The Lakers fell to a damaging loss at the hands of the Kings last night, losing the season series against the Kings and giving up the No. 9 seed to the Warriors. De’Aaron Fox (44 PTS) and Malik Monk (26 PTS) combined for 70 points in the 130-120 Kings win. Darvin Ham opened up on the defensive gameplan the Lakers had in place for Fox and Monk.
“We came out with a plan to force him to his right hand and force Malik to his left hand. We didn’t do a great job of that in real-life game action. They’re tough, both of those guys are tough because they make the shots you trying to give up like those tough twos. When we did force a miss, Sabonis was able to get active… We got to get better from it. The cavalry ain’t coming. We have 18 left. We just got to buckle down and do a better job.”
Giving up 70 points to two players, with one coming off the bench, is extremely rough. Even with the performance, LeBron James put up with 31 points and 13 assists, the Lakers simply couldn’t keep up with that level of offensive production.
Their defense was torn up, as the team was comfortably outrebounded by a team playing shorter players.
Effort makes the difference when teams are closely matched on paper, and it’s clear the Kings’ effort blew the Lakers out of the water.
People Have Low Confidence In Darvin Ham
Darvin Ham’s job has been threatened for the last few months but the Lakers sticky by him over the winter. As we head into spring with teams looking to solidify playoff spots, the Lakers likely won’t decide on who their head coach is until the season is over. In the meantime, analysts are unconvinced of Ham’s ability to lead the Lakers to success, whether it’s this season or in the future.
“I don’t think Darvin (Ham) is up to the tactical challenge. He’s the one after the in-season tournament to ditch everything that got them that win and promptly went 3-10. He is the one who, in a lot of these cases, is ignoring guys who can make shots on the perimeter and letting them get into a rhythm. I want LeBron and AD to be like, ‘Hey AD, you got to guard Jokic. Put me on AG and put Rui over here’. I want them to take more of that responsibility because sitting around and letting Darvin make those decisions. Him overcoaching this has been why they’ve been mediocre compared to their potential.”
Ham has been backed by Jeanie Buss and will enjoy job security until Buss has no other choice but to fire him. Ham may fall out of favor if the Lakers fail to make the playoffs after being eliminated from the play-in. Even a first-round exit may land him in hot water given the preseason expectations from this roster.
A lackluster game plan against the Kings wasn’t his first mistake of the season and might not be the last mistake. It’s up to the Lakers to put an end to this cycle, especially if there’s no postseason success for the franchise.
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