Frank Vogel’s job was reportedly in jeopardy before he got a huge win over the Utah Jazz a couple of days ago. The Los Angeles Lakers haven’t lived up to the expectations this season, struggling to find their touch and compete in a complex Western Conference.
Following a couple of bad results, Frank Vogel was expected to get fired as the Lakers head coach, but that game against the Jazz saved his job. Even after that, criticism kept coming, as not everybody is happy with the Lakers’ level this campaign.
One of those who don’t think Vogel has achieved what people expected from him is Stephen A. Smith. The ESPN analyst reminded people that Vogel is a defensive specialist, yet the Lakers have struggled on that end of the ball.
Smith recently talked about that, saying that a Vogel’s team should be a lot better on the defensive end. The Lakers aren’t posting the best numbers this season, which should concern the head coach and the players.
“I’ve never advocated for Frank Vogel’s firing. What I said was, he will be the scapegoat. … The one thing I am critical of Frank Vogel about is … the reason why you were head coach is that defense was your signature. You cannot be Frank Vogel and have a team 18th in defensive efficiency and 27th in points allowed.”
“The reason that I feel that way is because of how they looked even before AD went down. They were like 16 and 14 before AD went down, OK. And they were having problems defensively.”
Now AD is back and the Lakers Nation hopes to see some improvements on the defensive side of the ball. Vogel remains on the hot seat until the team starts showing they are actually capable of competing against the top squads in the West. They must make some adjustments to reach the desired level and the second half of the season will be very important for them.
