Nah, it's all on D'Antoni. They couldn't have hired a worse coach for Dwight & Paul.
You can't tell me Kobe didn't want to be in there. He made a guarantee that the Lakers were going to make the Playoffs and he wanted to take full responsibility for the claim. He was trying to will his team into the Playoffs, and he just might have done enough to get them there.
Reminds me of when Memo went down in the playoffs against the Nugz. I hate Kobe, but I respect the guy. One of the all-time greats. It would be a real shame if this ended his career, seriously.
You can't tell me Kobe didn't want to be in there. He made a guarantee that the Lakers were going to make the Playoffs and he wanted to take full responsibility. He was trying to will his team into the Playoffs, and he just might have done enough to get them there.
If D'Antoni was a better coach, they wouldn't be in this mess of trying to get into the playoffs. His brand of offense is obviously not tailored made for Dwight & Pau. And you can't tell me he teaches defense.
This is not just an issue for this game, it was a mistake to hire D'Antoni from the start. And for that you can blame Jim Buss.
I don't know that the Lakers are/were any better off with another coach. Who was even available?