Los Angeles Lakers fans and pundits have been calling to get head coach Byron Scott fired after a winless campaign early in the 2015-2016 NBA regular season.
Scott's poor command of a young and talented Lakers roster has linked the team to hire Tom Thibodeau, but the can the former Chicago Bulls head coach finally save the Purple and Gold's franchise and give Kobe Bryant one final championship run?
The Lakers have started the NBA season poorly once again despite having an injury-free roster and a healthy-but-aging Kobe Bryant. But the team's early woes are believed to be caused by Scott's old style of coaching, and misusing all the potentials that the LA squad has.
Ryan O'Connell of The Roar believes the bigger concern for the Lakers' franchise is that Scott is a "dinosaur."
O'Connell claimed in his report that Scott does not believe in "advanced metrics," a detailed analysis of data, which is a valuable tool for basketball coaches, and not to mention, most of the successful NBA teams these days have adopted the analytics approach.
"I think we've got a few guys who believe in it. I'm not one of them. I listen to them and all that stuff and take it into consideration, but I'm still just old school," Scott said in February, according to Bill Oram of the Orange County Register.
O'Connell also noted that Scott has been too lenient on Bryant's shot selection, as well as mismanaging D'Angelo Russell's NBA career.
In a report by ESPN's Baxter Holmes following the Lakers' 120-109 loss to the Denver Nuggets, Scott was quoted on saying winning is the team's focus and not individual goals, which partakes to the Russell's development as a rookie.
Scott opted to field veteran sixth man of the year Lou Williams in the fourth quarter of the game, leaving Russell on the bench.
Can all of these be fixed by Tom Thibodeau's arrival to Staples Centre? SB Nation's Lakeshow Life says yes.
The report suggested Thibs' defensive expertise would be a huge upgrade over Scott's old-version of coaching. The report also noted that in Thibodeau's five-year stint with the Bulls, Chicago finished third in the East twice, then fifth, then first in the entire league in back-to-back seasons.
Thibs also led a Derrick Rose-less Bulls to the playoffs, with only Jimmy Butler, Joakim Niah, Taj Gibson, and a pack of non-All-Star players at his disposal.
"Conventional wisdom states that defense wins championships - the past five NBA Champions ranked in the Top Ten of defensive efficiency ratings - so Coach Thibodeau would be a welcomed addition to the coaching staff," the report disclosed.
The Lakers have a track record of firing head coaches in the first few games of the season: Mike Brown and Mike D'Antoni. This suggest that bringing in the service of Thibodeau is still possible, or if not, they could bring him as an assistant coach to save the Lakers from being known for sacking head coaches whenever starting the season poorly.
With the way Los Angeles is heading, the coach replacement rumors for the Lakers will come sooner or later and the favorite to replace Scott is Thibodeau.