Darvin Ham: Lakers’ Defensive Rebounding Against Magic Was a “Huge Step Backwards”
On Saturday night, the Los Angeles Lakers lost their third straight away game to begin the season, falling to the Orlando Magic 120-101. The main cause of the defeat was evident and has dogged Darvin Ham’s club throughout the whole season: rebounding.
Even without starting centre Wendell Carter Jr., the Magic exploited the Lakers’ inability to clean the defensive glass throughout the entire season. The club allowed 19 offensive rebounds, which resulted in 36 points from second chances.
The Lakers are aware of the problem, and following the defeat, Ham referred to the team’s shooting performance as a step back, via Spectrum SportsNet:
It’s just their energy and effort. Since both of us and them are down, the game essentially comes down to mental attitude. They outworked us, and I believe that’s why they witnessed the ball go in. They performed a fantastic job of just playing at a quick pace all the time, covering for each other defensively, and hitting us with the glass. We’ve taken a major, major step backwards in terms of defensive rebounding. We focused a lot of attention on improving our transition defence and defensive rebounding heading into the season. For the most part, tonight’s transition was under control; later in the game, they added more productivity to that statline. The fundamental issue throughout the entire evening, though, was that those players were getting second or third chances, and we were failing to box out, get hits, come up with 50-50 balls, and turn over the ball. But six games in, we’re not going to throw on the towel just yet. It’s a really important lesson, and we will work to make that right. With only 76 players remaining, we must now decompress and prepare for Monday’s difficult match in Miami.
Ham would go on to say that the Lakers simply need to want it more to overcome their rebounding problems rather than finding a structural solution:
At the end of the day, you have to make an effort to play outside. vigour and exertion. Effort cannot be taught. That is something you must have; it must reside in your head. When you arrive at the gym, you must be fully focused on the task at hand, regardless of any outside events. And today, we simply didn’t have it. One cannot plan for rebounding. Simply said, you have to want to go get the damn ball. The shot goes up; if your opponent is in your zone, you must hit, stack bodies, and approach the ball with the greatest aggression. That is all. I can’t think of a play to grab more rebounds. I am unable to devise a play to include additional players, and in the instances where we do have players, we play video including four or five white jerseys, one blue jersey in the middle, and that blue jersey retrieving the ball. I’m not sure. Once more, this is something we must constantly strive for and accept both our good and bad work. We did a really good job of that in the last game. Three of our players had ten or more rebounds. But it was simply absent tonight.
Ham and the Lakers need to find a solution quickly because it has been costing them games early in the season. The Lakers and Orlando had similar field goal percentages, but the Magic had 17 more shot attempts than the Lakers in this game because of their inability to clear the glass and turnovers.
Maybe having more size on the court would help, but the Lakers haven’t consistently demonstrated the drive or desire to finish out these defensive possessions this season. Ham and the Lakers’ coaching staff need to find a way to overcome this issue because if they keep going in this direction, they will find it difficult to win on a regular basis.
Talking about how much the Lakers miss Jarred Vanderbilt, Darvin Ham
Regaining health is something that would benefit Ham and the Lakers, but Jarred Vanderbilt’s failure to suit up during the regular season has negatively impacted the squad as a whole.Recently, Ham talked about how much the Lakers miss Vanderbilt and all the school has to offer.
“It’s undeniable that Vando’s energy on that end of the court, his versatility as a guard, his ability to rebound, grab steals, and his blocks are definitely missed,” the Lakers coach continued. “From the perspective of the team’s attack, those are enormous shoes to fill.”
Without a doubt, Vanderbilt would have an impact, and when he does return, hopefully, things start to improve.
