There is no question that the Los Angeles Lakers’ offense, led by the outstanding backcourt of Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, is good enough to compete with any team in the league. But it will be their ability to defend that decides whether or not this team can truly hang with the elite teams the NBA has to offer.
It has been a bit of a roller coaster on that end so far this season and the Lakers’ victory over the Charlotte Hornets was proof of that. The Lakers allowed 40 points in the first quarter despite Charlotte being without All-Star point guard LaMelo Ball. But they then locked in and allowed 38 points combined in the second and third quarters to pull away for a commanding road win.
Rui Hachimura has undoubtedly grown on the defensive side of the floor over the past couple of seasons as the Lakers have needed him to take on a more prominent role. And following their win, Hachimura discussed what he, and the Lakers as a team, need to focus on to be more locked in defensively going forward, as seen on Spectrum SportsNet:
“I think being in the right position to start and communicating as a team defense. We have to communicate and we gotta be more vocal. That was the key, trying to be more focused this year and I think it’s working.”
There is no denying that the Lakers don’t have a bunch of outstanding individual defenders on the roster. Jarred Vanderbilt is the best of the bunch and would be the closest thing to a lockdown defender on the team while Marcus Smart and Jake LaRavia are solid as well, but it gets a bit questionable after that. If the Lakers are going to stay afloat defensively it has to be a team effort and they are working hard to do that.
This means positioning and communication are critical to their success on that end and Hachimura understands that. He has worked hard to be serviceable defensively and knows that the Lakers success on that end depends on everyone being locked in together.
Luka Doncic believes Rui Hachimura is having underrated season for Lakers
Rui Hachimura hasn’t been spoken about much amidst the Lakers’ strong start to the season, but his play hasn’t gone unnoticed by those within the Lakers. Luka Doncic was the most recent one to give him praise, believing Hachimura is having an underrated season so far.
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