The one, the only DEFENSE IS THE PROBLEM thread

So I'm sitting here watching the game and SA is about to crack 100 with 10:30 left in the 4th.

So what is the real issue? Lack of coaching/direction? Player motivation? Chemistry?

Even with a depleted squad (Pau, Dwight, and Jordan out) we're on pace to break 100. How can we start stopping people?

Mods, pls feel free to move/lock if something like this exists and is unused. I just didnt find anything.

Kobe and Nash's defense is atrocious. Once the opposing PG gets by Nash, it's all over. Kobe's constant ball watching is annoying.

the problem is that we put ourselves in bad defensive situations because of our turnovers and allowing offensive rebounds. i can't remember the lakers being this poor at rebounding the ball

lakerswiz wrote:We give up the second most amount of Field Goal attempts a game in the league.

Slow it down and stop letting the other team have the ball.

No. We ran a slow-pace last season. We still lost in the 2nd round.

We have to establish good habits regardless of what pace we play at.

thisbjgz wrote:Kobe and Nash's defense is atrocious. Once the opposing PG gets by Nash, it's all over. Kobe's constant ball watching is annoying.

I don't think Nash's defense has been atrocious...at all. Kobe's has been bad though.

At times, Nash actually looks like a superior defender.

Another MDA thread.

I think individual defense is fine. TEAM defense is crap. Its like each player is playing off of previous concepts. How many times have 2 guys gone to the same player and left a guy wide open to the lane. A slower pace wouldn't hurt either. Too many 3s is too many run outs and for an older team that doesn't work. Transition D and team defense is killing them.

Indeed it is the problem, we keep giving up 100+. But, like borri's thread asked, is it fixable, what is the solution?

Nash isn't that bad except he can be overpowered. If you look at the guys that abuse him they are usually stronger PGs.

Solution is to develop a defense approach. First this team should have some zone in its arsenal. Second I would figure out a plan for P&R and stick with it. Usually its the third guy that doesn't rotate. Finally less sagging into the paint. The whole team doesn't need to help that is playground ball.

Did y'all see the D down the stretch? Kobe was awesome, and Nash made two nice stops that I can remember.

Of course, the moment I post this the lakers have a great end of the game on D. lol

I feel like the bulk of bulk of the issue is our team D (covers, rotations, etc), but then what is the REAL issue? All these guys are vets and know how to play team D... right?

Also, hate to say it but Kobe cant guard anyone. It's like open season on him out there this year. Especially his off ball D.

IMO the main culprit on D is effort. We just saw guys actually giving effort down the stretch tonight on D. Now if only they could give that same effort every possession instead of for few minutes at a time or only when we're down big.

Weezy wrote:Indeed it is the problem, we keep giving up 100+. But, like borri's thread asked, is it fixable, what is the solution?

I think the only way we can top off this season is to do ONE thing.

Fire MDA and bring in a defensive-minded coach like Mike Brown. At least his staff is here

trodgers wrote:Did y'all see the D down the stretch? Kobe was awesome, and Nash made two nice stops that I can remember.

Yes, but if Kobe (and the rest) hadn't allowed so many easy layups early on we wouldn't have had such a huge hole to climb out of as usual.

JGC wrote:

Weezy wrote:Indeed it is the problem, we keep giving up 100+. But, like borri's thread asked, is it fixable, what is the solution?

I think the only way we can top off this season is to do ONE thing.

Fire MDA and bring in a defensive-minded coach like Mike Brown. At least his staff is here

Oh god the horror. I would rather be Mike 'Antoni's personal mustache cleaner than ever see Brown's face on our bench again.

The defense was solid in the 4th; and if memory serves me correct, it was solid in the Clippers 4th quarter game. We just don't play it for 48 minutes. It's an effort thing. We have to play with that same intensity for 48 minutes. Rotations were better, guys hands were active, no second chance points during that period. A couple poessions for us go different for us in that game, and we might steal it.

Weezy wrote:

trodgers wrote:Did y'all see the D down the stretch? Kobe was awesome, and Nash made two nice stops that I can remember.

Yes, but if Kobe (and the rest) hadn't allowed so many easy layups early on we wouldn't have had such a huge hole to climb out of as usual.

The whole team was great I thought down the stretch defensively. We sucked offensively. How ironic. And maybe they aren't exactly tied together but it shows when your leader is playing D, and then the team seems to be playing D.

But this shows Kobe CAN play defense. So he has no excuse for not playing it. It can't be miles or age, he is scoring and has enough energy for that. I hope he sees what the impact to the game is when he actually tries on defense. I am confident he can still be a VERY good defender (maybe not elite like his younger years) but he has to at least TRY.

To me as much as its effort with Kobe, it's also what he always preaches himself, playing smart and executing. Leaving your man wide open to roam, and not watching your man or not seeing the ball on defense is not playing smart.

Weezy wrote:To me as much as its effort with Kobe, it's also what he always preaches himself, playing smart and executing. Leaving your man wide open to roam, and not watching your man or not seeing the ball on defense is not playing smart.

You nailed it. Dude LOVES to ball-hawk. Has his whole career. Only now he cant recover so quickly and can get smoked.

His on ball D is good usually because his ego takes over. Needs to be dedicated to locking someone down while off ball.

Weezy wrote:To me as much as its effort with Kobe, it's also what he always preaches himself, playing smart and executing. Leaving your man wide open to roam, and not watching your man or not seeing the ball on defense is not playing smart.

I swear ever since he left Ronnie Brewer wide open to roam in that Utah series, and it might be the one time it actually worked, maybe the problem is that Kobe thinks that IS executing.

I'm kidding of course, but, yeah it's not even questionable shooters being left open, it's above average shooters who will make you pay and the worst part about it is that the roaming accomplishes NOTHING.

At least with a double team it accomplishes getting the ball out of someone else's hands but this roaming this accomplishes nothing from a team defense standpoint and acts only to conserve energy for Kobe.

phoenixrisingla wrote:

Weezy wrote:To me as much as its effort with Kobe, it's also what he always preaches himself, playing smart and executing. Leaving your man wide open to roam, and not watching your man or not seeing the ball on defense is not playing smart.

You nailed it. Dude LOVES to ball-hawk. Has his whole career. Only now he cant recover so quickly and can get smoked.

His on ball D is good usually because his ego takes over. Needs to be dedicated to locking someone down while off ball.

Yeah. And you know, if he locks his man down, let's exaggerate and say he holds him to 0 points. Then Kobe doesn't NEED to score 30.

Especially with this team, we have the pieces to put paints on the board so if anything, his efforts should be leaning more towards the defensive side of things. He's got Nash to help save his legs from bringing the ball up, he's got other players to handle some of the offensive load.

Play defense with that energy Kobe!

Jan 9 - SAS scores 108 - Loss
Jan 8 - HOU scores 125 - Loss
Jan 6 - DEN scores 112 - Loss
Jan 4 - LAC scores 107 - Loss
Jan 1 - PHI scores 103 - Loss
Dec 28 - POR scores 87 - Win
Dec 26 - DEN scores 126 - Loss
Dec 25 - NYK scores 95 - Win
Dec 22 - GSW scores 115 - Win
Dec 18 - CHA scores 100 - Win
Dec 16 - PHI scores 98 - Win
Dec 14 - WAS scores 96 - Win
Dec 13 - NYK scores 113 - Loss
Dec 11 - CLE scores 100 - Loss
Dec 9 - UTA scores 117 - Loss
Dec 7 - OKC scores 114 - Loss
Dec 5 - NOH scores 87 - Win
Dec 4 - HOU scores 107 - Loss
Dec 2 - ORL scores 113 - Loss


Since Dec 1, The Lakers went 7-12.
- 6 out of 7 of the wins were when the opponent scored 100 points or less.
- 11 out of 12 of the losses, the opponents scored 101 points or more.

...... As the thread says, DEFENSE IS THE PROBLEM. Follow the trend.... hold teams under 100 and we win 85% of our games. Let them score over 101, we lose 92% of those games.

we don't play it for 48 minutes because we are old and it drains our energy.. We need to play more younger players like Clark, Increase JHILLs minutes, run a 10 man rotation, don't over play guys, add another wing man