Why Charles Barkley was right to blow up the Lakers as a scapegoat for Russell Westbrook, Frank Vogel
The poor performance of Russell Westbrook has been a dilemma for the Lakers this season. But, it’s not the problem.
And while the national pundits are pointing to the Lakers’ point guard and their head coach Frank Vogel, the NBA on TNT’s Charles Barkley isn’t buying it.
Speaking Thursday night before the broadcast of the Phoenix Suns and Dallas Mavericks games online, Chuck was fed up.
Barkley said: “The Lakers are nuts, and admittedly he wanted to use more colorful language. “The way they tried to throw Russell Westbrook and Frank Vogel under the bus just pissed me off.”
“The people at the top, the people who dropped the trash are running away like cowards saying, ‘Oh, that’s Frank. That’s Russ. ‘ You put all those old morons out there – whoever ran that trash can out there… that’s ridiculous. “
Bingo.
The Lakers have been a major disappointment mainly due to general manager Rob Pelinka’s poor lineup building and ownership reluctance to delve deeper into the luxury tax. However, there have been various scapegoats fleeing to ease the blame in recent days.
Sure enough, they brought in Stanley Johnson on a 10-day contract, which paid off. But that’s basically part of the problem.
“Listen,” Barkley continued, “the best man besides LeBron [James] who was in the last month? Stanley Johnson. And for you to attract a top laner and have him become your second best player… it’s ridiculous. “
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Coach Frank Vogel seems to be the target of rumors about he’s sitting on the hot seat emerged earlier this week. Now attention has turned to Westbrook, Who was on the bench? to close the Lakers’ loss to the Pacers on Wednesday.
There’s no denying that Westbrook has had an incredibly down year, but the good reason for this transfer hasn’t really passed the sniff test. According to an ESPN report by Dave McMenamin, the explanation given is that Westbrook did not follow the Pacers’ Caris LeVert scouting report:
The training board repeatedly pressed the scouting report to deprive LeVert of his right arm, and Westbrook, the LeVert guard at the top of the live peg, did not orient correctly to stop the drive and allow LeVert easy access to paint on the way to the ring.
This is the gameplay that can be mentioned, found by former NBA assistant coach and video coordinator Steve Jones.
So I guess this is the property. It’s not a good defense. But scroll up. In addition, this is the fourth legal possession since Westbrook’s return and the second defense. LeVert previously hit three after the help of Reaves. pic.twitter.com/ulBfzcWjxc
– Steve Jones Jr. (@stevejones20) January 20, 2022
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LeVert had a big game when he lost 30 points in the Pacers win. Plus, Westbrook’s defense in that play was terrible. But he was not the reason LeVert exploded against the Lakers.
It was the only game in which LeVert scored with Westbrook as his main defender. LeVert was defended for most of the match by Avery Bradley, Stanley Johnson or Talen Horton-Tucker. Other players like Austin Reaves and Carmelo Anthony also made defensive saves that led to an easy goal for LeVert. However, Westbrook was disqualified for his sole fault with LeVert, though deprive him some property then on a helping mission.
Jones continued to note other inconsistencies in the coaching staff’s explanation. Westbrook is said to have pulled because he failed to stop LeVert from going to his right. However, some of the Lakers’ defensive range throughout the game seemed to be deliberately pushed LeVert to his right hand.
LeVert also open up sometimes because schematic decisions matter, such as not switching screens. And during the time when other players like Avery Bradley pushed LeVert to his left, no ball pressure allows LeVert to go wherever he wants on the floor.
Westbrook was benched for the final four minutes of the game, and LeVert continued to hit all three of his shots after his escape. The Lakers’ defense also underperformed statistically in that part of the sans-Westbrook game.
It’s fair to question Westbrook’s defensive intensity, which has faded and weakened both with the Lakers and throughout his career. He’s not a good defender at all. Part of the reason for the team’s disastrous decline from number 2 defense last season to 22nd place this year after each glass cleaning could be due to him. But the whole team defended poorly. Take 28 of LeVert’s 30 points as proof. Leaving Westbrook alone out is missing out on the bigger picture.
Westbrook is basically a pure neutral because on/off number at Glass Cleaner. Advanced stats like plus or minus estimate also rates him as a basically average NBA player in terms of impact at this point in his career. Where the Lakers are being killed is that they have to play too many minutes with Pelinka-picked players who contribute nothing.
The real reason the Lakers are looking so down is because of the lack of depth in their roster and their mismatched pieces. There are other options as well, but this is the path that Pelinka chose.
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Pelinka transported Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Montrezl Harrell, Kyle Kuzma and first-round pick 22 for the Wizards to get Westbrook. Kuzma has improved his all-round game, Caldwell-Pope has solidified, and Harrell has re-established himself. The Lakers could really use that depth.
Pelinka’s movements around the edges were also paralyzed. Malik Monk and to a lesser extent, Carmelo Anthony, are good signings for the team. Stanley Johnson has played well as a tough exemption addition. But choosing Horton-Tucker over Alex Caruso seems like a big mistake right now.
The Lakers also need to have their minimum signings. Instead, they flirt with them. De’Andre Jordan and Kent Bazemore are no longer participating in rotation. They have moved from Rajon Rondo who has been transferred to the Cavs. According to Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times, management seemed to think that playing Jordan more alongside Dwight Howard would fix some of these problems. Spoiler: It won’t.
Westbrook is an expensive and easy target. There are 44 million reasons to point the finger at him. But attacking him is not going to get this team on the right track. The Lakers need additional depth. With the lineup built as it is, they don’t have much of a way to do it on trade deadlines. It’s a Pelinka problem. The franchise may continue to point its nose at other sources, but eventually the team will continue to struggle and there will be no one else to point to.
