The Los Angeles Lakers struggled mightily on the defensive end on Friday night and suffered an embarrassing 130-112 loss to the Brooklyn Nets. After the game, D’Angelo Russell was asked what led to those struggles on defense and he sang Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn’s praises.
“They throw a lineup out there that’s very versatile,” Russell said. “If you don’t communicate, they’ll take advantage of it from slips and screens, and obviously, Jacque Vaughn’s a hell of a coach. He’s drawing up sets and putting them in position to take advantage of any miscommunication or mishaps on our end.”
(starts at 15:53 mark):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAtMw3_0rY4
Some would certainly perceive those comments from Russell as a bit of a shot at his head coach, Darvin Ham. Ham has come under fire for much of this season as the Lakers have fallen well short of expectations.
In this latest loss, the Lakers allowed the Nets to shoot 52.6% from the field and 40.4% from beyond the arc to slip to 21-22 on the season. They just had no answers on the defensive end to a team that had lost 14 of its last 17 games coming into that contest. The Lakers have had some rough losses this season, and this one’s up there as one of the roughest.
As for Russell’s play in this one, he had 20 points, 1 rebound, 7 assists, and 1 steal. The 27-year-old has now scored at least 20 points in three of his last four games.
Darvin Ham Says ‘It’s Over For The Excuses’
One of the reasons brought up for the Lakers underperforming the way they have this season is the injuries to their key role players. Jarred Vanderbilt, Rui Hachimura, Cam Reddish, and Gabe Vincent have all missed some time, but their head coach says they can’t keep pointing to that.
Ham stated it’s over for the excuses for the Lakers, and they just have to play basketball. At this point, the injury excuse isn’t really all that valid, either. LA only had Reddish and Vincent unavailable against the Nets and that can’t be the reason for getting blown out by a struggling team.
Results like these just ramp up the pressure on Ham. He has been unable to get this team to play at a high level on a consistent basis, and if they lose to the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday night, the calls for his head will only grow louder.
The Lakers Tried To Trade D’Angelo Russell As Part Of A Package For Dejounte Murray
With how underwhelming the season has been, the Lakers are understandably trying to make moves. They have been linked with the likes of Zach LaVine and Dejounte Murray and recently discussed a trade for the latter.
The Lakers reportedly offered Russell, Jalen Hood-Schifino, and draft picks for Murray. The talks did stall but are expected to pick up as we get closer to the February 8 trade deadline.
At this point, it seems very unlikely that Russell will finish the season as a Laker. His name is the one that keeps popping up in these trades, and to Russell’s credit, he is still playing fairly well despite that. It would be easy for him to down tools with the team clearly trying to ship him out, but he hasn’t opted to go that route.
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