Los Angeles Lakers: Is Mike D’Antoni The Right Fit?
Los Angeles Lakers fans have been spoiled–spoiled by great players, many championships and countless and unforgettable memories that will surely last many lifetimes. They have been spoiled by coaches, too. From the days of Pat Riley, who led the showtime Lakers to four championships in the 1980s, to Phil Jackson, who won five championships with the Lakers and is considered by some to be the greatest coach in NBA history. When Jackson parted ways with the Lakers after the 2010-11 season, the Lakers hired Mike Brown, who had some mighty big shoes to fill. Brown lasted the duration of the 2011-12 lockout-shortened season and was fired just five games into the 2012-13 season when the team posted a 1-4 record after acquiring superstars Dwight Howard and Steve Nash to complement Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol.
Lakers fans cried, “WE WANT PHIL, WE WANT PHIL!” They wanted the Zen Master back. They wanted the one man who would give them the best chance to win a championship. They wanted Phil Jackson. Yet, in an extremely controversial move, the team hired Mike D’Antoni. Fans screamed, cried and questioned the competency of management. Why, they asked, why? Well, here’s why…
Oh, how much controversy this caused in the land that is Lakers Nation. Despite all the hoopla, the team had a new coach, Mike D’Antoni, and had to make the best of it. Even though the Lakers were without their beloved Zen Master, they were still the favorite to win the championship with their star-studded team. This all crashed and burned faster than Usain Bolt’s record-setting 100-meter dash (9.63 seconds). The Lakers, plagued with injuries and an unfamiliarity with the run-and-gun style that Mike D’Antoni lives and breathes, finished with an abysmal 45-37 record, slid into the playoffs by the skin of their teeth and were embarrassingly swept out of the first round by the San Antonio Spurs.
And the finger-pointing begins. Who’s to blame? The coach? The team? Dwight Howard? Ownership? Who’s to blame? With Lakers fans furious and embarrassed with the season’s results, something had to change. Many fans, who will be satisfied with nothing less than winning a championship, called for the firing of D’Antoni, saying he is a poor choice in a coach. The question is then raised, is Mike D’Antoni the right coach for the Lakers?
D’Antoni is best known for the success he enjoyed as the coach of the Phoenix Suns. While in Phoenix, he promoted the run-and-gun style of basketball, where players embodied a high-speed style with a lot of 3-point shooting. During his five seasons with Phoenix, Mike led them to an outstanding 253-136 record while advancing to the Western Conference Finals twice. The Lakers, however, would present D’Antoni with a situation he was not familiar with. This team had neither speed nor proficient 3-point shooting that would allow this system to be successful. Moreover, the style that D’Antoni ran did not promote the skills of a big man who can score in the post, which the Lakers had two of in Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol. The system worked much better if the team had a big man how could step outside the paint and knock down a jump shot (Amar’e Stoudemire). Even with the addition of his old companion, Steve Nash, this new system would not work. This proved to be nothing but true as the Lakers struggled greatly throughout the season and, at some times, were forced to rely on the magic of Kobe Bryant to pull them through games. But with the departure of Howard, the question must be revisited, is D’Antoni the right coach for the Lakers?
No.
Mike D’Antoni is the wrong fit for the Lakers.
(Photo by Matt Hickey/Flickr.com)
Last season we watched the Lakers crumble before our eyes in a flawed system. A dominant big man who scores a majority of his points in the paint cannot function in the D’Antoni system. While some would not call Dwight Howard dominant, he does acquire a majority, if not all, of his points in the paint. With Howard gone, Pau Gasol will function as the team’s center and can knock down the occasional jump shot.This will work better with D’Antoni. However, the Lakers lack something that is vital to the success of this offense: speed. Kobe is 34, has bad knees and is recovering from a complete Achilles tear. Pau is slow by nature and Steve Nash will turn 40 before the All-Star break. The Lakers have no speed. In addition, the Lakers finished 19th in the league in 3-point percentage. In D’Antoni’s tenure with Phoenix, the Suns finished outside the top 10 in 3-point percentage just once and led the league in this statistic every other year. After acquiring Howard, the Lakers clearly set their sights on scoring the paint. Even after the departure of Dwight, the team still has Pau, who scores mainly in the paint and on jump shots inside the arc. The Lakers have no elite 3-point shooters to fall into the D’Antoni system.
Although fans don’t approve, D’Antoni remains the coach, but that does not mean he is the right coach. So, who would be the right coach for the Lakers? This magic question has many different answers. All Lakers fans want Phil Jackson back. Sadly, he has publicly stated that he is no longer interested in coaching and would like to have a front office position. Jerry Sloan is another name that has floated around the rumor mill as a possible coach. Sloan coached the Hall of Fame tandem of John Stockton and Karl Malone, among many others, with the Utah Jazz during his 23-year tenure. He is seen, like Phil Jackson, as a no-nonsense coach who can handle many high-profile players. For Lakers fans, this familiarity is comfortable and reminds them of Jackson. Another name that has surfaced has been George Karl, who previously coached the Denver Nuggets before being fired this offseason. Although Karl is a proven winner and holds the title of one of the best coaches in the league, his style is very similar to that of D’Antoni. In order to be successful, he requires quick and athletic guards (Ty Lawson) and proficient 3-point shooters (Danilo Gallinari and Evan Fournier). The Lakers have neither of these. As good of a coach as George Karl is, his system would not work for the Lakers.
The bottom line is that the Lakers need a coach who can both give them a chance to win a championship before Kobe retires and possess the ability to hold the team together during the post-Kobe era that will be here sooner rather than later. Mike D’Antoni is not that coach.