For the Los Angeles Lakers and their new head coach, Mike D’Antoni, adjustments have to be made. Sure, the Lakers are on an encouraging four-game win streak, but aside from the upstart Golden State Warriors and Philadelphia 76ers, they faced the lowly likes of the Charlotte Bobcats (and barely won in a 101-100 thriller at home despite being 12.5-point chalk) and Washington Wizards.
The Lakers are sitting 11th in the West with a 13-14 record, and despite the recent stretch of wins, their defense is still a point of concern. The Lakers are still 22nd in the league as far as opponents points allowed, 20th in opponents points in the paint per game and, most glaringly, they are the worst team in the league as far as stopping the break with over 16 points allowed per game.
Although the latter of which is mostly a product of turnovers (L.A. has the second-most turnovers per game in the NBA with 16.1) and slower personnel, it’s still a huge point of concern for the Lakers.
Before the D’Antoni hire, former head coach Mike Brown and his oft-criticized Princeton offense were the source of frustration for many Lakers fans. Brown, who held a reputation for being a defensive-minded coach, was swiftly fired after disappointing losses piled up, and after a brief stint by interim coach Bernie Bickerstaff, the Lakers brought in Mike D’Antoni.
D’Antoni has a reputation for being one of the most brilliant offensive minds in basketball. Back during his days as head coach for the Phoenix Suns, his small-ball approach to the game combined with the brilliance of Steve Nash made for high scoring and plenty of highlights, but the glory days for both are but distant memories at this point.
For D’Antoni,...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
