Coming into the season it was pretty much a given the Lakers would struggle defensively. Sure, Byron Scott would talk up having a defensive mentality and playing a physical brand of basketball that would make life difficult on opponents, but so far that has really just been talk. Instead what we have seen to start the season has been a team playing a particularly bad brand of defense that when looking at the numbers has been downright scary.
Before we dig into those, however, let’s put the caveats out there. In the team’s first four games of the season none of their opponents were ranked lower than 12th in offensive efficiency last season:
- Clippers: 109.4, 1st in 2013-14
- Rockets: 108.6, 4th in 2013-14
- Suns: 107.1, 8th in 2013-14
- Warriors: 105.3, 12th in 2013-14
In other words, the Lakers have faced a gauntlet of strong offensive teams to open their season. Further, they have played these teams in the season’s first five nights while playing shorthanded. These are not the circumstances you want to play any games under, but especially not teams who have a lot of offensive firepower who can take advantage of the team’s defensive weaknesses.
In saying those things, however, the defensive numbers over those first four games are downright awful. A sampling:
- Points allowed per game: 118.0, worst in the NBA
- Defensive Efficiency: 120.2, worst in the NBA
- Field Goal % allowed: 50.5%, worst in the NBA
- Effective Field Goal (eFG) % Allowed: 58.7%, worst in the NBA
- 3point Field Goal % allowed: 43.6%, 26th in the NBA
- Opponent 3point Field Goal attempts: 29.3, most in the NBA
- Fouls committed per game: 28.0, 2nd most in the NBA (29.3 by the Magic)
To summarize, the Lakers allow the most points, have the worst defensive efficiency, allow opponents to shoot over 50% from the floor (with an eFG over 58%), over 43% from behind the arc on the most attempts in the league, and do this all while committing the 2nd most fouls each night. Those last two points are particularly troubling since it is now pretty much accepted that two of the most efficient ways to score are at the foul line and from behind the arc. Welp.
Before I completely bury the team, though, I should note that there are a couple of things the team is doing that I do like. The team is middle of the pack at forcing turnovers (though, not many of these are of the live ball variety). Byron Scott has done a good job of having his guards dig down on post players, having them execute good double teams when the big man commits to his move off the dribble. The team is also doing a good job of limiting shot attempts inside five feet, allowing the 6th fewest attempts per game in the league (just don’t ask what opponents shoot, you won’t like the answer).
Of course, these positives pale in comparison to the negatives so far. And while some of that can be explained by the caveats above, not all of it can be blamed on those things. The Lakers over-help inside and that leads to an inordinate amount of open three pointers. They are poor in transition and that leads to the types of open looks that lead to a high field goal percentage. And while it would be nice to say the reinforcements coming back will help, I don’t think adding Ryan Kelly and Nick Young back to the rotation are going to help things much on the defensive side of the floor.
Now, I do not expect the Lakers to be this bad on defense all season. At some point things will normalize some, especially as they face opponents who aren’t as strong offensively as their first four opponents. But, while the numbers will improve some, they do reflect what the eye test tells us. And as much as we might want that to change, with this personnel do not bet on it.
*Statistics for this post from NBA.com/stats
Ko says
Boozer, Lin and Kobe are defensive liabilites.
Start Price and Davis and numbers will get a bit better.
AusPhil says
You’d imagine the opponent 3s per game will dip as we stop playing Houston and GSW. Although we have to play Phoenix again tomorrow.
Nonetheless, some concerning numbers.
RollingWave says
Coach Nick’s break down of the Warrior’s game (most notably Klay’s huge go off) offers a good insight into what’s wrong.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsWiF-o8Nls
you can summerize it as ” Wes Johnson sucking badly and a strong helping of Boozer while no one else really contributes positively much either”
From a personel POV, Wes is probably the bigger problem than anyone else, since he’s suppose to be the stopper and if anything he might be the worst overall defender on the team.
The Dane says
A good NBA defense needs a number of things. One is a good system and a coach who can get his team to follow it religiously (see Thibs, Vogel, Pop), another is relatively high IQ players and team players (again Chicago and Spurs come to mind). Then there is length and athletic ability (Pacers). And if according to coach Nick Here from Bballbreakdown, having an elite wing defender and a rim protecting big is another essential key, which can cover up for a few less fresh eggs in your basket: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bh5eIETc0is
Coach: Lakers have a coach that talks Defense, but he does not have a proven track list with his former teams (that were pretty average to bad on the defensive end).
Player IQ: I have my doubts here. Kobe is saving his legs for offense at times and Boozer, Wes, Hill, X, Young do not seem to be the sharpest tools in the defensive toolbox.
Raw athletic ability and length: Well Wes is an athlete, but he is no Iguadala, Kawhi, Jimmy Butler etc.. Hill and Davis have motor, but miss a little length to be real stoppers (though Davis is our best bet). But again, mostly the Lakers are faster than last year, but it is simply not a team packed with physical specimen.
A stopper and a protector: Well… no. We just have neither.
So going through the defensive cheklist, the Lakers just don’t have any of the right ingredients, and it really is showing in games. Sigh.
KenOak says
Pretty cool quote by Kobe. He’s not going anywhere folks-
“It was really tough to land those free agents just because of the opportunities that they had,” Bryant said. “You got ‘Melo going back to New York, LeBron going back home to Cleveland. The odds just weren’t in our favor. But I took comfort in the fact that the Lakers did absolutely everything possible to make it happen. Absolutely everything possible.
“We offered Pau an incredible deal. I saw them put the work in. It’s much different than in 2007 when I felt like they were just sitting on their hands. This is not that case. They were going after it and being aggressive. I will fight for that till the end. They tried, tried and tried and it didn’t work out. I stand behind them 110 percent. I bleed purple and gold.”
The Dane says
@KenOak That does not sound like the usual kliché of standing by your team. I am glad to hear this from Kobe.
agree says
I completely agree with the article. Like many people have pointed out before, they lack the physical tools to be anything beyond mediocre on defense. I for one, would love to just see them hit the mediocre level. Who plays the most on the court can help a bit (Boozer please just root on the team from the bench).
Honestly, I was seriously excited that Ryan Kelly was “probable”. I ended up laughing after realizing how silly that was at some level, but I feel desperate for the team to have more talent on the floor. The thought of someone who can knock down a three and maybe help space out the O is slightly heartening. I think this team’s best chance is actually to improve their offense, they do have some offensive talent and guys can have hot shooting nights that can help push them over to the W column occasionally.
Currently Kobe leads the league in usage at 37.3% (wow) and only 3.3 assists. That isn’t going to fly. He looked good passing in the clippers game, and he is going to have to move the ball more. Lin and Davis have been doing almost no PnR’s lately, and that was money in the pre-season. Anyway, here’s to hoping they pull out an unlikely victory. As this article and many other’s have noted, I don’t think we will see many wins by defensive superiority. We just need a good effort, and clearly have to minimize the easy looks the other team is getting from 3ptland, and maybe consistently shoot 20 three’s a game ourselves.
Renato Afonso says
Here’s the problem with Kobe’s quote: to me, when they put the work in, they had already done the damage. Mediocre players, a bad coach that alienated big men and a lack of direction by the FO (see Farmar’s quote when he signed with the Clippers).
I still don’t want to get much into X’s and O’s because I really dislike analyzing one side of the ball without looking at the other but the fact is that while Byron may try to improve our defense, it may not be possible to get much of it out of this roster. Our perimeter defense is porous and we do lack a shot blocker to make up for it. Hill and Davis are very serviceable big men that would work well if surrounded by good perimeter defense, as they wouldn’t have to actually block shots but just contain penetration and grab the defensive rebound. Also, those numbers are still a small sample size and against some of the top offenses in the league, so I wouldn’t say that we’re the worst defensive team in the league. We’re surely on the bottom tier of the league, but we are not the worst. However, in those numbers there’s one simple old school stat that is in fact troubling: FG% allowed.
This is beyond allowing too many 3 point shots or fast breaks. This usually indicates bad defense in all areas of the game (since the 3pt percentage is usually lower than at the rim). Plenty of work ahead and while this is hardly a tank job, it is certainly a bad job in the past two to three years by the FO/coach(es). There are (were) certainly better wing defenders available than the players we currently have…
Brian says
Whatever happens, Kobe should retire a Laker. If people aren’t happy with 5 championships, then they need to get their heads checked. Hopefully, we get a great pick and fantastic free agent this coming summer and can send Kobe out in style. Either way, he should retire a Laker and hold on to a legacy that these other chumps won’t sniff!
BigCitySid says
The Lakers are not the only ones going thru this awful start of a season. At 0-4, it’s the 2nd worst start in the franchise. However, unless you were a fan in ’57-’58 (when they went 0-7), personally this is the worst Laker season start you have ever experienced. As Laker fans we are in uncharted waters. Add in the numerous perceived franchise issues pertaining to player personnel, coaches, and front office and it’s pretty easy to, at the very least, see why so many fans have so many different opinions of what should be done to “correct” the situation.
I’ve been a fan since ’65-’66. I’ve enjoyed 11 championships with this team. And I’ve seen a lot of rebuilds and retools. Looking forward to the start of the next one.
Right now it’s time to figure out how to beat the Suns. 1-4 is a lot better than 0-5. Go Lakers.
PurpleBlood says
Dang KenOak, awesome quote by Mamba, thanks for posting.
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Even as concise as it is, Darius´ header today is still an understatement…let´s get it together fellas!!
GO LAKERS!
J C says
Lake
Craig W. says
I simply can’t argue with the statistics. I can, however, question just how relevant they are. There is absolutely no question we are a bad defensive team, but…
1) This is a new coach and young players who, largely, haven’t played together before.
2) We are at the start of the season and #1 will mean more, especially when we play the first four games, back-to-back and against four of the best offensive teams in the NBA.
I don’t expect us to be a very good defensive team, but we should become better as we play and our players should develop to the point we can put more pressure on them. Right now there is too much thinking going on for any consistency to be present. A good part of effective defense is instinctual and young players in a new system aren’t going to exhibit a lot of instinct.
Again, this is what rebuilding looks like — and some of our players will simply fail (like, say Boozer), but they all must be given a chance before they are placed on the bench for longer and longer stretches as the season goes on.
gene says
Leading the league in shot attempts….Kobe.
agree says
The Silver Linings as I see it are the following.
1. We really don’t know what this team is capable of since there are so many new pieces, and we are missing key pieces from injury. I view Young as a difference maker and if he can be held to account defensively, he will be key for us not breaking records for losses in a row.
2. Kobe looks pretty good, he just needs to adjust a bit and defensively take on slower opponents as much as possible.
3. EVEN IF this team was actually good, they being 0-4 is still a likely outcome. They are playing teams that are all playoff bound (I think the suns will make it this year if healthy).
4. We have 78 more games to go and statistics suggest we are in for some wins at some point 🙂
T. Rogers says
Most of you have said what I would say. The schedule so far plus the roster means 0-4. Unfortunately I’m not sure much will change with the addition of Swaggy and Kelly. Neither of those guys are “defensive” players. Both could add some additional offense though. But for that to happen Kobe is going to have to loosen up his grip on the ball a little.
Young looked pretty good toward the end of last season. He also played starters minutes and was given the green light to handle and shoot the ball at will. He won’t have that kind of clearance now. So it remains to be seen just exactly what the team can get from him. The context is different this time around. Kobe changes everything.
As far as defense, without any major roster changes things won’t improve much. Sure the Lakers will eventually play the Timberwolves and 76ers. But they are still in the Western Conference. And they are still in a very tough Pacific Division. The bulk of their games will be against teams that will make their defensive numbers look just as bad as they are now.
rr says
1. We really don’t know what this team is capable of since there are so many new pieces,
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Again, players have track records when they arrive. Scott had a track record when he got here, too. There were several analysts who said in preseason that the Lakers could possibly have an historically bad defense. Certainly the schedule has made them look especially bad, but process/schemes/familiarity will ultimately lead to only marginal improvements. As Renato suggests, the Lakers just don’t have the personnel to play good defense at the NBA level.
I have seen most of the West play already–every team except Minnesota. Combining that with the numbers/track records/projections, the Lakers IMO pretty clearly have the worst roster in the conference short-term, and long-term, are in the worst talent situation of any team in the NBA, except, arguably, some middle-tier teams like Denver. Philadelphia is worse than the Lakers are as of today, but they have Noel, Carter-Williams, and Embiid in the wings. That may not work out for them, but these are specific players under contract that give their fans reason for hope.
So, long-term, the Lakers are basically looking at the narrative put forward by some of the more vociferous optimist types here: Tank. Julius Randle will still be awesome. They will get another awesome guy in the 2015 draft. Then they will clean up in FA with Kobe’s contract off the books and the expanded cap. For many reasons, I think that is a very shaky narrative, but that is pretty much what we have.
Ryan says
Can’t play defense and Jeremy Lin is our only point guard. I’m not saying price sucks but we really needed to get a pg in the off season. We should have re-signed farmar if nothing else. There is no way we can ever be remotely competitive with our pg situation as it is
R says
Well At least they are consistent. By the way, when will Byron be fired? I mean, isn’t that usually what lousy front offices do? You know, instead of doing the hard fixes needed to win, they simply replace the coach.
Vasheed says
The Lakers should have needed an infusion of defensively capable players for years. Guys that are touted a defensive players like Hill and Johnson are moderate defenders at best. Out of guys brought in this year Boozer, Randle, and Davis only Davis is an upgrade on the defensive side of the ball.
Byron came up with a reasonable plan of defense given what he has but it is clearly not working. There is only so much coaching can do if you F.O. doesn’t make a priority out of thinking about roster construction.
The quickest way to stop the bleeding on the defensive side of the ball is to go out and get a defensive center. Only problem is at this point they are hard to find. You aren’t going to find one in the bargain bin of free agents left and there are not many teams with a glut of talented defensive centers who are going to trade one to the Lakers for any assets they have at the moment. Getting a guy like Asik should have been a priority early in the offseason instead of mooning over guys like Anthony.
I would be a little more hopeful with guys like Young and Kelly coming back. Young is definitely more of an offensive weapon but he exhibited a lot more intensity on the defensive side of the ball then I would have ever imagined before he arrived in L.A. Kelly lacks the physical gifts to ever be an elite defender but he has a high I.Q. necessary to implement defensive schemes. Guys like Kelly can defend better then might be expected because he will do what he should be doing and not overly rely on physical gifts making up for mistakes in judgement.
always a triangle fan says
four games in and we have the “fire byron” talk already. maybe this isn’t the first one…i haven’t paid close attention. seems like byron didn’t really have a shot here from the get go. Bet there are more d’antoni fans here than in phoenix and nyc combined. after all, wasn’t there a guest blog here last year suggesting that d’antoni was one of the greatest coaches – or something along those lines?
mud says
when you’ve played 4 games and lost two by huge margins, i would expect the numbers to be staggeringly bad. all i’m looking for is steady improvement right now.
R says
Always – my “fire Byron” talk was attempted sarcasm …
Pat says
Ex commissioner Stern got what he wanted. A weakened Laker brand, and a Kobe that has no chance of getting his sixth ring. Now that he has what he wants, I’m not so sure that these things are in the best interest of a healthy NBA brand. You know how the saying goes, be careful what you wish for.
Robert says
As a Byron supporter, I am not betting that Byron gets his 4th year (team option). In fact – I think it is even money whether he completes 3. I said when we hired him that he would not be our coach when we become contenders and that looks bordering on obvious now. I think we should keep him and weather the storm. That said – it is LA and it is our FO. Anything is possible.
We need to win one of the next 2. Tonight is winnable and if not tonight, then the game against the bumblebees becomes a literal must win. If we go to 0-6 it will be very bad. Root hard the next 2 cause it gets much harder after that.
AusPhil says
Pat – Exactly.
rr says
after all, wasn’t there a guest blog here last year suggesting that d’antoni was one of the greatest coaches – or something along those lines?
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There are a couple of blog writers at SSR who have, at times, pushed variants of the idea that D’Antoni is a top-tier coach who did a great job with the Lakers.
Like I said even before Scott was hired, it is sort of a cultural thing. Many old-school fans who remember Showtime are going to support Scott more than many younger quant-oriented fans and blog types are. That is a loose generalization, but there is some truth to it, as we see here daily at FBG.
T. Rogers says
Stern worked for the owners. The majority of them own non-marquee teams in non-prime locations. Dan Gilbert and Mark Cuban probably spoke for a large contingent of owners when they complained to Stern about the Chris Paul trade. Stern caved. And here we are.
What struck me most about the CBA negotiations and the failed CP3 trade is just how much ire the Lakers organization seems to draw from the other owners. There is a new cohort of owners who have come in the last decade. They don’t care about what the Lakers meant to the league in the past. They will do all they can to defeat the Lakers.
Going forward the Lakers are really going to have to innovate if they are to return to their dominant form. I’ve always thought highly of Jeanie and Mitch. But the team needs an infusion of new ideas and youth in key positions.
BigCitySid says
@ Pat & AusPhil, lol if you guys think former comm Stern was able to that w/o an assist from the Laker FO, your making excuses for their inexperience…or incompetence.
Spitfire says
Lol @D’Antoni being the greatest coach. The write up of SSR about D’Antoni did a great job of coaching last year was even backed up by Mitch himself. I am a supporter of him since day 1 when he was hired but he has his own weaknesses and coaches all do have. However, the funny thing here is that, most commenters here didnt even asked themselves why am i saying this things now when last year we have a roster that consists mostly D-Leaguers and much worse became starters. Some says that “there are so many pieces”, “new coach”, ” have’nt even played together before”, ” no capable defenders”, things like that. May i ask you how about last year??? All those “alibis” i guess were a problem before and definitely much worse than year. Then why in the world didnt you said that last year??? Same thing with Magic, Worthy,Scott himself who continuously bashes D’Antoni. D’Antoni DID A GREAT JOB last year, he has no healthy Kobe, he has no Lin and Davis who could work a lighter version of Nash-Stoudemire PnR. D’Antoni squeezed talent from D-Leaguer players who became “starters” last year. Then most of you kept ignoring those facts, also the facts that the Lakers were playing.500 in the West where almost nothing has changed SANS Kobe! It spiralled down when one of the starters got injured and the continuity got derailed. Another fun facts, MDA asked Hill to shoot more 17ftrs to space the floor but mostly were mad at thecoach saying, ” why let Hill shoot that 17ftrs and play inside”. But now, Hill has improved a lot and credit D’Antoni for that. Hill didnt even recognized that and that what it makes even funnier. At least last year was fun, so far this season, only Kobe is only the “fun” part to watch cos he never fails to amaze me. Anyway, at least now it answered all my questions last year about those who hates MDA.
always a triangle fan says
not on ssr. here. Here it is: The Curious Case of Mike D’Antoni – December 23, 2013.
My favorite quote, which is taken out of context: “Based on the above info, you’d think Mike D’Antoni would have earned a reputation as one of the league’s finest coaches.”
D’Antoni is a slighter better version than Don Nelson. They’re better assistant coaches than coaches.
Can’t believe anyone would say the players last year are worse than this year’s talent. But D’Antoni’s defenders never quit. They’re a busy bunch, because they have to be.
rr says
The write up of SSR about D’Antoni did a great job of coaching last year was even backed up by Mitch himself.
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But not enough to extend him. End of story.