Lakers give Coach Byron Scott ‘feedback’ on why they’re fatigued

Lakers Coach Byron Scott noticed the Lakers’ poor defense while he reviewed video of their 132-114 loss Friday to the Sacramento Kings. How could he not?

But he also saw something else. They seemed tired.

Known for his tough training camps and sometimes long practices, Scott asked players Saturday why they looked so fatigued the previous night.

“Got a lot of feedback,� Scott said. “We’re going to try and do a few different things the next couple of days and see how that works, see if we can have a little bit more energy for the game.�

Scott will shorten practices and also game-day morning shoot-arounds, he said.

“Like I told them, a lot of that depends on them as well. If I do that, they’ve got to be extremely focused on what we have to do on that day and let’s get it done,� Scott said. “Hopefully we have enough energy to come out and play as hard as I know we’re capable of playing.

“It’s a Catch-22. I’m going to try to meet them halfway and we’ll see how that works.�

Players noted publicly how tough Scott’s training camp was in early October.

“I feel like I’m in great shape. Or at least I’m getting there faster than I would in other training camps,� veteran Brandon Bass said at the time. “Guys’ legs are probably a little tired but we’re going to fight through it.�

Bass was familiar with Scott’s training camps after spending his first two NBA seasons playing for him in New Orleans.

“They’re always challenging. Always going to be a lot of running,� Bass said. “It’s going to challenge you mentally and physically. I think it’s a usual Byron Scott training camp.�

Then he laughed.

“I hoped it was going to be something different� this time, he said. “I ain’t mad. I know he’s trying to bring the best out of us.�

Scott acknowledged that maybe there was a fatigue carry-over from training camp. In fact, Bass was one of the players who told Scott on Saturday he was tired.

“I know how hard he plays and on the tape I saw him laboring,� Scott said. “His answer to me was, ‘Yeah, coach, I was a little tired last night but I’m going to still play as hard as I can.’ My whole thought process with that is if he was tired, then I know there’s a lot of other guys that were tired as well.�

Scott said the Lakers (0-2) weren’t the only team that looked spent so far this season.

“Sacramento said the other day against the Clippers they were tired,� Scott said. “It’s not just us. Some teams it hits earlier than others.�

The Kings looked like they recovered before playing the Lakers. They ripped through the Lakers’ defense with ease and scored an overwhelming 80 points in the paint Friday.

The Lakers play Dallas on Sunday and Denver on Tuesday, both at Staples Center.