Last season was forgettable to say the least for the Los Angeles Lakers. The storied franchise finished with a record of 27-55 and missed the playoffs by a large margin as a result.
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One of the things that bothered Laker legend Magic Johnson the most about last year’s squad was the team’s tendency to live and die by the three. Magic hopes that trend stops with Byron Scott coming into the fold.
Magic hopes the team no longer resorts to jacking up threes on a nightly basis via Eric Pincus of the L.A. Times:
“The team is better than what we had last season, because we have more guys who can do more things than just shoot three-pointers,” said Johnson. “If I don’t see another three-pointer from a Laker team, I’ll be happy.”
The Lakers shot 38.1 percent from the beyond the arc last season and lost their best outside shooter this summer with Jodie Meeks agreeing to a deal with the Detroit Pistons. Although efficient from deep on some nights, last year’s squad definitely fell in love with the shot more often than not and as result lost a lot of games.
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With Scott now the new leader on the sidelines, the Lakers may play with more structure on both ends of the floor rather than trying to light up the scoreboard every single night. Scott has let it be known that he intends to emphasis defense next season and will make players accountable for not putting forth the effort defensively.
It’ll be interesting to see how Scott changes the culture in Los Angeles and whether the players buy in. Kobe Bryant being on his side will definitely help matters, but it still remains to be seen if Scott can truly turn things around sooner rather than later.
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