Lakers: Contrastingly, D-Fenders Gearing Up For Playoff Run

The Lakers are certainly a dysfunctional team, but it’s quite the opposite for their D-League team

Saturday night, the Los Angeles Defenders, the Los Angeles Lakers D-League affiliate, defeated the Idaho Stampede, 117-107. The coach and his team are feeling confident going down the stretch of the regular season, another win bringing them one step closer to making the playoffs.

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The D-Fenders (22-16) are currently in third place in the Western Division behind the Austin Spurs and the Reno Bighorns and second in the Pacific Division behind the Spurs. They have the fourth best record overall in the D-League.

Beating Idaho took a monkey off their back as they had lost to Idaho twice previously. Now point guard Josh Magette feels confident they can move forward and push towards the playoffs.

“It definitely left a bad taste in my mouth before All-Star break. Before the game, coach Casey [Owens] told us it’s just another game, but I think in the back of all of our minds we wanted to get this one,” said Magette. “We took it personally and it showed.”

The D-Fenders are a very close-knit team and they all respect each other. They play unselfishly, yet still relish when players shine individually on the court. The Lakers would love to be in the same position, being a drama-less team who has a ton of chemistry that also happens to wins games. That is, if they weren’t in tank-mode.

The guys are playing really well together, I think we are playing a very selfless style of basketball,” head coach Casey Owens said. “Each guy wants to see the next guy succeed and they are playing the game for each other. And that makes my job easier.”

When Robert Upshaw plays, he definitely has a fan following. On Saturday night a fan in the first row shouted, “You are my hero Upshaw!” That’s the reaction fans have when Upshaw does something spectacular on the floor. Owens echoed that sentiment, praising Upshaw’s play and ability to make big plays.

“I love what I am seeing from him on both ends of the floor, you know that huge put back was great, he’s just a young guy figuring out his way and how to be a professional,” said Owens. Upshaw is putting in the work and respecting the process.

Upshaw isn’t the only player worthy of praise as Magette has been helping lead the way all season. He notched the team’s only triple-double thus far this season. After earning another double-double on Saturday, he now has four consecutive double-doubles and has accumulated nine in total on the year.

Vander Blue topped all D-Fenders with 35 points against the Stampede, his ninth game of 30 points or more this season. As a team, five D-Fenders including Blue were in double figures on Saturday night: Blue, Magette, Justin Hawkins, Ryan Gomes, and D-League 3-point Contest Champion Andre Ingram.

Owens spoke up about his disappointment in the NBA for not yet calling up Blue, saying, “I’m surprised it hasn’t happened yet, but I know there’s enough good basketball minds in the NBA to recognize a guy who can help out an NBA team.”

Blue takes it all in stride, ready to take on a larger workload still in the D-League after D-Fender’s big man Justin Harper was called up to the NBA. Blue expressed a bit of disappointment in Harper’s departure, though he’s happy for his former teammate, saying, “I’m just playing and enjoying the game—we lost Harper, so I have a little bit more on my shoulders. I’m happy we got this win.”

It’s hard not to want Blue as player and person to get the opportunity to get back on an NBA roster—whether it’s with the Lakers or not—as he’s definitely earned. While still with the D-Fenders, though, he’ll have a new teammate to dish to as Jabari Brown is now a D-Fender, per Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports.

Brown, was formerly signed by the Lakers in Sept. 2014, but was waived a month later. Brown spent this past offseason with the Lakers, but was waived again right before the start of the regular season. Lakers head coach Byron Scott chose 35-year-old veteran and Lakers legacy Metta World Peace for the last roster spot over Brown in what he then called an extremely difficult decision.

Fans were not too happy about the most recent decision to nix Brown. Looking back, if Kobe had declared he was going to retire before the start of the season, Brown would have been the more logical choice. Kobe wanted to win a championship, so a seasoned player made sense.

Next: Lakers Laying the Foundation: Jabari Brown

Adding Jabari gives a nice lift to the D-Fenders, though, as does the recent increase in fan attendance. Magette talked about how it felt to have a full house of fans cheering him on, saying, “It felt good—I think it gave us a little boost, especially on defensive end. I thought it was great and I think it was the most we have had this season.”

If you want to catch the D-Fenders on this playoff push as the Lakers surely won’t be making one, attend a game at the Lakers practice facility in El Segundo, CA. There are 12 games left, four at home. The next game is this Wednesday, March 3 at 7:30 p.m. PST. Be there!