Coach Frank Vogel Outlines Scary Notion on Lakers’ Dominating Defense

The Los Angeles Lakers have the best record in the NBA. LeBron James and his teammates pulled out a 11-3 record at this point of the season. Players had a short training camp and they didn’t have much time to prepare for the 2020-21 NBA season. But, they play really well right now. Lakers head coach Frank Vogel made scary comments about the defense. They have just started.

This is definitely scary. The Lakers have the strongest defense in the league. LA allows 104.0 points per 100 possessions and sits on top of the NBA. The team is a full point better than Cleveland. In the 2019-20 NBA season, the Lakers showed great defensive boost. They ranked third and allowed 106.1 points per 100 possessions.

Lakers’ Frank Vogel makes scary revelation

Vogel’s comments shouldn’t come as a surprise right now.

“We haven’t really adjusted too much, to be honest. We’re just really getting everybody tied together with the schemes, you know what I mean? The new guys are learning what we’re doing. We finished up last year defensively very different than the way we started. We grew throughout the year with our package and arsenal of schemes that we can throw at different teams.

“I think the biggest challenge this year is to not overcomplicate our schemes in these early regular season games. It’s easy, especially against a team like Portland or Houston, who we played in the playoffs last year, to go to all your Plan B, Plan C, Plan D types of coverages. There’s a risk of being too complicated for a one-game regular season type of night. So we’re striking that balance, but I feel good about what we’re doing on that end of the floor.”

Vogel has been a head coach in the NBA for 10 years. He was part of Orlando and Indiana before arriving in Los Angeles. Vogel is able to build a strong defense, and he goes with limited switching on pick-and-rolls. He keeps big players around the basket and running shooters stand off the 3-point line. Vogel works with toughness and hustle.

LA players lead the NBA in charges drawn in 2021. They stand at 1.21 per game. Lakers players are third on loose balls recovered as they gain possession on 60.0% of them.