Since the Zen Master left, it’s been the same old story line. The same questions. The same answers.

Who is going to take the reins and lead the team in the same type of manner that Phil Jackson had? How can the Lakers win with an aging shooting guard?

Defensive minded Mike Brown tried and failed only to be followed by Mike D’Antoni who was almost just about forced out. Obviously, nobody is going to be Phil or will ever match his historic resume but the Lakers are now searching for a head coach and this time they can’t afford to mess up.

Kobe Bryant only has a few years left to get his 6th ring so the head coaching position is more important than ever for the Lakers. By steve.lanctot (kb_0563cf) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Kobe Bryant only has a few years left in his career and he has made it clear that he wants to compete for a championship this coming season.

Lakers management already lost Phil to the Knicks, so fans and dreamers can stop considering that as a possibility.

Many names have been swirling throughout the media including George Karl, UNC’s Roy Williams, Derek Fisher, Lionel Hollins, Byron Scott and more but there are really only a few names that actually make sense for the direction the Lakers are headed.

What the Lakers need in order to bring them back to the glory that they have been used to is a coach who understands what it takes to win as a Laker. No more of these coaches who achieved success simply because of a system or a star player.

I think Byron Scott would be the right choice to at this juncture. Scott understands what it takes to be a Laker and what it takes to win in Los Angeles. He helped them win three titles in the 1980s and also has coaching experience in the NBA Finals, taking the Nets to the Finals in back-to-back years (2002,2003). He has also shown the ability to handle star players such as Jason Kidd and Chris Paul during his tenure in New Orleans.

Make it happen Mitch

Byron Scott makes perfect sense for the Lakers and hopefully management sees it that way as well. Kobe Bryant has endorsed Scott which is huge. Kobe didn’t have any say in the hiring of Brown or D’Antoni, and look how that turned out for the Lakers. The Lakers need a leader in this awkward time. I think Scott is their guy.

Any person who follows basketball has seen that the biggest disappointment five games into this young NBA season has been the Los Angeles Lakers, who currently sit at the bottom of the league with a 1-4 record. Their most recent defeat came last night at the hands of the 2-3 Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City. After the home-opening loss to the Dirk-less Dallas Mavericks, many fans and people around the league have looked to the head coach as the problem and have been calling for Mike Brown’s job. But Mike Brown isn’t the problem and shouldn’t be getting all the blame for the lack of success the Lakers have been having so far into this season. And I, for one, am not calling for Mike Brown’s job just yet.

The Lakers aren’t exactly running the triangle anymore, and Pau Gasol seems lost on offense. By Ben Chaney (http://www.flickr.com/photos/epioles/5359481072/) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

The problem so far this season isn’t Brown, nor is it the players’ fault. It is a mixture of the offense being run under Eddie Jordan, the lack of bench production and the lack of time this team has had to play together. The main problem for the Lakers so far is their running of the Princeton offense. I think the frustration of the offense has led to lack of defense. Last season, the Lakers were regarded as one of the better defensive units. That shouldn’t be any different this season since the team traded for three-time defensive player of the year Dwight Howard. The frustration on offense has led to many fast break points and points off of turnovers for Lakers’ opponents. But when the Lakers actually get to set up their defensive schemes, it looks pretty looks with nice switches and interior defense.

A Solution:

If the Lakers want to fix their problems on offense, they need to ditch the Princeton offense, fire Eddie Jordan and bring on offensive minded coach Mike D’Antoni as assistant coach. While D’Antoni ran himself out of New York, his teams were still some of the most explosive offensive teams in the NBA. Keep Brown as head coach and let him run the defense and use D’Antoni as strictly offense. D’Antoni used his fast paced offense with average point guards in New York and it worked, so why would it be any different in Los Angeles where he would have such players as Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol at his disposal. Of course D’Antoni would be the reunited with Steve Nash as well. The two spent time together in Phoenix for six years, two of which were Nash’s back-to-back MVP seasons. Yes, Nash is older, but the 39-year old can still run and gun as he showed last season in Phoenix, averaging 17.8 points a game and 10.1 assists per game with a mediocre Suns team. Bringing in D’Antoni won’t solve all the problems but it would sure up the offense, something the Lakers desperately need as they sit at 1-4 in the standings.

Many people also forget that the team has played only has three games where all the players were on the court together and Dwight Howard and Jordan Hill weren’t even fully healthy. That isn’t much time together to learn how to play cohesively and get it clicking. Chemistry plays a huge part in any team sport and that is something that the Lakers are lacking at the moment and will continue to lack until after the All Star Break, when everything will be clicking and all this talk will just be a thing of the past. Also, this is a very new group of players, many of whom need more than a few games to come together. Once Dwight Howard is fully healthy and can do the things on the court that we as basketball fans are accustomed to him doing and when Nash gets back on the floor, this team will be fine.

Bench Play:

The Nash injury also hurts this team very much. While Steve Blake is an above-average backup point guard, he isn’t meant to be a starter and playing so many minutes. He is meant to come off the bench and shoot — that’s it. He shouldn’t be running an offense that includes Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol. If the Lakers want to make sure that they get at least a decent point guard to plug into their starting five while Nash is hurt or is Nash gets hurt at any other time throughout the season, they need to either trade for Jose Calderon of the Toronto Raptors or sign veteran Delonte West whom they had interest in during the offseason.

With Blake starting, the bench production is even lower than it should regularly be. The Lakers have never had super-strong bench play (even in their championship seasons), but with the depth many NBA teams have, it’s something that they need to work on. Antwan Jamison, the biggest name the Lakers added to the bench during the offseason, has been a bust so far, averaging 3.8 points a game after exploding last season in Cleveland for 17.2. Jamison isn’t a “go to” guy anymore, but that still doesn’t excuse his lack of production. Another player the Lakers signed and expected to be a part of the bench was Jodie Meeks who hasn’t really seen much playing time for some odd reason, playing in only three of the five games this season. Jordan Hill has been the only consistent bench player for the Lakers this season. If the bench play doesn’t become more productive, the entire Lakers team will be in trouble when they get later into the season.

While many people in Laker town are worried or concerned about the slow start for the team, they shouldn’t be yet. It is still VERY early in the season and the Lakers will get it clicking, give this team time, that’s all they need. It probably doesn’t help the team that all their fans and all the writers have turned on this team five games into the season. IT IS ONLY FIVE GAMES. If they are 3-17 or anything like that after twenty games into the season, then there should be cause for concern and Brown should be fired but until that happens (and I don’t think it will), Laker fans and all the writers should do what Kobe Bryant says and “Shut up!”

Laker fans should be worrying, but not for the reasons most media have been speculating. Yes, Steve Nash is old, and yes Dwight Howard is coming off back surgery, and Kobe Bryant has more mileage than that old Toyota that has been in your family for decades; but player personnel is not the greatest area of concern for to the Lakers.

The greatest concern is head coach, Mike Brown.

With guys like Zydrunas Ilgauskas in LeBron James’ supporting cast, Mike Brown led the Cavs to a finals appearance. The question is whether he can do the same for this year’s Lakers team. By Keith Allison [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Chemistry

An NBA head coach’s largest task is managing the personalities of his stars, veterans, and newcomers to create a winning atmosphere.

The Lakers needed arguably the greatest coach in NBA history, ten-time world champion Phil Jackson, to successfully blend the personalities of Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’ Neal, and most recently Kobe Bryant, Andrew Bynum, Metta World Peace, and Pau Gasol.

This is not to say Brown cannot control Hollywood’s newest starlet in Dwight Howard, but he has yet to prove in his career that he can help his players thrive under pressure.

Many fans remember just last season when Gasol seemed to be the headliner of NBA trade rumors for a few months, only to remain with the team. Perhaps its unfair to compare the a single coach to one of the all-time best, but Jackson preferred to keep all issues in house, and I’m sure all Laker fans, and especially Gasol would’ve preferred such an approach.

Head Coach vs Team Personality

Mike Brown is 42-years-old, making him only four years older than point guard Steve Nash. Brown also started coaching in the NBA in 1997, one year after Kobe Bryant was drafted.

This is not to say Brown is not deserving of a head coaching spot, but in all professions, respect is earned and not given. With over 15 seasons in coaching experience, Brown has been around the NBA long enough to make a name for himself, but he is not quite in the top tier of coaches. For this reason, it is concerning that he is coaching one of the most heavily scrutinized teams in pro sports. The Lakers have raised 16 championship banners in their history, and as a result the franchise and its fan base expect nothing less than a championship every season. Anything less is a disappointment.

Rotation Bingo

Some could argue Brown was plagued last season by limited practice time due to the NBA lockout, but a consistent rotation continued to be an issue past the all-star break. At age 33, no player even challenged Kobe for the highest usage rate in the league.

Discouraged by inconsistent play, Brown seemed almost allergic to his bench.

The bench averaged the least amount of points per game last season, and even when Brown left in a couple starters, the bench seemed lifeless. Not even the acquisition of point guard Ramon Sessions could help boost the bench play when Steve Blake went back into his natural bench rotation.

Potential to Improve

Brown’s first year as the Lakers’ head coach did not come without hardships. He had a multitude of obstacles:

• NBA lockout, a 66-game shortened season, almost no practice time, and therefore limited time to instill his system.
• Lamar Odom’s trade situation to begin the season.
• No top tier point guard to help Kobe spark the offense.
• Gasol trade rumors affecting the locker room.
• Bynum, whose heart was usually a game time decision
• Lakers players’ lack of defensive effort

A head coach can only fix effort to a certain point, and defense is all effort. At some point, something has got to give and either these players will conform to Brown’s system or they wont. Until or unless they do, it will be a struggle.

This season will either be remembered as a time of trial and triumph, or it will be a blip in the Lakers franchise history that most fans will dismiss. Either way, this is the season where Mike Brown can prove his value as a leader. Only time and results will tell.

Be patient Laker fans. Brown is the Lakers biggest concern, but he can also be the greatest asset to the Lakers if the players abide by his system and learn to play championship team defense. Then and then only might the city of Los Angeles see another banner in 2013.

P.S.

Really, do not worry Laker fans. Just because the Lakers are 0-3 and ESPN says the last time this happened the world didn’t have the iphone… or cable TV, doesn’t mean they can’t do it. So maybe the Mayans were right and the world will end before the all-star break and we will never truly see the true potential of the Lakers. STOP! It’s fine, we’re fine, it’s all fine. The Lakers are the Lakers for a reason; they always seem to find a way.

The short list of elite talent undoubtedly begins and ends with Dwight Howard and Chris Paul. While both would be exceptional homerun additions, acquiring both is for the most part an extremely unlikely prospect due to the amount of swapping chips the Lakers’ current roster possesses. So which superstar would be a better fit for the Lakers’ needs? Which player would fit the best based on what L.A. would be left with after what they would trade away?

Los Angeles’s finest professional franchise has always been about one thing, winning championships and doing it with a dominant big man. Down through the years legends the likes of Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Shaquille O’Neal have lead the Lakers to numerous rings. This makes Dwight Howard an obvious first target for the purple and gold.

Yes, they need help at point guard and yes, an aging Derek Fisher and a meek Steve Blake are not the ultimate answer. But what separates the ideas of trading for Howard or trading for Paul?

First and foremost, Andrew Bynum or Pau Gasol would certainly frontline a package of players going to either Orlando or New Orleans for the services of Howard or Paul.

If you give up Bynum, you need a centerpiece in return. If you give up Gasol for Paul, you will probably be parting ways with Lamar Odom as well, and that scenario would leave a gaping hole at the forward position, a hole that no team with any real championship aspirations could weather and still be considered contenders. That is, of course, unless they got some frontline help in return with Paul.

If the Lakers were to deal a Bynum package for Paul, they would be left with a gaping hole in the middle. Pau Gasol would be left to hold down the middle alone, night in and night out, and let’s face it, that’s not Pau’s game. You would be leaving your only semblance of a big man susceptible to injury or fatigue, especially considering this year’s condensed schedule. Not to mention, this scenario would also go directly against what new coach Mike Brown’s system is based on, not running and gunning and ballet lay-ups, but hard-nosed defense and power offense.

While it is understood that the addition of Paul could do a great deal ignite new coach Mike Brown’s San Antonio Spurs-like high screen-roll and high-post offensive sets, having an all-time great guard like Kobe Bryant makes obtaining Paul all that much less necessary when compared to the prospect of bringing in Howard.

Bryant has showed throughout his career that he can play any role that is needed for an offense to be successful, including ball-handler and facilitator. Just look what Brown was able to do with LeBron James in Cleveland? LeBron is no 6’ 0” jitterbug and he was able to distribute like Magic Johnson. Much could be the same with Kobe Bryant, especially in his aging years.

And while offense racks up win after win in the regular season, anyone with any sense of basketball history understands that defense ultimately wins in the playoffs. We all know Paul can dribble circles around anyone and can get a teammate an open shot as good as anyone in the league. We all know Paul can swipe away a few steals a game. But to compare that idea with the idea of the most dominant inside presence in the league and perpetual defensive player of the year is not even a debate.

The true trump card in the argument however is position scarcity. There are a few point guards in the league with equal or near equal talent level when compared to Chris Paul. Deron Williams may be a better overall point guard. Derrick Rose is the next big thing in the league and can finish better than anyone his size. Rajon Rondo still has upside and can create for others just as well as Paul can. Steve Nash still does everything a point guard is expected to do well and has a few elite years left. John Wall has mount Everest-esqe upside and will rival Derrick Rose as the best point guard in the league in the coming years.

The bottom line – there IS no one in the league like Dwight Howard. And to have that type of advantage at the most scarce position in the league is a fact the Lakers cannot overlook.

So I say roll out the red carpet for Superman 2.0. And CP3, while it would be great for you to join the fold, and any other year a once-in-a-generation type of talent like Dwight Howard wouldn’t be in the picture you would undoubtedly be first on the list.

Don’t settle for courting Mercury when you can lasso Jupiter. But who knows, if there is anyone who can corral an entire solar system, it’s the Lakers.