The Lakers are therefore the team that has squandered a 10-point lead the most times this season in the NBA. Facing the Hawks, it is indeed the 12th time that Frank Vogel’s troops dropped a match after pointing to +10.
Obviously, this causes frustration in the group, which broke its teeth on the “zone” of Atlanta at the end of the match, but it is also (and above all) the illustration of the defensive limits of this team, whose weaknesses are far too easily exploited by opponents, especially without LeBron James.
Last night, Los Angeles indeed collapsed offensively at the end of the game, scoring only 20 points at 7/22 shooting in the fourth quarter, but above all was far too permissive in defense. How did the Lakers manage to collect 38 points at 13/19 in the last 12 minutes of a close match, with in particular a 6/6 from Onyeka Okongwu who feasted under the circle? The answer comes mainly from the fact that this Californian workforce lacks defenders, and in particular players capable of “tagging”.
The “tagger” is this third player who comes to interfere with the pick-and-roll and it is an inconspicuous but extremely valuable role in the current NBA. The problem is that Frank Vogel has few good “taggers” available.
Los Angeles desperately seeks shadow defenders…
Miami had already made extensive use of this weakness, and to revive itself, Atlanta also cleverly placed the Lakers’ weak taggers in coverage, in order to take the defense from behind. There, it is Talen Horton-Tucker who must manage the cut of Onyeka Okongwu, but Delon Wright comes out at 3-point. With the overly permissive hatch of Austin Reaves and especially Dwight Howard, the interior of the Hawks finds itself with a small quiet layup under the circle.
Los Angeles’ second-curtain coverage has been problematic overall since the start of the season, so it doesn’t take much to fully open the racket…again for Onyeka Okongwu.
Especially when even Anthony Davis refuses to make the effort to come and help.
The following action also illustrates the defensive tinkering of Frank Vogel, with a workforce that lacks players with solid bases in the field. As the Lakers are overwhelmed on almost every pick-and-roll of Trae Young, Stanley Johnson is sent to float and thus attempt to torpedo the opposing playmaker’s actions.
Except that the latter responds with a pass over the defense, a risk-taking that he has developed lately and which still finds Onyeka Okongwu under the circle, for the dunk in two stages.
The Hawks again showed how crumbly the Los Angeles defense was, even in handling simple cuts to the circle in the back of the first curtain. Either because of a lack of effort and communication, or simply because of a lack of instinct and practice, with players who were used to letting shadow “role players” take on this kind of task during their careers, and who are therefore unable to achieve them today.
