Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2016 10:43 pm Post subject: Showtime Gang: "There's nothing to be critical of Byron (Scott) for."; Teammates refuse to criticize friend
Quote:
Critiquing a friend: Lakers' TV, radio analysts face tricky role in assessing Byron Scott
James Worthy steeled himself, then offered a blunt assessment.
The Lakers, in the midst of a losing season, had reached their nadir with a 48-point loss to the Clippers. The Hall of Famer glared into the camera and did what many other analysts would have.
He blamed the coach.
“(Mike) D’Antoni’s got to get into these guys a little bit more,” said Worthy on that night nearly two years ago. “He’s got to make them really a little bit more responsible, maybe call guys out.”
Worthy, an analyst with Time Warner Cable SportsNet, said the Lakers’ problems could be traced to the locker room, that they should practice only defense and that an offense focused on pace of play and 3-pointers simply wasn’t working.
Such frank analysis was welcomed by fed-up fans begging for a change on the bench. It’s also the sort of criticism from which Byron Scott, a teammate of Worthy’s from 1983-93, has recently been spared during an 11-43 season.
Worthy is one of four former “Showtime”-era Lakers navigating the potentially murky waters of analyzing a team coached by a close friend.
In Scott’s tenure, the Lakers are 32-104.
Bashing Scott is fashionable among fans and he has been widely panned by national media. He appears at or near the top of any list of coaches on the hot seat.
The Lakers are not believed to be considering a mid-season coaching change, but it is a results-driven league. Five NBA coaches have been fired since the start of the season, including former Lakers guard Derek Fisher with the improving New York Knicks.
Worthy is aware of a perception that he has taken it easier on Scott than he did his predecessor
He even agrees.
“People have opinions based on Byron and I being close,” Worthy said after a recent Lakers practice, “but that has nothing to do with it.”
“But I see what Byron’s doing. I’m in the film room, I see the practices, I see the guys buying into it. They just haven’t been able to transfer it out to the court yet.”
When Scott made the unpopular decision to move D’Angelo Russell and Julius Randle out of the starting lineup on Dec. 6, Worthy initially recoiled with surprise.
By the end of that night’s broadcast, he had come around.
“I think Byron’s right,” Worthy said. “Sometimes you have to allow younger players to watch from the bench.”
Video of the segment was posted on the network’s Facebook page. The first comment, from a user named Lynne No, said, “James Worthy was always so candid about D’Antoni. Where’s your truth now James regarding Byron?”
Mychal Thompson is the color commentator on the team’s radio broadcasts. Michael Cooper and A.C. Green are members of a rotation of former Lakers who appear as studio analysts alongside Worthy on Time Warner Cable SportsNet.
They all won at least two championships together. Each man is close with Scott, to varying degrees.
Scott hired Worthy as a part-time assistant coach to work with frontcourt players in September; Cooper was Scott’s mentor after the Lakers traded for his draft rights in 1983; Green is the godfather to Scott’s daughter and is a regular volunteer at practices.
Note: Even Scott calls out his former teammates for their lack of critique
“I think they should be critical of me at times,” Scott said recently. “That’s their job.”
Still, Cooper said it’s difficult to assess Scott’s job performance “because I’ve known him so long.”
“For the people that are criticizing him, shame on you,” Cooper said. “But it comes with that territory. You look at the players, they’re young and this and that. But after a while you have to start looking at the coach. That’s usually what happens.”
“I treat all coaches with respect,” Thompson said, “whether I know them personally or just on a professional level.”
Scott On MacLean
“For somebody to come in and say you should do this and do that,” Scott said, “they haven’t spent one time in our meetings, they haven’t been in training camp, they haven’t been to preseason, they haven’t been to any regular season games.
“That’s just your idea of what we should do. … So I don’t pay that much attention.”
When Worthy has called out the Lakers this season, he has typically focused on players rather than the coaching.
“We expect effort and we criticize (the team) for that,” Worthy said. “We criticize them for points in the paint. But for decisions made by Byron right now, going through this experimental growth period, there’s nothing to be critical of.” Really James....Really?!
“If I knew that he didn’t know what he was doing,” Cooper said, “I would definitely say that. But I know Byron knows what he’s doing.”
Two years after D’Antoni's departure, fans are once again restless. Many believe another change on the bench could key a reversal of fortune.
There will be critics who agree. And loudly. But Worthy won’t be among them.
“People want to put their process of thinking into our heads,” he said. “And it’s not going to happen.”
THE ENTIRE LAKER ORGANIZATION HAS GONE SENILE-AL DAVIS!! THEY ARE IN COMPLETE DENIAL AND RUNNING THE LAKERS INTO THE FREAKING GROUND...SIX MILLION FEET UNDER!!! _________________ Do you believe it now, Trinity? - Morpheous
THE ENTIRE LAKER ORGANIZATION HAS GONE SENILE-AL DAVIS!! THEY ARE IN COMPLETE DENIAL AND RUNNING THE LAKERS INTO THE FREAKING GROUND...SIX MILLION FEET UNDER!!!
Not the entire organization, just Byron Scott, and the people that believe in / refuse to criticize/ defend him. So basically Jeanie, Byron Scott, and his former teammates.
there is so much information and details that is not public. You guys are overreacting to very very limited information, which is probably processed somewhat anyway.
Byron is most likely just doing what he's told. His history is a point guard developer. I think that is what he's doing. He *may* also have been instructed explicitly or subtly to not focus on winning.
1) develop Dlo and Clarkson
2) don't worry about winning
if that's the case, he is doing just fine. the problem then would be why does the org not want to win? picks! done deal!
Joined: 27 May 2010 Posts: 49089 Location: LA to the Bay
Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2016 10:59 pm Post subject:
Well we knew all of this already didn't we? But the fact that someone wrote an article about it pretty much says it all.
I'm glad Byron said they should be more critical because that's one of the things that bugs me the most; when BScott was an analyst during D'Antoni's tenure he held NO punches and called D'Antoni out on the regular. BScott should be receiving the same level of critique.
Joined: 27 May 2010 Posts: 49089 Location: LA to the Bay
Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2016 11:01 pm Post subject:
SuperboyReformed wrote:
there is so much information and details that is not public. You guys are overreacting to very very limited information, which is probably processed somewhat anyway.
Byron is most likely just doing what he's told. His history is a point guard developer. I think that is what he's doing. He *may* also have been instructed explicitly or subtly to not focus on winning.
1) develop Dlo and Clarkson
2) don't worry about winning
if that's the case, he is doing just fine. the problem then would be why does the org not want to win? picks! done deal!
Even if folks agree with you, that's not what the article is even about so the comment is off-topic. The article is about the lack of critique of BScott's coaching because all the analysts who should be doing so are former teammates.
there is so much information and details that is not public. You guys are overreacting to very very limited information, which is probably processed somewhat anyway.
Byron is most likely just doing what he's told. His history is a point guard developer. I think that is what he's doing. He *may* also have been instructed explicitly or subtly to not focus on winning.
1) develop Dlo and Clarkson
2) don't worry about winning
if that's the case, he is doing just fine. the problem then would be why does the org not want to win? picks! done deal!
Even if folks agree with you, that's not what the article is even about so the comment is off-topic. The article is about the lack of critique of BScott's coaching because all the analysts who should be doing so are former teammates.
Wow the Showtime cartel is shameless, they are not even being candid about their bias. Worthy flat out said there is nothing to criticize Byron about _________________ My Dream Starting 5 next Season
I understand why some thinks James Worthy should be more critical, but it is different actually being at practice everyday and going through the motions with the coach, opposed to being blind of what's going on. I would give James Worthy a pass in this case, though I think he should apologize to MDA because now he further understands the difficulties, and there's no pass given to Magic; who doesn't attend practice on a regular basis - we were on a losing streak, getting beat up and magic actually said we were playing good basketball? Cooper doesn't get a pass neither. I'd give Mychal Thompson a pass too, because he doesn't really criticize coaches, he constantly and consistently looks for a positive within situations or goes about it in a positive, upstanding manner.
Overall I do think that Byron should be held accountable by his peers, just like every other coach has/had to and how coaches hold their players accountable; but if they don't wanna be critical of Byron, i'd be cool with it if they apologize to MDA.
Last edited by Outspoken on Wed Feb 10, 2016 2:33 am; edited 2 times in total
Recall, this sucks, it's two spaces between, the two occurrence, of "Nobody's." Also, if you, remove the underline, from the hyperlink, meh, then, everything, should remain, in tune, from a single-passover, from, afar. There, are many levels of tuning, but if individually, 'you,' can, 'tune the moment of transfer, into silence.'
Recall, this sucks, it's two spaces between, the two occurrence, of "Nobody's." Also, if you, remove the underline, from the hyperlink, meh, then, everything, should remain, in tune, from a single-passover, from, afar. There, are many levels of tuning, but if individually, 'you,' can, 'tune the moment of transfer, into silence.'
This post made me want to scrub myself with a brillo pad...
Wow the Showtime cartel is shameless, they are not even being candid about their bias. Worthy flat out said there is nothing to criticize Byron about
Yeah. So lesson for me is, don't listen to them about anything that requires analysis. They've put friendship before objectivity, which is fine I guess. _________________ From 2-10 to the Western Conference Finals
Joined: 02 May 2005 Posts: 90306 Location: Formerly Known As 24
Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2016 9:14 am Post subject:
RavishingRuWooba wrote:
Recall, this sucks, it's two spaces between, the two occurrence, of "Nobody's." Also, if you, remove the underline, from the hyperlink, meh, then, everything, should remain, in tune, from a single-passover, from, afar. There, are many levels of tuning, but if individually, 'you,' can, 'tune the moment of transfer, into silence.'
there is so much information and details that is not public. You guys are overreacting to very very limited information, which is probably processed somewhat anyway.
Byron is most likely just doing what he's told. His history is a point guard developer. I think that is what he's doing. He *may* also have been instructed explicitly or subtly to not focus on winning.
1) develop Dlo and Clarkson
2) don't worry about winning
if that's the case, he is doing just fine. the problem then would be why does the org not want to win? picks! done deal!
Joined: 14 Jul 2006 Posts: 46878 Location: Coming soon and striking at your borders.
Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2016 9:21 am Post subject: Re: Showtime Gang: "There's nothing to be critical of Byron (Scott) for."; Teammates refuse to criticize friend
MJST wrote:
“But I see what Byron’s doing. I’m in the film room, I see the practices, I see the guys buying into it. They just haven’t been able to transfer it out to the court yet.”
Because IT DOESN'T (bleep) WORK! _________________ *sighs*
Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2016 9:25 am Post subject: Re: Showtime Gang: "There's nothing to be critical of Byron (Scott) for."; Teammates refuse to criticize friend
City_Dawg wrote:
MJST wrote:
“But I see what Byron’s doing. I’m in the film room, I see the practices, I see the guys buying into it. They just haven’t been able to transfer it out to the court yet.”
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