Coach Byron Scott as Head Coach” href=”https://lakeshowlife.com/2014/07/26/lakers-sign-byron-scott-head-coach/”>Byron Scott was brought in after several interviews this past summer. It may have seemed like an obvious choice, but the Lakers exhausted their options before choosing him.
It came at the right time, and Coach Byron Scott talked about it during his interview with Chris McGee and James Worthy on Time Warner Cable Sports Net.
"I agree with you. I don’t think there is a better time. I think this is the perfect time for me because number one, I’ve got some coaching experience and some successes as a coach. The second thing is the organization. It’s the right time for me and the organization. So, I’m really looking forward to this."
He was later asked what his biggest challenge is going into the season.
"I think, first of all, you’ve got to get them to think about championships, again. I don’t think that’s what we’ve been doing the last few years. We’ve got to get back to that mentality. (James Worthy) like you know, when we went in every season, that’s our first thought, winning the championship. Even if we fell a little short, we didn’t feel like it was a successful season but a lot of people did. I’ve got to get these guys thinking that way from day one, that this has to be a championship-type effort, every single night."
On establishing identity:
"Establishing that from day one, you know we have our team dinner tonight and we’re going to talk about a lot of little things that I expect of training camp. Kobe’s going to talk to the guys as the captain of this team; what he expects. So, yeah, defense is the number one priority. Transition defense is number two. Then after that, everything should be gravy."
On managing Kobe’s minutes:
"There is a plan. Have I talked to him and Gary Vitti about it yet? Not yet. That is has something to do with …where I think he should be minute-wise, I’ve got to get that from Gary Vitti as well; what he thinks he should be minute-wise. You know Kobe thinks it’s going to be 40, he thinks it should be at 48 minutes per game. You know we have to make sure we taper that down so he’s fresh for the end of the season as well… I have something in mind right now. I can’t share it. I need to talk to him first about it. I need to make sure he’s okay with it. You know I think he’ll be perfectly fine with this. Again, I don’t want to tax him with a bunch of minutes early in the season. Something else we need to talk about is back-to-backs. How many minutes he’s going to play on back-to-backs? So we’ve got a lot of little things we have to discuss."
At what point will you know what this team is?
"I think you have the pretty good idea the first 10-15 games. Obviously, preseason you’re trying to find combinations that you feel work. You also have to continue to work on the things that you’ve been emphasizing in practice everyday which is obviously on the defensive end and rebounding the ball. Offense, I’m not really worried about with our team. Again, just really concentrating on those things."
Do you think Byron Scott has the right approach for the team? Is there anything you’d like to see him address? Please let us know in the comments below.