Will the Lakers improve defensively compared to last year?

LA_Lakers_Rule

The Lakers have lost Farmar, Gasol, Kaman, Meeks, Marshall and Bazemore from last years roster.

The Lakers have added Boozer, Lin, Randle, Davis, Clarkson and Ellington to this years roster so far. (Am I missing anyone?)

Also the Lakers did not have the services of Kobe or Nash pretty much all of last year so they will be like virtual additions to this years team (one sort of cancels the other out

).

Meeks was the best defender by far of the players the Lakers lost from last years team. Not that much can be said of the others leaving the team really.

Boozer is a better defender than Gasol or Kaman in the front court.

Lin is arguably a better defender than Farmar or Marshall in the back court.

So how well will the Lakers be defensively this year considering they ranked #28 last year in NBA Team Defensive Efficiency?

Where do you think the Lakers will rank this coming year?

Discuss....
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pio2u · Retired Number Joined: 26 Dec 2012 Posts: 54570

I doubt if they could be any worse than they were last year.

ryan_c · Star Player Joined: 08 Dec 2007 Posts: 1371

Hard_Butter · Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2014 5:39 pm Post subject:

How is this even a question? There's no where but up from Antoni....that is unless Paul Westhead and/or Doug Moe are still in the league.
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Hard_Butter · Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2014 5:41 pm Post subject:

yinoma2001 · Retired Number Joined: 19 Jun 2010 Posts: 119487

From last year? Of course.
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activeverb · Retired Number Joined: 17 Jun 2006 Posts: 37470

will probably be better, if only because we really can't get much worse and Byron will emphasize defense. that said, I expect we'll still be one of the worst defensive teams in the league because we really have very little defensive talent on the squad

Nightwalker · Star Player Joined: 09 May 2013 Posts: 2739

LA_Lakers_Rule · Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2014 5:54 pm Post subject:

A whole lot of discussion about DEFENSE in this Q&A with Head Coach Byron Scott

Some highlights:

Byron Scott: .... Defensively, we’ll start to work from day one, because that’s something we have to get better at right away, and we will.

Mike Trudell: .... what did you take from watching the games that could be improved upon defensively regardless of talent?

Scott: Defensive philosophy has to be constant. This is no knock on Mike at all, but there were games where they were playing defense one way, and other games where they played it differently. When I go into the season, there are three ways we’re going to guard side pick and rolls, for example: we’re going to down it, hard show, or red it (trap). If you do it from day one, guys get better at it because they’re working on it every day in practice. I want to establish those things day-to-day, and if you do that, it takes a lot of the thinking away and gets back to reacting.

Mike Trudell: You can play defense differently if you have a rim protector that you don’t really have on the currently shaped roster.

Scott: We’ll have a plan, but it will depend some on how guys play in training camp. With that said, we can't force everything defensively to (Jordan) Hill or (Carlos) Boozer, so we'll focus more on forcing guys to certain places and corral them instead of trying to block shots. What I see during the first few days of practice will make an impact there, so we can have an identity on that end of the floor.

Mike Trudell: How do you specifically play screen/roll differently with a team that doesn’t have a true rim protector?

Scott: You’re going to have to play a lot of help the helper to keep the ball from getting into the paint. That’s a lot of rotations, a lot of help, a lot of stunt and recover, where the guy with the ball sees one-and-a-half or two defenders every single time. You want to clog up the paint as much as possible and make the opponent take contested jump shots.

Mike Trudell: It depends how we define the term, but are you a player’s coach?

Scott: .... Defensively, I’m pretty demanding because I want it done a certain way and I want guys to compete every night and get after people. If we defend and rebound the floor, we get to run up the floor, and that’s the fun part....

Mike Trudell: Nick Young really did exceed expectations last season, averaging 17.9 points per game mostly off the bench, never quitting, at least working hard on defense. I know you like Swaggy P.

Scott: I liked how he played and how he was giving full effort on the defensive end, and I really love his energy. He cared about winning. He changed his whole persona, what people thought of him. I’d never seen him play defense before. I also saw him being unselfish at times where he made passes. I do love Swaggy coming off the bench.

Mike Trudell: Anything else you want Randle to get accomplished before camp starts?

Scott: .... We're already putting him through a lot of defensive things right now to get him going.
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dont_be_a_wuss · Franchise Player Joined: 29 Mar 2012 Posts: 21458

141+ points allowed in three games...yeah I think improvement is a safe bet.

Spill512 · Starting Rotation Joined: 20 May 2014 Posts: 212

Ed Davis is the only one on our roster with the potential to be classified as a "good defender," aside from maybe the rookies where its up in the air, but I think just by the nature of having D'Antoni out we'll improve.

LA_Lakers_Rule · Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2014 5:57 pm Post subject:

yinoma2001 · Retired Number Joined: 19 Jun 2010 Posts: 119487

dont_be_a_wuss · Franchise Player Joined: 29 Mar 2012 Posts: 21458

yinoma2001 · Retired Number Joined: 19 Jun 2010 Posts: 119487

greenfrog · Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2014 6:15 pm Post subject:

Before the injury, Farmar played pretty good on-the-ball defense. By the time he came back the losses had taken their toll and just about everyone had given up defensively.

I honestly don't know what Byron is talking about in regards to Swaggy's D. He took some charges late in games, but other than that nothing stands out, certainly not like Meeks' balls to the wall effort.

greenfrog · Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2014 6:17 pm Post subject:

ringfinger · Retired Number Joined: 08 Oct 2013 Posts: 29418

We'll be better defensively than last year, but we won't be a good defensive team.

LA_Lakers_Rule · Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2014 6:35 pm Post subject:

LA_Lakers_Rule · Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2014 6:42 pm Post subject:

LA_Lakers_Rule · Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2014 6:48 pm Post subject:

LA_Lakers_Rule · Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2014 6:54 pm Post subject:

A lot of people in the Will the Lakers be a good three point shooting team? thread think the Lakers will drop from 3rd best 3 point shooting team last year to "at best average this year" in 3-pt shooting this year.....

.... so with that in mind considering the Lakers were ironically ranked the exact opposite in defense last year as the 3rd worst in defensive efficiency as contrasted to the fact that last year they were the 3rd best three point shooting team (see link above)....

.... Could the Lakers end up improving from 3rd to last in defense to "at best average this year" in defensive efficiency just as so many feel they will drop in the very same manner in 3-pt shooting?

Here we go on the very first page of this topic:

ringfinger · Retired Number Joined: 08 Oct 2013 Posts: 29418

LA_Lakers_Rule · Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2014 7:07 pm Post subject:

ringfinger · Retired Number Joined: 08 Oct 2013 Posts: 29418