The Lakers shouldn't do what they're going to do
Frank Vogel fights for his job twice a day:
Over the past week and a half, Lakers management has told the coaching staff to coach Westbrook as the coaches see fit, even if that means pulling him from a game, as Vogel did for the final 3 minutes, 52 seconds of the fourth quarter against Indiana, sources told ESPN.
Because Russell Westbrook sucks at defense. And you’ve seen the offense.
One source close to the situation described the message from management to the staff as, "You got to do what you got to do."
Russ left the arena without answering questions, even though we all wanted to hear his answers. This left LeBron to beg the press to PLEASE harangue him about losing to the Pacers.
LeBron James, after fielding questions about Frank Vogel's job security: "If you got something to ask me besides trying to shit on somebody, I'll answer those."
— Melissa Rohlin (@melissarohlin) 6:26 AM ∙ Jan 20, 2022
Listen, the backup is fine:
[Kurt] Rambis then attended the Lakers’ pregame coaches meeting Monday at [Lakers’] Arena for the first time this season, after previously only attending meetings virtually. Rambis advocated for the Lakers to use larger lineups with Dwight Howard and DeAndre Jordan, according to people with knowledge of the situation.
Kurt Rambis thinks the centers the Lakers hired to play defense and rebound should be playing more for the Lakers, a team that doesn’t defend or rebound.
The real question is if Kurt Rambis thinks the Lakers should start possessions passing the ball into Dwight or DeAndre in the post, 15-to-18 feet away from each similarly-spaced teammate. Is Rambis cramming a proxy-triangle into the Lakers’ approach? Arguing it an answer to the team’s transition defense slips, turnover woes, late-game shot-creation, topsoil loss, growing unease with the amount of money we’re printing, and free throws? Because Phil Jackson has opinions on all this.
