The Los Angeles Lakers haven't really played at the level this season that fans generally expect from the legendary franchise. The Purple and Gold most recently faced off against the Portland Trail Blazers in their most recent matchup. 

It was never a close game between the two teams as the Trail Blazers demolished the Lakers, which included an utterly one-sided first half in favor of the Damian Lillard-led side.

Despite suffering a huge one-sided loss, head coach Darvin Ham tried to defend his team by providing advanced analytics. But it was obvious that Ham was simply making excuses for the defeat. But Rob Perez on Twitter quickly proved Ham wrong with his assessment. 

"We checked the analytical data at halftime. And, according to that data, our defensive shot quality we would have been #1 in the league. They were contested, they moved the ball. Some of it was by design, certain guys we shifted more off the ball, but they made shots tonight. 17 threes in a half? That's incredible." 

Being a rookie head coach is always difficult in the best basketball league in the world. But there are some minimum expectations that should be met by an NBA head coach, and Darvin Him doesn't seem to be matching those expectations as of now.

Can The Los Angeles Lakers Qualify For The Playoffs?

With the NBA All-Star weekend approaching fast, being the 13th seed in the West is certainly not ideal for the Los Angeles Lakers. Theoretically, they can still finish as a top 10 seed in the conference, and that's what Anthony Davis wants from the team.

But actually pulling that off will be a herculean task for the Lakers. After all, their superstar LeBron James may suffer from an injury throughout the remainder of the 2022-23 NBA season.

Can rookie coach Darvin Ham actually pull this off? Seeing his coaching strategy so far this season certainly does not give him the benefit of the doubt by any means.

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