EL SEGUNDO — The Lakers are more than aware of the trends that have shown up in most of their seven losses through 24 games.
A perimeter defense that struggles to contain quicker ball-handlers.
And a transition defense that doesn’t get back quickly enough to slow potential fast-break opportunities.
The Lakers’ defensive struggles aren’t “baffling” to Coach JJ Redick in light of the team entering Friday with a 116.7 defensive rating (points allowed per 100 possessions), which ranked No. 21 in the league.
But the fact that the Lakers have continued to struggle in the same areas has Redick acknowledging that changes could be coming if they don’t turn things around defensively.
“We’re looking at everything,” Redick said after Friday’s practice. “We’ve got to be serious about where we are right now. The continual thing, it has a shelf life. The continual failure of things has a shelf life. And then you’ve got to make changes. So we’re looking at it.
“But again, I have a belief in the nine guys we’ve been playing – I have a belief in the rotation. We essentially started that group, [Deandre Ayton] for Jaxson [Hayes], for much of last year’s run when we were the No. 1 defense in the league. So we can do it.”
Could forward Jarred Vanderbilt, who hasn’t been in the rotation for almost a month and has only played three minutes since mid-November, be reinserted back into the rotation if the Lakers’ defensive struggles continue?
“Yeah, if this continues,” Redick said, “he’ll definitely get his opportunities.”
The Lakers’ transition defense, which was a focus of Friday’s conversations, has been a season-long struggle that has only gotten worse in recent weeks.
In their past seven games, the Lakers are allowing a league-worst 21.6 fast-break points per game – including 27 fast-break points in Wednesday’s NBA Cup quarterfinal loss to the San Antonio Spurs.
“The biggest thing I think for our team right now is just getting back in transition,” forward Jake LaRavia said. “Not getting beat. Guarding our yard. And playing team defense, having our shifts where we need to be. Just playing together defensively.”
Redick mentioned the Lakers’ defense has performed well lately when they’ve been able to get set.
It’s been early offensive attacks that’ve given them issues.
“I can say this publicly because every coach does the same thing against us; we’ve got to be able to get back and set our defense,” Redick said. “And then we’ve got to be able to guard early offense. The last 10 games where our defense has really fallen off; we’re top-10 guarding every single half-court action.
“But we’re the worst transition team and the worst in the first 8-10 seconds [of the shot clock]. So if we can set our defense and execute our schemes, we can be a decent defensive team. But if we’re not going to get back and we’re not going to set our defense and we’re going to allow early dribble penetration, then it’s a struggle.”
The Lakers’ defensive ball containment has also been a struggle at times.
They’ve shown the ability to perform better defensively on the perimeter – like they did in last Sunday’s road win against the Philadelphia 76ers – but that’s often come after slow defensive starts.
“It’s less of a scheme stuff,” guard Gabe Vincent said. “A little more of urgency. A little more of doing all the little things. If you don’t do them, there are some great players in this league that will expose you.”