Not too long ago, Kobe Bryant compared his sorry teammates to toilet paper.
After they were blown out Wednesday night by the LA Clippers, head coach Byron Scott repeatedly called out his team for being soft and encouraged them to “man up.”
The Clippers faced no resistance from their building-mates, as they cruised to a 114-89 romp.
Per the LA Daily News:
“We were soft,” Lakers coach Byron Scott said. “I don’t consider a lot of respect for that team over there. They’re a good team, but I don’t consider them a physical basketball team. But they came out and punched us. We were soft period.”
In case no one heard him the first time, Scott repeated his “soft” criticism regarding the Lakers’ non-existent defense in four different instances. The Lakers appeared soft when a combination involving Bryant, (Wayne) Ellington and Jeremy Lin allowed Clippers guard Chris Paul to unleash 24 points on 9-of-14 shooting and 11 assists. The Lakers looked soft when they allowed (Blake) Griffin and DeAndre Jordan (10 points) to throw down lobs basically anytime they wanted. The Lakers seemed soft when Bryant’s non-existent defense made Matt Barnes appear like an All-Star with 19 points on 6-of-12 shooting. The Lakers remained soft when the Clippers soon built as large as a 43-point lead.
“He said the same thing I said. He just didn’t use a toilet paper analogy.”” Bryant said, alluding to his practice tirade last month where he critiqued the team’s toughness. “They’re just better. They just got better players and they come at you in waves and they’re deeper. They have a lot of shooters on the floor.”
