D'Antoni explains the Laker's biggest problem

[ElNono]

"It's a Catch-22," D'Antoni said. "They just think they can just kind of do it on their own sometimes. Oh, we're OK, we're only down by one. We're fine. We're fine. We're fine. No, you're not fine.

"It's a little bit of an overconfidence thing that we have to hope by our record that we shouldn't be there. But we're going to keep working, we're going to try to solve some problems."

http://www.latimes.com/sports/basketball/nba/lakers/la-sp-bolch-lakers-20121203,0,7790817.story

[NRHector]

"It's a Catch-22," D'Antoni said. "They just think they can just kind of do it on their own sometimes. Oh, we're OK, we're only down by one. We're fine. We're fine. We're fine. No, you're not fine.

"It's a little bit of an overconfidence thing that we have to hope by our record that we shouldn't be there. But we're going to keep working, we're going to try to solve some problems."

http://www.latimes.com/sports/basketball/nba/lakers/la-sp-bolch-lakers-20121203,0,7790817.story
Damn D'Antoni might not even last the whole season as a Lakers coach

[Splits]

I don't even know what that means. I coach a bunch of primmies that have a losing record and should care but they don't?

[rmt]

What's interesting is Kobe's attitude - some leader there.

"I will kick everyone's [rear] in this locker room if I have to," Bryant said. "That's just the attitude you have to have."

[ElNono]

Yeah, not a lot of wisdom there from Mike :lol

Then again, Pop's most famous words were 'Give me some nasty', so YMMV

[Clipper Nation]

What's interesting is Kobe's attitude - some leader there.

"I will kick everyone's [rear] in this locker room if I have to," Bryant said. "That's just the attitude you have to have."

:lol What a joke.... translation: "It's everyone else's fault but mine"...

[Stalin]

is lakerfan in panic mode yet?

[midnightpulp]

is lakerfan in panic mode yet?

They're never in panic mode. They have an almost Cubs fan like delusion that they can "turn it around" whenever the mood strikes. Sure, one franchise is notorious for losing, while the other boasts a winning tradition, but the mentalities are very similar. Cubs fans are simply hopeful, credulous bastards with a never say die attitude, whereas Lakers fans believe the Purple 'n Gold can conjure success out of thin air simply because they're the Lakers. And making a championship run with this current roster, one that Lakers fans think is loaded with talent because of the fancy names on the back of the jerseys, would be an impressive magic trick indeed.

[DAF86]

"Everything will be solved when Nash gets back"

I would be rolling my eyes 'till the back of my head if the coach of my team said something like that.

[DAF86]

He also said something like: "I shouldn't have coached the Knicks 'cause they didn't have Nash"

I guess that when Steve retires D'antoni's coaching career is over.

[BillMc]

He also said something like: "I shouldn't have coached the Knicks 'cause they didn't have Nash"

I guess that when Steve retires D'antoni's coaching career is over.

What kind of coach is so (openly) dependent on one player?

Doesn't Pop always say something akin to "Injuries are part of the game, we play who's available." If TD were out like Nash is Pop would be bummed, but he wouldn't be telling his team and the media "Just wait until Timmy's back."

[BillMc]

What's interesting is Kobe's attitude - some leader there.

"I will kick everyone's [rear] in this locker room if I have to," Bryant said. "That's just the attitude you have to have."

Kobe's method of "leadership" is bullying and scapegoating. While they've had some success, the Kobe-era Lakers are one of the most joyless teams you'll ever find. All his teammates must hate him.

[hater]

I'm just curious as to the conversations Metta World has with Gasol when they sit together in the team plane :lmao

[BillMc]

"It's a Catch-22," D'Antoni said. "They just think they can just kind of do it on their own sometimes. Oh, we're OK, we're only down by one. We're fine. We're fine. We're fine. No, you're not fine.

"It's a little bit of an overconfidence thing that we have to hope by our record that we shouldn't be there. But we're going to keep working, we're going to try to solve some problems."

http://www.latimes.com/sports/basketball/nba/lakers/la-sp-bolch-lakers-20121203,0,7790817.story

D'Antoni pretty much admitting he's lost the team's ear already.

[Bynumite]

They're never in panic mode. They have an almost Cubs fan like delusion that they can "turn it around" whenever the mood strikes. Sure, one franchise is notorious for losing, while the other boasts a winning tradition, but the mentalities are very similar. Cubs fans are simply hopeful, credulous bastards with a never say die attitude, whereas Lakers fans believe the Purple 'n Gold can conjure success out of thin air simply because they're the Lakers. And making a championship run with this current roster, one that Lakers fans think is loaded with talent because of the fancy names on the back of the jerseys, would be an impressive magic trick indeed.

We are only 17 games into the season. If the Lakers end up developing the level of chemistry lakerfans expect from them and are injury free, LAL certainly has the level of talent to make a deeper playoff run compared to the last couple of seasons.

While the spurs are still the same spurs of the last few seasons, nothing changed except age and their season will probably be a copy/paste job, with them peaking during regular season ball.

[baseline bum]

:lol What a joke.... translation: "It's everyone else's fault but mine"...

3BkIh1R5utY

[midnightpulp]

We are only 17 games into the season. If the Lakers end up developing the level of chemistry lakerfans expect from them and are injury free, LAL certainly has the level of talent to make a deeper playoff run compared to the last couple of seasons.

While the spurs are still the same spurs of the last few seasons, nothing changed except age and their season will probably be a copy/paste job, with them peaking during regular season ball.

Yep. They just have to figure it out.

Never mind the fact they're old, slow, unathletic, lack a reliable bench, not optimized for D'Antoni's run-and-gun system, and have pretty much the same roster as they did last year (some would say it's even worse, considering Howard has no post-game and Nash will likely be adding suits to his wardrobe throughout the season to look sharp as he sits behind the Lakers bench). Nope. It's simply a matter of will for the great Los Angeles Suns.

Oops, I mean Lakers. I really do. Seriously.

[NRHector]

Yep. They just have to figure it out.

Never mind the fact they're old, slow, unathletic, lack a reliable bench, not optimized for D'Antoni's run-and-gun system, and have pretty much the same roster as they did last year (some would say it's even worse, considering Howard has no post-game and Nash will likely be adding suits to his wardrobe throughout the season to look sharp as he sits behind the Lakers bench). Nope. It's simply a matter of will for the great Los Angeles Suns.

Oops, I mean Lakers. I really do. Seriously.

:lol

[Dex]

3BkIh1R5utY

:lmao That's awesome.

[NRHector]

3BkIh1R5utY

:lol perfect

[Killakobe81]

They're never in panic mode. They have an almost Cubs fan like delusion that they can "turn it around" whenever the mood strikes. Sure, one franchise is notorious for losing, while the other boasts a winning tradition, but the mentalities are very similar. Cubs fans are simply hopeful, credulous bastards with a never say die attitude, whereas Lakers fans believe the Purple 'n Gold can conjure success out of thin air simply because they're the Lakers. And making a championship run with this current roster, one that Lakers fans think is loaded with talent because of the fancy names on the back of the jerseys, would be an mpressive magic trick indeed.

I said we.were not a title contender, in fact me and DPG debated that all last season.Itz pretty obvious I was right then as we both are now. I predicted WCF as this team's ceiling , but that seems a stretch but Nash is not here yet. I see the same flaws you do plus LeBron with his head straight scares me ...I just don't see him being beat 4 times in a series this year. I doubt we lose in first round but a second round loss based on what we see today is probable and a loss in the WCF like I predicted would not be a surprise either. Pau is the punching bag but we need more speed and athleticism. Dont agree we need to play like Heat or Okc becuz we have no chance to beat them at that kind of game with this core.getting a few more athletes would help but we can't run with_Heat or Thunder and win.

[NRHector]

I said we.were not a title contender, in fact me and DPG debated that all last season.Itz pretty obvious I was right then as we both are now. I predicted WCF as this team's ceiling , but that seems a stretch but Nash is not here yet. I see the same flaws you do plus LeBron with his head straight scares me ...I just don't see him being beat 4 times in a series this year. I doubt we lose in first round but a second round loss based on what we see today is probable and a loss in the WCF like I predicted would not be a surprise either. Pau is the punching bag but we need more speed and athleticism. Dont agree we need to play like Heat or Okc becuz we have no chance to beat them at that kind of game with this core.getting a few more athletes would help but we can't run with_Heat or Thunder and win.

gotdam how much more help do you want? you got the refs, you got Stern, you got superstars, you got the money, and still is not enough?

[Killakobe81]

gotdam how much more help do you want? you got the refs, you got Stern, you got superstars, you got the money, and still is not enough?

The standard here is titles not regular season wins or hype. Team has stars and drama but that is not a title team ...

[whitemamba]

gotdam how much more help do you want? you got the refs, you got Stern, you got superstars, you got the money, and still is not enough?


if all what u say is true, i guess its a lock this year.

[024]

laker fans don't panic because they know the lakers will wind up flipping pau gasol for another young all star.

[angelbelow]

Caught the game tied with about 4-5 minutes left to go in the 4th and basically what I saw was the Lakers giving up 3 open/poorly contested 3 pointers, 2 open jumpers, and 2 free dunk giving the Orlando Magic a much needed win after losing 3 straight games.

[cheguevara]

you heard it here first. D'antoni will not finish the season as Lakers coach. It will only take but a few games for kobe to ask for his resignation.

:lmao lakers

[Seventyniner]

What kind of coach is so (openly) dependent on one player?

Um, Pop is that dependent on Duncan. Pop has said so himself many times.

[DMC]

Mike D is one of the most disrespected coaches in the league. Sure he coached some stars against a bunch of scrubs, but he's historically been a coach who's system will never win a championship because it doesn't feature defense. Why you'd want him to coach the likes of Pau, Howard, Bryant and Artest is beyond me. Why you'd want Steve Nash on the floor at all is beyond me. I would have kept Fisher and gone from there, since Fish was the glue on that team anyhow. I'd take Mike Brown over Mike D.

The Lakers showed they were more interested in star power than wins when they passed on Phil Jackson.

[DMC]

Um, Pop is that dependent on Duncan. Pop has said so himself many times.

Dependent sure, but Pop would never even make that statement if he had Howard, Gasol, Artest and Kobe on the floor. Really? Steve fucking Nash is the answer?

[Koolaid_Man]

They're never in panic mode. They have an almost Cubs fan like delusion that they can "turn it around" whenever the mood strikes. Sure, one franchise is notorious for losing, while the other boasts a winning tradition, but the mentalities are very similar. Cubs fans are simply hopeful, credulous bastards with a never say die attitude, whereas Lakers fans believe the Purple 'n Gold can conjure success out of thin air simply because they're the Lakers. And making a championship run with this current roster, one that Lakers fans think is loaded with talent because of the fancy names on the back of the jerseys, would be an impressive magic trick indeed.

we're not like you are we Mr. OCD...Mr..I'm drowning as I breathe air :lol...Mr called 911 40 times in one month because you thought you were drowning while standing on your front porch....

[Ice009]

What kind of coach is so (openly) dependent on one player?

Doesn't Pop always say something akin to "Injuries are part of the game, we play who's available." If TD were out like Nash is Pop would be bummed, but he wouldn't be telling his team and the media "Just wait until Timmy's back."

I think Phil Jackson said something like this about Pippen. Pippen was out for a bit, in, I think, Jordan's last season or second last season with the Bulls and they were struggling without Scottie and running on fumes. Phil said something along the lines of, wait till Pippen is back and we'll go on a run.

Most coaches are really dependent on their best players. Pop on the other hand has shown us that his team will still play hard no matter who is out there.

I would have liked to have seen how good Phil is without Jordan or Pippen. Pippen really was a great player himself. It definitely wasn't all Jordan, all the time.