Lakers: Frank Vogel Takes Some Credit for Comeback Win vs Kings

Tuesday night the Lakers were down 59-50 at halftime and looked completely flat the entire half. The lead could have (and should have) been worse than a nine-point lead for Sacramento based on how the Lakers were playing. 

At that point, Coach Frank Vogel had to know that Laker fans were over it. Even being down Lebron James due to COVID protocols, this Lakers team has the talent to beat a Sacramento team still looking for consistency.

What transpired in the third quarter was a complete beatdown. The Lakers outscored the Kings 37-15 in the quarter. The Lakers only allowed the Kings to score 33 points in the second half when they scored 59 in the first half. 

“Every now and then the coach has to light a fire under his team,” Vogel said. “And today was one of those games."

The Lakers' defense is what lead the charge. A 67-33 half is a drubbing. Coach Vogel knew the adjustments had to be made, particularly playing Dwight Howard instead of DeAndre Jordan in the second half. Look let's be Frank (sorry) about Jordan. He doesn't have it anymore. Jordan was an incredible big in his prime. Respectfully to Jordan (because he deserves some respect) his prime is long gone and his legs are flat. Howard still has some gas in his tank, and he showed it. It's clear coach Vogel noticed. So did his players. The Lakers came to defense of their coach by playing defense.

“I felt like Dwight was going to give us a lift in this game and I was right,” Vogel said.

The people who advocate for firing Coach Vogel don't acknowledge that making changes in lineups means having to have difficult conversations with veterans. The Lakers are all veterans with long NBA history and egos. Telling Jordan he was hitting the bench for the rest of the game could not have been easy, but coach Vogel knew that a defensive change needed to be made.

“Our process is strong with what we’re doing. In particular on the defensive end. We’re looking at our personnel. We’re trying a lot of different things that are a little outside of what we’re used to doing and some of it’s good, some of it’s bad and we’re taking the good pieces and locking it in. But at the end of the day, we’ve got a great scheme and we’ve got personnel that can execute it.”

Coach Vogel may be on the hot seat all season if the Lakers continue to meddle in the middle, but he continues to prove that he doesn't deserve it.