When the Lakers hired him, GM Mitch Kupchak wanted to hire the more expensive Rick Adelman, but Buss had final say. essentially, he got the job because he was the cheaper choice, which is ironic because the Lakers still owe him $11 million for the next 3 years and will now have to pony up top dollar if they want the kind of coach who can win them a title.
Even though I am not a fan of Brown as a coach, the timing and preparation in executing his termination was an abomination.
If they were so inclined to fire him 5 games in, it’s fair to ask the question, why didn’t they get rid of him in the offseason? Especially when they knew Kobe Bryant wasn’t his biggest fan.
One of the answers lies in the fact that the Lakers were winless in the preseason, and it is utterly amazing that Brown had losses in games that didn’t count held against him.
Furthermore, the 5 games he did coach that counted weren’t exactly littered with ideal circumstances from a roster standpoint.
Steve Nash played a game and a half. Dwight Howard is clearly still getting himself back into condition from back surgery.
Pau Gasol looks like he’s been spending plenty of time relaxing since the Olympics ended.
The bench has been weaker than he figured it to be, although his usage of Antawn Jamison was more than a tad curious.
Nonetheless, the adjustments that Brown was facing in integrating this group were par for the course under the circumstances. If Mike Brown even sensed for a split second that his job was in jeopardy, do you think he would have installed a slow learning curve type of system like the Princeton offense?
While we’re on the Princeton offense, I’d like to dispel the notion that it was to blame for the Lakers’ slow start. (This is a matter of debate around here). The Princeton offense was not the best fit for the Lakers’ personnel, but the talent they assembled would have picked it up and executed it quite well.