Los Angeles Lakers head Coach Mike Brown’s dilemma – NBA Update
Back in the off season, Mike Brown was envied for getting one of the best positions available in the NBA last summer as the new Los Angeles Lakers head coach. Now that same blessing is turning out to be a curse as he has to fill some large shoes left by
the legendary coach Phil Jackson.
His appointment was substantiated with his noteworthy achievements like an NBA Championship run with San Antonia Spurs (as an assistant) and it was him who took Indiana Pacers to Eastern Conference finals along with taking Cleveland Cavaliers to the NBA
finals as a head coach.
But since his arrival in Lakers the team performance has not improved as expected and they are losing credibility as a potential contender for the Western Conference.
There have been reports of unrest in the Lakers locker room and before All-Star game the team had a player’s only meeting after the game with Portland Trail Blazers.
The team was in disarray when Brown took charge and surrounded by trade rumours - on a downhill journey in a nutshell. They had lost to Dallas Mavericks recently and were looking for major changes on their bench. With Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom in the trade
window the players are accusing the ex-Cleveland coach for their plight.
The tensions became obvious after the game with Washington Wizards’, as Brown accused the players for displaying poor show.
“It’s very simple,” Brown said. “In the first half, we played the right way; in the second half, we didn’t. We forced shots, and forcing shots is not a good thing for us.”
Lakers have shifted from their triangle play to conventional style of basketball, there is no harm in it but they don’t have such kind of point guard with them. If they want to get into the playoffs they will have to find a point guard that they are yearning
for since long.
Moreover they would require rigorous practice and coaching as one cannot expect players like Metta World Peace and Steve Blake to improvise instantly.
The coach alone cannot be blamed for all this, Lakers front office has a big say in this as well. It is the management responsibility to take care of the uprooting needs, for instance dealing with the trades and providing the team with suitable coaches but
so far they have turned a deaf ear to their requests.
The damage is not beyond repair at this point as they still have the trade window, if they succeed in pulling aboard Kyle Lowry or Ramon Sessions and Raymond Felton among few others they surely will be able to redeem the loss.
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