Lakers missed out on coach Thibbs

Lakers missed out on coach Thibbs

Postby Lakers4Life » Thu Apr 21, 2016 7:46 pm

Tom Thibodeau always believed he could lure free agents to the Los Angeles Lakers, that the proper structure and vision still makes that franchise the ultimate superstar destination. Thibodeau always had his eyes on the most glamorous job in basketball, but the Lakers hesitated and missed the chance to recruit him.

To suggest it would’ve been an easy choice to choose the Lakers over the Timberwolves for Thibodeau is naïve, but make no mistake: It would’ve been a choice for him. Thibodeau uses his USA Basketball coaching job to build relationships with the best players in the world, potential free agents including Kevin Durant and James Harden, Russell Westbrook and, yes, LeBron James, too.

LaMarcus Aldridge was dying for the Lakers to blow him away in a free-agent presentation on July 1 and left the room deflated over the parade of marketing and partnership suits that sold him on the residual impacts of playing for the Lakers. Had that been a Tom Thibodeau basketball presentation to Aldridge, there are those who believe Aldridge would’ve been swayed to sign there.

For all the possibilities that could’ve existed with the Lakers – who are still debating coach Bryon Scott’s future – the Timberwolves offered Thibodeau a sure thing: Karl-Anthony Towns. He’s 20 years old, a perfect gentleman, a relentless worker and the best young big-man talent in the world.

Thibodeau has deep admiration for the New England Patriots’ Bill Belichick and has studied him and his program long and hard. Now, Karl-Anthony Towns has a chance to be Thibodeau’s Tom Brady. Thibodeau still marvels over a trip to Foxboro for OTA’s, watching Brady’s fervor in repeating a fundamental footwork drill over and over and over. All those Super Bowls, and Thibodeau couldn’t get over Brady’s obsession with dominating that exercise

Thibodeau does have a big ego, and yes, the bright lights of the Staples Center, the Lakers’ prestige, intrigued him. To win a title is most important, yes, but to win with the Lakers would’ve been historic, and Thibodeau cares about his place in history. Nevertheless, the Buss family is too fractured to turn power over to one person – never mind an outsider – and maybe Thibodeau and the Lakers were never made to work.

There is a reason why a lot of NBA executives and owners would’ve never ceded this kind of power to Thibodeau: They wonder if he can properly handle it all. When the business side needs the franchise’s president to help them sell tickets and sponsorships, it’ll be interesting to see how motivated Thibodeau will be to take on the broader duties of his title. Nevertheless, winning sells – and Thibodeau will win basketball games.

-ESPN
Last edited by Lakers4Life on Thu Apr 21, 2016 8:56 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: Lakers missed out on coach Thibbs

Postby 3Peatkb24 » Thu Apr 21, 2016 8:10 pm

Our FO is extremely disappointing. I know you may not agree with me but we should've drafted Okafor and had we done that we would've never had to go after Roy. Kenny calls Roy a stiff and I cant argue that but we needed someone because we drafted Russell instead Okafor. Clarkson is just as good as Russell is, we already had a PG and the pick up of Lou was the only good thing our FO did last summer which he is a Guard. We could've killed 2 birds with 1 stone had we went with Okafor and had nothing to do with Roy. We should've never signed Bass either which I didn't like, and Sacre and Kelly should've been cut before the season. Hell I would trade Nick Young for a late first Round pick or early 2nd Round pick just to get rid of him and have another Draft pick this summer. Regarding Coaches, nobody wants to Coach us because we don't Draft the right players and cant sign any Good players LOL. Sad but true. Mitch and Jimmy need me to eat my words this summer. If they don't do anything this summer that is just unacceptable. We have tons of money under the Salary Cap. + probably a Top 2 pick in the Draft.
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Re: Lakers missed out on coach Thibbs

Postby KobeMVP888 » Fri Apr 22, 2016 10:19 am

Roy Hibbert was a punt the ball expiring contract. No more, no less. I wouldn't say we "went after him." The hope was that maybe he would return to form, but certainly that wasn't the priority for making that deal in which we gave up next to nothing. Yes, our front office is starting to frustrate me. Isaiah Thomas could have been ours. It is my understanding that Meeks, Bazemore and Ed Davis did not want to play for us any longer. I am sick of hearing about Jim Buss because it is my understanding that Mitch makes the calls and in his view he would rather punt than settle for mediocre players. The problem is that his eye for talent appears to be worsening. We worked out Hassan Whiteside, yet opted to keep Robert Sacre instead. He passed on Isaiah Thomas who went public saying he wanted to be a Laker.

It remains my view that we would be at or about where we are today no matter what because of the CBA and the CP3 ordeal. I applaud the efforts to try to give Kobe one last chip with the Nash and Howard acquisitions. It was a gamble at the time, but I'd do it again today given that period of time.

Byron Scott should have been fired the day after Kobe's last game. The other questionable coaching hires were immaterial given 3 seasons of ravaging injuries before this season. Although I don't think it would have made a difference, Kobe should have inked a contract for much less money, but from a business standpoint it certainly paid off.

I would like to see a fresh front office. I do not believe that we will sign any free agents of note - certainly not KD, Whiteside or even DeRozan. I do not believe that Mitch will able to acquire a star like Cousins because even if we try, other teams - like the Chowds - have more to offer.

None of this matters anyway because it ain't our time for awhile. I just want to start climbing out of this hole a little bit.
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Re: Lakers missed out on coach Thibbs

Postby KobeMVP888 » Fri Apr 22, 2016 10:20 am

KobeMVP888 wrote:3Peat

Roy Hibbert was a punt-the-ball expiring contract. No more, no less. I wouldn't say we "went after him." The hope was that maybe he would return to form, but certainly that wasn't the priority for making that deal in which we gave up next to nothing. You nee to stop looking ONLY at the player and try to understand the financial aspects of certain transactions a little more.

Yes, our front office is starting to frustrate me. Isaiah Thomas could have been ours. It is my understanding that Meeks, Bazemore and Ed Davis did not want to play for us any longer. I am sick of hearing about Jim Buss because it is my understanding that Mitch makes the calls and in his view he would rather punt than settle for mediocre players. The problem is that his eye for talent appears to be worsening. We worked out Hassan Whiteside, yet opted to keep Robert Sacre instead. He passed on Isaiah Thomas who went public saying he wanted to be a Laker. We need to get into this new era of bullshit small chuck ball because it ain't going anywhere for awhile and Mr. Old School is the wrong coach for that. Colleges AND high schools (not to mention fucking AAU) have adopted this perimeter three ball mentality, so a dinosaur like Jahlil Okafor, who is a one way player anyway, is NOT the way to go. Hell, his plus-minus was the WORST in the entire Association last season.

It remains my view that we would be at or about where we are today no matter what because of the CBA and the CP3 ordeal. Our payroll was through the roof until the summer of 2014, limiting our ability to acquire players. We were ravaged by injuries, too. Thos are FACTS. I still applaud the efforts to try to give Kobe one last chip with the Nash and Howard acquisitions. It was a gamble at the time, but I'd do it again today given that period of time. I'm not a big believer in the retrospectoscope, and few people have a crystal ball like Jerry West.

Byron Scott should have been fired the day after Kobe's last game. The other questionable coaching hires were immaterial given 3 seasons of ravaging injuries before this season. Although I don't think it would have made a difference, Kobe should have inked a contract for much less money, but from a business standpoint it certainly paid off.

I would like to see a fresh front office. I do not believe that we will sign any free agents of note - certainly not KD, Whiteside or even DeRozan. I do not believe that Mitch will able to acquire a star like Cousins because even if we try, other teams - like the Chowds - have more to offer.

None of this matters anyway because it ain't our time for awhile. I just want to start climbing out of this hole a little bit.

As for Thibs, meh. What the fuck has he done? He leads the Bulls to a 60+ win season, but fails to reach the NBA Finals? He wanted complete control and that ain''t happening here and, frankly, it's a bad formula almost anywhere. Minny's a perfect fit for that pompous green fuck. Let them have him.
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Re: Lakers missed out on coach Thibbs

Postby 3Peatkb24 » Fri Apr 22, 2016 12:17 pm

A lot of great points Ken. I even believe had we drafted Okafor we probably would've had the season we just had but we would have a franchise Center in our back pocket with a year under his belt and with Guards like Clarkson, Lou, and Huertas on the Roster, that is 3 solid Gurads as is. Okafor averaged 17 Points and shot 50% from the field = Very Good for a Rookie. Clarkson will probably never be Great but he is Good and so is Lou Williams. If we had Okafor we could completely focus on getting a SF like trading for Butler or giving DeRozan huge money. Instead we are stuck needing a quality Center and we need one badly. Whiteside is the only one out there worth a damn in FA and Riley isn't letting him go. I could see DeRozan leaving Canada for LA for several reasons unless the Raptors make the Finals somehow, the weather alone is brutal in Canada during the season. To me Derozan is just Very Good though and isn't even better than Paul George or Kwahi Leonard IMO. I would love to have him though. He is a Top 20 player in the league. I will shut up about Okafor from here on out but I just couldn't and still don't understand why we would take Russell instead of him considering we have Clarkson who played Good in 2015 and is more than adequate at playing the PG position. Us picking Russell is the equivalent of a Football team having Good WR's already but no RB but that team takes another WR in Round 1 for some reason instead of a RB anyway. That pick made absolute no sense.
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Re: Lakers missed out on coach Thibbs

Postby 3Peatkb24 » Fri Apr 22, 2016 12:51 pm

I was right about Wiggins being potentially Great. He is already Very Good and I will be right about Okafor. By season 3 Okafor will average 20 and 10 Rebounds with ease. Now I will shut up regarding Okafor but wanted to get one last point out. I don't have the same amount of confidence regarding Russell. Russell was taken at #2 so by season 3 he needs to average 20 Points and 10 Assists or he wasn't a great pick, at least around that. If he is 19 and 8.5 for example than that is still is Very Good. I am not even talking next season, I am talking season 3. When the Colts took Andrew Luck I expected the same as in 35 TD's and going deep in the Playoffs by season 3 and he had 40 TD's and a Final 4 in season 3 with really an Average Defense and no Run Game. He was injured last season but I fully expect he will bounce back, he has already proved he isn't a BUST though with 3 Very Good seasons including a Solid Rookie season. When you are a Top 5 pick your ass better produce like it or I will be Mr. Critical :roflmao:
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Re: Lakers missed out on coach Thibbs

Postby 3Peatkb24 » Fri Apr 22, 2016 1:08 pm

I am very fair and have extreme patience so I generally give players a 3 season window to prove themselves. If they haven't taken off by season 3 than there is a major problem. It took Kobe and Paul George 3 seasons to become Very Good, Kobe ended up Great. In a lot of cases it takes playing into that 3rd season before players get comfortable with the Pro game. I respect that. I think 3 seasons is plenty of time.
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Re: Lakers missed out on coach Thibbs

Postby Lakers4Life » Sun Apr 24, 2016 8:55 pm

NOW THEY FIRE SCOTT!!??!!?!?!!
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Re: Lakers missed out on coach Thibbs

Postby Lakers4Life » Sun Apr 24, 2016 8:58 pm

They wait until 2 of the most sought after available coaches sign elsewhere before firing Scott?!?

Like my brutha Kenny said "They should had fired Scott immediately after Kobe's last game"

Is Mitch Kupchak next?
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