69 games seems like an awfully long time to take to get a clue. But better late than never, as they say.
Lakers head coach Byron Scott vowed on Sunday that he is done benching the team’s young players during fourth quarters, per Bill Oram of the Orange County Register.
Byron Scott says he is done benching young players for the fourth quarter. Going forward, they will play in fourth quarter “no matter what.”
— Bill Oram (@billoram) March 20, 2016
Amongst several other penal offenses he has committed this season, Scott has been notorious for denying his talented group of young players, including Julius Randle, Jordan Clarkson, and rookie D’Angelo Russell valuable crunchtime minutes in favor of veterans such as Lou Williams, Marcelo Huertas, and Brandon Bass.
With the 14-55 Lakers in the midst of a full-blown rebuilding season, there’s no reason why Scott’s common sense widget should have taken this long to load. Still, for a guy who took until February to name Russell his starting point guard, this really isn’t all that surprising.
Considering all of Scott’s woes this season, from serial talent mismanagement and bungled handling of injuries to social media blunders and disparaging comments about his team to the press, let’s just hope the increased opportunity over these last 13 games allows the Laker youngsters to divert attention away from Scott’s gross incompetence.
H/T Rotoworld
