The Los Angeles Lakers, although they finished the season on a very strong note, have greatly underachieved this season. We all know this.
For that, most want to blame Mike D’Antoni for his inability to make better use of the talent he has. Any time you have four Hall of Fame-level players on the same team (which doesn’t happen very often), you have the responsibility of doing big things. If you don’t, the blame goes on you. It’s as simple as that.
Or is it?
Jerry West – the NBA great and now a consultant for the Golden State Warriors – doesn’t think D’Antoni deserves half the amount of criticism he has gotten over the course of the season. Here is what he had to say about the matter, from Eric Pincus of Los Angeles Times:
“I think there’s been far too much criticism of Mike [D’Antoni],” West said to Max Kellerman and Marcellus Wiley on ESPN LA 710 radio.
“I think it’s grossly unfair to him. He inherited a team that had a bunch of injuries,” West said. “He inherited a team without a training camp. I think he’s done a nice job, to be honest with you.”
“I think all of us felt they were going to hire Phil, and it didn’t happen,” West said. “People have to move on. That’s what makes sports so interesting. You have to let decisions that are made be made and see what happens.”
“When you put a bunch of people together, you have to look at age. You have to look at lot of different things,” he said. “In the course of a season, the most difficult thing to do is to get through an 82-game schedule, particularly when you have older players.”
“I felt all year long that the Lakers, if they got into the playoffs, are going to be very dangerous, if they have all their bodies,” he said. “They obviously don’t have all their bodies. They have to play a completely different way now.”
“I thought the Lakers had a very good chance to win that game. They just couldn’t make shots from the outside and that puts a lot more pressure on both [Dwight] Howard and [Pau] Gasol, who both I thought played very effectively — but they’re getting ganged up on.”
“All these social media things about throw the ball inside — you have to be able make shots from the outside if you’re going to be able to make shots from the inside,” West said.
“This series is not over, not at all,” West said. “They need better play from their other players — their contributing players. If they get that, they will be very dangerous.”
It’s hard to disagree with anything this man has to say because, well, because he speaks with sound logic. If you’re still blaming D’Antoni for the sub-par season, you’re not putting any of the circumstances – Dwight Howard’s back, Steve Nash’s broken leg, Steve Blake’s abdominal injury, the absence of Jordan Hill, etc – into consideration. And if you’re not properly evaluating the circumstances, then you’re not making a sound argument about why D’Antoni did or didn’t do his job as the coach of this team.
Onto other news from around the league:
- See just how much respect Gregg Popovich has for the shot of Stephen Curry, from Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports:
Jerry West wants Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson to be the greatest backcourt tandem ever, from Tim Kawakami of Mercury News: “Q: OK, so do you agree with Mark Jackson that Curry and Thompson are the best shooting back court in history? -WEST: I would never go back on what our coach says. I think particularly from distance, they’re really good. They fit well together. We’ve talked about the fit, and when Monta was there—I love him as a player. But this is a better fit for Steph to have a chance to have the ball in his hands a lot more, a lot more opportunities; and Klay is not someone who’s going to be dribbling the ball all over the place. Also from a defensive standpoint, size-wise, it’s just a good match. They’re very fun to watch. -Q: So you aren’t going to tell me you and Goodrich were a better shooting back court than Steph and Klay? -WEST: I don’t get into those things. (Laughs.) I’m happy Mark said that. They’re great shooters. But I want them to become the greatest back court that ever played together.”
In the wake of our own Moke Hamilton’s piece on the strong possiblity that J.R. Smith could leave New York — despite his desire to stay with the Knicks, he’d have to sacrifice a lot of money to do so, from Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork. “J.R. Smith recently said that if the Knicks win the championship, he will get a Knicks tattoo. So should fans read anything into the permanency of that potential blue and orange addition? Well, during a “SportsCenter” segment on Monday discussing his Sixth Man Award, Smith said that New York is where he wants to finish his career. “Without a doubt,” Smith said. “I was born in New Jersey, born and raised. I would love to retire a Knick.” This offseason, Smith could be tempted to leave financially. The Knicks can only pay him up to $5 million based on his Early Bird Rights — 175 percent of his salary this season. But another team with significant cap space can offer Smith a higher amount, and the Knicks would be powerless to stop him from leaving. And since he’s not restricted, meaning the Knicks have no control over his free agency, they won’t be able to match any offer sheets to retain him.”
