Mitch Kupchak: Stick to your guns. Mitch Kupchak has some great instincts and has made some seemingly impossible scenarios become reality. Fans will criticize him and Jim Buss for hiring Mike Brown instead of Brian Shaw, and for hiring Mike D’Antoni instead of Phil Jackson, and rightfully so. As the team goes, however, Mitch just needs to trust his instincts. The personnel moves he and Jim Buss made over the summer were seemingly great ones; ones that could have propelled the Lakers back into championship form with a little bit of creativity (signing Steve Nash at Jim Buss’ request) and persistence (acquiring Dwight Howard).
Nobody could have predicted the injuries, and fans were pumped up with the starting lineup, but it just didn’t work out quite as planned. Mitch admittedly acted in haste when he fired Mike Brown just five games into the season, so he needs to assess the situation and dowhat he feels is the best option for the team–whether that means blowing the team up and making major coaching changes or simply making a few tweaks here and there.
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Mike D’Antoni: It appears as though the Lakers will continue forward with Mike D’Antoni, so fans are going to just have to get used to it. To D’Antoni’s credit, although it took him a while to do so, he completely changed his philosophy on offense and featured the post more.
For the summer, I would just suggest that after he knows the roster he’ll be given next season, he evaluate who he has and how to best use them. He may also enlist a new assistant coaching staff to best fit what he’s trying to do and possibly seek the help of a defensive coach.
No, he’s not Phil Jackson, but he did manage to get the Lakers playing well towards the end of the season. Perhaps with a full training camp, things will go more smoothly next season. In the meantime, he’s got to do some serious planning over the summer.
