Frank Vogel is known for emphasizing on defense for his teams. That side of the game is something that the Los Angeles Lakers players tend to mention in their postgame interviews.
NBA analyst Ric Bucher has a different opinion. According to him, the Lakers can’t defend and it shows in games, for example the loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
“The Lakers can’t [defend],” he said on On the Ball with Ric Bucher as he proceed with commenting individual defense of some players. “Let’s just look across the board. After Anthony Davis there isn’t a quality defender on the team, particularly on the perimeter.
“Russ Westbrook – subpar defender. Rajon Rondo – now is subpar defender. Carmelo Anthony – subpar defender. DeAndre Jordan – subpar defender, otherwise he’d still be in Brooklyn. Kent Bazemore average defender. Malik Monk – at best average defender.
“Avery Bradley made his name as a defender but at this point that was then and this is now. Austin Reaves – seriously subpar defender. I don’t know if Dwight Howard can still defend. But when there’s now resistance on the perimeter and he’s approaching his 36th birthday, he assuredly can’t move well enough to cover up the deluge of wings and point guard that are running rampant in the paint.”
According to Bucher, the Lakers are not making additional effort if their first attempt in defense fails, which he attributes to the team’s age.
“Now at times the Lakers are not bad on their initial effort. But there is rarely a second or a third which is what you’d expect when you have a group of mid-thirties-somethings on the floor. At some point a pair of those old legs, and it just takes one, is going to be slow to rotate or to recover.
“The compensation is to not press up in order to avoid getting beat and needing help. Take a screenshot when the Lakers are defending on the perimeter. Against the Oklahoma City just about every one of them was inside the arc. Even the guy on the ball.
“The Thunder came into the game as the second-worst three-point shooting team in the league. But give almost every player time to set their feet and a clear look at the rim and they’re capable of knocking down three which is why the Thunder shot 40% against the Lakers from long distance. Should it really be a surprise that after coming into the game averaging 94 points the Thunder scored 123 against the Lakers, 99 in the last three quarters?”
After five regular season games, the Lakers are the worst team defensively in the entire NBA conceding 119.6 points per game. At the same time, they are the second-best team offensively averaging 116 points per game.
