When the Los Angeles Lakers first hired Byron Scott as their coach, they hoped he would come in and instill a sense of defensive urgency in this Lakers team that seems to lack a defensive identity. They held an 8 point lead over the Minnesota Timberwolves with just over 5 minutes remaining in Friday night’s contest at Staples Center and held Rookie Zach LaVine too 0 points in the final frame after surrendering a career-high 28 to him in the first three quarters. Nothing worked as they continued to defend at a league-worst level, and eventually ended up being defeated and added insult to injury by giving up 120 points in the process.
Check out Lakers coach Byron Scott go on a straight up rant about his team and you can just hear his frustration in his voice.
https://youtu.be/yr92zTpwKZo
A zoo? Well, I can understand that analogy. He’s right too, these guys completely just looked lost out there. They did lack focus and didn’t seem into it until the fourth quarter, and then they just went flat when it mattered most. Even Kobe Bryant.
Here’s the full report from ESPN Los Angeles’s Baxter Holmes:
“Have you ever been to the zoo?” the Los Angeles Lakers coach asked Friday. …
“Do you ever go see the gorillas, the elephants, the lions and the monkeys, and they’re looking right back at you?” Scott asked. “That’s what Minnesota was doing. They were looking right back at us.” …
“There’s nobody in this …” Scott continued. …
And just after he paused before reciting that final, fateful syllable, Scott’s breath turned to fire. He raised his voice, all but shouting. He pounded the table before him in the postgame news conference. He beat his hands into it four times — hard.
“There’s nobody in this league that we should be looking at thinking, ‘This is an easy win,’ ” he boomed, beating the table as he spoke. “Period.”
Best of luck to Scott and the Lakers going forward. The Lakers have no room for error it seems, going forward.
