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Los Angeles Lakers: Luke Walton most proud of defense

By Kenneth Teape

NEW ORLEANS, LA - MARCH 22: Head coach Luke Walton of the Los Angeles Lakers reacts during the first half against the New Orleans Pelicans at the Smoothie King Center on March 22, 2018 in New Orleans, Louisiana. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS, LA - MARCH 22: Head coach Luke Walton of the Los Angeles Lakers reacts during the first half against the New Orleans Pelicans at the Smoothie King Center on March 22, 2018 in New Orleans, Louisiana. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images) /
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Los Angeles Lakers head coach Luke Walton is very proud of the defense played by the team this season.

The Los Angeles Lakers wrapped up the 2017-18 regular season with a blowout victory over the Los Angeles Clippers. The Lakers finished the season 35-47, missing the postseason for a fifth consecutive year. While that extended the longest drought in franchise history, there were some positives to take away from this season.

The 35 victories by the team were the most since the Lakers last made the playoffs following the 2012-13 season. Los Angeles also saw a nine-game increase in victories this season compared to 2016-17, the first under Luke Walton.

Walton was the only part of the brain trust that has made it through the past two seasons. General manager Mitch Kupchak was relieved of his duties before the NBA Trade Deadline in Feb. 2017. In his place, Magic Johnson took over as president of basketball operations. Rob Pelinka was later hired as general manager.

When those two were brought in, they made it clear that they wanted as much flexibility as possible moving forward. They had their sights set on free agency in 2018, with the likes of LeBron James, Paul George and DeMarcus Cousins would be free agents.

That left fans hopeful for the future. On the court, in the immediate future, owner Jeanie Buss wanted to see improvement on the court. Specifically, Buss wanted improvements defensively.

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In 2015-16 under Byron Scott, the Lakers finished last in the league in defensive rating. In the first one under Walton, their defensive rating actually got worse and they finished last again. This season under Walton they showed major improvement in that area.

Part of the reason was the changes made on the roster. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is regarded as a strong perimeter defender. Brook Lopez provided better rim protections. Rookies Lonzo Ball and Josh Hart brought size and versatility to the perimeter defense.

The improvement on that end of the court was an impressive turnaround. With everything that happened this season, Walton believes that is what he is most proud of this season.

"“The overall goal that I’m most proud of is we finished 12th in defense. We were 30th last year and I think 29th the year before that,” Walton said during his exit interview.“That was a huge emphasis for us. We started Day 1 of training camp talking about nothing but defense and working on nothing but defense, so to see that pay off and these guys get better on that end of the floor was awesome.”"

The Lakers surprised plenty of people with their defensive performance early in the season. Through the first month, they were in the top-four. They remained in the top-10 throughout December, but then the injuries hit.

Multiple rotation players were hit with the injury bug. It caused Walton to dig deep into his rotation and the results weren’t pretty at times, as the team endured from late December through early January.

That was the first time that Ball suffered an injury, and he was, unfortunately, the first of many. Only four players played at least 74 games this season. Main rotation pieces such as Brandon Ingram, Hart and Ball played only 63, 59 and 52 games respectively.

Had the Lakers remained healthier throughout the season, things could have turned out differently.

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Despite all of those challenges, however, this season should be looked at as a success for many reasons. The defensive performance is certainly one of them, as the offensive production should come along for the Lakers young core.

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