Home Sport Jarred Vanderbilt shared that the Lakers should ‘have a defensive mindset’ to start the match

Jarred Vanderbilt shared that the Lakers should ‘have a defensive mindset’ to start the match

Sport — 02/01/2024

When it comes to their starting five, the Los Angeles Lakers have never been steady. Their starting groups have changed 14 times in 49 games, but head coach Darvin Ham hasn’t gone back to the ones that helped the Lakers get to the Western Conference Finals last year. Jarred Vanderbilt was in that group with LeBron James, Anthony Davis, D’Angelo Russell, and Austin Reaves.

Jarred Vanderbilt, le Monsieur plus des Lakers a encore frappé • Basket USA

Right now, those four players and Taurean Prince, not Vanderbilt, make up their starting five. They have been good at scoring with a 114.0 offensive rating, but terrible at stopping the other team’s shots with a 118.5 defensive rating. Ham has been trying to keep things as steady as possible by playing this lineup whenever everyone is fit, but the numbers may not be telling the best story.

Vanderbilt thinks that the Lakers’ problem is that they don’t start games with a defensive mindset. This could be a message to the coaching staff that he wants to put those players back in the starting position, as seen on Spectrum SportsNet:

Lakers' Jarred Vanderbilt ejected for shove of Rockets' Dillon Brooks - NBC Sports

“Both sides need to lock in for 48 minutes.” To start the game, I think we should be a defense team. I believe that our defense should spark our attack. We need to get stops, steals, good looks, and time to move the ball. That end of the floor is where I think we should focus our attention the most. We have a lot of players who can score and put the ball in the basket, so I think we should focus on defense.

Welcome to the Vando vault”: Fans react after Jarred Vanderbilt allegedly blocks trolling fan for igniting NBA frenzy with “worst player” claim

Vanderbilt hurt his heel, which pushed him back in the rotation at first. He doesn’t care where he plays, but he does think that his health may not be an issue anymore:

“Like I said, I’m still making progress. It’s been a few months now, and I do feel a lot better. It’s not my job to pay attention to the lines, so I won’t. Every night, I just go out there and play hard. That’s all I need to think about. The rest will be taken care of by them.

Lakers ink Jarred Vanderbilt to four-year, $48 million contract extension - A Sea Of Blue

The Lakers need to figure out a lot of things before they can turn around their 2023–24 season. One change that could be made is to use the same group that did so well last year and see if it works again this year. That job looks like it will be easy for Vanderbilt.