D'antoni: Once you pop, you can't stop (on defense)...

We've got some catching up to do!

Since the last blog post, the Lakers went and hired, what I think is a bonehead move, Mike D'antoni.  He is not the worst coach in the world, but he is far and away a bad choice, long term and short term.  I still can't get over how badly D'antoni was schooled over the years by the likes of Popovich and even Phil Jackson, the Lakers' other choice.  

What is the point of this?  This was worth canning Mike Brown after five games?  I am not following it at all.   If it's going to come to this, the Lakers may as well have kept Bernie Bickerstaff.   Brown's deficiencies coaching offense were equally big deficiencies for Mike D'antoni's defenses.

I am not at a point where I wonder if Jerry Buss is running the team any more.   With each clip of him at the poker table somewhere in Temecula, the answer is clearly no.   The duties are going to his son Jim Buss, and frankly the man is a bit of a chore to stomach.  This is OBVIOUSLY not a move to better the team.  It's a move to make a splash, and it's stupid.  This is a move to make the Lakers more media friendly.  Well, I don't like it.   Just as Mike Brown's contract was, D'antoni will also be a waste of money at the end of the day.  Regular season games will be fine, but you wait until the playoffs: Mike D'antoni is going to get his ass kicked in strategy.

The Lakers used to be ahead of the curve with roster transactions, but today and for the last three years, all they've been doing is catching up.   I stated a while ago they needed to get younger, faster, deeper, and better on the perimeter.  LA did none of those things.  Surely they made a splash and got big names, but the fundamental needs were mostly ignored.  Dwight Howard does help one badly needed area in their defense, but overall, speed is killing the team and all the Lakers did was get slower aside from Howard.  On the other hand, Howard's back trouble could prove to make him just as slow as the other guys!

The Lakers are an absolute mess.   Today, they just hired themselves out of the NBA Finals.  It's not a coincidence D'antoni went his entire career without an NBA Finals appearance, even with some pretty good talent in Phoenix.   Get ready for a circus, friends, and enjoy the show.