‘Switching Everything’ Could Be Key To Lakers Winning Championship

Heading into training camp, the Lakers are going to have to figure out what they’re going to do to adjust to no longer having a speedy, pesky, point-of-attack defender like Dennis Schroder to slow down opposing point guards.

One option head coach Darvin Ham should consider is having the Lakers ‘switch everything’ on defense, which would make it simpler and easier for the team’s backcourt defenders to stay in front of whom they’re guarding. For a team like the Lakers who lack elite backcourt defenders with lateral speed and quickness to stay in front of today’s lightning quick point guards, ‘switching everything’ could be the key to playing championship defense.

‘Switching everything’ is not only a better fit for the Lakers backcourt personnel, it’s also a better fit for the drop coverage the team’s bigs play. The Lakers have been very vulnerable to penetrating guards’ floaters.
Switching allows the Lakers to avoid defenders lock-and-trailing opposing point guards over screens only to get put into jail and be unable to stop those guards from making easy floaters over our bigs’ drop coverage.

‘Switching everything’ has also evolved from just being the option teams without good point-of-attack defenders were forced to play to advanced multi-level switching defenses that mimic the best matchup zone defenses. While switching makes it easier for defenders to stay in front of their men, making a modern advanced switching defense work demands disciplined players on a string and a defensive captain with a high IQ to direct it all.

Let’s look at the pros and cons of ‘switching everything’, how ‘switching everything’ is a better fit for the drop coverage the Lakers bigs play, and why the Lakers should emulate the Warriors’ ‘switch everything’ defense.

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Pros and Cons of ‘Switching Everything’ on Defense

‘Switching everything’ has pros and cons like every strategy. At its simplest, it’s an option for weak point-of-attack defensive teams. At its most complex, it’s an advanced modern defense that elevates switching to new levels.

At its best, ‘switching everything’ can be like an advanced simulation of a match-up zone where all five defenders react in synchrony like puppets choreographed by an omniscient defensive guru pulling the right strings.
At worst, it makes it easy for opposing teams to isolate their best scorer on the other team’s weakest defender, even though iso basketball is usually inefficient and can take good teams out of what they’re best at doing.

That’s the thing about ‘switching everything.’ It lures teams into trying to do something that’s inherently inefficient and often not in their wheelhouse. Isolation basketball has not proven to be winning basketball in the NBA. But ‘switching everything’ is more than just an option for teams lacking point-of-attack defense. Teams like Golden State use scram and triple switches to turn simple switching into an advanced switching defense.

Smart switching defenses don’t just switch on ball screens. They try to switch off the ball at the same time they switch on ball to anticipate and counter the matchup or advantage the offense’s screen is trying to create.
‘Switching everything’ also does not literally mean ‘switch everything.’ There may be opponents, games, or situations where the better strategy might be to have Vanderbilt or Davis shut down an opposing scorer.

The pros of ‘switching everything’ on defense outweigh the cons, especially for a team like the Lakers that does not have elite point-of-attack defenders but does have the high IQ leaders on defense needed to make it work.

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‘Switching Everything’ Works Better with Drop Coverage

‘Switching everything’ works better with the drop coverage the Laker bigs play as it prevents opposing point guards from using screens to put trailing defenders in jail to get high percentage floaters against our retreating bigs.

Unless teams have a Jrue Holiday or Marcus Smart, it’s almost impossible to prevent the great ball-handling point guards in today’s league from beating their defenders 1-on-1 and getting into the paint to create havoc and score. While teams can try to direct the ball-handler by hedging or steal the ball by trapping, the simplest and smartest tactic for defending ball picks is to ‘switch everything’ to always keep a defender in front of the ball-handler.

The drop coverage the Lakers’ bigs play is vulnerable to opposing point guards using screens to get by their defender and into the paint where they keep the defender on their hip and make floaters over retreating centers. Without smaller, quicker point-of-attack defenders like Dennis Schroder, the Lakers need to rethink their strategy for dealing with perimeter picks and start ‘switching everything’ rather than trying to fight through screens.

‘Switching everything’ not only makes the jobs of the Lakers’ perimeter defenders easier but also simplifies the jobs of the team’s bigs, whose main duty in drop coverage is not to allow an opposing big to get behind him.
By making it harder for opposing point guards to get into the paint, ‘switch everything’ reduces the times Lakers’ bigs have to deal with penetrating guards getting into the paint and attacking drop coverage with floaters.

‘Switching everything’ on defense is a better fit for the drop coverage the Lakers’ bigs play because it prevents opposing point guards from using screens to get into the paint and use floaters to beat the drop coverage.

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Lakers Should Play Advanced ‘Switch Everything’ Defense

The Lakers with LeBron James and Anthony Davis, like the Warriors with Draymond Green, are one of the few NBA teams whose stars have the defensive IQ and chops to make an advanced switching defense work.

While the Lakers have traditionally preferred not to switch, the time has come for them to upgrade their defense and embrace a modern matchup driven advanced ‘switch everything’ defense like used by the Warriors.
Modern advanced switching defenses like the Golden State Warriors run are a mix of art and science that only works when there’s an elite floor general like Draymond Green or LeBron James to direct the defense.

One of the advantages the Lakers have over other legitimate contenders is they not only have one but two defensive superstars in LeBron James and Anthony Davis capable of playing Draymond Green’s defensive guru role. Since Darvin Ham is going to stagger James’ and Davis’ minutes so that one of his two superstars is on the court for all 48 minutes of every game, that means the Lakers will always have an elite defensive QB on the court.

We’ve already seen Darvin Ham and his coaching staff modernize the Lakers’ half-court offense dramatically with five-out sets that take better advantage of the team’s higher volume and percentage 3-point shooting. Look for Ham to do the same with the Lakers’ defense by adopting ‘switch everything’ as the team’s base defense with advanced scram and double and triple switches like Golden State uses to become the new D normal.

With LeBron James and Anthony Davis, two of the superstars with the greatest defensive BBIQ in the history of the game, the Lakers are uniquely positioned to deploy a modern sophisticated ‘switch everything’ defense.