The Coaching Staff
After the Purple and Gold hired Luke Walton in 2016, many fans saw him as the Lakers savior.
It turns out Walton wasn’t capable of rescuing the Lakers from their playoff drought. Rather, we learned that Luke isn’t a good coach. His laid back approach doesn’t work in the NBA. During Walton’s reign, the Lakers were unprepared on defense, and he never managed to install a coherent offensive system.
Walton is finally gone, but sadly for Kings fans, he’s brought his ineffective style up north. Sacramento currently stands at 0-3 with a -23.7 average point differential. The same problems (lethargic defense and lousy offense) that plagued the Lakers under Walton’s guidance have followed Luke to his next team.
After Luke left, the Lakers hired Frank Vogel to the ridicule of the national media. Throughout the offseason, Lakers fans were spoon-fed the same story over and over again. By now, you all know it by heart; The Clippers have a fantastic coaching staff, and Doc Rivers is a real difference-maker from the bench.
Doc Rivers and the rest of the Clippers coaches might be exceptional, but the Lakers also have a solid group of men patrolling the sidelines.
Vogel is one of the best defensive minds in the league. Jason Kidd knows the game of basketball better than almost anyone alive. And Lionel Hollins has been a successful coach in the NBA for nearly 30 years.
The Lakers have excellent defensive players. Still, Vogel’s also installed a great defensive system based on LA’s perimeter players applying pressure to opposing guards while the Lakers big man drops back to protect the rim.
Vogel also showed during the Lakers second game of the year against the Jazz that’s he’s a bold in-game tactician. Vogel saw that Rudy Gobert was bothering the Lakers players at the rim throughout the first half, so Frank took out JaVale McGee to start the second half, and replaced him with Alex Caruso.
Anthony Davis shifted up a position to play center, and he dragged Gobert away from basket and out to the perimeter. Then LeBron destroyed the Jazz at the rim as Rudy looked on from the 3-point line stuck guarding AD. It was a brilliant and gutsy move by Frank Vogel.
Not many new coaches would alter their rotation just one and a half games into the regular season. Walton would have never made that move. Vogel is showing that he’s not afraid of the Hollywood spotlight and that he’s a championship-caliber head coach.