Los Angeles Lakers: 3 roster flaws that have emerged during preseason

Rajon Rondo

By now, most Lakers fans know that Frank Vogel runs an old school style defense.

In the past, almost every team played a non-switch defense. In this type of scheme, the perimeter defender fights through a screen to bother the ball handler while the defensive big man falls back into a drop coverage. When the center “drops,” it means that he lays off the shooter and the screener and instead, he drops into the lane to stop the ball handler from attacking the rim for a layup, dunk, or a drive and kick.

Ten or twenty years ago, this type of non-switch defense worked well, because the league didn’t have the kind of off-the-dribble 3-point shooters that roam the NBA today (i.e., Stephen Curry, James Harden, Damian Lillard, Kyrie Irving, and so on).

Presently, many of the top defensive teams in the league play a switch-heavy defense, where the perimeter defender and center both attack a screen to thwart the offensive ball handler from being able to launch an unmolested 3-pointer. In the process of both defenders running at the screen, they switch, which means the defensive big man must guard the opposing wing, creating a mismatch.

Vogel loathes these types of switches because he doesn’t want his center trying to guard an explosive point guard.

While Vogel coached the Indiana Pacers, he proved that a current NBA team could be incredibly successful playing in his old school defense, but a few years later, both his Magic squads ranked in the bottom half of the league in defensive rating.

Indiana Pacers

• 2012-2013: 99.8 defensive rating (first in the NBA)
• 2013-2014: 99.3 defensive rating (first in the NBA)

Orlando Magic

• 2016-2017: 110.5 defensive rating (22nd in the NBA)
• 2017-2018: 110.1 defensive rating (18th in the NBA)

What was the difference between Frank Vogel’s Pacers teams and his Magic squads?

For Vogel to run his chosen defense, he needs to have two types of players, long and bulky perimeter defenders and a hulking defensive center.

As soon as a wing or a point guard playing in Vogel’s system fights through a screen, he must have the length to bother the opposing ball handler from shooting an uncontested jumper plus the strength to fight through a screen set by a large center. These two attributes-length and power- are essential because he gets no help from the center who falls back to protect the rim. At the same time, the defensive center must have the height, lateral agility, and jumping ability to hinder a speedy guard coming off of a screen from getting to the rack.

The Magic and Pacers both featured reliable defensive centers in Nikola Vucevic and Roy Hibbert. The difference between the two squads was simple; the Pacers roster included three of the longest and toughest perimeter defenders in the league while the Magic had two much shorter and less bulky wings and an extremely small (by NBA standards) point guard.

Here are the perimeter players who started for Vogel’s Indiana Pacers squads:

1. George Hill: 6’3″ with a massive 6’9″ wingspan
2. Paul George: 6’9″ with a ridiculous 7’5″ wingspan
3. Lance Stephenson: 6’5″ with a 6’10” wingspan

Here are the perimeter defenders who started for the Orlando Magic under Vogel:

1. D.J. Augustin: 5’11” with a 6’3″ wingspan
2. Jonathon Simmons: 6’6″ with a 6’8″ wingspan
3. Evan Fournier: 6’7″ with a 6’7″ wingspan

D.J. Augustin was rendered helpless to bother the outside shooter that he was guarding off of screens because of his tiny wingspan and slight frame. Simultaneously, Simmons and Fournier also lacked the necessary body measurements to bother shooters.

After watching the first few Lakers preseason games, it’s evident that for the most part (I’m going to ignore the second game in China because the team was tired and jetlagged), Rajon Rondo’s been excellent on offense. He’s making sharp passes, driving aggressively towards the rim, and he’s even shooting threes with confidence.

It’s also clear that Rondo has been giving solid effort on defense during the preseason, but despite his lengthy 6’9″ wingspan, Rondo is too slow and small to fight through screens and bother outside shooters.

Avery Bradley’s ability to defend in Vogel’s defensive system is still unclear. “Poison” played great against Stephen Curry during the Lakers first preseason game against the Warriors, but he struggled to guard the Nets plethora of large shooters throughout LA’s two contests versus the Nets in China.

Avery Bradley has a 6’7″ wingspan, and he’s much more agile and physical than Rondo, so there’s a reasonable chance he’ll thrive for the Lakers on defense this season, but only time will tell.

Rondo is the real concern because it’s now apparent that Vogel is going to give Rondo significant playing time this season. However, Rondo creates a hole on defense that every opposing squad’s going to attack. That’s a substantial flaw.

If Vogel wants the Lakers to resemble his Pacers squads instead of his Magic teams, he’s going to have to either find a way to hide Rondo on the less glamorous side of the ball or he’ll have to give him less playing time.