One more game, and the Los Angeles Lakers can say goodbye to the worst season in franchise history, orchestrated partially by the terrible Byron Scott, who actually thinks he somehow helped Jeremy Lin improve as a point guard and player this season.
We’ve already used the word delusional on Scott once or twice this season, and this interview shows us that he’s either lying through his teeth or actually sees something completely different when he watches the game we call basketball. Don’t forget – Scott’s teams haven’t won more than 32% of their games in a season for the last four. He’s not exactly a coaching authority or success story. It’s the exact opposite.
Lin ending his season with a knee injury meant it was time for Scott to say a few words about the evaluation of Lin’s season. It’s hard to believe that he actually sees it in the same way he calls it, but these are the words coming out of his mouth:
I think he’s obviously gotten better. I think when he first got here his mind of what a point guard is was totally different than mine, and as we went along he started to understand what I wanted from him on a day to day basis, so I thought the progression was much better. I thought he got a lot better mentally as the season went on, and I think a lot of that comes from just understanding what the coach wants and so like I said, at the end of the day I saw a big time growth from him.
The one thing about him, the kid takes criticism. You can jump on him about things and he takes it with a grain of salt and tries to get better, that’s the one thing I do love about him, he doesn’t pout about it. Just goes out there and tries to implement the things that you give him and try to become a better basketball player.
Scott sees basketball as a game of toughness, aggressiveness, mental strength. He doesn’t believe in analytics, spreading the floor, moving the ball, shooting from 3. You know, the things that actually bring success in this league. For example: He thought Jeremy Lin using a lot of pick & roll plays hurts the ball movement. Is he serious? Does he know what a pick & roll is? Giving Kobe Bryant the ball for 20-25 iso plays a game is Scott’s definition of the right ball movement.
We already touched on the subject of Lin not learning anything from Scott. It’s hard to actually believe anything that comes out of his mouth after he has spent an entire season berating players through the media (except for Bryant and Jordan Clarkson, another iso master). It’s impossible to find any sort of success and improvement graph for everyone on this team. Scott frowning and talking about toughness or the good old days when he was a player for the Lakers helps no one but his own self image.
But maybe we shouldn’t be too harsh on Scott. He knows he doesn’t have what it takes to succeed as an NBA coach anymore, so he tries to make it about the players, as in the players fault. He shrugs off all the blame, sides with Bryant, another player who hasn’t done a lot of good over the last two years or maybe more, and is saying the right things to maybe keep himself as the head coach, although it’s hard to find someone who deserves it any less.
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[…] The Los Angeles Lakers trade seemed like an opportunity, but it really wasn’t. Not under Byron Scott, not under Kobe Bryant. Lin had his moments, but overall, he was suffocated and demoted while the team allowed itself to be carried by an incompetent coach and an ego-filled former NBA great, until the tanking began. The thing is Scott actually thinks he helped Lin become a better player. […]