On Monday morning, the Los Angeles Lakers introduced Darvin Ham as their new head coach.
After the Lakers won the title in 2020 under former coach Frank Vogel, they were not able to repeat that success in the 2020-21 or the 2021-22 seasons despite the big addition of Russell Westbrook a year ago.
The Westbrook era did not start well for the Lakers who were minus-2.5 points per 100 possessions when he was on the floor per Cleaning the Glass. He averaged 18.5 points, which was his lowest since the 2009-10 season, his second in the league. H shot 29.8% from deep on 3.4 attempts as his fit next to LeBron James came into question.
Ham was asked about Westbrook’s fit next to James as well as Anthony Davis. With Westbrook in the room, Ham gave this answer to reporters:
Absolutely. I mean, just our running habits and Russell, don’t get it messed up. Russ is one of the best players our league has ever seen, and there is still a ton left in that tank. I don’t know why people tend to try to write him off. I’m gonna approach him like I do every player I’ve ever encountered. We’re going to talk about our running habits with the ball, without the ball, and again, the team. The rhythm of the team and trying to establish a rhythm with LeBron, Russ, AD and, again, share the load. Defensively and offensively. Defensively is where you’re gonna see us make our biggest leaps and bounds. We have to commit to the defensive side of the ball or we don’t have a chance to do anything. The offense won’t even matter if we don’t get stops.
Ham is absolutely right about Los Angeles’s defensive work. The Lakers were 21st in defensive rating in the 2021-22 season and that meant taking the ball out of the net more often than not. They were not able to get out and run, which would do wonders for both Westbrook and James due to their athleticism.
It remains to be seen what Los Angeles will do with Westbrook as it moves forward, but it’s obvious Ham wants to make this work…
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