In a league where great offense commonly beats great defense, the Los Angeles Lakers have built a championship team around a set of defensive principles that are redefining how defense is played in the modern NBA.
These defensive principles represent a dramatic transformation in how to defend modern analytically driven offenses where unstoppable superstars dominate the ball while surrounded by cadres of dead eye 3-point shooters. While related, these three principles form the heart of the Lakers’ defensive philosophy: defenses need to act rather than react, defenses should leave no man on an island, and defense is just offense without the ball.
The symbiosis behind the evolution of the Lakers’ innovative championship defensive philosophy was the serendipitous pairing of defensive coaching genius Frank Vogel and modern defensive center unicorn Anthony Davis. Just as Draymond Green enabled the Warriors’ innovative switch everything Death Lineup to succeed, Anthony Davis has given coach Vogel the perfect modern center to anchor the Lakers swarming attack dog team defense.
The transition from the passive drop coverage the Lakers’ centers had been playing on ball screens to the aggressive hedging, trapping, and doubling they trusted in the playoffs set the stage for an offseason roster makeover. They replaced older less mobile defenders like McGee, Howard, and Green with younger, quicker, and longer players like Schroder, Harrell, and Horton-Tucker who could thrive in a fast rotating team oriented defense.
So let’s take a closer look at how each of the three defensive principles upon which the Lakers have built their aggressive swarming ‘attack dog’ defense work and how they’ve contributed to the Lakers’ defensive transformation:
1. DEFENSES NEED TO ACT RATHER THAN REACT
This is the core principle Lakers’ head coach Frank Vogel has embraced in his defensive evolution from a coach who before the Lakers had built his career on the philosophy defense started inside-out with rim protection. Abandoning passive drop coverage schemes designed to stop shots at the rim for an aggressive outside-in perimeter defense strategy designed to prevent players from getting into the paint was a revolutionary move .
It also was exactly the kind of innovative defensive scheme that takes full advantage of a modern mobile defensive center like Anthony Davis who can both protect the rim and switch and guard smaller players on the perimeter. More importantly, the Lakers’ swarming ‘attack dog’ defense with its traps, hedges, and doubles is exactly what the Lakers need to disrupt the perimeter focused 3-point dominant offenses that dominate the NBA.
The Lakers’ decision to dump McGee and Howard and abandon drop coverage schemes for an aggressive swarming proactive strategy was a first step to a defense that attacks rather than reacts to offensive actions.
2. DEFENSES SHOULD LEAVE NO MAN ON AN ISLAND
The seemingly unstoppable transcendent offensive skills and talent of the superstar players who dominate the NBA today have transformed the cliche that ‘great offense can beat great defense’ into a harsh every game reality. Throw in the analytics preference for layups and threes and most NBA offenses now focus on getting to the rim for an easy basket, driving and dishing for a dunk, or driving and kicking to an open shooter for a three.
Stopping ball handlers from getting into the paint thus becomes defenses’ greatest priority and most NBA teams do this by having help defenders cheat and create a wall and having bigs play drop coverage to clog the paint. The Lakers have instead decided to trap, hedge, and double ball handlers off ball screens to prevent them from beating single coverage and penetrating and relying on multiple coordinated quick rotations to plug any holes.
It’s a gambling scrambling style of defense that leaves no man on an island and focuses on forcing the ball out of the hands of opposing teams’ stars and forcing offenses to adjust to the Lakers’ defense rather than vice versa.
3. DEFENSE IS JUST OFFENSE WITHOUT THE BALL
The idea that defense is just offense without the ball is the mortar that holds the Lakers’ defensive philosophy together. It’s the guiding principle that transforms activity over passivity and team over individual into a system. Approaching defense as offense without the ball fundamentally refocuses everything a team does on the defensive end. The goal becomes to attack rather than just react, to create advantages in numbers and matchups.
Just as offenses run plays to create 2-on-1 or 3-on-2 advantages, the Lakers’ swarming traps and doubles are plays designed to create chaos and force ball handlers to give up the ball to players not as talented or as dangerous. Like many offenses that ‘hunt’ weak defenders, the Lakers’ defense seeks to take the ball out of the hands of other teams’ best scorers and playmakers and put in the hands of less skilled and more mistake prone role players.
The Lakers’ swarming ‘attack dog’ team defense is just offense without the ball and a defensive style that creates mismatches and forces turnovers that ignite the lethal fast break opportunities that blow games wide open.
It’s important to remember that the Lakers swarming ‘attack dog’ defense is still very much a work in progress and far from the finished product playoff opponents are likely to face. Right now, it’s still in the experimental stage. Coach Vogel is still adjusting the system to accommodate his new personnel. The Lakers also still need a mobile modern defensive center who can both protect the rim and switch and defend smaller players on the perimeter.
Right now, the Lakers are in the same regular season mode as last year with Marc Gasol and Montrezl Harrell mimicking JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard by eating up minutes at the center to save wear and tear on AD. Once the playoffs start, the Lakers will go small and revert to their swarming ‘attack dog’ team defense with a combination of Davis with Harrell or Morris manning the four and five and Marc Gasol becoming JaVale McGee.
This offseason, the Lakers will likely look to make a major move to bring in a modern two way center like Myles Turner, Chris Boucher, or Christian Wood so they can stretch the floor on offense and defend all levels on defense. That’s what the Lakers need more than a third superstar to build another dynasty and they’ve done a commendable job accumulating a portfolio of valuable trading chips to be able to pull off such a trade this next offseason.
In the meantime, the Lakers have a vision for present and the future that’s built upon a swarming ‘attack dog’ team defense that’s the perfect weapon to counter today’s analytic driven, superstar dominated modern offenses.
No move made by the Lakers this offseason was more surprising or revolutionary than the Lakers decision to give up a draft pick to dump JaVale McGee and not bring back Dwight Howard.
Most Lakers fans still do not understand why the Lakers made these moves or just how revolutionary the moves were, especially for a long time proponent or rim protection like Frank Vogel.
The easiest way to understand why the Lakers dumped McGee and Howard is to look back at how they played defense in the playoffs or against the Denver Nuggets two nights ago.
Basically, the Lakers want to have five fast, mobile, and athletic defenders on the court who can trap, hedge, and double the other teams’ start players and not allow them to get into the paint or shoot wide open threes. They want to create chaos and force the ball to go to lesser talented players instead of the stars.
That’s what this article is all about, understanding the Lakers’ new defensive philosophy and what it means for the kinds of players they will be looking for going forward. It’s won’t be guys like Dwight Howard or JaVale McGee who are fish out of water when it comes to defending players in space on the perimeter.
I am 100% with you on this article, Tom. Infact that fensive philosophy is what’s going to get us #18 this season. It’s too early in the season, but they are making a habit of it already.
Uh, Tom, Marc Gasol is neither fast nor mobile so it hurts that argument a bit as we see on the court how the team is giving up a concerning level of points in the paint while he’s in there.
I definitely agree with you that Gasol doesn’t fit the younger and more mobile mode. In fact, that’s a big reason why he’s not been a success on this roster. I suspect the Lakers were hoping his defensive savvy and anticipation would enable him to fit in and it’s helped at times but it’s obvious he’s not right for this strategy. In the end, I think the Lakers were desperate to find a starting center and Marc was all that was left.
It will be interesting to see what the Lakers do at the trade deadline. I think they found out against the Sixers and Nuggets that Marc is not going to be the answer. I also think how they doubled and hassled Jokic to hold him to 13 points says they don’t need a bruiser to stop bigger centers like Jokic and Embiid. What they need is another pogo stick like a healthy AD who can block shots and defend the perimeter. The question is how to get one midseason. Best hope is probably next summer when Kuzma’s poison pill is gone.
The good news is Trezz played very well against Jokic with the Lakers helping with traps and doubles. He doesn’t stretch the floor like Morris does but he’s bigger and longer and plays excellent position defense against bigger centers. Would love to somehow keep him but he’s most likely just a one season rental.
Match ups are the key to most defensive schemes. What kind of player can break the scheme, force the defense to over=react and create easy looks. Matchups forced us to adapt in Houston and then go hybrid on that adaptation against Miami.
The new defense has been tried on a little over half (18-32) of the Association. That’s a decent sample size but obviously an incomplete one. It’s had issues with what it’s designed to do: take the ball out of the best player’s hands (don’t believe me, check the box score of our losses). It has allowed for a higher degree of penetration and points in the paint. That’s not all on Marc Gasol (19.4 mpg), either. That’s a team-wide issue and one that can be exploited in the playoffs in a 7 game series.
I’m not reading a lot into how we beat Denver the other night because we didn’t carry it over. It’s not a consistent weapon because the team has, thus far, been able to execute it effectively. Jokic was in foul trouble which is the only way to slow him down this season. Philly beat us with drive after drive and too much Embiid at the free throw line (an issue with most teams).
From my point of view the biggest issue isn’t how we play our centers but rather our inability to funnel drives to where we want them to go. LBJ is in full early season defensive malaise mode (I count 10 times, easily, where James nary moves an inch as a player drives by him to the rim) and Anthony Davis’ self-admitted issues on defense. Schemes are only as good as the players are at executing them and the Lakers a re getting a C+ on that front.
That’s why, in a lot of ways, I expect three things to be true:
-This will all look better and more focused post ASB.
-This will not be the only scheme Frank deploys as we haven’t even talked about zone defense.
-Should we acquire a center to type they’ll play scant minutes and it’s all going to come down to AD regaining his form from last season, anyway.
Aloha Tom, i am not all that concerned about finding another center. Anyone that we have the assets that we could realistically trade for would be sitting on the bench during crunch time. Trez has done a good job and he will continue to improve. With virtually no training camp and only a few practices so far, the team is still learning to play togther. It took us almost the enire first half last year to gel and there are more challenges this year. i believe even Marc will improve. one guy I am keeping an eye on is Dwight Dedmon. He is only 31. He hasnt signed with anyone. If he is healthy he maybe waiting for salaries to become adjusted in a few weeks so he can slide under the hard cap of a contender like the Lakers.
Aloha, Michael. I’m not seriously worried although I’m doubtful Marc will be an impact player come the playoffs. I think he will be this year’s version of JaVale. Would love for him to prove me wrong but don’t expect it.
I do think there is a chance we could trade him. I saw the Raptors were interested in Andre Drummond. Maybe we can interest them in taking back Marc to be Drummond’s backup.