Los Angeles Lakers’ Post-D’Antoni Fortunes Depend on Defensive Renaissance

These aren't the same Los Angeles Lakers with whom Byron Scott began his playing career in 1983.

They aren't even the same Lakers who won a championship in 2010.

After replacing Mike D'Antoni as head coach this summer, Scott has immediately turned his attention to fixing a defense that gave up an unbelievable 109.2 points per contest last season and per Hollinger's team stats ranked just 28th in defensive efficiency.

"I just didn't think they had an identity," Scott recently explained to Southern California Public Radio KPCC's A. Martinez. "I know Mike D'Antoni's identity really is on the offensive end... But you have to have some type of system on the defensive end to at least slow people down and not allow them to just score at will as well. So I thought from a defensive standpoint is where it all kind of started."

So has Scott made any strides in his pursuit of a defensive renewal?

"Oh yeah," Scott told Martinez. "I've texted guys, I've had other guys that I've texted tell the guys that they're with, you know, 'Let him know that this is how it's going to be, and we're going to play defense every single night,' and the response has been good—has been great."

This isn't the first time a coach has said all the right things, though. Even D'Antoni channeled the D-word from time to time, especially when pressed on it.

Back in 2012, he grew agitated at a reporter's suggestion that the Lakers weren't spending enough time practicing defense.

"Hell, yeah, we worked for a half-hour on it," D'Antoni replied to a group of reporters at the time. "You're starting to piss me off. You're starting to piss me off because you're saying something that's not factually correct."



Any insinuations of defensive indifference were sure to strike a nerve with D'Antoni given his reputation as an offense-only mastermind.

As the team's struggles es...

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