All offseason, training camp and preseason, Luke Walton stressed that the Los Angeles Lakers would derive their identity off of their defense. Every coach says this heading into the season, but last year, the Lakers backed that message up. This year so far? Not so much.
Before the Lakers took on the Phoenix Suns Wednesday night, Walton apparently shared his displeasure with the defense, and it might have fueled the team to their first win of the season (via Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN):
After an angry Luke Walton held nothing back on his team’s poor defense at the morning team meeting, the Los Angeles Lakers responded to their coach and rode a dominant second quarter to their first victory of the season.