Los Angeles Lakers: Defense Is a Lost Cause
By Shane Young
Phil Jackson isn’t living a happy life in the Big Apple at this moment. Place him where the general public wanted him to land, coaching the Los Angeles Lakers, and he’d be crying on the floor in Jeanie Buss’ office every day.
As the primary leader of the Lakers that have won five championships in the last 15 years, Jackson always held his defensive standards much higher than his offensive philosophies. The chaotic shouts of the triangle offense that he brought to Los Angeles can be heard for hours, but it’s not what ultimately drove him to a .704 career winning percentage. Believe it or not, defense was always leading his agenda when it came to coaching.
Charley Rosen, a basketball author who spent his coaching career next to Jackson, revealed in October just how dedicated the 11-time champion was to getting stops:
“Defense is the whole deal to Phil,” Rosen said. “That’s what wins championships. Phil’s primary function as a player was defense.”
That’s surely what the Lakers had at their disposal for majority of the 2000’s.
In the seven remarkable NBA Finals appearances Jackson made while coaching Los Angeles, only once did they finish outside of the top eight in defensive rating, per Basketball-Reference. Three of those seven Finals appearances included Jackson’s team finishing in the top five in defensive rating, proving the notion that you do have to be disciplined and offenses don’t always rule the league.
Four years later, after Jackson’s departure, the purple and gold are turning into the red and crimson. When you get the blood pounded out of you on the defensive end, your jersey changes colors.
Since Mike D’Antoni took over the reigns for Jim Buss and Mitch Kupchak in November 2012, the Lakers have established an average rank of 26th in defensive rating throughout the last three years. That includes the season Byron Scott is currently fighting through, and all 154 games D’Antoni was on the sideline for.
It’s utterly doleful. The city of Hollywood hasn’t been subjected to this kind of disaster since the jokers across the street were awful. The Clippers use to be the talk of the town for their name being at the butt end of jokes and puns. Now, the tables have drastically turned, and you can mainly incriminate Jim Buss for those wrongdoings. Not only was he downright reluctant to re-hire Jackson two long years ago — when Jackson publicly announced he wanted the position — but he’s been 0 percent effective in bringing in roster pieces that equal a playoff recipe.
Everyone seriously blamed D’Antoni for the complete lack of defensive production last season, when nobody screamed at the personnel he was tutoring. Los Angeles was horrid defensively last season, but not the most flat-out pathetic across the league. They posted a defensive rating of 110.6, meaning they allowed 110.6 points per 100 possessions. But, still, Utah and Philadelphia couldn’t stop a baby from robbing a bank because of the levels they stooped to. Both of them included worse defenses than the Lakers, and both finished below D’Antoni in the standings.
However, there should be an up-rise of nicknames for the 2014-15 Lakers bunch, which is getting things done at a tremendous pace.
They’ve now hit the ground and started running away with the trophy of “worst defense,” as there’s been no team to match the generosity Los Angeles gives you each and every night. Sure, the Philadelphia 76ers are proving otherwise with 53-point losses and 73-point allowances in first halves.
But, nevertheless, Byron Scott’s Lakers are allowing the most points per game across the league, at 111.5 on average (30th). In addition, the defensive rating is superhuman. In a per 100 possession basis, they’re allowing 117.4 points on average, also placing them at 30th overall.
Just as Kobe Bryant called their fourth road loss of the season (to New Orleans) a “lay-up drill,” the entire season has been nothing but “around the world” for their opponents. We all know that fun, addictive game on the basketball court that tests your ability to shoot from all areas, right?
Playing just eight games so far, the Lakers aren’t just allowing points at a premium. They’re also doing it at historical levels.
In the acceptable sample size, Los Angeles is allowing 2.32 points per minute, already giving up 892 points this season. If their current pace keeps steady for 82 games, they’ll allow 9,143 points for the year. Take me hostage and force me to decide an outcome, and I’ll tell you they go slightly over that estimation, due to their conference. If you placed them in the East, the handful of ineptitude offensively would let that decrease a bit, and they’d be able to grind out a few more games than usual. After all, their only win was against the Charlotte Hornets, one of the three most disappointing East teams thus far.
The Lakers’ staggering 2.32 points per minute and current track of points allowed in a season would be the worst the NBA has seen in the last six years. Six.
During the 2009-10 season (when the Lakers won their last title), the abominable Golden State Warriors allowed an impressive 9,217 points, equating a 2.34 points-per-minute allowance. Just the season prior to that (2008-09), Golden State also surrendered 9,212 points — just five fewer.
During the NBA’s most recent lockout year, 2011-12, the Sacramento Kings had began transitioning into the DeMarcus Cousins era and experimenting with wing talent. They had no vision of who they wanted to become. Even then, they were the NBA’s worst defensive unit, allowing 2.18 points per minute during the shortened season. That’s still a few notches better than what the Lakers are sitting through now.
It’s getting to the point where the Lakers’ defense is putting immense pressure on their offense.
If they can’t limit teams or at least make it difficult for them to score, it forces the Lakers’ offense to keep gunning for their lives, trying to out-do a team on the scoreboard. There are no old-fashioned aspects to this team, in terms of believing in defense first.
In the loss to New Orleans on Wednesday, Los Angeles allowed 60 points in the paint. 60 of the Pelicans’ 109 points (55 percent) were from the painted area, calling for a well-deserved ripping from Coach Scott.
“They got pretty much anything they wanted in the paint with no resistance whatsoever,” Scott said. “It was just terrible. That was probably the worst defense that we’ve played from the preseason all the way to this particular point.”
How is the coach going to magically fix a group of guys that aren’t defenders at heart, and play with no real edge to their personalities. There is no grit, except in Kobe Bryant. Sometimes, that’s to his disadvantage when he’s got the ball in his hands and wants to get to his spots.
But, seriously, the “defenders” Scott is dealing with are not capable of picking up the slack and being ball-stoppers or the Tony Allen of the team.
However, there is a clear distinction between having the skill in your arsenal, and having the effort and hard work in your veins. What is Jeremy Lin doing — or even thinking — here during the first quarter?
The lack of communication in full is humiliating for the Lakers, because it proves they can’t even be staple guarding simple offensive moves. It’s not like New Orleans went deep into the playbook for their top-notch pick-and-roll sets.
They used a simple dribble hand-off for Anthony Davis, and a lot of movement on the weak side to create disruption.
Part of the blame is thrown on Kobe Bryant for allowing the easy bucket, because of his lack of communication to the newcomer, Lin. As a leader and guard that’s been around since 1996, it’s his job to set the tone and direct his guys defensively, and make sure they’re doing their jobs. He’s not the point guard of the Lakers, but he’s clearly the extension of the coach on the floor.
With that mind, it’s also an NBA player’s responsibility to be smart (which we think Jeremy Lin is) and catch on to the techniques of the game. He can’t be one-sided, and only play offense. He has to pay attention defensively. In New Orleans, there was zero attention paid to anything when guarding Jrue Holiday, Tyreke Evans, or the freakish Davis.
On the other end, their offense literally has nothing to do to relieve the pressure. They can’t knock down 3-pointers with consistency, and they don’t enjoy taking a lot.
Los Angeles owns the worst differential in 3-point field goals made (-3.5) throughout the early season. Compare that to the Houston Rockets, who own the best 3-point differential (+7.1) and then glance at their records. While that’s just the surface of it, it’s definitely within a correlation.
Until Byron Scott realizes the pieces he has on his roster aren’t able to perform to the defensive level he’s stressing, he’ll continue to get bent out of shape.
One thing people have to understand is that things aren’t going to drastically get better overnight. But, in the case of these 2014-15 Lakers, it likely won’t get better by the All-Star break.
For Kobe Bryant, it’s time to grieve even more.