Thank you very much.Members, Posters, Lurkers, Trolls, and Distinguished Guests. As we gather today, our beloved team is on vacation after being eliminated by the Phoenix Suns in 7 games. Our team fought valiantly to gain a 3-1 series advantage, but ultimately failed to win games 6 and 7, which would have allowed them to meet the Clippers in the War Of LA series. Currently our team is in a recession and faces dangers even stronger than this season if nothing significant gets done in the off-season. Ultimately I am as shocked and devastated as the next Lakers Fan at the outcome of our season. We last saw the team in an hour of shock and suffering. But alas, we gave Phoenix our best effort and were just outplayed. Give Phoenix a lot of credit, they played with an extreme amount of heart and would just not go down. Tim Thomas gave them the right to move on to the next round. His constant 3 pointers were brutal and destructive to our success. I can’t openly admit blame on one individual, we certainly gave them a run for their money, but that’s what happens when you’re a young team, basically all the hunger on Earth doesn’t mean you’re destined for greatness….experiance combined with talent are ingredients for longevity in whatever craft you’re involved in. The Suns are well coached and have a balance of talent and experience. I give a lot of props to the lakers for being able to hang with them for as long as they were. Phil did all he could do with the crop of players he had. Kobe is a warrior, and did all he could, but believe me, even if they had won game 6 or 7, it would have been extremely difficult to beat the clippers or Mavericks in the next rounds. Our progress is a tribute to two people, Kobe Bryant and Phil Jackson..period. If we’re to get back to our winning ways, it’s going to be on them to resolve our coalition. I have complete confidence in them, something I can’t say for Mitch Kupchak and Jerry Buss. With that being said, I assure you, I am not about to rant on about how much I hate the former or later. Mitch is a terrible GM, we all know this, let’s move on. The problem is, Buss isn’t that great of an owner. In his glory he had a genious in Jerry West who was there to guide him through the years and wane out all the trash to cultivate the talent. If you don’t believe this, go read up on it. Apparently West’s departure had a lot to do with arguments stemming from money. Buss was unyielding in his refusal to not pay West a certain amount for a GM position he felt anybody could handle. In turn West left and Kupchak took over. Kupchak was the beneficiary of being in the right place at the right time. We can all tell that he isn’t suited for his position, but we need to just chill and move on. Sooner hopefully than later Buss will realize how much a competent GM counts for his ball club and will make the needed strives to replacing Mitch with someone of West’s caliber. For most Laker fans, these two years have brought sorrow, and pain that will never completely go away. Every day I myself am haunted with the realization that we are no long among the elite. I also find myself wrestling with two thoughts, what if Shaq had stayed and what if we had traded him and received equal value. The former question is easier to answer. Shaq’s dominance is unheralded, and cannot be discounted. If he had remained he would’ve signed a LONG contract making more millions than any of else will ever see in the entirety of our lifetimes and our children’s children. The team would’ve continued to be Kobe and Shaq. They would’ve had perennial battles with the kings and suns over total dominance of the pacific division. They might have gone to the finals maybe once or twice more but who knows. That’s just it, the supporting cast would’ve been more garbage brought in my Mitch as a way to appease the masses. Mitch’s year by year draft errors are more common than anything positive he has been able to do. We would’ve been good, maybe on the cusp of greatness, but not dominant as shaq is now showing signs of age and wear with his new ball club. Now for the later. If Mitch and Co. had been able to trade Shaq for equal value and by that I mean something like, Shaq for Jermaine O’Neal, Ron Artest, Austin Croshere, and two 1st round picks, years 2004 and 2005 consecutively, than we would currently be ruiling the West. But instead, Mitch and Co made the heinous trade and we have a LONG ways to go before we can label this ballclub a dynasty once again. I assure you, I am the biggest Lakers fan there is. My undying love knows no bound. I saw highlights on Sportscenter and clips that people would post on the boards. The same can be said for the 2004 season. I started to wonder if this team really was commited to winning. When I heard on a local radio show that after signing Aaron Mckie and Smush Parker that Mitch said, “I’m done” and decided to go on vacation, I couldn’t tell you how shocked I was. How could a ballclub with obvious frailties think that those two players could make a drastic difference and push them over the top. I hated Mitch and Buss. But when Phil came back, that’s when I started feeling the passion return. Phil wants to win…..has to win….needs to win. We have the best coach on earth people. If anything, Phil counts for about 15 wins singlehandedly. I think Phil was hired back because Buss knew the team wasn’t headed in the right direction with Rudy T. If they’re smart, Phil needs to be locked up until the year 2058 and made coach/GM. Our Lakers cause is just, and it continues. We discover everyday just how amazing Kobe Bryant is as a player and controversial as a person. We get to witness coaching genius and the emergence of a winner/leader. We have a lot of talent on the rise, and a headstrong coach who wants to do whatever possible to win. My next post will include personaes of each player we currently have on our team, their production and value and what they need to do next year to be successful. The final part will include my thoughts on the upcoming draft and who I’d like the lakers to sign and also which free agents we should consider getting. I’ll be working on those ASAP, until then, peace, and tell me what you think.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting LAKERDAD:</div><div class="quote_post"> <font color=""Red"">Phil needs to be locked up until the year 2058 and made coach/GM</font>.</div> Phil shoould be named GM like right now. I sincerely think he will do better than Bitch Kuptchak.
Wonder read. Welcome to the site, I hope to see you dropping some posts like that around here more often. Be prepared to defend your posts, it'll be picked apart. But I agree with everything you said, so you'll have backup when that happens.
Very nice post LakerDad. You summed up the state of the Lakers and really got to the root of the problems. The top of the organization isn't on the same page and it's prevented the team to make some necessary moves. Laker fans are very impatient and when we don't see obvious needs being addressed the finger pointing starts and Mitch is usually the person those fingers are directed at. Mitch's strength is being able to crunch numbers and manage the salary cap. However, I don't see any vision with him as GM, and he's actually gone on record saying there was no plan when the Lakers were shopping Shaq around. When I heard him say this, I flipped out as a fan. As a GM you never let a player dictate your moves. The way he handled the Shaq situation was a disaster and he was out of his comfort zone in dealing with it. He handled the Shaq trade in typical bean counter fashion, and devalued Shaq just to get him off the books. Of course Shaq didn't make his job easier by demanding to be traded to a "warm" weather city. Shaq's leverage was the threat of opting for surgery, which would nix any deal to a city Shaq didn't want to play for. Mitch deserves a lot of blame, but he also has limited power and resources. I recently found out he doesn't have the final say in player moves. He's 3rd on the totem pole behind PJax and Buss Jr. If I had to guess, Mitch probably does the grunt work on seeing if a trade scenario would work financially and then hands over the decision making to Buss Jr. with PJax having some input. The past few seasons the Lakers have spent the least amount of money on their scouting. Not until they made Vlade Divac their top International scout, did the Lakers have any resources dedicated to finding overseas talent. The Lakers also have Rudy T scouting for them, which I like because Rudy T is a great PR person and can develop the necessary relationships. I disagree with you about PJax becoming a GM. He doesn't enjoy scouting players, he said he watches little college basketball. What PJax is good at is teaching players and figuring out the best way to use them within his offensive and defensive schemes. He's a lot more hands on and has the coache's ego where he believes he can teach anyone how to play with enough time. This past season I really enjoyed how the team progressed under PJax and his coaching staff. We saw improvements across the board and the team played with a lot of confidence once they became comfortable within the Triangle offense. What I'm looking forward to is watching the Lakers start off next season the way they ended the 2nd half of last year. And then hopefully see them take another step forward in the 2nd half of next season.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting dtpxcore:</div><div class="quote_post">good i like your signature, haha just copy and paste on the url and you'll see.</div> You dont happen to be a father? Do you LakerDad?
Good Post LakerDad. Keep up these good posts and we'll see how many people pick it apart. Its gonna be fun!
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting LO7:</div><div class="quote_post">You dont happen to be a father? Do you LakerDad?</div> Well? YES
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Trench:</div><div class="quote_post">Good Post LakerDad. Keep up these good posts and we'll see how many people pick it apart. Its gonna be fun!</div> Thank you.
