Byron Scott Rips the Lakers for Their ‘Terrible’ Defense

The 109-102 final score didn’t truly reflect just how badly the New Orleans Pelicans beat up on the visiting and hapless Los Angeles Lakers Wednesday night.

Lakers head coach Byron Scott blasted his team’s defense –- currently the NBA’s worst in defensive efficiency, giving up 114.5 points per 100 possessions.

Kobe Bryant, who finished with 33 points on 10/28 shooting, could only marvel at just how awful the Lakers are at stopping the opposition.

Per the OC Register:

“They got pretty much everything they wanted in the paint,” a fuming Scott said. “There was no resistance in the paint. It was just terrible. That was probably the worst defense we’ve played, preseason all the way to this particular point.”

 

“Most of the time, the things we want to do they haven’t done,” he said. “I don’t know if it’s because they’re incapable of doing it or not. So we want to at least see if they can do it. If they can’t, then we’ll change.”

 

“It was a layup drill,” Kobe Bryant said. “Just layup after layup. […] There’s really no excuse. We have to stop penetration on the perimeter, plug the lane up.”