The Lakers have added some serious firepower to their already talented roster this summer. Although the team was already talented last season, here in L.A., nothing short of a championship is acceptable. By acquiring Steve Nash and Dwight Howard, the Lakers have once again managed to become the favorite to come out of the Western Conference, and possibly even win the NBA Finals; at least that’s what the expectation is now in Lakerland.
Although Mitch Kupchak and Jim Buss are finally getting the credit they deserve, one relatively recent move hasn’t unanimously been favorable among Lakers fans: the hiring of head coach Mike Brown last summer.
Personally, I think coach Brown has done about as good of a job as anyone could have, given all the obstacles he faced last season.
First, he had to deal with coming into the most highly publicized team during a lockout. Then, once the lockout ended, he had to lead the team–which always has high expectations–through a condensed 66 game season with no training camp.
Couple that with the fact that he was coaching an aging team, and he had to find a way to limit practice for his veterans and still teach his offensive and defensive philosophies. In turn, the team was basically practicing during games because there was no time for dedicated practices.
All of that and he still managed to lead his team to a 41-25 (.621) record. The previous year, Phil Jackson led the team to a 57-25 record (.695), but the Lakers were ousted in the second round of the playoffs in both instances (Jackson also led his team to the exact same 57-25 record in the 2010 season in which they won their 16 championship, however).
For a team that lost reigning Sixth Man of the Year Lamar Odom, though, the Lakers didn’t necessarily under-perform. By losing Odom, the Lakers lost a play-maker, which left Kobe Bryant as the sole bridge between the back-court and front-court for most of the season. Bryant had to take on the role of dominant scorer and facilitator, which was too much to handle, especially during the playoffs where opposing teams were able to focus in on not letting Pau Gasol or Andrew Bynum get the ball down low.
Additionally, under the new system, Bryant was the only player who could run pick and rolls–which was the new preferred choice of attack. However, with Bryant not being a point guard, it was too much to handle and Kobe often had to resort to isolation plays to either get himself a basket or set up a teammate.
It didn’t quite work out as although he averaged relatively the same amount of assists over the past two seasons (4.7 and 4.6, respectively), he only assisted on 26 percent of his team’s total assists while on the floor last season compared with a 31 percent clip during the 2010-2011 campaign. He accounted for approximately the same amount of total team points while on the floor over the same two seasons (about 35 percent), so his scoring activity relatively remained the same.
Therefore, it was clear that the new offense which was based more on pick-and-roll and ball handling didn’t quite work out as well as a read-and-react style of offense such as the Triangle; an offense in which Bryant was comfortable with. Similarly, it left Pau Gasol, who is great at play-making from the high post, as the odd man out, so to speak. Essentially, Gasol was under-utilized.
Now, with the Lakers set to implement the Princeton offense–which is similar to the Triangle in the sense of a read-and react style of basketball–Bryant hopefully will be able to regain his overall efficiency, and Gasol will become more involved.
Add in future Hall-of-Fame point guard Steve Nash, who breathes the pick-and-roll, and Dwight Howard, who can play and finish pick-and-roll plays, and the Lakers have plenty of options offensively.
Defensively, nobody questions Mike Brown’s philosophies, and now with three-time Defensive Player of the Year center Dwight Howard on the team, the Lakers should have one of the best–if not the best–defenses in the entire league.
Great offensive players and a solid offensive system paired with solid defensive philosophies and arguably the best defensive player in the league, and expectations of a championship are once again concrete.
For Mike Brown, there certainly are no other options. The Lakers have to win, and have to win now.
Next Page: The Pressure Is On
Although Phil Jackson led his 57-25 record team to a title in 2010, he led virtually the same group to a 65-17 (.817) record in 2009; which was also a championship team. He led one Shaq-and-Kobe team to the same record as well, in 2000.
The regular season doesn’t count when it comes to the Lakers, since they are more concerned with trophies, but the comparisons will be there nonetheless; next year in particular.
So, how can Mike Brown live up to the expectations of the regular season as well as bring the Larry O’Brien trophy back to Los Angeles?
Rotations
First, he’ll have to establish a solid rotation. Last season, everyone from players to fans seemed frustrated with coach Brown’s ever-changing rotations. In his defense, he didn’t have a solid enough bench to clearly establish role players last season, and had to try to get the most out of certain players in certain games.
This upcoming season, however, he definitely has a talented enough bench to get the job done and must set concrete rotations.
Players such as Antawn Jamison and Steve Blake will undoubtedly receive minutes off the bench, but Brown will have to decide early on how much time, if any, he’ll give to players such as Jodie Meeks, Devin Ebanks, and Jordan Hill.
Meanwhile, he will have to limit his starters’ minutes. With Steve Nash averaging 31:36 minutes last season and Metta World Peace averaging just 26:53 minutes, coach Brown will have to make sure those minutes stay in the same vicinity for the Lakers to remain healthy next season.
Similarly, Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, and Pau Gasol–who each averaged 37-39 minutes per game last season (Gasol actually logged the second-most total minutes among any NBA player last season; second only to 23-year-old Kevin Durant)–will have to be kept fresh as well. With Howard coming back from back surgery, Pau Gasol continually playing for Spain during his summers, and Kobe Bryant never knowing how to put down a basketball, Mike Brown will have to find a way to decrease each of those guys’ minutes by at least two or three per game.
That all reverts back to the bench.
The Bench
Last season, the Lakers’ second unit couldn’t maintain a lead for the life of them. Even when bench players were mixed in with starters, it was still difficult to maintain the same level of play. Hopefully this season, the bench will be able to perform at a high level.
Fortunately, all the star power the Lakers possess will be able to help them in this area. Last season, as soon as Kobe left the floor, things instantly went awry. This upcoming season, coach Brown can tinker with the lineup a bit more, and will undoubtedly have more freedom to do so.
He can leave Steve Nash on the floor with Dwight Howard while Kobe gets rest, or vice versa. With four All-Star caliber players, he will be able to let Nash freestyle a bit on offense while Kobe rests, and then let a fresh Kobe come out and dominate offensively while Nash takes a breather. Similarly, Gasol can spell Howard at the center position while Superman gets some rest, and Antawn Jamison and/or Jordan Hill can give the offense a different dynamic when Gasol sits down.
Basically, what I’m getting at is that with two All-Star ball-handlers and two All-Star post players, coach Brown will have options galore when it comes to maintaining productivity while also limiting minutes. Essentially, he will be able to constantly have two All-Stars on the floor prior to the fourth quarter, when more than likely the starting lineup will also be the closing lineup.
Andrew Bynum was certainly an All-Star player, but he was never “the man” on any team. Dwight Howard, on the other hand, has held the lead role for his whole career. Same thing with Steve Nash, and at one point, Pau Gasol. The leadership and ability to put a team on their respective backs for a period of time will pay great dividends for the Lakers when it comes to limiting minutes and keeping players fresh during the season and playoffs.
Egos
Last, but certainly not least, will be Mike Brown’s ability to mesh all of the egos. I don’t particularly see this as a huge problem, but Brown will have to monitor it all season. Steve Nash is a championship-hungry veteran who already commands the utmost respect from Kobe Bryant, so I don’t see any sort of clash there. I doubt they will argue over the ball since they should complement each other offensively. Pau Gasol has an edge to him, but certainly not a strong ego. Additionally, he’s the ultimate team player and will likely be revered by his teammates.
Dwight Howard clashing with Kobe Bryant could pose a potential clash, however, with both players hungry to score. Andrew Bynum was hungry to score, but he also knew his place on the team. However, Howard appears to be submissive towards Bryant and understands that he will have to take a secondary role to the Black Mamba and learn from him in order to win his first championship.
With Steve Nash distributing the ball, I don’t see many instances where Superman won’t get the ball when he has low-post position. Similarly, Pau Gasol wants to be a part of the offense, but it’s just because he knows he can make the correct play, which often leads to easy baskets for his front-court mate as was witnessed by the many lobs he threw Bynum’s way last season. In that sense, Howard will have at least two guys looking to constantly feed him the ball.
One area of concern is Mike Brown’s respect level amongst his players. Andrew Bynum appeared disrespectful to coach Brown at times last season, so the question this season is whether Howard–who had plenty of clashes with former Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy–will buy in to everything Brown is selling. However, as long as Bryant maintains his respect for Brown, I don’t see any players going against the grain.
Coach Brown, on the other hand, will have to earn respect by not giving preferential treatment to any one player–not even Kobe Bryant. Brown obviously respects Bryant in the highest regard, but he’ll have to hold Kobe accountable on defense and offense much more this season. He now has the freedom to bench Kobe for longer periods of time, so if he sees something he doesn’t like, he’ll have to address it.
Bottom Line
All of these factors will be crucial to Mike Brown and the Lakers success. However, the bottom line–a championship–will be the most important. With arguably the most talented team in the league, there is no margin for error when it comes to this team winning a ring. With all the pieces in place, it’s up to the coach to put the team over the top. If he’s unable to do so, I doubt the Lakers will exercise much patience next summer.
Mike Brown has been handed a championship-caliber team, so now the question is “what will he do with it?”
The pressure is definitely on.