The Lakers Execute The WORST Defensive Sequence Of The Season...

This may be the most embarrassing defensive possession of the season.
Watch Duncan Robinson here, this isn’t a screen, he just taps Hachimura on the back and walks his way to the rim but somehow finds himself so open that he gets confused and doesn't know what to do with the ball. Anyway, he finds Adebayo who’s got a great look, but he swings it to Herro who’s also all alone. That’s three players who could have scored here, but finally Herro ends this misery for the Lakers.
And again follow Rozier. He is obviously behind every Laker player at this moment. And as we let it roll, look at him casually jogging the other way getting a practice layup at 30% speed.
This is inexplicable.
The problems for the Lakers are deep and we got a whole story to unpack, which of course starts with the effort, and them not being ready to play. Speaking of that, I always like to keep myself ready and in good shape.
The Lakers problems start and end with Lebron and AD. First of all, how do you expect a guy that’s gonna be 40 in 2 weeks, to be the leader of a contending team?
This would have been a chasedown block 5 years ago, but now he gives up and watches Butler get the easy 2 points.
Again, the 2 of them are in line when James shoots this, but watch what happens. Lebron decided that he’s not running back on defense, instead telling his teammates to go chase after Jimmy. Another easy bucket.
I was shocked to find out that Lebron has the 13th worst plus minus in the league. He’s at the bottom along with 9 guys who play for the dead last teams in the 2 conferences, the Wizards and the Pelicans.
He’s had some horrific lowlights from his lack of effort this season. Not running back in transition, and just watch this circus here. The Lakers don’t get a kick ball here so Lebron starts running all over the court, arguing with the refs and guarding absolutely nobody, look at him way over here, while Bradley Beal is all alone for this three and of course he swishes it.
There are a bunch more unreal examples in Daniel Li’s video so shoutout to him and make sure you check that out as well.
But to me, the biggest issue in this situation is Anthony Davis. He’s supposed to be the best player of this team and last night’s performance of 8 points on 3 for 14 is inexcusable.
It wasn’t just on offense, Davis was unrecognizable defensively as well.
Jimmy Butler blew by him multiple times as if he was a traffic cone.
Absolutely no contest whatsoever.
And he just needs some popcorn here, the way he watches Adebayo bully the much smaller Russell inside the paint. Where is the AD from the beginning of the season?
Last 7 games Davis is averaging 18 points on 43% from the field. That’s nowhere near what the Lakers need from him to be competitive.
Worst of all for Lakers fans is the fact that their team is now 12-10, which is worse than what they were last season under Darvin Ham who the entire fanbase was happy to get rid of.
This is the same viscous cycle repeating for this team, where now all of a sudden Reddick will start to get blamed for this poor performance just like that was the case with Frank Vogel, when in fact the Lakers lost a bunch of key members of that championship roster and did not replace them. The same way that Darvin Ham got fired when he had an even worse roster to manage, and the same way it is now with JJ when he only inherited the exact same bad roster from last season with the notable addition of Bronny James.
I pretty much predicted this exact scenario happening 5 months ago way before the season began. And you don’t need to be a genius to know that things like this will happen.
I’m just sorry for Reddick who obviously loves basketball, but last night at the postgame press conference he was completely drained and seemed like he had all the life and love of the game sucked right out of him. Dude was absolutely speechless.
But then, he also took a subtle jab to his players.
And of course you’re not gonna blame the coach for this basic level of miscommunication on defense where Highsmith ends up all alone in the corner and Davis is sleepwalking in the paint.
Or for this missed rotation that’s like the first lesson on defense that you teach little kids.
The Lakers have the 4th worst defense in the league this season and a lot of it has to do with some laughable lack of effort plays like these.
And they’re also 4th worst in three point makes per game. So no defense, and no three point shooting. To me their record is actually better than it should be. JJ is actually doing a good job with what he’s getting from the players if you ask me.
And Lebron agrees that Reddick is not the one to blame here.
It’s December and we’re already getting the talk about team meetings, which could get ugly, but it’s crucial for them to figure things out because 6 out of their next 10 games are against western conference rivals for the play off race

[cedk]

The lakers need to let bron retire, trade almost everyone, and start a must needed rebuild.

[KBKilla]

Their defensive effort is fine, they are Just following the lead of their glorious king

[JMValley]

How can you expect the lakers to win games, when lebron on D makes it a 4v5 every night. And he gets frustrated lol. SMH. Putting up empty stats when you are the worst +- on your team and not winning ball games.

[Guarde]

I honestly don't understand why people use Lebron's age as an excuse.
I agree that he should not be expected to carry a team, but the problem lies in his salary. He gets paid like a prime aged superstar, so yeah, it's normal for people to demand that quality of play from him.

[alxbolt]

Lakers quit on being a basketball team when Bronny was drafted.

[aimhgh]

If lebron plays good: "see that, lbj is aging like a wine"
If bad to worst: " what are you expecting? He's getting old"
😂😂😂

[aneeshazmaton]

Blaming AD for this game and for his performance lately is kinda unfair when lebron has been a liability on defense for at least 3 seasons. He's has rotted the defensive mentality on this team to the core.

[nowhale]

Translation from Lebronish:
I support all Reddick said 1000% = Reddick is in my pocket, if he tells something about me I immideately blame him and he is out of the team

[Herz.Seele.Verstand]

The genius new coach has a ton of offensive tactics but not one for defense. And his buddy is allowed to do what he wants.

[davidrace]

Sport doesn't build character, it reveals it.

[havoc]

When the lakers team decided to have LePeds defense mentality.

[B.NICE]

Nobody in mainstream media has the guts enough to say it. It ain’t hard to find. The problem with the Lakers is Sir Flop A Lot. Period!!!

[Zett]

...I started pointing out the +/- situation on LBJ - worst one of all players on a team with a winning record - a few days ago.
THANKS for picking it up. 🙏

[jaylexington]

That’s what happens when your “team captain” plays zero defense.
His guy is always open, and he always kills the rhythm.
And turns the ball over NON STOP.

Flop king

[mark-one]

L.a set A.d as the focal point and suddenly bron has 0 energy

[TheRageng]

You have to wonder hoow James wants to retire? After another 1st round exit? He should have said adios after the olympics. Sadly he had played himself into a corner with drafting his son.

[MaximusR]

6:46 Bron looks legitimately unhinged in this clip

[rallytube]

LeGM strikes again. What a joke the Lakers have become

[Yanuarual]

Lakers sacrifice a lot of money to keep senior players that didn't improve well, things get uglier when they forced "junior" play in the team.

[HighWoody]

This is what happens when you let a star choose the teams decision and trading picks away and not letting a GM set up a roster.