Frank Vogel was relieved of his coaching duties after a 33-49 season. The Lakers had a disappointing season and someone has to take the blame. There are more problems with the Lakers beyond coaching. The roster that was assembled in the off season fit poorly and injuries hurt the team chemistry from the beginning. Vogel was in a tough situation once Anthony Davis got injured with a sprained MCL in December.
Anthony Davis needed to be available and be dominant in order for the Lakers to be successful. LeBron James needed to be the second scorer but third in usage rate for the Lakers to have a successful season. Russell Westbrook needed to hover around averaging a triple double for the 5th time in his career. Frank Vogel ultimately did not get the best out of the players available, especially after the all star break. The Lakers only won 6 games after the all star break and at times the body language of the team was unacceptable.
Frank Vogel is a defensive master mind. The Lakers defense was top 5 the past 2 seasons under Vogel and one of those seasons, the Lakers won the championship. This year’s team ranked 23rd in defensive rating. Vogel could not get this team to commit on defense which resulted in opponents scoring easy baskets consistently and putting the Lakers in a deficit early in games.
Ultimately, Frank Vogel is a very good coach and just had a bad year on a team with high expectations. The Lakers will begin to search for the next head coach soon and hope to have one before the NBA draft. LeBron James will be going into his 20th season and there will be multiple moves made to update the roster. The 2022-23 Lakers will look much different.
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