Defensive Duties Shared by Lakers’ Assistant Coaches

Now that Kurt Rambis has left the Lakers (he is now head coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves), remaining assistant coaches Jim Cleamons, Frank Hamblem and Brian Shaw have to share defensive duties. Lakers Coach Phil Jackson expressed his confidence in their ability to take on more duties saying, “All of them have more responsibility, obviously, for defensive setups. A personal responsibility for me is working with some of the guys I thought Kurt took personal pride in coaching and helping.”

Cleamons, Hamblem and Shaw will share the defensive burden and all have teams that they scout (10 for Cleamons and Shaw and 9 for Hamblem). “We haven’t talked about it, but my imgaination is that we’ll do it by committee. I think everything is in place. I think we know most of the sets that teams will use,” said Cleamons before adding, “There is an awful lot of professionalism because of the respect we have for each other. I think we’re always conscientious of giving each other space to talk. Sometimes one guy is going to say exactly what you’re going to say.” Both Cleamons and Hamblem assisted Jackson when he coached the Chicago Bulls and later joined him with the Lakers and Shaw played for four seasons under Jackson earlier this decade. Read the full article at LATimes.com.

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Posted in General on October 15, 2009

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