Mike Brown: 5 Bold Predictions for Brown's Inaugural Season with LA Lakers
Mike Brown, the former coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers, has officially been hired to replace Phil Jackson as head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. Brown inherits instantaneous championship expectations thanks to the immense talent of the Kobe Bryant-led roster he’ll be in charge of.
Brown, like many in the Cleveland organization, faced criticism for failing to build an NBA champion around LeBron James. His Cavaliers teams were characterized by active, team-oriented defense but little offensive imagination.
The Lakers have thrived under Jackson and his beloved triangle offense. Will Brown's arrival turn them into a team that stands around waiting for Bryant to do something, as the Cavaliers too often did to James?
Herein, five things to expect from Brown’s first season at the Lakers’ helm.
5. The End of the Triangle Offense Will Not Be a Disaster
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L.A. assistant Brian Shaw was widely seen as one of the favorites to replace former boss Phil Jackson. One of the major points in Shaw’s favor was that he knew Jackson’s triangle offense and would be able to provide continuity with it.
The Lakers have been a brilliant offensive team under Jackson. However, for all the benefits that the triangle provides on offense, it also benefited from being run by immensely talented scorers like Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol.
Mike Brown isn’t going to have the triangle (he scarcely had any offensive system as the Cavs’ head man), but he is going to have the talent level that made it go. Even if Brown simply lets his team play, the Lakers will be just fine on offense.
4. Brown and Kobe Bryant Will Snipe at Each Other in the Media
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Mike Brown’s tenure in Cleveland was defined by the rise—and ultimately the unsatisfied expectations—of LeBron James. His new team has a hype-magnet star of its own in Kobe Bryant, and Bryant has never been shy about publicly disagreeing with his team or his coach.
Brown had enough trouble establishing whether James or he was in charge in Cleveland. So that friction with Kobe is almost inevitable. If Phil Jackson, with his lengthy experience managing superstars and their egos, couldn’t keep his differences with Bryant private, there’s little hope for Brown to do so.
3. Los Angeles’ Already Strong Defense Will Get Even Better
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Whatever other lessons there are to be learned from Mike Brown’s tenure in Cleveland, one thing is for sure—the man could teach defense. He took the Cavs from 18th in field goal defense to third in just four seasons.
L.A. finished fifth in that category this season, but as the playoffs showed, they still need work. For the postseason, Lakers' opponents shot 47.2 percent from the floor, up from 43.7 percent during the regular year.
Don’t expect L.A. to give up another three-point shooting exhibition to Dallas next season.
2. The Lakers Will Trade Pau Gasol
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Pau Gasol is only 30; he’s a built-in mismatch because of his shooting touch and he’s one of the better post players in the NBA. Unfortunately for him, his biggest weakness is what his new coach prizes the most: defense.
The Lakers are under the gun, as far as their championship window with an aging roster, and if they can make a trade to improve it, they’re going to aim high. Gasol and Andrew Bynum are the best trade chips they have, and Bynum is young enough that they’re hoping to hold on to him.
Los Angeles is widely rumored to be targeting Orlando’s Dwight Howard, but may not be able to put together a package rich enough to pry the league’s best center away from the Magic. Even so, they’ll find somebody who will tolerate Gasol’s defensive lapses enough to give them good value for him.
1. The Lakers Will, Again, Fail to Win the NBA Championship
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Even if the Lakers succeed in their efforts to make a blockbuster trade, there are too many variables stacked against them in the postseason. The Grizzlies’ postseason run showed just how much parity there is in the West when it comes to a seven-game series.
With conference rivals lining up to knock them off and with the unenviable choice of facing Derrick Rose or LeBron James in the NBA Finals, the Lakers have a tremendously difficult playoff road ahead of them for 2012.
It’s not impossible that they’ll bounce back from this year’s postseason disaster and come away with a title (Bryant has done the improbable before), but it just doesn’t look like the most likely outcome.
