash
Gasol , Dwight , Nash and Kobe in the offence and it might make lesss tournovers for L.A + dont forget that
this are veteran players and that Dwight is a 3 time deffenceve player of the year so I dont think short term
that L.A needs to worry about deff.
No one can replace PJ. Bring him back Lakers can only win with him. However D’Antoni is good.
this’ll be fun to watch
I think it is a great fit. The argument that D’Antoni is a bad defensive coach compared to Phil is not that strong an agrument. Phil was really never known as a defensive coach either. In Phoenix the only reason they gave up so many points is because of their fast past offense. In Points Per 100 Possessions the year the Lakers won the championship their rank was 11th, D’Antonio was 13th at Phoenix. It was just that Phoenix games always had more offensive possessions then Lakers games that’s why there was always more points scored. The only reason that Phil seems to have a better defensive scheme is because the triangle did not allow for quick shots and thus limited the number of total offensive possessions.
His offensive system would work well with the players he has. Kobe pick-n-roll with Pau or Nash pick-n-roll with Howard fits well. In the triangle there are no true point guards so Nash would not be playing to his potential since his movements would be limited. This team is built for pick-n-roll/isolation not the triangle.
Don’t get me wrong I think that Phil would have been a FAR better choice then Mike (more rings = better choice) but I think that Mike is a FAR better choice then Brown. I am just worried about the minutes and pace at which they have to play. But I think the younger bench players may thrive in that type of system.
Most accurate Prediction….lakers will not come out of the west…. It will be either clips or thunders
+100
Jackson is better than D’Antoni. Nash is no longer young. The mentality of old players are to play it smartly. The best coaching comes from the one who has won it all. D’Antoni run a Phoenix team that worn out in the end of good plays down the stretch. New York under D’Antoni, was New York. Not even close when Pat Riley was handling the Knicks. And now Woodson is able to do a lot better than D’Antoni has. This is not good for the Los Angeles Lakers. They’d be better off with their incumbent coach.
LOL. This is the most interesting (and quite frankly head scratching) move they could have possibly made. The Lakers’ management is starting to look like every other NBA organization: ill equipped to make sound, rather obvious decisions. My guess: CBA. I mean, the league barely changed other then a higher tax and here we are already, the Lakers, who would once have spent ANYTHING to win a championship, attempting to save as much as they can before the CBA goes into effect. Hmm… perhaps the players were wrong about a tighter CBA making a difference?
Gl keeping Dwight, he’ll jump ship as soon as he realizes that his defensive prowess is being wasted in L.A under D’Antoni.
Perfect fit!!!
I think the lakers should coach themselves and just keep playing street ball the way they have done it the last two games. Maybe they need a bit more time to play like that to heighten the force between them…
I think he will be a great coach for the Lakers!
THIS WAS A VERY BAD MOVE FOR THE LAKERS.”THEY WENT FOR THE GLITTER NOT THE GOLD” WELL PUT
I was a bit surprised when I heard that Mike D’Antoni was in the running for this job. I live in Arizona and got to be very familiar with him during his years with the Phoenix Suns and I do like him as a coach, but he doesn’t seem to care much for defense and we all know that defense wins rings, so I guess I thought that the Lakers would go after a coach with a defensive mindset. Then again, that’s what Mike Brown was and things didn’t work out, so we’ll see how this works. i wish him the best. He will work well with Steve Nash for sure.
well i think that some of you guys didnt see the last’s year finals when the thunder couldnt score cause they were missing from anywhere and the 2 bench guys like miller and battier got like 20 3pointers for the last 3 games in answer of what the offence and the defence brings (i know that a good D bring u tittles but a better offence from the guys you dont expect gives you a better boost than any D).i dont like dantoni and yes i would prefer phil but the main thing here is to just let these guys play as they want to play and be productive not only for their selves but to the team.
boo & hiss
Stop it! Stop it. Too much expectations on this move by the Lakers. I really don’t know where this is headed. The key ingredient here is how Steve Nash would do to make his teammates better the rest of this season in my opinion. It’s too obvious he was having a hard time in Mike Browns system. At least now he can direct the traffic more efficiently with Mike D’Antonis arrival. Kobe and Dwight have no problems. The rest of the lineup will be.
Kobe Bryant, I have been on your side for the very first game you have ever played in the NBA. How in the world could you say what you said today about D’Antoni. “I Love Phil Jackson but I am excited about D’Antoni”
I expected more from you, Kobe Bryant. I guess you are saying having five chapionships is all I am going to have???
I think what he means is: “Damn, I wanted Phil, but since I’m not calling the shots, and don’t want to make my organization look worse than it already is, I’m going to publically support their decision.” Trust me Patty, Kobe is as disappointed as we all are; believe me; he played for him. He just can’t say things like that when he’s playing for the team; he needs to be professional about it. At least, that’s what I think.
All they need now is a guy or two who can hit the open three. They can bring in an older free agent like Quentin Richardson, Michael Redd, bring Peja Stojackovic out of retirement, or seek a younger role player to hit the 3… and to get Artest out of the starting lineup, because he can’t shoot or run well in the D’Antoni offense.
but i belive mike brown should have stayed
stupid lakers are gonna pay dearly for this , p jax was the way to go
Laker fans 95% sure it’s Phil. LOL!!! If Phil wanted the job they would have paid the moon and the stars. He’s not there because he was asking too much he ‘s not there because he did not want to be. (period)
I think they should have went with a winning coach Phil Jackson has proved it can win with all kinds of players and win many times. I think Mike A is ok but LA needs a great coach and rather you like him or not PJ is a great coach.
I think that the Lakers have potentially one of the top starting five units.
However:
1. It is not clear that even their strong starting five make the best cohesive unit to work together, and
2. It is pretty clear that the Lakers do not have a very strong bench (or depth) at all.
The only way that this could work is if:
1. There are no injuries to the starting five.
2. The bench somehow finds a way to at least keep the starting five close or ahead in games.
The Lakers will, at best, make the playoffs. Their lineup on paper looks formidable, but we’ve already seen the reality that it takes time to get even a talented unit like that to gel, as the Celtics have also seen (in their case, they knew it already and they are still experimenting with combinations of starters and bench, but their bench is deeper than the Lakers and possibly deeper than the Heat as well).
I give the Celtics a better chance than the Lakers to emerge as one of the top contending teams, but the Heat and the Thunder still look good, as do the Clippers.
The real reason why the Lakers have hired Mike D’Antoni is because he was the exact same coach who eliminated the Clippers in the 2005-06 season. I don’t know how far D’Antoni will take the Lakers in the playoffs, but if there’s one thing he can do, it’s eliminate the Clippers from the playoffs. The Lakers are absolutely jealous of the Clipper’s sudden uprising.
D’antoni is a good offensive coach, he wouldn’t be included in team usa for nothing but I think they should hire another coaching staff just for defense alone… I’m not a lakers fan but I think they will do just fine…
Mike becoming coach is great improvement for the Lakers based on the fact he brings offense mindset which will improve all the players offensively. As well as keep in mind Lakers have three all first defensive players in Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard and Metta. So I really do not see how you guys see the hiring of MIke D’Antoni will negate from the Lakers playing defense at a high level effectively given the defense makeup they already have inside with 2 seven footers and defenders like Kobe, Metta and even Jordan Hill.
All in all the hiring of D-Antoni is going to improve the Laker both defensively and offensively because their offense will improve drastically which will slow teams in running on the fast break because they will be scoring more not to mention they have guys especially like Howard at the center position that can run up an and down the court faster than all the centers, power forwards and even some small forwards.
Other than Phil I would have preferred Byron Scott but we’ll see if D’antoni can redeem himself. LA better get it together real quick or they will give Dwight an excuse to leave.
As long as MD wins, we will shut up the critics, attacccckkkkk offensively
I think this is a terrible move in my eyes! If the Lakers wanted to win now! this is not the way to go about doing it. D’Antoni’s system doesn’t defend. Also, the Lakers are too old to be running up & down the court. I would of preferred Jerry Sloan over Mike.
Now its time for Amare Studimire to be traded to the lakers so that the knicks can get even better!!!
They should comeback Phil Jackson to Lakers
Good decision but it would have been Great if Jackson was given all he was asking for, Zen master would have been epic.
Why D’Antoni? Why didnt anyone think about Jerry Sloan?? He would have been an awesome coach for the Lakers, Hes the only one other then Phil Jackson that has proven credentials, D’Antoni has horrible defense
I dont care what anyone says, the Lakers are going to be a good team but not great. Great on paper, not so much on the court. They are going to get beat by the Thunder or the Spurs in the Western conference finals then the Miami Heat are going to win their next championship. Lakers, sorry but you got no chance.
bad move
stat traded for who on the lakers ? and dont forget stat was great when felton was on the teams 2 years ago
After 5 more games with no progress, they will fired him and will bring Phil back.
I dont quite understand how people can say the Lakers will have no defence. The mere prescence of Howard in the team makes them a decent defensive team. Yes Nash will get skoolwed by most PGs but when they get past him then what? they are going to get blocked by Howard thats what. Lakers are going to do good. Not sure if they will win but they will do good. I remember Miami losing alot when they started two years back but they worked it out.
We saw what POOR/INCOMPETENT OWNERSHIP did to/for the L.A. DODGERS. It is DIS-HEARTENING and a terrible disappointment to watch the SAME THING happen to my BELOVED LAKERS. It is indeed A SAD DAY for THE LAKER NATION and the PREVIOUSLY ESTEEMED LAKER ORGANIZATION. SHAME on YOU, JIM BUSS for such BLATANTLY CHILDISH BEHAVIOR!
I agree!! This has “child behavior” written all over it. Like you, I’m disappointed. They need to reverse the legalization of marijuana, at least in LA. What were they smoking??? It’s a no brainer!!! LOL
Mitch Kupchak: “This team is designed to win; make a run for a championship now.”
Mike D’Antonie: No rings to show for. Recently resigned from a Knicks team because HE FAILED.
Phil Jackson: 11 rings. Enough said.
Lakers Organization (Looney Tunes): “Which way did he go George, which way did he go.”
No more mikes
I have an idea. Trade Kobe for Amare Stoudamire, Fire Mitch Kupchak and hire Steve Kerr. Then, Trade for Barbosa and we’ll have a Suns rebirth. What in the “hey” were they thinking? The more I think about it it just drives me mad; I’m dine posting and will move on with my life. I’m done being a Lakers fan until the Lakers are run by new leadership.
i think meda world pease should start get taken out early and play mostly with the backup so they play goog without 2 of the 3 stars.
Laker mgnt settled for 3rd rate coach….what more you can expect now…Howard will be over after this season, Kobe wont get his 6th ring….ooouchhh. This is the stupidiest move second to hiring couch brown potato head. I pity the team now.
Lakers chose the most ridiculous coach. He didnt win in Phoenix, he couldnt hang in New York and you expect him to make it in LA ? ……………….Dont think so. They were better off with Brown. They probly make the playoffs but this isnt the answer. I dont even like the Lakers !
OMG Mike D’Antonie and the lakers ? are you serious P-jax should come back the lakers now would struggle like the knicks : i am not a fan anymore
are you serious…your comparing the depeted roster of the Knicks, and the until this year, no defeding Carmelo, who were historically known for banging and being a rough and tough team…with the team always known for showtime until they got Phil…The Knicks with Melo are an isolation team, and Dantoni proved he is not an iso coach..just look at the emergence of LIN in mikes system…a system that will once again be run by nash, lets upgrade raja bell to kobe bryant, jimmy jackson is now mwp, marion is pau, and amare, omg, amare is now howard, you must be an idiot pal,oh and ill remind you that the suns lost amare the year after nash won his first mvp, they still won almost 60 games, nash got another mvp, and gasol started boris diaw at point centre…the bench of lakers sounds very similar to that of the starting line up of that suns team, with hill, jamison, and blake,
Soo many bandwagoners saying thy’re done being Lakers fans after this. It’s hilarious.
Just goes to show how many fake fans cheer for the ‘flashiest’ team, then promptly disappear when things dont go their way.
this is a very stupid move for the lakers phil jakson is the better option
Thats funny, I am more a fan now than i was yesterday, the pairing of steve nash and dantoni in showtime lakers is what la needs. When phil jackson had gary payton he sat him for derek fisher and his three point shooting. Now although nash is the better three point shooter, the triangle offencelike princeton will take the ball out of nash’s hands, unless you run it to either sideline with gasol chilling at elbow and metta in the corner for three, which quite obv could work…but when you have a steve nash, running the ball and getting easy baskets and esp running the pick and roll seems to be what you would wanna do first,second and third. And although D’Antoni has never been known for his defence, he never had defenders. Amare, Nash, not defenders, Sure marion and raja bell were, but this team has MWP, Kobe, Howard and even Pau is better than amare defensively. Kobe will score and get easy looks, Howard is a faster, bigger, stronger Amare, and if MWP can only shoot when steve says so…it just comes down to the bench…oh yeah, mike doesnt use his bench, maybe 3-4 guys max, blake, meeks, hill, jamison, hmm, sounds like this is the team for him….if only they could get a sharpshooter to come off the bench…Reggie Miller is from LA….make the comeback….its Showtime Miller time
this looks like a 12 yr olds line up on NBA 2K12 video game and now with the new coach at least we wont have to worry about the lakers being a treat this year. there a good team just not gonna happen this year guys sorry .Go Thunder !!
you srs/10 dantoni will be perfect for the lakers, due to the lakers struggling on offence so far and playing great defencive team. dantoni has only ever played with offensive weapons and no defence specalists like dwight, and metta . and i think the lakers know what they are doing… they have only just won two titles in 09,10 and phil jackson might of been a good option but i dont believe hes wortth the money hes wanting if the offence will take a long time for nash and howard and many of the new players to learn. and the lakers bench isn’t useless, as soon as jamison and meeks and ebanks, start producing they’ll have nice backups with morris/blake playing well and so is hill.
Guys if Phil is available there will be no problem but the guys doesn’t want to come back. his pretty much happy in his Million Dollar Mansion..
Remember why D’Antoni left New York? I don’t how will this be different with Kobe and Dwight’s ego combining!
Trade for Jermery Lin and he will get the Lakers offense going. Jermery and D’Antonio have a great relationship and he knows his system.
Hay Guy’s do you play Basketball so if you are then you will understand how everything works from Coach to players? D’antoni is not a bad coach its about players who will play their roles in Jackson system is totally different he don’t need to many good players without common sense and not following the triangle offense system because at the moment only Kobe MWP and Gasol have the experience, in that system will be a disaster for the rest of the team. triangle is not easy compare to Pick n Roll. If I was the LA management I will pick Sloan he is good in both offense and defense his pick n roll system is one of the best in the league if everyone here can remember those years.
the hiring of D’Antoni makes sense imho, he’s a 1-in, 4-out type of guy that knows how to spread the floor on offense, and now has the luxury of having better defenders (in Howard, MWP and Kobe) compared to what? Stat as inside defender??? Melo as perimeter defender??? common.. do not panic at the Lakers’ defense guys
if i were to ask, Gasol can be their shiny new 6th man, the man who can go inside with 4 shooters on the floor (or maybe sub Howard just in case of foul trouble, rotate along with JHill), maybe Jamison can start for Gasol, Jamison is more efficient given larger minutes, Meeks can now be more useful, and Morris, Ebanks or even Johnson-Odom must practice how to shoot threes, given the Lakers’ transformation of Ariza to a 3-point shooter back in the day, i think they can do it again!
all in my humble opinion, please respect
Man I love the Lakers but really these so called Lakersfans or at least some off them relly piss me off. D´Antoni hasnt even coached a month not even speaking about one single day and they allready say he wont make it. Just shut the heck up. Only Time will tell!!!!
Why would they sign a worse coach the Mike Brown makes no sense
If you live by the jumpshot, you’ll die by the jumpshot. Too many run outs which LAL or D’Antoni can not defend. .550 team at best. Twin Towers Post with multiple dribble penetration then kickouts and post feeds best for LAL. Kobe and Pau taking occasional midrange pullup jumpers keeps defense honest and takes advantage of Laker length. 3-point shooting held to minimum, just enough to spread the floor, until Lakers aquire players that can make a high percentage. Bench is a liability but an eight-man starting rotation can ease that problem somewhat. 2-guard shots up behind 3-point line and has responibility to slow runouts. D’Antoni has no history of coaching such a team, thus lakers a .550 team at best. Liked Bickerstaff style of just letting them play, taking full advantage of Laker experience and superior talent all the while keeping the defense guessing, then making adjustments as needed. Jeff Van Gundy would have been a much better choice.
The Lakers are now under the GUN.
MD’s system is good enough to get them to the playoffs. However, this is the biggest gamble one could have made for a championship. If I were to bet in Vegas it would be against the Lakers to win it all.
I am a lakers fan, and I don’t really care that they got Mike and not Phil. I will give Mike a chance and we will see how it goes, I am excited for the offense, and I have hope in the defense because we have Kobe, MWP, Howard and Gasol in defense.
did this guy just say that kobe cant shoot three’s?
lol yea he is def wrong he doesnt knw wht hes talking about
from CLE trash to NYK trash!!! all garbage coach… from crazy offense to bad defense.. wait till we get another 4 game loosing streak then finally get back Phil
With D’Antoni in charge, one of the Lakers starting 5 is sweating hard …. Geez, very soon, our Lakers fans will yell “NO!!!!!!!!!!” when World Peace puts up a 3 …
D’Antoni apparently coached Phoenix well enough to eliminate LA in the playoffs one year! And the Spurs had to cheat to eliminate the Suns another year. It’s foolish to say that he’s incapable of coaching a team to a championship. I love the media (and most of you fans) – when a team does great it’s always because of the players; when they don’t do well, it’s always because of the coach. Then, when a coach has a team that wins the chanpionship he’s finally “legit”. Maybe it’s “always” the players’ attitudes?
the nba style of game is changing. this triangular defense may not works at all. The west coast teams are shooting day light out of east coast teams and rolling them over. I could not believe my eyes to what happened to heat with grizzlies,denver and even houston today. A zone defense is needed. West coast teams are shooting on average 10, 3points at least per game, which is ridiculous. This is also due to lack of big men in the league. Since other guys have become extremely athletic and average height has increased, there seems to be no need for big men as they slow their game. Their presence in the paint is nullified by this beyond the arc, shooting spree.
Only phil knows to some extent how to handle both ways of play. In chicago, he had no big men and in lakers he had big men and later no big men with lakers.
may be if LA agreed to pay phil 20 to 25 million bucks he would have agreed!
other coaches just wont cut it!
It seems LAL front office wants to save the regular season. D’Antoni will manage good W-L percentage in the season, then he’ll lose in playoffs to a better coach. This coach means no more title for Kobe. It is a very bad decision because like Nelson or Karl, he’ll always look close to winning but never deliver the title. Lakers fans should prepare for a roller coaster with high expectations and huge disappointment.
Ok, I’m pretty sure the GMs and coaches know more about basketball than us. It’s comical when I read the comments saying something is a dumb move/stupid decision..etc.
agreed
Fire Jim Buss!
Chant: “We want Phil! We want Phil!…”
I think the lakers are at best in the triangle offense, kobe the facilitator, dwight and pau at the post, metta and nash on the wings… d’antoni’s offense is fun to watch but lakers lacks athletecism and efficient 3 point shooters… but as the Filipino saying “bilog ang bola maraming pwedeng mangyari” (the ball is round, anything can happen)… lets just wait and see!
i think that the lakers will do good this season we just have to work as a team
i feel sorry for the west side this season….. the lakers are too heavy…and dantoni is a sorry coach