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LA Lakers coach Frank Vogel has been given the green light to coach the team's marquee offseason signing Russell Westbrook as he sees fit. Westbrook has been misfiring for the Lakers, averaging 18.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 7.8 assists per game this campaign, on 43/28/66 shooting splits. The Lakers find themselves one game under .500, seeded eighth in the Western Conference.
As a result of the Lakers' performances this season, questions have been raised over Frank Vogel and his coaching staff. With rumors suggesting the LA Lakers may opt to part ways with him. However, the entire blame cannot be put on the coaching staff for the Lakers' dismal performances as the players haven't been performing up to the mark.
Russell Westbrook, in particular, hasn't delivered the goods, and now the LA Lakers management have given Frank Vogel and his coaching staff full autonomy over the situation. According to a recent report from ESPN's Dave McMenamin, Vogel exercised his discretion during the last four minutes of the defeat to the Pacers by benching Westbrook throughout that stretch.
"Over the past week and a half, Lakers management has told the coaching staff to coach Westbrook as they see fit, even if that means pulling him from a game, as Vogel did for the final 3 minutes, 52 seconds of the fourth quarter against Indiana, sources told ESPN."
The 2017 MVP had shot only five of 17 from the field and was struggling to defend Caris LeVert, who torched the Lakers on the night, scoring 22 points in the fourth quarter alone. Disappointing performances from Westbrook, such as the one against Indiana, reaffirmed the Lakers' current stance regarding his play. As elaborated on by McMenamin in his report.
"One source close to the situation described the message from management to the staff as, "You got to do what you got to do," - reported McMenaminj
Russell Westbrook has failed to adapt to his off-ball role playing alongside LeBron James. It was an adjustment that was always going to be implemented considering the rate at which Westbrook turned the ball over and James' impact as the better decision-maker with the ball in his hands.
Frank Vogel to travel with LA Lakers on upcoming road-trip
Despite speculation circling Frank Vogel's future with the LA Lakers, as per Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports, the championship-winning coach will travel with the squad for their upcoming six-game road trip. The Lakers are not looking to make changes at this stage, which seems like a wise decision.
The LA Lakers roster isn't well-balanced enough to give them the kind of stability they are looking for on both ends of the floor. Any new coach will take a lot of time to figure out the best combination to work with, which isn't ideal at this juncture of the season.
Frank Vogel has been with the side from the start. He has improved the team defensively over the last two games, which did not seem easy considering how underwhelming the LA Lakers have been on that end for most of the season.
The LA Lakers' best defensive player, Anthony Davis, is also expected to return from injury before the end of this month, so it won't be surprising to see Frank Vogel managing to turn things around sooner than expected.
