Los Angeles Lakers: Mike Brown's Defense in Shambles in March

When the Los Angeles Lakers hired Mike Brown this past summer, one of the aspects of their game that was immediately going to improve was defense.

From December to February, it did. 

The Lakers once led the league in rebounding and were among the top teams in opponents' points per game and opponents' field goal percentage.

In fact, from Christmas until the All-Star break, the team conceded 100 points or more just seven times. Since then their defense has significantly declined in quality. They've already conceded 100 points or more eight times this month, surpassing their total from the months of December thru February.

Lakers Defensive Decline	PPG	FG%	3PT%	OREB
December-February	91.2	42%	32%	11.6
March	98.9	45%	31%	12.2

As displayed in the table above, the Lakers have been allowing close to eight more points per game. Opponents have also been shooting better against the Lakers, and more importantly, have been snagging more offensive rebounds.

The latter exemplifies the fact that the Lakers are losing on hustle plays. They're allowing other teams to outwork them, extend possessions, and get second-chance points. 

The fact that opponents' three-point shooting has remained pretty much the same shows that it really hasn't been a factor in the Lakers' decline in defense over the past month. In other words, the problem has to do with what's happening in the paint.

The Lakers aren't doing a good job in ending their opponents' possessions by getting rebounds.

They've also been allowing a plethora of fast break points, as evidenced in their loss against Memphis. It seemed like the Grizzlies would score almost instantly, even if the Lakers had just made a bucket.

To put it simply, the Lakers effort hasn't been there this month. Teams become great on the defensive side of the ball when they're hustling, outworking opponents and playing as if it's the last time they're ever going to play again. 

Other than the Miami and Boston victories earlier this month, the Lakers really haven't shown that on defense. They've gotten complacent and lost games they should've won.

In fact, they blew two 17-point lead against Detroit and Washington. Isn't that enough evidence that the Lakers have struggled to put their foot on the gas pedal throughout a whole game in the month of March?

They also lost two games against Utah and Houston. Those were both winnable games and the Lakers would have been victorious if they had played just a little bit of defense in those losses.

All of this being said, the Los Angeles Lakers have improved tremendously on offense. Ramon Sessions' arrival has given the offense some flow and energy. Andrew Bynum has become a new focal point in the offense as he has regularly put up 30 or more points this month. 

However, just because the team found its scoring touch doesn't mean they have to stop playing defense. Championship teams play well on both sides of the ball. They don't compensate a strong offensive showing with a poor defensive night.

There needs to be more balance and consistency if the Lakers are going to go far, and the good news is that they have the potential to do it. They did it for over two months.

Somewhere along the line, the effort fell. Perhaps it was the fact that they're not really playing with a chip on their shoulder anymore like they were when the season first started. When the Chris Paul trade was nixed, it sort of motivated the entire team to put in 100 percent effort to show the rest of the NBA that the Lakers were still a legitimate contender.

After all, their no-show performances defensively haven't come against the powerhouse teams. They seemed to be just fine against Miami, Boston, and Dallas. It's the Detroits, Washingtons and Utahs that bring the worst out of the Lakers.

No matter who they play, complacency cannot be tolerated by Mike Brown and his coaching staff because everyone knows that if one combines the Lakers defense from January and February with their offense from March, huge explosions will happen in May and June.