Less than three weeks after getting swept out of the playoffs by the Dallas Mavericks, the Los Angeles Lakers appear to have decided on their next head coach. According to Matt Steinmetz of CSN Bay Area, former Cavaliers coach Mike Brown will be the team’s next head coach.
If Brown does sign on to become the new head coach of the Lakers, he will have beaten out names such as Rick Adelman, Jeff Van Gundy, Mike Dunleavy and Lakers assistant Brian Shaw for the job. Here are the details from Steinmetz’s report:
Mike Brown will not be the next head coach of the Golden State Warriors.
Brown, the former coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers, is expected to be named the new coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, according to two league sources.
Brown was considered a frontrunner for the Warriors’ job, but is expected to sign a four-year contract worth approximately $18 million with the Lakers — succeeding Phil Jackson as coach.
Nothing has been confirmed by the Lakers’ front office, but all the rumors Tuesday seemed to indicate this would happen.
Here’s the problem with the Lakers hiring Mike Brown: he can’t run an offense if his life depended on it, unless you consider Kobe isolation plays an offense. The one thing Mike Brown is good at is coaching defense, and this hire may be a reaction to the Lakers’ poor defensive showing against the Dallas Mavericks in the playoffs.
This is the wrong move because the Lakers’ playoff failures were not due to their defensive problems; they simply ran out of gas. For the season, the Lakers finished 6th in defensive efficiency, giving up 104.3 points per 100 possessions. In any other year, this would have been good enough to propel them to another title. But three straight trips to the Finals took a toll on their older legs and they fell short. To put things in prospective, last year the Lakers finished fourth in defensive efficiency, giving up 103.7 points per 100 possessions. They were even worse on offense, scoring just 108.8 points per 100 possessions vs 111.0 this season.
The right move for Los Angeles would be to keep the triangle offense intact as long as they keep their current roster, and that would have made Brian Shaw the best candidate. Shaw has played in a system that is the antithesis of the Mike Brown isolation offense. The Lakers are built for the triangle, not the ISO. Of course, this is if the Lakers actually do plan on keeping this roster together.
The only thing on Dr. Buss’ mind is championships and he’s already shown that he’s willing to trade anyone to win again. We’re not sure who might get dealt, but one thing is for certain: the Mike Brown-Kobe Bryant isolation offense will be a match made in heaven.
