People critical of Brown often bring up the Rudy Tomjanovich debacle of a few years ago, which was really a perfect storm that was more a question Rudy T's health problems and the Lakers changing four of their starters from 2003-2004 to 2004-2005 than any questionable hiring practices.
In trumpeting Shaw, they seem to forget the "success" that Kurt Rambis, the last Lakers assistant to land a head coaching job, has had (32-132 and fired). They also forget that if Brown is going to have any longevity with this team, he will coach it after Kobe has hung up his sneakers, and that Kobe is now well past his temper tantrum years.
Here are three reasons why the Brown hire will work.
Head Coaching Experience
If you look at the teams that make it to the NBA Finals, the last NBA finalist whose coach was in his first year of NBA coaching was the 1991 Lakers under Mike Dunleavy. The last first-year head coach to lift the O'Brien Trophy was Pat Riley in 1982. In both cases, these teams were heavily talent-laden and led by Magic Johnson (note that when I say first year of coaching experience, I mean anywhere, not just with the present team).
Although the Lakers made it work then, it appears experience counts more heavily now, as very few coaches have even been able to lead their team into the playoffs in their first season of head coaching—Tom Thibodaux being the most notable exception. Brown, who is younger than Shaw but still has more coaching experience and much more head coaching experience, fits the experience mold.
And lest we forget, Brown was 272-138 in Cleveland, which is nothing to shake a stick at.
Defensive Specialist
Although ...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
