Byron Scott: Lakers' youngsters to play in 4th quarters 'no matter what'
With 13 games left in the worst regular season in franchise history, Los Angeles Lakers head coach Byron Scott appears ready to fully commit to getting the inexperienced players on his roster more late-game experience.
After benching rookie point guard D'Angelo Russell, rookie forward Julius Randle, and second-year guard Jordan Clarkson for the fourth quarter of Friday's loss to the Phoenix Suns, Scott said he plans to play the trio in the final frame of the Lakers' remaining games "no matter what," according to Bill Oram of the Orange County Register.
Scott's been critical of his young players - particularly Russell and Randle - throughout the season, and while he seemingly hasn't softened his stance on the shortcomings in their unpolished games, he's looking to be a little bit more patient with them.
"That's my goal, is allow them to be out there and play through the mistakes and play through when they're playing badly," Scott said Sunday. "They have to figure out how to come together as a group."
In fairness to Scott, Russell ranks second on the team in average fourth-quarter minutes (8.3), which is a considerable change from the early part of the season. In late November, when Scott defended playing Lou Williams over this year's No. 2 overall pick at the end of games, Russell ranked ninth on the team with an average of 5.5 minutes in the fourth.
Randle and Clarkson, however, continue to languish near the bottom of the team's fourth-quarter depth chart, ranking seventh and 10th in playing time, respectively.
Scott, whether due to an organizational mandate or his own changing attitude, plans to rectify that, and said his plan for doing so is having the youngsters - who all now occupy the starting lineup - watch film of the veteran second unit.
"We've seen it on tape and we're going to show it again," he said. "Watch how they play and hopefully that visual, sitting there watching them will resonate a little bit more."
Scott explained the crucial difference he sees between the two units, and where he hopes the young starters will be able to learn going forward.
"If we get down six points, eight points," he said, "then they all try to do it on their own instead of trying to do it together - which is what the second unit does."