Nearly a year ago to the day, the Los Angeles Lakers hired Mike Brown to be the 22nd head coach in franchise history, succeeding the legendary Phil Jackson. Jackson won five NBA championships during two different stints with the Lakers over a 12-year span.
There's no question that Jackson's resume speaks for itself and his success cannot be duplicate or replaced, but Brown was and continues to be the right choice.
In his first year on the job, Brown constantly fell under heavy scrutiny and rightfully so in a city that has come to expect championships and why not? They have hoisted eleven in the City of Angels and sixteen as a franchise overall.
However, considering the circumstances Brown's first season in Los Angeles was a success.
The start of the 2011-12 NBA season was delayed due to the second longest lockout in league history, cutting the regular season from it's usually 82 games to 66. When a deal was reached on November 26, it was announced that training camps and the free agent period would begin on December 9, with the season starting on Christmas Day.
So, from the get-go, not only was Brown replacing the irreplaceable, but he was asked to do so in a shortened season with a shortened training camp, new personnel and trying to implement an entirely new offense and game plan.
In Jackson's final season as Laker head coach, 16 different players got minutes that year. Among those 16 only nine returned to the Los Angeles roster this season and only seven were left on the the team that saw the final seconds of their season tick away Monday night in Staples Center as the were eliminated in the second round for the second straight year.
This time coming at the hands of the Oklahoma City Thunder.
But Brown would learn that the loses of two veterans would be immeasurable and were vital to Los Angeles' not so distant success.
Both Lamar Odom and Derek Fisher had been two franchise mainstays that didn't finish the year with the team. Odom, who was the reigning Sixth Man of the Year, was traded to the defending champion Dallas Mavericks prior to the start of the season and Fisher was dealt to Houston at the trading deadline.
Fisher was later bought out by the Rockets, signed with the Thunder and was on the floor watching his current employer defeat the organization he pledged allegiance to for more than a decade.
If all that weren't enough for Brown to deal with, he had to endure the disappointment of what would've been a Chris Paul to the Lakers trade, only to see it be nixed by the league office, leaving him with a fragile and confidence shaken Pau Gasol.
In Brown's more traditional offense, Gasol struggled to get acclimated to his new role as more of a facilitator and third option, not to mention all the trade rumors swirling around him.
However, while Brown's offensive changes didn't benefit one seven-footer, it meant the emergence of another.
Receiving more offensive focus and touches, Andrew Bynum's game jumped light years in Brown's offensive system. Bynum was named to his first career All-Star Game this season, posting career-highs in minutes per game (35.2), field goal attempts (1,382) and field goals made (950). That translated into averaging a career-high in points per game at 18.7.
Under Brown's watch, Bynum recorded the first 20-point, 20-rebound game of his career and later grabbed a career-high 30 rebounds in a game against the San Antonio Spurs.
Bynum was also became the anchor of Brown's defense. Known as a defensive minded coach from his days in Cleveland, Brown helped the 24-year-old center become one of league's premiere front court defenders.
To open up what would end up being a disappointing postseason for the Lakers, Bynum recorded the first playoff triple-double of his career and the franchise's first since Magic Johnson did it in the 1991 NBA Finals. Bynum finished that game with 10 points, 13 rebounds and an NBA playoff record 10 blocks.
There is no question that Brown's defense was inconsistent at times, but for the times it wasn't, it was suffocating.
After being blown out by Oklahoma City in Game 1 of Western Conference Semifinals, Brown made some significant adjustments that saw the NBA's third best scoring team average only 92 PPG over the next three games.
And while only one of those games translated into a win for Brown and Co., his team squandered away a seven-point lead in Game 2 and a 13-point lead in Game 4 that would have had the Lakers up 3-1 in the series, not the Thunder, leaving many to wonder what could have been.
Brown came to the Lakers having learned under one of the game's best in Gregg Popovich. In Cleveland, he learned what it took to coach a superstar and helped his team get out of a relatively weak Eastern Conference, but then again defeating a team (Detroit Pistons) that had won the first two games of the series and had been to two of the last three NBA Finals before that isn't all that easy.
In the 2007 NBA Finals, the Brown-led, or should I say Lebron James-led, Cavaliers were swept by San Antonio and Brown's former mentor.
In 2009 and 2010, Brown saw his Cavs post the NBA's best record, earning him the '09 NBA Coach of the Year honors. However, his team would make two earlier than expected playoff exits and he was fired.
Brown knew what he signed up for when he came to the City of Angels. Laker fans have come to expect championships and will let you know how they feel when they don't get the results that they want. Whether those expectations or fair or not that's the job he signed up for, a job h
As you can see Brown is no Jackson and nobody else will ever be. The sooner we accept that the easier this transition will become.
Bynum was also became the anchor of Brown's defense. Known as a defensive minded coach from his days in Cleveland, Brown helped the 24-year-old center become one of league's premiere front court defenders.
To open up what would end up being a disappointing postseason for the Lakers, Bynum recorded the first playoff triple-double of his career and the franchise's first since Magic Johnson did it in the 1991 NBA Finals. Bynum finished that game with 10 points, 13 rebounds and an NBA playoff record 10 blocks.
There is no question that Brown's defense was inconsistent at times, but for the times it wasn't, it was suffocating.
After being blown out by Oklahoma City in Game 1 of Western Conference Semifinals, Brown made some significant adjustments that saw the NBA's third best scoring team average only 92 PPG over the next three games.
And while only one of those games translated into a win for Brown and Co., his team squandered away a seven-point lead in Game 2 and a 13-point lead in Game 4 that would have had the Lakers up 3-1 in the series, not the Thunder, leaving many to wonder what could have been.
Brown came to the Lakers having learned under one of the game's best in Gregg Popovich. In Cleveland, he learned what it took to coach a superstar and helped his team get out of a relatively weak Eastern Conference, but then again defeating a team (Detroit Pistons) that had won the first two games of the series and had been to two of the last three NBA Finals before that isn't all that easy.
In the 2007 NBA Finals, the Brown-led, or should I say Lebron James-led, Cavaliers were swept by San Antonio and Brown's former mentor.
In 2009 and 2010, Brown saw his Cavs post the NBA's best record, earning him the '09 NBA Coach of the Year honors. However, his team would make two earlier than expected playoff exits and he was fired.
Brown knew what he signed up for when he came to the City of Angels. Laker fans have come to expect championships and will let you know how they feel when they don't get the results that they want. Whether those expectations or fair or not that's the job he signed up for, a job h
As you can see Brown is no Jackson and nobody else will ever be. The sooner we accept that the easier this transition will become.
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