{"id":911797,"date":"2026-10-01T04:02:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T04:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/911797\/"},"modified":"2026-10-01T04:02:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T04:02:09","slug":"austin-reaves-is-confident-lakers-have-fixed-defensive-issues-calls-teammate-a-freak-of-nature","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/911797\/","title":{"rendered":"Austin Reaves Is Confident Lakers Have Fixed Defensive Issues, Calls Teammate A ‘Freak Of Nature’"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 2025-26, one key factor that set the playoff-contending Lakers<\/a> apart from other championship-caliber teams was their willingness to commit to defense<\/a>. Critics across NBA media claimed the Lakers\u2019 defensive concerns<\/a> were why\u00a0they weren\u2019t truly championship contenders.<\/p>\n

Now Austin Reaves<\/a> seems confident they have overcome that hurdle this season, with key roster additions bolstering their defensive line<\/a>. Speaking to reporters after day two of training camp, Reaves shared his optimism about the Lakers\u2019 defense in the coming season, especially with key defenders like Matisse Thybulle<\/a>, Ziaire Williams<\/a>, Adou Thiero<\/a>, and Walker Kessler<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet me tell you, trying to score on Matisse and Ziaire, especially with Adou out there too, and then Walker on the back line, is not easy. I had to deal with that all day yesterday and today, and it\u2019s not fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDefensively, we\u2019re gonna be much better. Those guys compete every possession, and everybody else fills in their roles and plays the right way. I see how special we can be,\u201d Austin Reaves explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey all annoy the hell out of me. As I said, Matisse and Ziaire were on the same team yesterday, and it wasn\u2019t my team, which wasn\u2019t fun. But it\u2019s good to just get those reps in early.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think they\u2019re two of the best defenders in the league. They can guard multiple positions; they\u2019re long, and Matisse\u2019s anticipation is top tier. I\u2019m excited to have them on our team and see what they can do,\u201d he further added.<\/p>\n

\u201cAdou has been guarding me all summer when we\u2019ve been playing pickup and stuff. He\u2019s a freak of nature, moves as well as anybody. One of the best athletes in the league.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce he starts thinking about the game more, as we\u2019ve talked about a lot this summer, he\u2019s asked a lot of questions. So he\u2019s very interested in learning, and that\u2019s what he needs,\u201d Reaves concluded<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In 2025-26, the Lakers were the 15th-best defense in the league by team defensive rating (116.2) and the ninth-best offense by offensive rating (117.2).<\/p>\n

A common belief across the league is that a team must be among the top ten in both offense and defensive ratings to be considered truly championship-caliber. The Thunder<\/a>, the Spurs<\/a>, and the Knicks<\/a>\u2013 all three of those teams were top five in the league for both categories last season.<\/p>\n

So for the Lakers to become a championship-contending team, their defensive additions this summer, like Ziaire Williams and Matisse Thybulle, are almost as important as the offense Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves will lead.<\/p>\n

The Lakers\u2019 offensive competence<\/a> was never in doubt, but how far they advance this season may depend on their defense.<\/p>\n

With the addition of Walker Kessler, Ziaire Williams, Adou Thiero, and Matisse Thybulle, the Lakers have strengthened their defense and may move closer to contention.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In 2025-26, one key factor that set the playoff-contending Lakers apart from other championship-caliber teams was their willingness…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":911798,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,590,85],"class_list":["post-911797","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/911797","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=911797"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/911797\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/911798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=911797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=911797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=911797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}