Lakers: Ed Davis Has the Right Answers (video)
By Mike Garcia
“We lacked defensive discipline,” he said in the post game interview. While Byron Scott preached about a lack of focus with anger and disgust, Ed Davis spoke about how the Lakers were not on the same page on the defensive end.
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It is tough to say the Lakers didn’t try. They did. There were nine steals between Jeremy Lin and Kobe Bryant. The Lakers as a whole had 12 steals altogether, while Minnesota turned the ball over 18 times. The Lakers had the rebounding edge by three.
But, when the Lakers played any halfcourt defense, they made it too easy. The Timberwolves shot 57% from the field, 10 of 18 behind the arc, and outscored the Lakers every quarter after the first quarter.
What made it really tough is how many assists the Timberwolves had as a team. The scored like the Phoenix Suns of the mid-2000’s, getting a lot of layups, shots in transition, and pull up 3-pointers. They had 37 assists as a team. Gorgui Dieng, the center for the Timberwolves, recorded 8 assists on just one turnover. Corey Brewer added another 8 assists. Mo Williams added another 11. The team had an assist-to-turnover ratio greater than 2:1. Generally speaking, that’s going to win games.
Ed Davis summed it up well at the end of the interview:
"“Defense, that’s what wins games. Every team in the NBA can score but, if you’re not getting stops and they have more points than you, why does it matter how great your offense is clicking?”"
His body language expressed disinterest and some disgust in the locker room.
This is why the Laker fans have grown to love Ed Davis. He protects the rim. He finishes in the paint. He knows what’s wrong. He wants to fix it.
We just wish the entire team could take on the same mentality. Not everyone is on the same page as Ed Davis.