The current times are really not easy for Russell Westbrook, who sees himself assailed from everywhere. The latest statement from his new coach also sounds like a serious warning to him… Brodie has been warned.
2022-23 is going to be a breakthrough year for the Lakers. The previous campaign did a lot of damage to their reputation, with the Crimson and Gold becoming the laughing stock of the league by not even qualifying for the Play-In. Adjustments have been made to the workforce, but the hard core has generally remained the same. It is therefore rather on the coaching side that the new spark could come, following a change of personnel on the bench of the franchise with 17 champion banners.
Exit Frank Vogel, it is now Darvin Ham who is in charge of the Californian squad. Having won the title a year ago with the Bucks as an assistant, the former player has a very strong idea of ​​how LA should roll out their basketball going into the fall. Podcast guest All The Smoke Recently, he shared an abbreviated version of his concepts, highlighting some key points from his playbook:
Darvin Ham cash on his expectations of the Lakers
We are going to have to be competitive at a high level. We will have to be united until the end. The tightest team always succeeds, they always win at the end of the day. And we must take responsibility for our actions. We are going to play hard. We are going to have a defensive spirit. It is on this side of the ball that you will see the fastest and most drastic improvement and we will split the ball on offense.
The method of the 2004 champion with the Pistons is clear, and relatively simple to implement on paper. To achieve this, however, one thing is essential: the willingness of the players to follow the directives of their tactician. We think in particular of a certain Russell Westbrookreluctant to listen to Frank Vogel last season… The points raised by Ham also concern him directly, the 2017 MVP having been criticized for his management of the game and his defense throughout the exercise.
To make matters worse, it would seem that it was him that the coach targeted with this statement. He indeed continued with a sentence that was anything but innocuous, about the commitment of his locker room:
Again, we want everyone to participate in what we do. We don’t want anyone questioning being a Laker or wondering if I’m in the right place, or this, or that.
This is clear to say the least, the leader being in the midst of departure rumors and above all, full beef with LeBron James. However, that the two men no longer manage to get along is a very bad sign for the months to come. We will therefore have to find a way to remedy this, either by burying the hatchet of war, or by changing the Brodie’s attitude. Because a trade of the latter seems rather unlikely at the moment.
Russell Westbrook has been indirectly inverted: whichever side of the ball he is on, he will have to be in tune and at the service of the team in 2022-23. Without that, the Lakers won’t have much of a chance to shine, they who have to bounce back from the sinking of last year.