LA hires D'Antoni (4yr deal)

[Fez Hammersticks]

McMillan is a defensive specialist in the same way that Babbitt is.

 

[ABM]

Very interesting....

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba--lakers-resist-phil-jackson-s-power-grab-11051709.html

Between the hours of Mike Brown's firing and a meeting on Saturday morning with history's most accomplished coach, Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak privately told people there was one candidate: Phil Jackson.

Jackson wanted to humiliate Lakers vice president Jim Buss far more than he wanted to coach the team. He wanted significant allowances on travel, coaching duties and an ability to veto player personnel moves that didn't fit his vision. With an unprecedented 11 coaching championships, Jackson had every right to make unprecedented demands. He doesn't have the right to be surprised when the Lakers rejected them and hired a pliable, cheaper coach in Mike D'Antoni.

"Phil wanted Jim Buss to walk away with his tail between his legs," one source with knowledge of the discussions told Yahoo! Sports. "He thought he had time to still negotiate with them, and see how much they would give him."

Now, the Lakers are going out of their way to spare Jackson the embarrassment of his overreaching, but this is pointless spin. They're working with him to sell the public that he hadn't asked for too much, that somehow the franchise chose D'Antoni over Jackson on sheer merit. It's noble, but laughable. Jackson heard those chants in the Staples Center and never believed the Lakers had the guts to call his bluff before circling back to him on Monday.

"Phil's assistants convinced him that they had his back on the concerns [Jackson] had about his load as head coach, and he was ready to get a deal done on Monday," a source with knowledge of the talks said. "But this was about Jim Buss giving him a royal you-know-what in the end."

If Jackson was ever to return to coaching to chase a championship in a preferred locale, this job offered him the opportunity. His instincts were wrong on how to play these negotiations and it blew up on him. The Lakers could live with making Jackson the highest-paid coach in the NBA again, but Jackson had to come back in full, and the Lakers were wise to have uncertainties.

Jackson listened to Kobe Bryant gush and gush about him on Friday night, and believed the strongest voice in the locker room would accept only his return the bench. It was a mistake. Bryant preferred Jackson, but he has a history with D'Antoni back to his childhood growing up in Italy and across several years of USA Basketball. Bryant and D'Antoni have a relationship, a trust, and that's somewhere to start once they're thrust together.

Once Jackson couldn't come to terms on Saturday, Bryant had prepared himself for the fact that D'Antoni would ultimately become the coach...........

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

I just remember those laker fan fuck heads jerking off to the first pre-season game where they "big 5" got off the team bus and it was in slow motion and shit.FUCK THE LAKERS!!!! :MARIS61:

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

it was similar to this:

[video=youtube;sZ27eR4_ZqQ]

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

L*ker coaches: A collage.

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

Gasol can barely move these days.

Dwight is clearly nowhere near his pre-injury days. His lift is Dale Davis-esque.

Nash is nearly 40 and showing it.

Kobe has over 50,000 minutes played (reg. season + playoffs) on those knees.

I can't wait to see the SSOL with that roster. If you don't have the right pieces for this certain system it's not going to work. Just ask Knick fans.

 

[Sedatedfork]

L*ker coaches: A collage.

Nice! Repped.

 

[BrianFromWA]

For all the garbage "no one wanted to run the triangle with Howard"...I submit to you that Shaq did a pretty decent job winning 3 rings running the Triangle offense.

And Oden would've implemented the TriPod offense. He's been playing with it since he was a kid.

 

[Nate Dogg]

Looks like Phil was asking $10 million + a season.

The decision came late Sunday, one day after Lakers officials met with Jackson to discuss the possibility of him becoming the franchise's coach a third time. Jackson, league sources said, was seeking greater personnel control, a relaxed travel schedule and a two-year contract that would pay him at least $10 million a season.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba--lakers-hire-mike-d-antoni-as-next-coach-12101909.html

 

[Mamba]

I don't understand why they're not keeping Bickerstaff. He's 2-0 with this group.

Dude know what the hell you're talking about before you post something. Bickerstaff has said multiple times he doesn't want to be the coach, that's not why he signed up with LA. End of discussion.

 

[Natebishop3]

Dude know what the hell you're talking about before you post something. Bickerstaff has said multiple times he doesn't want to be the coach, that's not why he signed up with LA. End of discussion.

Mamba loses this round of "Who will take Kingspeed's troll bait?"