In this episode of the Laker Film Room Podcast, Pete and I talk about Frank Vogel and what he’s shown in leading the Lakers head coach to begin the season.
We begin our discussion with Vogel having the highest approval rating he could have at this early stage of the season, boasting an 11-2 record and a team that’s ranked #1 in the NBA defensively. We then talk about the obstacles he had to overcome to get to this point, getting into the circumstances around his hiring and the disarray the organization was in when he was named head coach.
After that we dive into the mechanics of how you go from being the Lakers second (third? fourth?) choice to generating the type of buy-in he has, particularly defensively and how his acumen coaching that side of the ball has contributed not only to generating that buy-in, but how their subsequent success has allowed him to maintain that support from the players.
In the second half of the pod we get into some of the challenges we see Vogel facing as the season progresses, particularly on the offensive side of the ball and what we’re seeing in his utilization of Anthony Davis. We identify getting more out of Davis as a key aspect of this team becoming what it needs to be to compete for a championship and brainstorm ideas Vogel can implement to get his star big man easier baskets.
Really enjoyed picking Pete’s brain to talk some X’s and O’s in this one and hope you enjoy it too. You can give the full episode a listen below.
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