Los Angeles Lakers coach Byron Scott indicated the 2014 Lakers would be a defensive-minded team. In light of the Lakers' current roster, the team's biggest struggles likely will be on offense.
Scott, whom the Lakers hired as head coach on Saturday, said he's excited for the chance to guide the Lakers back to championship contention. He told reporters he spoke with Bryant and indicated defense would be the Lakers' brand of basketball for the upcoming season.
"He told me he was working out with Wesley (Johnson) and Nick (Young)," Scott said, via ESPN, of his conversation with Bryant. "I told them that sounded great, but 'they better be ready to play some defense.'"
Although the old adage "defense wins championships" does hold true, Scott's emphasis on defense is more so dictated by his roster: the 2014 Lakers are a far cry from the high-scoring Lakers of the Showtime era.
Bryant, 35, always has been the crux of Los Angeles' offense. He's older, though, and he's coming off major injuries in each of the last two seasons. Bryant also seemingly knows he can't score like he could in the past -- an ESPN report earlier in July claimed Bryant told then-free agents Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James he would take a backseat role and focus on defense, like he did in the 2012 Olympics, if they were to sign with the Lakers.
Assuming Bryant becomes more selective with his shot attempts and takes on the role of facilitator, the Lakers won't have many options in way of scoring.
If last season was any indicator, veteran Steve Nash will be a nonfactor in 2014. That leaves Young as the de facto scoring option; he scored 17.9 points per game last season, but the 29-year-old has a career average of just 12.2 points per game.
The Lakers also are unlikely to generate anything substantial from Johnson, forward Carlos Boozer or guard Jeremy Lin.
Barring a blockbuster trade, the Lakers' best chance of earning a spot in the postseason is to follow the path of last year's Chicago Bulls and win with defense -- something Scott already appears to be planning for.
