After what is arguably the Lakers ugliest loss of the season in Utah — although it’s really hard to pick just one, they have all been so ugly — the heat from fans and the media is back on coach Mike Brown and his Princeton offense.
But not from Lakers ownership.
Jim Buss preached patience and backed Brown, he gave a vote of confidence to his coach when speaking with Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLA.com.
“I have no problems with Mike Brown at all,” Buss said. “He just works too hard and he’s too knowledgeable for this to be happening.
“So either the system is flawed or something’s going on. Or, like the Triangle, it’s very hard to pick up and understand. I’m not a basketball mind like he is or the players are, and the players are fine with it, so I just have to be patient….
“You have to give it time to understand [what’s going on],” Buss said. “I don’t know if there’s an actual game total that would make me impatient. I know if we’re 1-15, I don’t think that would be very good. I’m sure that would be a panic button. But at this time, I’m fine with what’s going on. It’s a learning process for the players. As long as everybody is on the same page, I think we’re fine.”
When you say “the players are fine with it” do you mean Kobe Bryant? Because that is what we all pretty much are thinking. And very clearly during the game Wednesday Kobe was damn frustrated.
“Kobe [Bryant] and I have a relationship where he can just look at me and say, ‘Everything’s cool,'” Buss said. “So yesterday during practice, I gave Kobe a quick glance, and everything was cool.”
For now. Often these kinds of votes of confidence is the last thing the coach hears before the ax falls, but in this case Brown still has time. Buss is smart enough to remember when the Miami Heat started 9-8 two seasons ago and everyone was sure Pat Riley was coming down from the front office to replace Erik Spoelstra. That worked itself out and the Heat were in the finals that year. Plus, remember it was Jim Buss who went and got Mike Brown, that’s his guy. We are all slow to admit our mistakes and Jim Buss is no exception.
Besides, the Lakers are not a franchise that makes knee-jerk reaction. The Buss family does not makes moves out of panic.
But that Heat team had a longer window than these Lakers, Buss cannot be patient forever. There isn’t going to be a change after five games. But once we start to get into December, if this team is still a hot mess, if it isn’t showing signs of real improvement and being on the way to contending, change may well come.
