Los Angeles Lakers head coach Byron Scott may have finally had enough of all the criticism he’s received this season.
Scott’s reluctance to let the young core figure things out late in games might be a thing of the past with the veteran coach ready to make a change.
According to Bill Oram of the Orange County Register, Scott will no longer bench his young players in the fourth quarter due to poor play:
Byron Scott says he is done benching young players for the fourth quarter. Going forward, they will play in fourth quarter “no matter what.”
— Bill Oram (@billoram) March 20, 2016
Over the course of the last three games or so, the Lakers young core has struggled and as a result has been stuck watching from the bench in the fourth quarter.
Regardless of Scott’s decision to bench his talented young trio of D’Angelo Russell, Julius Randle, and Jordan Clarkson, the result has been the same. The Lakers have lost four in a row and outside of late runs against the Knicks and Suns, it hasn’t been pretty or competitive with a serious lack effort from the starters.
Scott’s new philosophy for keeping his young core in the game down the stretch will be put to the test on Tuesday night. The Lakers will host the Memphis Grizzlies for the last time this season on Tuesday at the Staples Center before going on the road to take on the Suns in Phoenix on Wednesday.
It’ll be interesting to see how the Lakers finish the season and what it will mean for Scott’s future in Los Angeles.