Los Angeles Lakers don’t expect major changes under Mike Brown – NBA News
The Los Angeles Lakers are in a transition phase under new coach Mike Brown. After Phil Jackson’s retirement, the head coaching slot was left open and even though Brown wasn’t a front runner for the job, he vowed the Lakers management
enough to land the gig.
Mike Brown was previously the coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers and LeBron James, and has been known throughout his career as a defensive specialist. His style of play certainly does contrast with Phil Jackson triangle offense,
therefore a major change in Lakers approach to the game has been predicted by many analysts.
The view inside the Los Angeles camp however is different. Los Angeles Lakers assistant coach Chuck Person sat down with a reporter recently about the change of coach and what it meant to the Lakers side. Person was of the view
that the main scheme of the Lakers defence would remain the same. Los Angeles have been one of the better defensive teams in the NBA for the last few seasons and Person said there wasn’t any need to fix something that wasn’t broken.
He did however reveal that he expected Mike Brown to bring more focus and intensity to the defence, something the Lakers lacked in abundance when they were swept by the Dallas Mavericks in the 2nd round of last season’s
playoffs.
“What will change is we will have the players be held more accountable for executing our defensive philosophy and defensive game plans from game-to-game. Mike won’t have any leniency when it comes to that end of the floor. He’ll
allow them to make some mistakes offensively, but there won’t be much room defensively for guys to go off on their own and do things outside of the defensive system that we implement.” Said Person
Los Angeles Lakers are one of the few teams who can boast two strong big men to guard the paint. They also have the Kobe Bryant who, for all his flashy and stunning offensive play, remains one of the best defensive players in the
game, as evidenced by his selection in the NBA All Defensive First Team last season.
In Lamar Odom and Derek Fisher, the Lakers have experienced players who know how to defend and Ron Artest has slowly built a reputation on his defensive steel. It was thus shocking to see the Lakers fold against the vibrant offense
of the Dallas Mavericks in the manner that they did in the Western Conference Finals.
Chuck Person’s assertions about Mike Brown and what he will change at the franchise therefore would be music to the ears of Lakers supporters who want to see their team get some more success in the Kobe Bryant era.
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