Jackson Hayes’ ‘growing pains’ truth bomb in defense of LA

LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Lakers they were one of the best offensive teams in the NBA this season amid their 14-4 start. But when it came to the Lakers’ defense, it was a slightly different story. The teams have several good individual defenders, but most of the team believes that the defense can be improved. Lakers backup center Jackson Hayes is one player who has made an impact on the defense this season.

After the Lakers’ win against the LA Clippers last Tuesday, Jackson Hayes talked about where the team’s defense is at the start of the regular season.

“I feel like there’s always room for improvement. Right now, everybody’s just flying around making plays and just trying to cover each other. And it’s like we have nights of good defense and we have our nights where we have lapses,” Hayes said. “But I feel like it’s all part of the growing pains of the season. I feel like we’re just trying to get better and connect more.”

Heading into the quarter of the regular season, the Lakers are sixth in the NBA in offensive rating at 119.4, according to Basketball Reference. But they are just 16th in the league in defensive rating at 115.5.

The stats also confirm Hayes’ place as one of the better defenders on the team as he is in the top half of the roster in defensive rating at 115.6 against players in the regular rotation, according to StatMuse.

However, Lakers head coach JJ Redick cautioned against using defensive metrics like rating when evaluating a team’s defense.

“I think our defense is better than our defensive rating,” Redick said before the Lakers’ win against the Mavericks on Friday. “There are some positive things we’ve done this year. . .when you have a few outs in games, it’s not always going to show through your overall defensive rating. But it usually evens out over the course of a long season. I know we’re trending right defensively.”

For Hayes in particular, his role has remained the same, whether he’s starting or coming off the bench. Hayes’ job is to bring energy and intensity especially on the defensive end. Through the first 18 games of the season, 2.8 of Hayes’ 3.9 rebounding average has come on the defensive end.

Hayes is in his third season with the Lakers after re-signing to a one-year deal in the offseason.