NBA News 2012: Jim Buss is frustrated with Lakers production, too

President Barack Obama makes remarks at service event with 2010 NBA Champion Los Angeles Lakers at the THEARC Boys and Girls Club in Washington, District of Columbia. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Jim Buss is just like every Lakers fan, frustrated by the 9-13 start, the lackluster defensive rotations, the lack of any team identity, the injuries and more.

Except, he is part of the reason the Lakers are where they are — he’s the defacto owner now. He gets part of the blame.

In a text to Sam Amick of USA Today he simply sounded frustrated, like a lot of Lakers fans (just less angry).

“It’s very frustrating, because I think there are many little factors that are causing the issues that we’re having,” Buss wrote in a text message to USA TODAY Sports on Wednesday. “Nash, injuries, (a) new system. Like I said before, there are a lot of little ones, but the ones that figure to help the most would be Nash returning (and) Gasol returning and just playing together in a new system.”

Getting healthy certainly is the first step for the Lakers. As GM Mitch Kupchak has said, right now it is impossible to evaluate these Lakers because all the pieces aren’t there.

But the Lakers are a team without an identity, and if Buss wants to blame someone for that he can go find a mirror. The Lakers brought in two key new players in Steve Nash and Dwight Howard. They chose not to make a move with Mike Brown over the summer, bringing him back with a brand new offense installed during training camp. Then despite injuries that never allowed him to get his new offense running right, management moved to fire Brown and bring in Mike D’Antoni and his radically different offense and philosophy. On the fly with the season underway and injuries already hitting the roster.

And you wonder why this team has no identity?

The Lakers will start to find that identity at some point once they start to get healthy and the team plays together. The problem is the hole they dug themselves with the start will come back to haunt them when they play a lot of road playoff games.

http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/12/13/jim-buss-is-frustrated-with-lakers-production-too/

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NBA News 2012: Lakers Add Jordan, Clifford

Eddie Jordan (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
It hasn’t exactly been a secret around the NBA that Lakers head coach Mike Brown has been courting Eddie Jordan to join his staff as an assistant coach. The official hiring of Jordan, who played for the Lakers in 1980-83 and ’84, is expected to occur in the coming days — and Brown will be hiring longtime NBA sage Bernie Bickerstaff, too.

The Lakers are also adding Steve Clifford to their staff. Clifford has been an Orlando Magic assistant — with Dwight Howard — since 2007. Before that, Clifford was with the Rockets and Knicks.

http://www.hoopsworld.com/report-lakers-add-jordan-clifford/

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NBA News 2012: Is Mike Brown's Job on the Line in Game Seven?

LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 25: Head coach Mike Brown talks with Metta World Peace #15 of the Los Angeles Lakers during the game against the Chicago Bulls at Staples Center on December 25, 2011 in Los Angeles, California. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)Mike Brown's future with the Lakers could well depend on his ability to find solutions by Saturday night. I don't think the front office would make a coaching change even if they lose Game Seven. Brown is owed a lot of money under the deal he signed last summer, and for an organization already in cost-cutting mode, having to pay a second head coach while Brown's still on the payroll is an unattractive option. But I'll assure you of this: if the Lakers do fall in Game Seven, some nasty shit is going to come raining down. Bynum might demand a trade. Kobe might demand to be amnestied. Either guy might point to Brown and say, "It's him or me." If the Lakers don't advance, one of the Brown-Bynum-Kobe threesome will be gone next year. Maybe more than one. There's way too much talent making way too much money for a first-round exit, and how much more of Kobe's amazing career are people willing to see go to waste?

Making Brown's job easier in some respects but harder in others will be the return to action of Metta World Peace. He's done his time for clobbering James Harden. Now he returns to the lineup to replace the out-of-his-depth Devin Ebanks. MWP will finally give the Lakers someone to check Danilo Gallinari, who's been killing them on isolation plays. He'll have the freshest legs on the floor. And along with Kobe, he'll give Mike Brown a second player he can count on to compete with fire. But Metta hasn't seen game action in a couple weeks, and he's such a flaky dude you can easily imagine him looking totally out of sorts in his first game back. I can see him infusing the Lakers with much-needed defensive backbone. I can also see him shooting 1-for-7 with four turnovers.

All season long it's been impossible to get a read on this Lakers squad. At times they're the best team in the league. But just when you start believing in them, they become an unfathomable mess. Which version will show up Saturday? Your guess is as good as mine, and probably Mike Brown's as well.

http://www.silverscreenandroll.com/2012/5/10/3013625/is-mike-browns-job-on-the-line-in-game-seven

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