Ric Bucher, NBA analyst and former ESPN commentator, called the Lakers a “soft team” during LA’s loss to Minnesota. One of his criticisms was not being able to defend against their opponents.
The “nba rumors: lakers” is a rumor that has been floating around the NBA since the Lakers have not been able to defend.
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Defense was the major priority of the Los Angeles Lakers when they won the NBA Championship in 2020. The Purple and Gold solidified themselves on the defensive end of the court, becoming a dominating force in the league at the time, thanks to LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and a host of strong defenders.
Many months have gone since then, but the Lakers will need to rediscover their defensive edge if they want to win another championship.
Unfortunately, the LeBron-led squad hasn’t looked terrific thus far in that department, and there’s a lot of doubt that they’ll be able to go all the way.
The evidence so far has revealed, according to NBA expert Ric Bucher, that this Lakers team just does not have it.
On ‘On the Ball,’ he added, “The Lakers can’t [defend].” Let’s take a look at the whole board. There isn’t a good defender on the team after Anthony Davis, especially on the perimeter.
Russ Westbrook is a below-average defender. Rajon Rondo is no longer a good defender. Carmelo Anthony is a below-average defender. DeAndre Jordan — he’d still be in Brooklyn if he wasn’t such a bad defender. Kent Bazemore is a competent defender. Malik Monk is a mediocre defender at best.
Avery Bradley rose to prominence as a defender, but that was then, and this is now. Austin Reaves is a terrible defender. I’m not sure whether Dwight Howard is still capable of defending. But now that there’s resistance on the perimeter and he’s nearing his 36th birthday, he’ll almost certainly be unable to cover up the downpour of wings and point guards in the paint.”
The Lakers have lost three of their first five games, and although they have shown flashes of brilliance on both sides of the court, they haven’t been able to maintain consistency, which might be a sign of their age.
“Now, the Lakers aren’t always poor with their first attempt. When you have a bunch of mid-thirties-somethings on the floor, though, you don’t usually get a second or third. A pair of those elderly legs, and it only takes one, will be sluggish to rotate or recover at some time.
To prevent being beaten and requiring assistance, the compensation is to not push up. When the Lakers are guarding on the perimeter, take a screenshot. Almost single one of them was inside the arc against Oklahoma City. Even the person who’s in charge of the ball.
The Lakers lost a 26-point lead to the Thunder in their worst game of the season (widely considered to be the worst team in basketball). By the time the final buzzer sounded, they had surrendered 123 points.
“The Thunder entered the contest as the league’s second-worst three-point shooting team. But give nearly any player enough time to set their feet and a clean view of the basket, and they can knock down threes, which is why the Thunder shot 40 percent from long range against the Lakers. Should it come as a surprise that the Thunder scored 123 points against the Lakers, 99 in the last three quarters, after averaging 94 points per game entering the contest?
Because the 2020-21 season is still in its early stages, it’s premature to write the Lakers out based on the limited sample size we’ve seen so far.
They may have to play catch-up for the remainder of the season if they don’t get their act together soon.
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