The Los Angeles Lakers have been heavily focused on rebounding issues this week after getting crushed on the boards against the Phoenix Suns on Sunday. Outside of Anthony Davis, L.A.’s focus has been on getting perimeter players like Rui Hachimura to crash for boards and give the Lakers more of a chance to compete on the glass.
This is especially important given an upcoming matchup against the L.A. Clippers. The Lakers rank in the bottom 10 in both rebounds per game and rebounds allowed per game, and even though players like Jarred Vanderbilt have missed much of the season, there is no reason L.A. should rank so poorly in these categories.
Hachimura gave some insight into what the Lakers have been working on in order to curb the issue. The focus on defensive rebounding has been a big one for the Lakers in practice as they look toward a difficult stretch of the schedule.
“Yeah, that’s a key because I think defensively we’ve been doing a lot of different stuff and we’re not in a good position (to rebound),” Hachimura said after practice on Tuesday. “We practiced a lot today with rebounds and when we’re in scramble situations defensively. So we watched the film and I think we figured it out, so we’ll see.”
Hachimura emphasized the importance of helping one another in order to fix the team rebounding issues.
“We just got to help each other, especially if we have a three-guard lineup or something, we got to know that rebounds are gonna be tough. Especially like last game, they had all over 6’7″ or 6’8” guys on the court together and we got to help each other rebound. AD is not the only one that can rebound, everybody has got to box out and help rebound too.”
The Lakers forward turned his attention to the matchup with the Clippers and what L.A. needs to do be successful against one of the league’s best teams.
“Yeah, they’ve been pretty good since the James Harden trade. I don’t know who’s out or in tomorrow, but we need every game now. We have 20-something games left and we’re trying to make the playoffs so each game is very important. Even the last game, we needed it. But it is what it is, we lost and just got to switch gears and focus on this next game,” Hachimura said.
Anthony Davis discusses how Lakers can improve rebounding
Anthony Davis ranks third in the league in rebounding at 12.3 per game, but as recent games have shown, he can’t do it all himself on the glass.
The Lakers’ other players like Hachimura know that they need to help the star big man, but Davis also discussed ways L.A. can improve on the defensive glass.
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