Los Angeles Lakers: 3 thoughts on Jason Kidd speculation
3. Kidd would have to overhaul his dismal defensive scheme
The main criticism on Jason Kidd’s coaching style has been his defensive schemes. With the Bucks until his firing on Jan. 22 last season, Kidd installed an aggressive system that trapped excessively with the hope of forcing turnovers. Instead, the Bucks underachieved greatly and gave up open shots to opponents, with teams shooting the third-best percentage on 3-point attempts against them at 38.1 percent. They also boasted the 26th-ranked defensive rating in the NBA.
The obsessiveness with trapping and forcing turnovers led to plenty of open 3-pointers for the opposition, and signaled that Kidd was unable to adapt to the times. The Bucks surrender the most 3-point attempts in the NBA this season, but opponents shoot the 16th-best percentage against them and the Bucks boast the NBA’s top defensive rating.
Mike Budenholzer is the favorite to be the Coach of the Year and the contrast in styles between his version compared to Kidd’s shows how far Kidd was behind in terms of making this team a contender. The Bucks boast the NBA’s best record this season after squeaking in as the 8-seed in a much weaker Eastern Conference last season under Kidd and Joe Prunty.
With this scheme etched in people’s minds, it’s fair to wonder why anybody would hire him. The only thing working for him is his defenses couldn’t get any worse, and taking a season off to see how the game evolved should have taught him that switching and defending the 3-point line is more important than trapping like hell.
Also, when healthy, the Lakers have great defensive talent, and they are solid in a simple scheme. We’ve seen how strong Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball are with their on-ball defending, and if trapping with superb defenders in Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton and Malcolm Brogdon didn’t work, there’s no reason to think it’d succeed with the Lakers.
Who knows if Kidd is able to leave his defensive scheme in the past, but you’d have to think this would be a major talking point in any interview process. The world is adapt or die, and his coaching career would end unless he simplified his scheme and allowed the Lakers talent to play in a normal, modern defensive system.