Column: Byron Scott knows Lakers have a lot of work to do on defense
From his first news conference, Lakers Coach Byron Scott made it clear that defense would be his priority the moment sneakers hit the practice floor. Every player would have to understand that defense won’t be optional, evoking lessons he learned as an NBA rookie from Magic Johnson that “we win championships by defending every single night.”
He promised the Lakers would “play hard every night and we’ll come ready to defend every single night,” reviving a concept that had become foreign and forgotten during the Mike D’Antoni era. It sounded great, especially while Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Jamaal Wilkes listened intently from seats in the front row.
To anyone who watched the Lakers last season and watched opponents score all too easily most nights, Scott’s words sounded more like wishful thinking. The Lakers ranked 29th in points allowed, at 109.2. They were 27th in point differential, at minus 6.3. Last in rebounds allowed, an average of 49. Twenty-sixth in field-goal percentage allowed, .468.
“I knew we had some work to do,” a smiling Scott said Wednesday, proving, at the very least, that he’s a master of understatement.
Two weeks into training camp and three games into an eight-game exhibition schedule, the Lakers have a ways to go before they approach the defensive level Scott wants. And that’s throwing out their horrible performance in a 116-75 loss to Golden State last Sunday on the basis that the high-powered Warriors are likely to make a lot of opponents look confused and muddled this season.
The next two games should provide a better gauge of how much the Lakers have moved the meter defensively. Both are against competitive Utah — at Anaheim on Thursday and at Staples Center on Sunday.
“I’m not really concerned yet,” Scott said. “I know there’s areas that we’re getting better in. The transition defense was an area that I was really concerned about in the last game, the last couple of games. So those are things that we discussed” Tuesday and again on Wednesday.
Making a concerted and consistent effort on defense will matter this season for the Lakers, a wonderful and welcome change after the defensive disasters of the D’Antoni era.
It will take time to drum this into everyone’s heads, and there will be some limitations even if and when it’s embraced. With the departure of Pau Gasol — who had his faults defensively but averaged 1.5 blocks per game last season and 1.6 for his career — the Lakers have no real shot-blocking threats except maybe power forward/center Ed Davis, who averaged 0.7 blocks for Memphis last season and 0.9 for his career. How good defensively will the backcourt be, with or without fragile Steve Nash?
There’s still a lot to be settled.
“It’s a new thing for us. We’ve got a lot of new players, a new coaching staff, and last year we really weren’t focused on defense most of the time,” said Jordan Hill, a better rebounder than shot-blocker who averaged 0.9 blocks last season.
“Offense was our key, but Byron is more of a defensive coach and knows it will be something new to us. We know what we’ve got to do, and we’ve got to go out there and make a point to do it and get it started.”
Robert Sacre said he has seen improvement, even though Golden State shot 56% in each of its two victories over the Lakers last week.
“Guys are holding each other accountable,” he said. “I think that’s important for the fact that we have trust with one another and we really want to push each other to the highest level on the defensive end.”
Was that not the case last season?
“I think it was, but I don’t think we were just holding ourselves accountable,” Sacre said. “Each person to a man, we weren’t holding ourselves accountable. And you have to hold your teammates accountable. You really have to hold each other accountable for the fact that, hey, you can’t miss that assignment because I need you to be there. I think that’s important.”
Scott has liked the half-court defense and players’ intensity.
“It’s just a matter of guys learning how to play with each other a little bit more,” he said. “Communication has to be a lot better because there’s a lot of things you can script in practice and some things that happen that you can’t script, and if your communication is great then guys are able to work themselves out of it.
“You’re going to hear me talk about defense all season long until guys get to the point where they know that that’s the main focus of our team this year.”
On the day of that first news conference Scott also said he loves challenges. He found one that might be his biggest test yet.
Twitter: @helenenothelen
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