From Trevor Ariza pushing AD to set the tone defensively, to Russ, LeBron, Rondo and Davis holding the team accountable in film sessions at halftime, the Lakers are doing what they can to turn the fifth-worst defense in the league into a good one. https://t.co/9zt7IK5Wmk
— Harrison Faigen (@hmfaigen) October 31, 2021
After a stopping power-fueled rally against the Cavaliers, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Russell Westbrook and Frank Vogel sounded off on the state of the Lakers’ defense.
Before the Lakers took on the Cleveland Cavaliers, Trevor Ariza had to deliver a message to Anthony Davis. The 17-year veteran — who won a title with the 2009 Lakers — is be out for at least another month due to ankle surgery he underwent in training camp, and thus is unable to help the team defensively in the way he wants to. But he also knows that Davis can do more to fix the team’s defense, and wanted to push the much younger franchise centerpiece to do so.
So Ariza took Davis aside and delivered a few simple words: “We need you to get us going defensively.”
It was all Davis needed, and he soon delivered on that request, blocking three shots and helping the purple and gold hold the Cavaliers to just 16 fourth-quarter points as the team completed a come-from-behind, 113-101 win for their third victory of the season on Friday night, moving them to 3-3. But while that fourth quarter showed what the team is capable of at times on defense, that ability has only flashed itself sporadically (at best) this year. Even after that win, the Lakers have the fifth-worst defense in the entire NBA, hemorrhaging 111 points per 100 possessions.
There is a bunch of blame to go around for that, but Davis, among the preseason favorites for his first-ever Defensive Player of the Year award, says the finger-pointing should start with him.
“I take all blame on defense,” Davis said. “That’s kind of my biggest role on the team is to get everybody locked in defensively. If anybody has defensive questions, our bigs come to me, I’m talking to the guards about things, the coaches come to me for defensive purposes, so I take responsibility for that.
“It starts with me just setting the tone on the defensive end so these guys can feed off of it.”
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