Mike Brown puts faith in Los Angeles Lakers despite difficult start to NBA season
Los Angeles Lakers head coach Mike Brown is confident that his team will bounce back after a less than perfect start to the NBA season. The Lakers went 0 – 2 at to begin the shortened 2011-2012 NBA season before Tuesday’s win over
the Utah Jazz.
If they had gone on to lose that game, it would have been the worst start to a season by a Lakers outfit since 1978-1979. The win though gives them some stability and confidence to get back on track.
"We're still feeling our way," Brown said following the team's shoot around Tuesday afternoon. "It's tough to swallow, but we'll be fine."
Brown took over the reins at Los Angeles this offseason after legendary head coach Phil Jackson announced his retirement from the game. Mike hasn’t had it easy since coming in. His appointment drew controversy after rumours spread
that senior players in Lakers locker room didn’t want him to get the hot seat. His job became even tougher when a failed trade for super star Chris Paul became public and led to some serious ramifications, including the loss of Lamar Odom.
Couple it with the fact that centre Andrew Bynum is out suspended and super star Kobe Bryant hurt his wrist in a pre-season game, it becomes understandable why Los Angeles haven’t set the court on fire. Brown is aware of the problems
he could face if the Lakers lacklustre start to the season doesn’t soon turnaround, but he has faith in the group of players at his disposal.
"Obviously you don't want to put yourself in a hole, but we're going to be in the playoffs," he said. "Where we're going to sit, I don't know. Hopefully we don't bury ourselves too deep at the beginning of the year, but when we
get clicking ... we're going to be really good, and once we get to the playoffs this is an experienced, veteran team."
With Kobe Bryant in his arsenal, Brown indeed doesn’t need to be fearful of too many teams in the NBA. However, the Lakers side hasn’t really addressed a weakness at the point guard position coming into the new season and they
haven’t replaced Lamar Odom.
Notwithstanding, Brown is still aiming pretty high and wants Los Angeles to top the league this season.
"We want the No. 1 seed overall, but with this group right here, I'm not afraid to play in anybody's gym."
The Lakers finished second in the Western Conference last season, behind the San Antonio Spurs, and crashed out in the second round of playoffs at the hands of eventual NBA World Champions the Dallas Mavericks.
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