After a 27-55 season, the Los Angeles Lakers are embracing a change. For starters, Byron Scott takes over coaching duties for Mike D'Antoni, and he's got some new tricks in mind for the L.A. offense.
"Our game plan is really to get to that basket," Scott said after practice on Tuesday. "I like the fact that we only shot 10 threes. If we shoot between 10 and 15, I think that's a good mixture of getting to that basket and shooting threes. I don't want us to be coming down, forcing up a bunch of threes. I really want us to attack the basket."
The Lakers attempted 24.8 three-pointers under D'Antoni last season. D'Antoni's offensive system was known to favor the long ball and an up tempo pace.
Scott wants to maintain an aggressive mindset, but encourages players to perform in a more controlled manner. He wants the team to focus on defense and doesn't mind some early foul troubles, as long as the players are engaged on that side of the ball.
"The aggressiveness is one thing I want us to keep our mind on," Scott said. "I think for the first three or four preseason games, teams are going to average shooting 37 free throws against us - because that's how I want us to play. "Once we get that established, the referees around the league will know that we're going to play a physical brand of basketball and some of those things will go away."
