Expectations from the defense this season

[Slava]

I think should be pretty low. No matter what B-Scott says, we still lack a true center who can block shots, the roster is void of any speed on the perimeter and the personnel we have just don't have the required skillset to compete at the end, not to mention certain players lack the competitive edge required to take it as a personal challenge.

I read this today from everybody's favorite basketball writer and even as a fan of the team I can only argue that it feels like a very accurate and blunt assessment.

8. The Lakers will rank 28th or worse in points allowed per possession.

Every stats-based prediction has to have a Philly allowance at the bottom. The Sixers avoided the cellar in this category last season, and they finally have Nerlens Noel to swat at everything in sight. But they’re going to be awful and a real risk to pull the historically rare double of finishing last in both points scored and allowed per possession.

They are the only thing standing in the way of a last-place Lakers finish. This team has none of the raw ingredients of even average defense — no slithery point guard to run around screens, no wing stopper, minimal team speed and rim protection. Byron Scott will talk the talk, but his Cleveland teams were disastrously bad on defense. Even defense-first coaches need talent, especially in the killer Western Conference, and the Lakers are bereft of it.

Zach Lowe | Grantland

[Dr Aki]

better than last year

or else what the hell did we hire byron scott for?

[Michael Lucky]

It's going to be atrocious and there's nothing Byron can do about it. The interior defense is going to be weak. While Hill isn't necessarily a terrible defender he's just not the type of Center you'd want to see down there to anchor any sort of defense. Boozer sure as heck is only going to make things worse for our interior defense. Wesley is well just Wesley and he's never shown himself to be a lock down defender. Finally the worst part, Kobe and Nash. My grandmother could penetrate on those guys.

[Kilroy]

Lin - Ellington - Kobe - Davis - Hill
Could be a good defensive lineup.
So could
Clarkson - Henry - Young - Randle - Hill

But I agree that an upgrade at C and SF would do a lot of good.

[Michael Lucky]

I wouldn't use Davis at the 4 no matter what. He has a history of being a much better player at the 5 which is why he's one of the few players looking good in preseason.

[Slava]

Not sure how much we can depend on Henry anyways, recurrent back spasms at 23 are not good. I propose revamping the starting line up to something like this:

Lin - Clarkson - Kobe - Kelly - Davis

That unit has the foot speed in the back court, shooting and shot blocking in the front court and the guards who can penetrate the defense for drive and kick plays.

Second unit can be

Price - Young - Ellington - Randle - Hill.

The last chance brigade should be

Nash - Henry - Wes - Boozer - Sacre. Anything we get here is gravy.

[ArC_man]

We were 28th last year, I would hope that with a team with a focus on defense (even without any talent) would be better than 28th. There are teams with bad defense that will stay roughly the same and there are teams that will get worse at defense. For example, the Knicks lost their best defender and added a terrible defender in Calderon at pg (they were 24th last year).

[ChokeFasncists]

Lin - Kobe (if healthy) - Johnson - Davis - Hill, that's not too bad defensively.

[aaron_gray]

Lin Wes and Davis should all prove to be defensive pluses

[Dr Aki]

i remember when we used to dare defenses to shoot threes instead of penetrating inside

then oppositions got really good at shooting threes and then our defensive philosophy broke down

[DEEP3CL]

First off Zach Lowe is a dumbass and secondly I disagree that we can't be a competent defensive team. It takes time to put in a defensive scheme, it takes time for players no matter how they are to learn that scheme.

Lin, Wes, Wayne, J.Hill, Clarkson, and Davis have the tools to be our best defensive players and nobody can tell me otherwise. Zach Lowe NEVER even dribbled a ball, how the hell would he know what it takes to play D ?

Y'all gonna learn to stop reading these dumbasses.

[Slava]

Zach Lowe is a dumbass

That settles it then.

[MKL]

Lowe has a bit of troll in him.

Sixers, Magic, Bucks, Wolves are tanking.

[kblo247]

First off Zach Lowe is a dumbass and secondly I disagree that we can't be a competent defensive team. It takes time to put in a defensive scheme, it takes time for players no matter how they are to learn that scheme.

Lin, Wes, Wayne, J.Hill, Clarkson, and Davis have the tools to be our best defensive players and nobody can tell me otherwise. Zach Lowe NEVER even dribbled a ball, how the hell would he know what it takes to play D ?

Y'all gonna learn to stop reading these dumbasses.

Scott is the only coach in league history to have bottom defenses for three consecutive years. Lowe has every right to go there, Scott hasn't shown he can coach D in the modern league. And having tools and the iq are two different things, Lin and Davis will compete. Hell I'm sure we can get Nick to compete. Wes and Hill though are a case, of low motor, nothing between the ears on that end despite their athletic ability; you can't trust them for 30 minutes or making the right decision on either end back to back .

The way this team will compete on D is with a zone concept like Carlisle uses, not man to man. Kidd and Kenyon aren't walking in that door to make Scott look good on that end, and Jordan and Frank aren't his assistants anymore. If Kobe was younger, he could lead the charge by going after the guy, but he isn't so that a no go from tip as far as us feeding off of it.

His best bet would be to bench Wes and Hill. Start Davis, Lin, and X alongside Kobe and Boozer. Then let the other be the garbage men to Young and Randle on the bench like the Iverson Sixers

[dockingsched]

i'd be surprised if they're in the top 25.

On a related note, one thing that kinda rubbed me the wrong way was a few weeks ago when a reporter asked Byron Scott about the team's defense and how his team's in Cleveland were some of the worst in the league...Scott didn't hesitate to throw his Cleveland players under the bus. He said that outside of Varejao, none of his players took pride in defense so thats why they were so bad. No accountability for his own coaching, no reflection on what he could have done differently.

[kblo247]

i'd be surprised if they're in the top 25.

On a related note, one thing that kinda rubbed me the wrong way was a few weeks ago when a reporter asked Byron Scott about the team's defense and how his team's in Cleveland were some of the worst in the league...Scott didn't hesitate to throw his Cleveland players under the bus. He said that outside of Varejao, none of his players took pride in defense so thats why they were so bad. No accountability for his own coaching, no reflection on what he could have done differently.

That's the story of his career. He has had 3 team mutinies for a reason