Bernie Bickerstaff: The Greatest Coach in Lakers History

 He MAY have ONLY coached 5 games as a Head Coach of    the Los Angeles Lakers but did YOU know that:

Bernie Bickerstaff is listed as el numero uno 

 when it comes to Lakers Coaches and winning percentages?  His 4 Wins yield that 80% that might forever stand in Laker  Lore atop some of the all-time franchise GREATS.

"what happened to Bernie?"

He went to Cleveland after finishing that 2011-2012 season as an assistant under new head Coach Mike D'Antoni.  He had been an assistant for the CAVS (2012-13).  

His son, J.B., coaches the Houston Rockets...





So while the Lakers are currently on their fourth coach since PHIL 2.0 they might have to be reminded that even the esteemed Phil Jackson had a TEAM.  And not just a great collection of Talent around HIM as players, but a tremendous TEAM of knowledge and experience in the game of basketball.  

His teammates include:

Frank Hamblen //  Tex Winter // Jim Cleamons  // Bill Bertka

 Brian Shaw and Kurt Rambis were also Teammates of Phil's.  Kareem Abdul Jabbar was involved.  

This is what made up the, STILL RECORD, amount of around 25 Million Dollars for a coaching staff.  This is the staff that last Coached a world championship club for the Los Angeles Lakers.  

Twelve of those 25 were paid to PJ himself which is still a basketball coaching record

(Coach K is now second to THAT at 9.7M )

The point is that even the "greatest coaches" (by record) surround themselves with a collective group of people that have achieved greatness and success.  

Surround Yourselves with those BETTER than YOU

We shall see about Byron Scott.  Does he stay?  Does he go?  Either way, a change is imminent.

This new direction CAN happen from within, whether that be a change in self or from those currently around campus..players, brass, coaches, etc.

Some Say that the Lakers simply STILL need to learn to dance better...gel together better...

Nick Young says it's all about listening to,

    "back that "thang" UP" 

Whether that last part is true or whether the Lakers need to get together and ALL do the Bernie Lean, they DO need to find the glue to bring them together.  Otherwise, they will continue to fall apart.

Listen to Tommy Lasorda

Watch 13 HOURS

Learn what it truly IS to be A TEAM

“The only real limitation on your abilities is the level of your desires. If you 
want it badly enough, there are no limits on what you can achieve. "

― Brian Tracy

Shut UP and Dance: The Los Angeles Lakers need to learn how to dance better ...

Laker Talk reigns supreme in my world and during a recent chat with a friend it was mentioned,

"The Lakers Just need to learn how to Dance."

For your listening pleasure:

"We got Ron Artest, don't YOU know he's a crazy man. DEFENSE ALL CRAZY MAN."

I paused and looked at my friend who proceeded to say,

"Yeah, you can put the two most talented dancers in the world together but that doesn't necessarily mean they will dance well together," he said emphatically.

"The Lakers have talent," he continued, "But, Can they dance together?  Can they Play together?  Because right now, they're not dancing (well) together."

Makes sense, I said, "If we are talking about gelling, camaraderie and unity, this does seem to be an issue."  There were moments in the last game versus Orlando that I thought I saw slight "dissing" (on the floor) from a couple of the Vets towards D'Angelo.



Is there is a disconnect?  Is this about the mixture of "talent" and individuals including an aged Kobe Bryant who has already missed the last two and now possibly a third in a row: "Rest" and "Sick" are being used as his excuses or ailments.  Is THIS the same Kobe that dropped free throws after tearing his achilles?

Scott said at shootaround that Kobe wasn't feeling very good last night. Upset stomach. He’ll talk to him later about that and his back.

— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) November 13, 2015

Achilles' Last Stand, if you will _ Zep

As a kid I remember seeing footage of Lynn Swan taking ballet so he could improve on things like double toe-touching while catching a ball going out of bounds.

Hey, maybe some of these Lakers could use a little help there (footwork) too.

Maybe Football knows something that "we" don't

But, the point is this:  Coach or No Coach, talent or NO talent, THIS team needs to figure out how to work together, as a unit, or else they will continue to suffer "Ls" and those "Ls" might lead to an early departure of Byron Scott whose head is ALREADY being called for.

I don't blame people for suggesting so.  The same thing happened with Mike D'Antoni.  BUT, After going through Mike Brown to Mike D'Antoni to Byron Scott, the most successful coach has been:

Bernie Bickerstaff

Albeit a very small sample size he had success with the Lakers.  Additionally, at what point do you STOP the coaching carousel, sit back and allow a team to play some ball.

We did know that THIS team was NOT necessarily a playoff team, correct?  I say THAT because I believe that ANYONE TEAM can beat ANY OTHER team on ANY given Day.

That being said, we realize how stacked the West is and that the Lakers are starting a 19 year old at point who has been thrust into action with two "other" rookies (granted both are sophmore players).

Progress is happening and THAT is what MANY fans really want to see.  Yes, a "double u" is nice but rather than seeing RE-gression we hope we see PRO-gression.

One THING IS CERTAIN: You definitely need to have the right dance partner(s) if you want to win.

"The rumba is a vertical expression of a horizontal desire" _JLO

Speaking of horizontal AND vertical desires..

Happy Friday