Los Angeles Lakers: Can Kurt Rambis Help Mentor The Frontcourt?
By Shane Young
Since leaving the Lakers’ coaching staff in 2009, former player and coach Kurt Rambis took control of the Minnesota Timberwolves’ head coaching position and offered NBA insight as an analyst for ESPN. On July 29, Rambis was re-hired by the Lakers as an assistant coach, placing him alongside Mike D’Antoni for the first time. Although he may not be the 1980s superstar that players on the current roster looked up to, Rambis does know the qualities that a championship team must have.
Kurt Rambis wasn’t the greatest Lakers talent, but he knows the balance that a championship team needs. Photo Credit: Keith Allison/Flickr.com
Rambis was a part of four NBA championships (all with the Lakers in the 1980s). He was able to experience how well a team should balance their attack in terms of perimeter and frontcourt usage. Having Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as a teammate, I’m sure Rambis remembers coach Pat Riley stressing the utilization of size in the middle.
In a recent conversation with Los Angeles Times’ Eric Pincus, Rambis made it clear that frontcourt play is important for the 2013-14 Lakers.
"“The [Lakers] still have big people and I think you have to take advantage of the big people,” said Rambis on Thursday. “You can’t ignore them because they are an asset to your offense.”“You need guys that can really get out and fill the wings because that pushes the defense down,” added Rambis. “That’s not necessarily the way you would look at this team and describe them. You might say that with Nick Young, but it’s not necessarily Kobe’s forte nor was it Metta World Peace‘s forte last year.”"
Many, including myself, may have taken Rambis’ statements as a direct shot to Mike D’Antoni’s coaching style with this roster last season. It isn’t a secret that D’Antoni prefers fast-paced perimeter offense, but that is no excuse for not balancing the touches last season with Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol on your roster. Gasol expressed his discomfort with playing so far away from the basket as opposed to his true post position. Howard obviously let his free agency decision do the talking, as he walked away from D’Antoni and joined Kevin McHale, a coach that developed his reputation using his post scoring with the Boston Celtics.
Without the best center in the league, this current Lakers team will now have to rely on Pau Gasol and Chris Kaman as the two primary options in the paint. This will not be a negative, however, as Gasol’s best production was at center position for majority of his years with the Memphis Grizzlies. Now, he is stronger, wiser and once again the leader of the frontcourt with Howard out of the picture. Having Rambis with the organization again will assure Gasol that more touches come his way in the low post this season.
As for Kaman, everything is going to be lined out for the former All-Star. D’Antoni’s offense is still going to be in the top tier of the league in 3-point attempts, meaning Kaman will be very active on the offensive glass this season. Steve Nash will have one more year under his belt of being the floor general for the Lakers and it seems as if his basketball IQ only continues to rise. He will get Kaman the best looks available and we may finally see a balanced offense coached by Mike D’Antoni, with Kurt Rambis offering many pointers.