Currently on an eight-game losing streak, the Lakers are making changes to both ends of the floor.
Head coach Byron Scott added a new offensive set for Friday’s game against Memphis, though he’s more concerned about the 113.5 points per game Los Angeles is allowing during its slide.
“The thing I think we should be focusing in on is that — in the last six games — teams have shot 50 percent or better (against us),” Scott said at Saturday's practice. “So it’s not the offense. Let’s get that straight right now. It’s not the offense. It’s the defensive end of the floor that we’re having the biggest problem (with). That’s something we addressed today as well.”
While defense is the most pressing matter at the moment, Scott’s new set is an indicator of what he has planned for the team next season in the first year without Kobe Bryant in two decades.
“It’s something I think can help us in the long run,” Scott said. “I was gonna wait until next year to do it, and then I said, ‘Why wait now? Let’s do it now. Let’s implement it now. It’s something we’re gonna continue to do in the summer.’ The more we can do it right now, the more comfortable our guys can get.”
Most of the young Lakers are already familiar with this set, as Scott implemented it for Summer League. According to Scott, it puts more emphasis on ball movement and spacing, which he says stems from the team’s reliance on isolation attempts.
In fact, the Lakers have a league-high isolation frequency of 10.7 percent.
“If you try to go iso, it’s kind of crowded,” D’Angelo Russell said. “It (doesn’t) allow you to. I feel like for players who are really iso-oriented, they won’t really play their best in this type of set. It’s forcing it to be crowded when you go one-on-one.”
The Lakers have three days to work on their adjustments before their next game against Brooklyn on Tuesday.