Since taking the job last season, Darvin Ham is experiencing two whirlwind seasons as head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. After making the climb from the 13th seed to the 7th seed last year, Ham finds himself in a similar situation now.
Currently situated as the ninth seed in a loaded Western Conference, the Lakers are looking to escape the Play-In Tournament in this final stretch of the regular season. However, if the team is unable to do so, the star power is there in LeBron James and Anthony Davis to win one or two games to get back to the postseason.
While it is tempting to check the Western Conference standings every day, the purple and gold still need to go out there and win games. That is the stance Ham is taking when going through these final 11 games.
“We’re following the progression of how much we’re getting better. How can we be better, sustain the things we’re doing well,” Ham said. “Obviously you want to alleviate and fix what you’re not doing so well and stay focused on your business. We’re aware of [the standings], we put the slides up after we touch on what we need to do for ourselves in the film session, we’ll put up a slide and look at the standings and see more so where we are and what we need to do in terms of winning games. And obviously we want to win every game the rest of the way, that’s great, that’s always great.
“But different unforeseen circumstances sometimes affect the outcome of going undefeated. But that said, we know that if we don’t take care of our business, none of it matters. We feel comfortable, we like our chances of getting in, so our focus is to make sure we secure a spot regardless of what the circumstances end up being. If we’re in the fight then we have a chance. It would be great to secure a spot, but as long as we have a fighting chance to get in, we feel comfortable where we go from there.”
As head coach, Ham will have to make sure his team is focused on the greater goal at hand. Being conscious of where they are positioned in the standings is good to know, but none of it matters if the Lakers do not close out the regular season strong.
Darvin Ham explains why Rui Hachimura has worked in starting lineup
A player who has had a difficult time fitting in with a role is Rui Hachimura due in part to Ham fluctuating between him being a starter and coming off the bench. Due to injuries though, Hachimura is now a starter for the foreseeable future and Ham explains why this new starting lineup is working.
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