Would it have been better if D'Antoni started the season as coach?

[lpdunks8]

Firing Mike Brown after 5 games tells me that they had been thinking about it even in the off-season. If they would have done that and hired D'Antoni; he would have had a full training camp.

Also, Nash would not have gotten hurt in game 2 as the games would have flowed differently.

Would they have a better record, worse, or about the same?

[Hellcrooner]

Only if pau and metta had been traded for Dantoni ball personel.

And not much really. maybe a bit over .500

[nickdymez]

Of course. The team should have just stuck with Bickerstaff.. It made no sense to bring in a coach midseason that has a style of ball that he likes to play and wont change for ****..

[LOOTERX9]

lakers would be 10 games under 500 if he were with lakers at start. the guy is just terrible

[Lakersfan2483]

Nope, they would be worse right now. He refuses to change his system to put our players in position to succeed. The Lakers have two of the better bigs in the NBA and don't feature them every trip down the court. Obviously, Gasol isn't what he used to be, however he is a very good passer from the low post and it has been proven when you get the ball on the inside and teams collapse, it opens the game up for others and makes the game easier. Simply put, playing inside/out and controlling the pace of the game would do wonders for this lakers team.


Also, Kobe and Metta are very good on the low post, why not feature them more on the post? D'antoni doesn't get it and never will. This team isn't Phx as we don't have the personnel the Suns had.

[Decimotox]

Nope, they would be worse right now. He refuses to change his system to put our players in position to succeed. The Lakers have two of the better bigs in the NBA and don't feature them every trip down the court. Obviously, Gasol isn't what he used to be, however he is a very good passer from the low post and it has been proven when you get the ball on the inside and teams collapse, it opens the game up for others and makes the game easier. Simply put, playing inside/out and controlling the pace of the game would do wonders for this lakers team.


Also, Kobe and Metta are very good on the low post, why not feature them more on the post? D'antoni doesn't get it and never will. This team isn't Phx as we don't have the personnel the Suns had.

Don't fall into the trap that everyone is setting and falling into themselves by saying Gasol isn't what he used to be. He's not what he used to be because he's being told to play a different way. He's not a jump shooter, nor a 3 point shooter. But D'Antoni wants to use him as the stretch 4 for some reason. Everyone in the league knows Gasol is one of the best post players in the world, and for D'Antoni to put him 15 feet away from the basket makes Gasol less than what he is.

Guaranteed if he were sitting in the post like he has his whole career, he'd be dominant, even with plantar fasciitis.

[Lakersfan2483]

Don't fall into the trap that everyone is setting and falling into themselves by saying Gasol isn't what he used to be. He's not what he used to be because he's being told to play a different way. He's not a jump shooter, nor a 3 point shooter. But D'Antoni wants to use him as the stretch 4 for some reason. Everyone in the league knows Gasol is one of the best post players in the world, and for D'Antoni to put him 15 feet away from the basket makes Gasol less than what he is.

Guaranteed if he were sitting in the post like he has his whole career, he'd be dominant, even with plantar fasciitis.

I have noticed a drop off in Pau's game since that last finals run in 2010 (He dropped off during that playoff run during Phil's last year), however as I mentioned earlier, I think the Lakers should play through him in the post because he makes the game easier for everyone. He is still a very good player, but not the player he was 3 or 4 yrs back.

[MickeyMgl]

Firing Mike Brown after 5 games tells me that they had been thinking about it even in the off-season. If they would have done that and hired D'Antoni; he would have had a full training camp.

Also, Nash would not have gotten hurt in game 2 as the games would have flowed differently.

Would they have a better record, worse, or about the same?

I would say "worse", except that the coach he replaced (Brown) is actually marginally worse than D'Antoni is. I don't believe they'd be better, since he is royally mismanaging the talent on this team.

So I'm going to say "same".

[MickeyMgl]

Don't fall into the trap that everyone is setting and falling into themselves by saying Gasol isn't what he used to be. He's not what he used to be because he's being told to play a different way. He's not a jump shooter, nor a 3 point shooter. But D'Antoni wants to use him as the stretch 4 for some reason. Everyone in the league knows Gasol is one of the best post players in the world, and for D'Antoni to put him 15 feet away from the basket makes Gasol less than what he is.

Guaranteed if he were sitting in the post like he has his whole career, he'd be dominant, even with plantar fasciitis.

This. Properly used, I think Gasol would show he's probably as much as 90% of what he used to be.

[KillaInstinct24]

Don't fall into the trap that everyone is setting and falling into themselves by saying Gasol isn't what he used to be. He's not what he used to be because he's being told to play a different way. He's not a jump shooter, nor a 3 point shooter. But D'Antoni wants to use him as the stretch 4 for some reason. Everyone in the league knows Gasol is one of the best post players in the world, and for D'Antoni to put him 15 feet away from the basket makes Gasol less than what he is.

Guaranteed if he were sitting in the post like he has his whole career, he'd be dominant, even with plantar fasciitis.

maybe not a jump shooter but i remember him being much better at 15-18 footers than he is now