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Lakers interested in Jeff Van Gundy


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I heard again this week that the Lakers remain intrigued by the prospect of hiring Jeff Van Gundy -- and you have to presume that the reigning champs are in the select club of teams with the wherewithal to finally lure Van Gundy away from ESPN's courtside announcing table -- but I've had the same question every year when someone says he's a candidate in L.A.: Can Van Gundy really deliver the sort of entertainment that Lakers owner Jerry Buss craves?

 

http://espn.go.com/nba/dailydime/_/page/dime-110318-20/nba-coaching-carousel

 

Not so sure about this fit, Jeff is brilliant defensively but he's so plain on the end that he's going to at least need an offensive coordinator (Brian Shaw?) but even then I still don't know if JVG and Kobe would work out. The pool is so empty of experience coaches that Van Gundy would likely be one of the better candidates to replace Phil.

 

Thoughts?

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As long as they keep winning rings Phil will continue to coach. I say give Shaw a shot before someone else.

 

I thought Phil has made it clear that he won't be coaching next season. I think Shaw deserves a chance to prove himself but not with a championship contender like the Lakers, they will need a veteran coach with the track record.

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I thought Phil has made it clear that he won't be coaching next season. I think Shaw deserves a chance to prove himself but not with a championship contender like the Lakers, they will need a veteran coach with the track record.

 

Yeah but he has made it clear a couple of times now, he will come back if they win another ring. Trust me. Shaw i think should be given a chance with the Lakers, he knows the system and players just as good as anyone else.

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I'm not so sure about bringing in a rookie coach when the expectations are to win a championships. Wasn't it just a few years ago that Kurt Rambis was Phil's top assistant? Now he's looking like nothing more than an average head coach at best.

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Yeah but he has made it clear a couple of times now, he will come back if they win another ring.

No, he actually stated he was done after this season, regardless of the outcome. He expects to go out on a high note.

 

And I wouldn't mind Van Gundy, but the problem is, the Lakers will want to keep the triangle, as long as Bryant is in the offense. Will JVG accept that? I don't know.

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I think we should just establish Shaw as the successor. Kobe already has a good relationship with him as a teammate and as one of his players, the two of them should work well together. The only thing I fear is that Shaw will be too soft :lol:

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Brian Shaw, the assistant coach that the Lakers have right now was going to be the coach in my expectations but if they sign Jeff Van Gundy who was an amazing coach for the Rockets before, and keep the assistant coach in his place, they'll have a really good coaching staff.

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Brian Shaw, the assistant coach that the Lakers have right now was going to be the coach in my expectations but if they sign Jeff Van Gundy who was an amazing coach for the Rockets before, and keep the assistant coach in his place, they'll have a really good coaching staff.

 

Say what?

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Rambis is also coaching a below-average team, and trying to implement the triangle offense into their game.

 

That doesn't excuse the subpar coaching job he's done this season.

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That doesn't excuse the subpar coaching job he's done this season.

Phil Jackson won 42 games with Kobe, Odom and super scrubs, trying to work the triangle into play. I never expected Rambis to win 30 with Love and Beasley.

 

Rambis coached the 1998-99 Lakers for 37 games, 24-13 record. This was before the triangle, and with Kobe finally playing in the starting five (first season doing it).

 

Kurt isn't a bad coach, at all. Minnesota is just a bad team.

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^Kurt won the first 10 games or so, and then they played .500 ball the rest of the year.

Right, because Eddie Jones and Elden Campbell were traded to Charlotte right after those nine consecutive wins. We were having to start Glen Rice, who was shooting pathetic from the floor AND playing terrible defense, Travis Knight (who was starting most of the season) and eventually had to insert JR Reid into the five.

 

Eddie wasn't playing that well on offense, but his defense was key. Without that, and without a legit big backing up Shaq, we started playing .500 ball...had nothing to do with Rambis, who is a defensive-minded coach.

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Rodman (into Rambis' face) and Shaq (via his Shaq Talks Back book) said he can't coach.

Good for them. We can run through what coaches have said about Shaq and Rodman, also (Winter's comment about Shaq, for instance), or what Phil said about Kobe, or what Shaq said about Bryant, what Jordan said about Kerr (and him slapping Kerr), and all of that mess...but I'd rather not bother.

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