Dennis Rodman?

not surprising actually.. i exepected him to say that.... he has been saying stuff like that for a while like about the defensive effort.. i knew it was about time he said something about him.. i seriously think we are going to make a run for ron artest.. everything i have seen so far is pointing to ron ron...

THE JACKSON JOURNAL: The Final Report Part 3.
By Michael C. Teniente

Now to Phil Jackson. OK, what can we say about a coach who signed off on Radmanovic but started Luke Walton and played him for 32 minutes a game? What do we say about a coach who refused to pull Smush Parker in last year’s playoffs against the Suns but when this season started; not only was Smush still on the team but was still the starting point guard to begin the season?

If this wasn’t a problem then why is Smush Parker not going to be on the team when camp starts in Oct of this year? But lets leave all that alone. I already covered that in part 1. We’re now on part 3.

Yeah, I kept the Jackson Journal because PJ refused to pull Smush Parker against Phoenix last year. So this year I wanted to keep track of how much games, if any, PJ’s stubbornness would cost us. Everyone knew about PJ’s strange substitution patterns but I wanted to record it to see how it affected the season.

Before we do that lets check out how injuries affected us. We lost 40 games this season. Of those 40 games how much of those game can be attributed to the combined games missed by Odom, Brown, and Walton is undetermined. But lets try to see if we can give an estimation of what might have been.

THE INJURY BUG TAKES ITS TOLL

(3 losses)
Oct 31 - Nov 10: Kwame Brown misses 7 games. We were 4-3. Lamar and Luke played in these games.

(5 losses)
Dec 13 – Dec 31: Lamar Odom misses 10 games. We were 5-5. Kwame and Luke played in these games but Kwame was injured on the Dec 31st game.

(4 losses)
Jan 4 – Jan 22: Both Lamar Odom and Kwame Brown miss 11 games. We were 7-4. Only Walton played in these games.

(1 loss)
Jan 26: Kwame Brown misses this game. Lamar and Walton played but Walton was injured in this game.

(9 losses)
Jan 28 – Feb 26: Kwame Brown and Luke Walton miss 15 games. We were 6-9. Lamar Odom played in these games.

(1 loss)
Mar 2: Luke Walton misses this game. Lamar Odom and Kwame Brown play in this game.

(5 losses)
Mar 4 – Mar 11: Lamar Odom and Luke Walton miss 5 games. We were 0-5. Kwame Brown played these games.

(1 loss)
Mar 16: Luke Walton misses this game. Lamar Odom and Kwame Brown play in this game.

(1 loss)
Mar 27: Kwame Brown misses this game. Lamar Odom and Luke Walton play in this game.

(5 losses)
April 4 – April 13: Kwame Brown misses 6 games. We were 1-5. Lamar Odom and Luke Walton played in these games.

In games where Lamar Odom was out of the line-up by himself the Lakers were 5-5.

In games where Kwame Brown was out of the line-up by himself the Lakers were 5-10.

In games where Luke Walton was out of the line-up by himself the Lakers were 0-2.

In games where Lamar Odom and Kwame Brown were out the Lakers were 7-4.

In games where Kwame Brown and Luke Walton were out the Lakers were 6-9.

In games where Lamar Odom and Luke Walton were out the Lakers were 0-5.

That’s a combined 23-35 with the injuries being a factor one-way or another.

A couple of these games Luke Walton and Kwame Brown got hurt but started the games. That’s why the total here is 33 games and the total in the other data of injury-induced losses is 35.

WHEN LAMAR, KWAME, AND WALTON WERE HEALTHY

Nov 12 – Dec 12, 2006:
In the first 14 games that Lamar Odom, Kwame Brown, and Luke Walton played together the Lakers were 11-3.

Jan 26, 2007:
In this game when Lamar Odom, Kwame Brown, and Luke Walton played together the Lakers were 0-1.
(In this game Luke Walton was injured.)

Mar 15, 2007:
In this game when Lamar Odom, Kwame Brown, and Luke Walton played together the Lakers were 0-1.
(This was the first game back for Lamar Odom and Luke Walton after missing games. The rhythm wasn’t there.)

Mar 18 – Mar 25, 2007:
In these 4 games that Lamar Odom, Kwame Brown, and Luke Walton played together the Lakers were 4-0.

Mar 30, 2007:
In the next game that Lamar Odom, Kwame Brown, and Luke Walton played together the Lakers were 0-1.
(This is the game where Kobe Bryant fouled Tracy McGrady for a 3-point play and traveled with the ball to end the game. But it was also the game where Kobe made a spectacular 3-pointer to send the game into overtime.)

April 1, 2007:
In this game where Lamar Odom, Kwame Brown, and Luke Walton played together the Lakers were 1-0.

April 3, 2007:
In the next game that Lamar Odom, Kwame Brown, and Luke Walton played together the Lakers were 0-1.
(This game Kwame Brown went down with injury.)

April 15 – April 18:
In the final 2 games that Lamar Odom, Kwame Brown, and Luke Walton played together the Lakers were 2-0.

That’s a combined 18-7.

Of the 35 injury-induced losses, if the Lakers would have won 50 percent of those games that’s an additional 17 wins. We won 42 games this season. Add 17 games to that and it totals 59 wins. That’s what could have been. And that was operating with a dysfunctional offense (a testament to Kobe’ greatness) and a weakness at the 1 and 3 spots. I think that’s an elite team. But I don’t think that it could have won the championship because of the 1 spot, at least. We still need an upgrade at the 1 and 3 spots to push us towards a dominant championship caliber type team.

In the playoffs team will focus on Kobe and expose the Lakers dysfunctional offense. Kobe’s dominance works in the regular season but it won’t work in the playoffs. It’s better to suffer a few losses and invest into involving Kwame Brown on the offensive end than to have him totally undeveloped and unprepared when the playoffs come.

If Kobe Bryant wants to be a true leader he has to acknowledge these things and cooperate with developing his teammates. If Kobe wants to show his maturity he has to know when to develop and when to dominate a game. Up to this point it’s either one or the other. Either he’s being passive or he’s over bearing on the offensive end. He has to find the middle ground and embrace it. This is the only way he’s going to win more championships as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers. And I still expect 30-35 points a game.

NOW THE SUBSTITUTION PATTERNS

This section has to do with the thumb’s down I gave PJ for games where his coaching actually cost us the game. I was very conservative in giving PJ a thumb’s down. The thumb’s down were based on substitution patterns through out the game that had a direct affect on the outcome of the game.

Here are the links to the thumbs down games. You’ll have to scroll down if you want to read them.

1) November 5, 2006 the Seattle Supersonics game. (This is the beginning of the rotation patterns.)

http://lakersblog.latimes.com/lakersblog/2006/11/extra_extra_116.html#comments

2) November 29, 2006 the Milwaukee Bucks game.

http://lakersblog.latimes.com/lakersblog/2006/11/extra_extra_112_9.html#comments

3) December 13, 2006 the Dallas Mavericks game.

http://lakersblog.latimes.com/lakersblog/2006/12/extra_extra_121_5.html#comments

4) December 17, 2006 the Washington Wizards game.

http://lakersblog.latimes.com/lakersblog/2006/12/extra_extra_121_9.html#comments

5) January 21, 2007 the New Orleans Hornets game.

http://lakersblog.latimes.com/lakersblog/2007/01/extra_extra_121.html#comments
6) February 11, 2007 the Cleveland Cavaliers game.

http://lakersblog.latimes.com/lakersblog/2007/02/extra_extra_212.html#comments

7) April 4, 2007 the Los Angeles Clippers game.

http://lakersblog.latimes.com/lakersblog/2007/04/thus_coaches_re.html#comments

8) April 12, 2007 the Los Angeles Clippers game.

http://lakersblog.latimes.com/lakersblog/2007/04/oh_my.html#comments

As for how this affects my view on PJ: This is what I think.

First: PJ doesn’t cut Smush Parker after he got burned in last year’s Phoenix series. Then he makes him the starter to begin the season. Then he pulls him on the 81st game of the season. This is described in part 1 of my final report.

Second: He plays Luke Walton as a starter and plays him for over 30 minutes a game. This is described in part 1 of my final report.

Third: He literally cost us 8 games with his substitution patterns. You would think that something like that would happen, maybe, 2 or 3 times a season. But not with this guy! This guy does these strange things in a major way and it cost us. Even with all the injuries and our little 42 wins the guy cost us an easy 6th seed and a match against the San Antonio Spurs in the first round. With the additional 8 wins that PJ cost us, with his strange substitution patterns, we would have won 50 games despite the injuries.

Then in the playoffs he goes with an 11 and 12 man rotation for the whole series. Then turns around and says to management: We need help!

My message is this:

To Kobe Bryant: You don’t control the ball the way you did all season long and then cry for help when you get eliminated from the playoffs in the first round. Lamar Odom has to be allowed to shoot the ball 15-20 times per game. Kwame Brown has to shoot the ball 10-12 times per game. And that has to happen from the outset of the season. This is described in part 2 of my final report.

To Phil Jackson: You don’t manipulate the rotations and cause us to lose 8 games and then turn around and say to management: See? I don’t have the players to get the job done.

You don’t say: Is it worth it to pay me so much money with this roster? That’s the whole point of giving you 10 million dollars. What good is giving you 10 million dollars and a roster full of all-stars, too? Are you so delusional to think that the only way you can coach a team is with a roster of all-stars? If that’s the case, then why not accept 4 million dollars a year and a roster full of all-stars. Don’t you know how stupid that sounds? If I had a roster full of all-stars then you would see me bring success to the team at 10 million dollars a year.

To Management: If you don’t consider these things as part of reason why the Lakers didn’t do well this year then you’re really not qualified to run a basketball team. DO NOT GIVE PJ AND KOBE WHAT THEY WANT. Make PJ use reasonable rotation patterns and Kobe Bryant play within a team concept. If they continue to insist on doing things their own way then you should get rid of both of them and build this team around Lamar Odom, Kwame Brown, and Andrew Bynum. Let Lamar Odom and Kwame Brown play team ball and watch how good these guys really are. They rely on team ball to be productive.

IN CONCLUSION

1) I’m willing to concede that we could be a championship caliber team with Luke Walton but it must be as a 6th man. But signing him has to be for a reasonable amount of money. I’m thinking 4 million a year since signing him won’t affect the salary cap. But no way if PJ insists on playing him as a starter and for 30 minutes a game.

2) Like PJ waited until the 81st game to pull Smush Parker, management is going to wait until it’s too late to deal with PJ. The difference between what PJ did with Smush and what management is doing with Kobe is this:

We’re in the 3rd quarter of Kobe Bryant’s career. Right now we’re between the 9th and 6th minute of that quarter. If management doesn’t deal with PJ’s strange substitution patterns and Kobe doesn’t incorporate a team ball approach we’re going to go into the 4th quarter of Kobe’s career totally unprepared to meet that time frame. And just like what we saw with this Lakers team this year, it’s what we’re going to see for the rest of Kobe’s career as a Laker. Before that happens Kobe Bryant will ask to be traded by the end of next year. And that will be because of PJ substitution patterns and Kobe Bryant’s need to control the ball. It won’t because he doesn’t have talent at the 4 and 5 spots.

I know I’m hard on both PJ and Kobe Bryant but that’s because I’m using an ancient principle to do my evaluations.

The first principle is this:
To whom much is given, much is required.

PJ is working with a 10 million dollar a year contract (that’s much).
Kobe Bryant will be making over 19 million dollars next season and he’s working with a lot of individual talent (that’s much, too.)

I’ll paraphrase the second principle:
Judgment doesn’t start at the bottom of the ladder…it starts at the top of the ladder. In this case, from what I observed from the team and in the context of the roster we have, that points directly to Phil Jackson and Kobe Bryant.

And if you need a suggestion for a Kobe Bryant trade it goes like this:

Kobe Bryant for Tony Parker and Emanuel Ginobili. The salaries match up perfectly.

That would give you a line-up of:

PG: Tony Parker
SG: Ginobili
SF: Lamar Odom
PF: Kwame Brown
C: Andrew Bynum

This line-up would play team ball. I love Kobe Bryant but we’re not going to win if he plays the way he played in the 2nd half of the season and in the playoffs.

My word is final. It’s not open for debate!

mike

p.s. I’m going to repost this on Monday.

This is Phil Jackson's subtle way of saying get me Ron Artest. Personally I think its a risk totally worth taking. There aren't really any other head cases on the team.

yup i agree. i said the same thing lol.

Except Kobe, Turiaf, and maybe LO at times, I don't see any Laker has the toughness on the court.