“We chose to rely on defense. » This is how Darvin Ham justified his change of five majors a few days ago, without a natural playmaker, by putting D'Angelo Russell on the bench to prefer Jarred Vanderbilt. After two matches, against Oklahoma City and Boston, the Lakers have one victory and one defeat.
But the record is far from good in defense, the point on which the coach precisely wanted to emphasize. In addition to another: the start of the match. “We think being a little bigger on the outside, more athletic, gives us a chance to take the advantage”added the coach.
With 39 points conceded against the Thunder in the first quarter, then 32 against Boston, including a 12-0 to start, the expected effect is still awaited. And with an average of 123 points taken in these two matches, the score is not really there…
“We have to focus on defense”announces Anthony Davis for theOCR. “We're not really a team that switches, that changes on defense, but we have to do it with our formation. We are capable of it. There are communication problems. Offensively, everything is fine, but we have to do better defensively. »
“Communication is the basis of everything”
Jarred Vanderbilt confirms the observation made by his teammate, in particular to discuss the difficulties in transition. “It’s basically communication. We changed the entire defense without having had training, it's difficult. We were thrown like that and we have to find the answers during the match”he assures.
The Lakers were able to practice before hosting the Hornets this Thursday evening. A ” good training “, also slipped Vanderbilt. And since Charlotte is one of the worst offenses in the league, there is a good opportunity to gain momentum.
“Lack of communication is the only thing that can prevent us from maximizing what we have on the ground”estimates Darvin Ham. “It starts in transition. The players cross paths, they talk to each other to find out where the defensive help is, to try to block the rebound. Communication is the basis of everything. »
| Shots | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Party | Pts |
| LeBron James | 28 | 34.3 | 53.9 | 41.3 | 74.2 | 1.0 | 6.8 | 7.8 | 7.3 | 3.4 | 1.5 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 25.4 |
| Anthony Davis | 29 | 35.8 | 54.7 | 40.7 | 80.5 | 3.4 | 9.0 | 12.4 | 3.2 | 2.0 | 1.1 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 24.9 |
| Angelo Russell | 30 | 29.4 | 46.8 | 38.2 | 76.7 | 0.3 | 2.7 | 3.0 | 6.1 | 1.8 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 2.0 | 15.1 |
| Austin Reaves | 31 | 29.3 | 47.7 | 36.8 | 88.0 | 1.0 | 3.7 | 4.7 | 5.0 | 2.4 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 1.5 | 15.1 |
| Rui Hachimura | 22 | 24.3 | 48.6 | 37.8 | 72.7 | 0.8 | 3.0 | 3.8 | 1.1 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 12.0 |
| Taurean Prince | 29 | 31.0 | 44.4 | 39.4 | 75.0 | 0.3 | 2.6 | 2.9 | 1.8 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 2.3 | 10.2 |
| Cam Reddish | 26 | 24.7 | 39.8 | 30.1 | 86.8 | 0.6 | 2.0 | 2.7 | 1.5 | 0.7 | 1.4 | 0.3 | 1.8 | 7.0 |
| Christian Wood | 26 | 18.8 | 46.3 | 27.9 | 61.8 | 0.9 | 4.6 | 5.5 | 0.9 | 1.2 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 1.5 | 6.8 |
| Gabe Vincent | 5 | 25.5 | 37.5 | 11.8 | 50.0 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 1.0 | 3.0 | 0.4 | 1.2 | 0.0 | 2.4 | 5.4 |
| Max Christie | 22 | 16.5 | 38.7 | 30.2 | 71.4 | 0.1 | 2.3 | 2.5 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 1.4 | 4.3 |
| Colin Castleton | 4 | 7.0 | 62.5 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 1.8 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.3 | 3.0 |
| Jaxson Hayes | 28 | 10.6 | 66.0 | 0.0 | 53.6 | 0.5 | 1.4 | 1.9 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 1.9 | 2.9 |
| Jalen Hood-schifino | 5 | 10.4 | 22.2 | 12.5 | 50.0 | 0.2 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 1.4 | 2.8 |
| From me Hodge | 7 | 5.9 | 33.3 | 25.0 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 2.0 |
| Jared Vanderbilt | 10 | 16.0 | 28.0 | 0.0 | 50.0 | 1.3 | 2.9 | 4.2 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 1.9 | 1.5 |
| Alex Fudge | 4 | 3.6 | 16.7 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 1.0 |
| Maxwell Lewis | 12 | 4.4 | 11.1 | 33.3 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.3 |
