Los Angeles Lakers: Frank Vogel’s defensive genius versus Houston

The Los Angeles Lakers took Game 2 thanks to a huge defensive effort and keep building on it in the series. Head coach Frank Vogel is the mastermind behind it.

After Game 1 it was clear that beating the Houston Rockets would not be easy and take a well-studied strategy for the Los Angeles Lakers to try and stop the Texan ironclad.

In the regular season, the Houston Rockets sported one of the best offense in the league, strategically developed by visionary Mike D’Antoni, always pushing the limit and going beyond common sense. But as good and unstoppable they were on offense, opponents could always count on their lackluster defense to remain in the game and play an even high-scoring match.

When the Rockets became the best defense in the bubble, though, things suddenly became much more complicated. If a scoring machine as they are could also make defensive stops and prevent opponents from scoring on the other end, it is legitimate to believe it a team really hard to deal with, virtually unbeatable against any older style of basketball. That is what happened in the last five years with the Golden State Warriors.

The Los Angeles Lakers apparently slammed against this hard truth in Game 1.

For all the discredit Frank Vogel got when he was hired as head coach of a contending Los Angeles Lakers team he proved his brilliant basketball mind, showing that these Rockets are not unbeatable.

Vogel came up with a great defensive strategy and arrive prepared for Game 2, with a strategy based on some staples.