Mike D’Antoni Wants Lakers to Be Top 10 Defensive Team

Mike D'Antoni 9The Los Angeles Lakers are trying to stay competitive in the Western Conference where even a .500 record could have you sitting near the bottom of the standings. The West is stacked from top to bottom and the Lakers will have to work very hard to sneak into the post season.

As of right now, the team has not been very good on the defensive end and, are currently ranked 29th in the league in terms of opponent points per game. The Lakers allow an average of 103.4 points per game and the only team that allows for more is the Philadelphia 76ers at 111.2 a game.

Mike D’Antoni spoke to the Los Angeles Times and he said he would like to see his team eventually develop into a top ten defensive team.

While the Lakers worked their way through four road games in five nights, Coach Mike D’Antoni said he wanted them to become a top-10 team defensively.

Surprisingly, he wasn’t laughing when he said it. Maybe the lack of humor was the funny part.

D’Antoni was never known for his defensive strategies and he has always been criticized for not paying much attention to that side of the court. If the Lakers can live up to D’Antoni’s expectations that would be great, but there is small chance the Lakers can find the defensive success of the Chicago Bulls or the Indiana Pacers.

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