Los Angeles Lakers: Danny Green critical of his fouling vs. LA Clippers

Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard Danny Green struggled defensively on Christmas against the LA Clippers and was very critical of his performance.

The Los Angeles Lakers had a tough Christmas Day. They blew a big lead against their STAPLES Center co-tenants, the LA Clippers. It was their second loss of the season to the Clippers, as they lost to them on opening night. It was also their fourth loss in a row, as the Lakers are struggling for the first time this season.

There are a few reasons for the Lakers’ current losing streak. Injuries are one reason, as Anthony Davis and LeBron James each missed one game and James is battling another groin injury. Another reason for the recent letdown is their performance defensively.

During their red hot streak to the season, in which they went 24-3, the Lakers were a dominant defensive team. When they needed a stop, they locked in and got it. Recently, they haven’t been able to get those stops as consistently and that happened against the Clippers.

The Lakers had no answer for Kawhi Leonard, as he poured in an efficient 35 points on 11-of-19 from the field. His friend a former teammate, Danny Green, was tasked with slowing him down and struggled to do so.

Green committed some bad fouls in the fourth quarter of the game as well that helped changed the momentum. Getting into foul trouble is never a good thing for a defender, as it takes away some of their aggressiveness.

Green discussed his defensive performance on Christmas Day and was very critical of how well he did.

"“Danny Green has to not foul. At the end of the game it’s that simple,” Green said."

That is a very simplistic view of it, as defense is a team effort. However, as one of the leaders on that end of the court, Green knows his foul issues have hurt the team.

"”I have to smart down the stretch, knowing how they’re calling the game and not being (overly aggressive) on the defensive end of the floor,” Green said. “We’ve got to be smarter, we can’t put them on the free-throw line.”"

While there was plenty that went wrong down the stretch for the Lakers, such as Patrick Beverley knocking the ball out of and off of LeBron James’ hands, Green didn’t do much to help the team with his fouling. Giving a player of Leonard’s skill let free points at the foul line is never a positive.

However, this is something that Green has mentioned in the past as something to work on. A month ago, while on Spectrum SportsNet, Green discussed having to cut down on his fouls.

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"“A lot of matchups for me this season have been a struggle, foul trouble-wise. I’ve got to do a better job of helping my team by not fouling and staying out of foul trouble.”"

It is easy to say things like that when the team is winning. Los Angeles was in the midst of their 24-3 run when Green said those things.

Now, that they are on a losing streak, it is time for the team to put their money where their mouth is and change the things they have preached that they need to work on.

"“Losing games allows us to learn better, quicker. We know we’re better than this. We know what we can be. Sometimes you need a wake-up call. You don’t need four of them,” Green said, frustration with himself creeping through, “but we have to continue to figure it out.”"

While Green hasn’t been as productive shooting the ball from the 3-point line or have as good of a defensive rating as in recent years yet this season, he has still been one of the more consistent Lakers players this season.

Every player and team goes through lulls during the season, and that could be what the Lakers are going through now. The Lakers have slipped on the defensive end of in recent weeks, and it is a good thing that someone in Green’s position has noticed and knows a change is needed. Now, it is just up to him and the team to make those changes come to fruition.