The Los Angeles Lakers are a bad defensive team, and Stephen A. Smith can’t believe they are not contesting more shots. LA is poor in nearly every defensive metric. They desperately need a trade deadline upgrade, but that alone won’t solve it. Smith rightfully points to the lack of effort as a key factor in their woes.
Deandre Ayton is supposed to be the anchor of the defense, but he has repeatedly been benched in recent weeks. Fans know he doesn’t always play with energy and can be a problem. It starts there, but there is a lot of blame to go around. Rob Pelinka’s roster building and head coach JJ Redick’s schemes are part of the massive issue.
Smith pulled no punches. He unloaded on why the Lakers are an average team, and the defensive woes took center stage. Fans know the ESPN talking head can deliver an epic rant, and the purple and gold were his target on Monday.
Stephen A. Smith can’t believe the Lakers' defense is so bad
Smith was clear that the Lakers are stuck in the middle with nowhere to go this season before crushing their abysmal defense. Fans can read his quote below.
“Let’s not get started with them defensively. Defensive efficiency 25th, field goal percentage defense 27th, field goal percentage 3-point shooting 26th, blocks per game 29th, contested shots per game 29th. How the h*** are ranking bottom two in contested shots. That means you are nowhere in the vicinity when people are getting shots. How the h*** does that happen? It is a lack of effort and, in some cases, a lack of talent. They are middle of the road, which is a disastrous position for them to be in.”
Los Angeles is supposed to be a title contender. They have Luka Doncic, LeBron James, and Austin Reaves, but the talent around them is not good enough. Stephen A. Smith was absolutely right. They must be better on defense. It starts with effort. Upgrades would be great, but that alone isn’t solving this issue. The Lakers must lock in and go all out to thrive on the defensive end of the floor.
Fans can listen to the full First Take discussion below.
The hallmark of a title contender is being top ten in offensive and defensive rating. The Lakers are ninth on offense and will improve when Austin Reaves returns. To get into the top ten on defense, they would have to be 4.5 points per 100 possessions better. Getting an elite rim protector might do the trick, but that is their only hope.
Improvement would be a welcome sight for Lakers fans. Stephen A. nailed it. Just seeing LA contest shots would be fantastic. They give up way too many wide-open looks as they are slow to rotate to a shooter. The Lakers have to be better if they want to seriously contend.
Stephen A. Smith was right to go off on the Los Angeles Lakers' defense. They are a middle-of-the-pack team because it is so bad. Fans know that. The ESPN talking head was absolutely right, which is something most people never want to admit.
It is on head coach JJ Redick and the players to fix it because upgrades are unlikely to come until the offseason. They simply have too many players who only stand out in one area. It creates a delicate balance that can easily be exploited. Upping the effort is a start. If coach Redick can do that, fans will be impressed.