The Lakers have had a couple of days to recover and regroup after a very disappointing showing in the NBA Cup quarterfinals against the San Antonio Spurs.
That loss didn’t introduce anything new. It exposed the same patterns and the same defensive flaws we’ve seen before — including in the previous matchup against the Phoenix Suns, who the Lakers face again tonight.
So instead of a regular, structured game preview, this piece looks at what the Lakers can actually adjust. Specifically, the defensive issues that keep resurfacing, and the lineup or tactical changes that might help plug some of those holes.
Defense isn’t the only nut the Lakers need to crack. Both the Spurs and the Suns went with a similar approach, letting Luka score in two on two situations while focusing on limiting his playmaking. In the rematch, the Lakers will need to readjust.
That task becomes even more difficult without Austin Reaves, who will be out for at least a week while dealing with a calf strain.
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Today’s highlights:
Starting five and rotation imbalance 
Should Hachimura’s minutes depend on the matchup and the opponent’s defensive plan? (
VIDEO)
Creating advantages out of the post (VIDEO)
Small ball as a tweak for more banshees and more Rui touches (VIDEO)
1-Starting five and rotation imbalance
After the last practice, JJ Redick said the Lakers have completely lost their defensive fundamentals over the last ten games. Over that stretch, they rank as the fourth worst defense in the league. One of the biggest talking points all season has been the imbalance of the starting group, especially when it comes to skill and finesse versus defense and physicality.
The fit of Deandre Ayton and Rui Hachimura, two excellent finishers but not high motor defensive tone setters, is something I’ve already written about in both my 10 and 20 game checks. When you add LeBron James still working his way back from injury, plus Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves, the result is one of the least aggressive starting units in the league at a time when leaning into physicality and force is a clear, established trend.
In the short term, replacing Reaves with Smart should shift that imbalance a bit, but the long term challenge will persist. Last season, Redick took pride in the team’s banshee spirit, but yesterday he admitted the Lakers simply haven’t been banshees this season. And while I agree that each player individually stepping up his effort and physicality can help, for the team to re-acquire the play hard tag they had last season, Redick will have to adjust his rotation and unleash the banshees.
Since the Lakers got healthy and since James returned to the lineup, the minutes for players I would categorize as banshees (Smart, Vanderbilt, LaRavia, Vincent, Thiero, and Kleber) have been cut roughly in half compared to earlier in the season, dropping to just 15 to 25 percent of total minutes.
And I don’t think it’s a coincidence that this is also the period when the defense started to struggle. Smart missing six games during this stretch was a big hit, but Jarred Vanderbilt’s and Jake LaRavia’s minutes were also reduced compared to the first part of the season.
2-Should Hachimura’s minutes depend on the matchup and the opponent’s defensive plan? (VIDEO)
On my recent podcast chat with Jovan Buha, I mentioned that reducing Ayton’s and Hachimura’s minutes in favor of the banshees is one way to adjust the imbalance. Hachimura is averaging 33 minutes per game, and while his shooting is a crucial component that provides space for Dončić, Reaves, and James to operate on offense, there have been recent games, most notably the matchups against the Suns and the Spurs, where his role and shot diet were diminished by the way Dončić pick actions were defended.
In my 20 game check, I wrote about teams cycling between more conservative coverages like drop and more aggressive hedging or blitzing. Before the Suns game, the latter was on the rise. Then the Suns and Spurs leaned into a scheme with a long center (Mark Williams and Luke Kornet) in drop, forcing Dončić to score in two on two situations rather than trapping and allowing the Lakers to play advantage four on three basketball.
Without doubles or scrambling defenses, there were far fewer touches for Hachimura. He had just one shot attempt and went scoreless against the Suns, then scored seven points on four shots against the Spurs, posting season lows of three and eight frontcourt touches in those two games.
Ayton’s and Hachimura’s touches have been on the decline since James returned, so re-adjusting the rotation for more balance and playing both less alongside all three high usage, high touch starters is worth a try, especially against the recent tactics the Suns and Spurs applied. Defenses might stunt even more aggressively if Jake LaRavia is in the corner instead of Hachimura, but I don’t think it would drastically change the scheme.
3-Creating advantages out of the post (VIDEO)
Even if Ayton’s and Hachimura’s minutes are reduced, the Lakers still need to find ways to utilize them, especially Hachimura, even when the opponent’s strategy is forcing Dončić into a high usage scorer rather than a playmaker.
One way to do that is to feature Dončić and James in the post more, rather than spam countless pick and stack actions, because in that scenario not sending a double and defending one on one becomes a much riskier proposition. You could see the Spurs choosing to shift help from Hachimura on the weakside rather than from Reaves or Dončić, who were one and two passes away.
4-Small ball as a tweak for more banshees and more Rui touches (VIDEO)
Another way to get more minutes for the banshees is to lean more into small ball, centerless lineups like the Lakers used last season. I’m not suggesting going all in on small ball, which eventually doomed them in the playoffs, but using it as a change of pace option that could open up more minutes for players like LaRavia and Vanderbilt.
Small ball is also a way to utilize Hachimura more as a screener and a pick-and-pop option.
We’ve seen that when Smart or Vanderbilt are in small ball lineups, and sometimes even in regular lineups with Ayton or Hayes on the floor, they are the players opponents choose to guard with their big man. That forces them to become the screening partner for Dončić instead of Hachimura. This setup isn’t ideal, especially with Vanderbilt or Smart catching the ball as the decision maker, but it still creates advantages and forces four on three basketball.
Another way to utilize Smart or Vanderbilt is by using them as the second back screener in stack actions, as shown below, or by having them set corner screens, flare screens, or pin in actions.
Regardless of what the Lakers do, the recent defensive breakdowns suggest it’s probably time to reshuffle the rotation and lineups and find ways to get the banshees more involved. We’ll see some of that tonight because Reaves’ 37 minutes will have to be redistributed, but the Lakers likely need a more significant, long-term change of course if they want to meaningfully improve their defense.
I think we’re all fairly excited for the potential but, as we saw in the Atlanta game, potential only takes you as far as your heart, hustle and execution can take you.
I’d like to believe JJ is the coach of the future, not too sure what he’s really done to deserve that title but he’s the coach now so, like any Laker, I’m pulling for him to succeed. He definitely has a feel for the modern game. Where I think he consistently fails is in how he handles adversity. He does not keep his cool or composure and he wears every little emotion on his sleeve. Passion for your craft is one thing. Temper tantrums because your team isn’t executing is another. One is useful in any moment that presents a challenge, the other leads to your eventual firing because everyone tunes out the screamer eventually. Like a role-player itching for a bigger piece of the rotation pie, that level of emotional outburst needs to be earned. Redick has not earned it, yet.
Clearly Luka is the superstar of the future (and as long he votes for JJ, Redick’s job should largely be considered safe) and I couldn’t be more thrilled. With a talent like Doncic, you take the good and the bad. It’s rare to see a superstar talent play with as much joy as he does. Like Redick, he needs to be better about controlling his outbursts but he has shown he can get a team to the NBA Finals with a decent supporting cast. Only one hill left to climb, in that regard.
The team? the NBA isn’t really built to sustain dynastic runs, not anymore. The 2nd apron, guys chaffing for a larger role or to show they can do it on their own and the general nature of modern society has really downgraded the required patience to build a true team. Too often, it would seem, are GM’s and owners focused on what they think a team should look like based on. It’s why I give a ton of credit to teams like the Pistons and Thunder who are showing how to build a team around a core of young players, augment their skill sets with correct vets and not firing coaches and staff because of setbacks.
Everyone seems to think running a country or a sports team is like working at Microsoft, that the bottom line has to be the driving force. That ignores a simple and, to me, pretty obvious fact: sport is driven by the athletes, guided by the coach, and managed by upper management. It’s the opposite in business, top down ideas are executed by staff. If the owner is the one who is being relied upon to determine the outcome on the court the team will be in trouble from the get-go.
To that, based on how well the Dodgers have done lately, my hope is that Mark Walters is the right guy for the ownership mantle. He can show that real quick by divesting himself of any assets tied to ICE detention facilities around the country. He can show that by empowering the players, community and fanbase to be the best versions of themselves. He can do that by mostly just staying out of everyone’s way and sticking to managing the business of the Lakers and let the team people do the team things.
Thanks for reading and commenting, Jamie. I generally agree with your points except for the criticism of JJ for being fiery. I think that is one of Redick’s greatest traits. You may be offended by it but I know from both sides that coaches need to have a point beyond which you do not go. There has to be that threat that is there that something is unacceptable. Has to be rarely used and with good judgement but that stinker of a game was the right place to do it and we will see the results tomorrow night in Charlotte.
“Offended” is putting words in my mouth but it’s not a real good look for your 2nd year coach already having multiple sideline and post-game outbursts/being curt with the media/borderline throwing the team under the bus. If that’s an admirable trait in your book, so be it. All I know is that if I’m somebody of Luka or LeBron’s stature and my coach gives up in the 3rd quarter and has a press conference like that, I’d question his composure and ability to lead under pressure.
Maybe it works for him, that’s a “time will tell” point of debate in all honesty because, as I’ve said multiple times, it’s not the regular season I’m all that worried about. It’s how he can handle ramped up pressure and tactics in the playoffs. All I know is
First step to that is navigating the regular season with the team and he being on the same page and having a shared respect and understanding. It feels like that’s hit or miss, so far. Hard to know, to a man the players both acknowledged their issues against Atlanta but said they hadn’t heard from Redick during the post game interviews I watched (Ayton, Knecht, and NS Jr.) after Atlanta.
I’m happy to praise players, coaches and execs on the things they’re good at and I expect to see improvement on the things they’re not good at. If improvement is lacking, the job is an unforgiving one. JJ has his extension, he feels comfortable in his job security (at least as far as any NBA coach not named Kerr or Spoelstra can be) and so it looks like he’s running it all his way. Time will tell if that’s the right way.
If it’s me, there’s a finer line he doesn’t seem able to grasp. It’s that, when you lose your cool completely (as he has multiple times across both seasons) it reveals your weaknesses to your opponents. One of the reasons
I believe that Phil and Pop were so successful for so long is that that they wrap intention in mystery (Phil) or humor (Pop). And they were cool, for the most part (ok, Pop notsomuch but there’s the “he’s been to the highest peak” aspect, again) and he respected the players who put in the work.
Now, if something comes out saying “Ayton has been blowing the adjustments made in film sessions because he’s out to lunch or Vando is too concerned with his social media presence and isn’t as grounded during practice as is required, that’s a different beast altogether. none of that is coming out and so I’m left with looking at the coach who is acting and speaking in a specific manner.
All in all, only one thing truly helps one to command respect at this level: winning. Not yelling and screaming, not how you communicate to the media, and not the schemes you run (it’s 80% the same these days, anyhow…). It’s winning. Winning 70% of your games is a good start. The issues on defense and with turnovers are real, yet fixable. Our difficulty at handling teams that play at a pace higher than ours are beginning to become a trend, which isn’t the end of the world but sets us up for some scheduled losses. Hope he can fix some, or even all, of those issues before we slide down into the 7-8-9 and lower seedings. Otherwise Mark might have to make his first move over Jeannie’s head and find a coach that better suits his vision/expectations.
End of the day, it was one game that really just highlighted all of the very specific issues plaguing the team. I’m happy to move forward and hope for sunnier skies against the Hornets (especially with the news that Reaves seems likely to play). So here’s hoping we right the ship quick and real off another 4 or 5 game winner.