Lakers: Coach Vogel Wants His LA Superstars To Continue To Do the "Dirty Work"

Coach Vogel gets honest with his players about playing 'D'

The 2021-22 Lakers defensive inconsistencies have caused LA some issues in the first few weeks of the season. The Lakers have quarters where their defensive is smothering, and then parts where it looks like everyone missed their assignment or fell asleep. Last season, the Lakers had one of the number one rated defenses in the NBA.

Early in the preseason, the Lakers' defense showed signs of being the Frank Vogel juggernaut that it is.

Coach Vogel Throws Down The Gauntlet

With the Lakers' top-heavy roster, Coach Vogel was forced to be honest about the Lakers roster and the defensive adjustments. 

"I think for a lot of our guys – Bron, A.D., Melo, Russ – a lot of their careers they’ve had a lot of ‘dirty work’ guys around them. And now they have to support each other in that way and really commit to guarding their own man and executing our scheme."

Coach Vogel is right. The NBA's superstars have historically had other guys around them to do the dirty work. Michael Jordan had Dennis Rodman, Kobe Bryant had Ron Artest, and other teams have had the Ben Wallaces and Charles Oakley's of the world. With the 21-22 Lakers, the big names are going to have to do it themselves.

Carmelo Anthony has already impressed with his defensive improvements. LeBron James' on-ball defensive prowess has always been well established, as well as his unparalleled ability to stuff players on chase-down blocks. Russell Westbrook's athletic ability should translate to great defense, and the amount of steals in his box score over the past few games has ticked up. Anthony Davis' defensive prowess and those numbers could fill a separate piece. Coach Vogel's ability to set up the proper defensive schemes and the right lineups are tried and true. 

Hopefully, the Lakers can continue with that tradition by doing the dirty work.