LA Lakers: Is Rick Adelman the Right Coach for the Lakers?
By on May 12, 2011
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LA Lakers Reportedly Interested in Rick Adelman as Phil Jackson's Successor
It's been just a couple of days since the Los Angeles Lakers were swept from the playoffs by the Dallas Mavericks, but the organization has no time to lose as far as getting ready for next season.
At the top of the Lakers' list of priorities is finding a successor to newly-retired head coach Phil Jackson, and the word around the campfire is that one of the top candidates is Rick Adelman.
This comes straight from Marc Stein and Dave McMenamin from ESPN.com, who have it on good authority that the Lakers are "very interested" in the former Houston Rockets head coach. Adelman coached the Rockets for four years before it was announced in April that the club would not be offering him a new contract.
The popular favorite to land the L.A. head coaching gig is assistant coach and former Laker Brian Shaw, who has been endorsed by Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisher.
However, the one thing Adelman has working in his favor is that, unlike Shaw, he has plenty of head coaching experience. Moreover, the Lakers have noted that Adelman has done well with veteran teams, and that there are similarities between his motion offense and Jackson's triangle offense.
Sounds good. But does that make Adelman the best fit for the Lakers?
Well, he's obviously not the worst fit. And compared to candidates like Shaw, Mike Dunleavy and Jeff Van Gundy, Adelman looks pretty good.
The obvious sticking point is whether or not Adelman would choose to keep the triangle offense, but that may not end up being that big of an issue anyway. General manager Mitch Kupchak hinted on Wednesday that the triangle may follow Jackson out the door no matter who they bring in.
"Quite frankly, there were many times this year where we ran the triangle and I couldn't recognize it," said Kupchak, according to the LA Tmes.
Instead, the big question here is whether or not Adelman would be able to handle all the different egos on the Laker roster, most notably Kobe Bryant's. After all, this is a guy that Jackson once deemed "uncoachable." And because Kobe apparently wants Shaw, it stands to reason that he would have to adjust to Adelman.
The good news is that Adelman is not totally devoid of experience dealing with superstars. He coached Tracy McGrady for a few seasons with Houston, and he coached Chris Webber in Sacramento.
So how about it, Laker fans. Is Adelman the right man for the job?
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