Dec 4, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers head coach Byron Scott coaches against the Atlanta Hawks in the second quarter at Philips Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
4. Byron Scott is As Lost As Ever
This road trip saw some absolutely baffling decisions in terms of personnel, rotations, and generally the game of basketball from Lakers head coach Byron Scott. That is to say that Scott continues to be as clueless as ever when it comes to coaching this team and realizing what the ultimate goal of the 2015-16 season should be.
The curious decisions start off with the move to demote both D’Angelo Russell and Julius Randle to the bench from the starting lineup. It doesn’t fully matter as long as those two young players continue to get playing time, but the initial implication was that their roles would diminish with the decision as well. Throw in the fact that Byron also kept Tarik Black inactive in favor of giving Robert Sacre playing time and the general ineptitude that Scott normally shows when it comes to drawing up plays or making adjustments and this road trip was another blooper reel for the head coach.
What’s worse is that some of Byron’s poor decisions were bailed out due to circumstances out of his control. Russell’s demotion never really took its toll because of an injury to Jordan Clarkson and the Lakers faced some tough competition that blew them out and didn’t really necessitate too many adjustments. Still, it’s 100 percent clear that Scott remains an issue.
Next: No. 3 Losses Are Everywhere