D'Antoni was asked if he'd ever been through a a season like this? "No. But who cares? We live in interesting times. Whatever"
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) April 14, 2014
That sums it up for the end of the home games for the Lakers. That sums up the season as a whole. Mike D’Antoni, as much criticism as he’s taken from fans and the press all year, mustered up 25 wins with two games left to go.
His response is surprising, in the sense that, there’s no clear tone or emotion from what he said. He’s frustrated with the losses. He must be frustrated with the head coaching rumors. He can’t control the injuries of the team. He has nothing to learn from this season.
It’s as if he detached himself emotionally from what this season has been. Who wouldn’t? It has been pain and suffering all year-long.
What he does have control of is the system and the line up. No coach has never seen this many changes in the starting line up due to injury. Even Frank Vogel had the choice to sit the starters of the Indiana Pacers for the previous game with team chemistry issues. Mike D’Antoni had trouble with guys just suiting up. The few times the Lakers actually ran Mike D’Antoni’s system, it worked incredibly well. The Lakers were off to a shocking .500 start before the losses started to amount. They beat the Clippers at the first meeting. Steve Blake was having a career year statistically with near triple doubles. The Lakers pulled off a win against the Cleveland Cavs, despite not having enough eligible players due to individuals fouling out. They even beat the talented Portland Trailblazers.
But, in the end, it’s 25 wins. Pau Gasol saw 60 games. Kobe Bryant saw 13 games. Steve Nash saw 15 games. Those are the three best players of the Laker team.
We live in interesting times for sure.
We wish the season didn’t feel like a waste of time.
What did the Laker fans learn? Sometimes, the system needs to fit the players, not the other way around.