The Los Angeles Lakers have fallen on extremely hard times as the midpoint of the 2023-24 season nears. They are 17-19 through 36 games after a 3-10 record in their last 10 games including two four-game losing streaks. They are in the middle of one of those losing streaks and have looked like a lost team on both ends of the floor.
Where the Lakers have looked particularly bad over the last 13 games is on the offensive end. L.A. has a 112.5 offensive rating in their last 13 games, which is good enough for 23rd in the NBA. It puts them right alongside teams like the Detroit Pistons, Chicago Bulls and Portland Trail Blazers. So at this point, it would behoove the Lakers to try just about anything to get out of this slump.
Former Lakers forward Lamar Odom put out a suggestion for head coach Darvin Ham. It involved bringing back an offensive philosophy that helped the Lakers win five championships between 2000 and 2010 while making seven Finals in 11 seasons.
There is only 1 way to fix the Lakers… RUN THE TRIANGLE!!!! https://t.co/C169qUDtPR
— LAMAR ODOM (@LamarOdom) January 6, 2024
The triangle offense is an older philosophy that was created by Tex Winter and popularized by Lakers legend Phil Jackson. Winter created the offense as a member of Jackson’s coaching staff and Jackson proceeded to win 11 championships — six with the Chicago Bulls, five with the Lakers — using the offense.
The offense centers around constant ball and player movement into the shape of triangles, with a guard at the top of the key, a big man on the block and a wing player in the corner. The triangle forms on the strong side of the court while two players hang on the weak side in case the ball swings their direction.
If the Lakers were to implement it today, they would only be able to do so in lineups that feature LeBron James, Anthony Davis and at least two shooters. In most cases, this would be some combination of Austin Reaves, Taurean Prince or D’Angelo Russell.
It’s not a bad suggestion by Odom. However, implementing an offense that has never been run in full effect by anyone on the roster midway through the season would likely cause more problems than it solves. At this stage, the Lakers may be better tweaking their current offense to encourage more player movement as things have stagnated over the last few weeks.
Austin Reaves: Lakers confident despite losing streak
Reaves has not lost any confidence in the Lakers despite what they have gone through recently. He thinks that the losses have not yet affected the team’s confidence, even if things absolutely need to be turned around.
“We’re losing. We shouldn’t be in like a high state of mind right now,” Reaves added. “We got to figure it out. Like we’re not winning games. But individually, if you go down the line and look how we’re playing, obviously not getting the job done, but I don’t think we could point anything out to what your point is of someone being less confident or whatever it is. I feel like we’re still playing confident, just not winning games.”
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