The Los Angeles Lakers are looking fine in their first season under Frank Vogel. However, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is under fire from many Purple and Gold fans for his poor shooting start to the 2019-20 campaign.
KCP is currently 0-for-9 from the field on his first two games of the season. His form is uncharacteristic if his shooting performance throughout his professional career is put into consideration, so fans are hounding him to get better.
Vogel, however, comes into the defense of his shooting guard and immediately pointed out the other advantages KCP brings to the game. The 46-year-old coach said that Caldwell-Pope brings high-level defense beyond shooting.
“KCP’s been one of our best defenders since training camp started,” Vogel said, per Christian Rivas of SB Nation. “He’s got great recovery speed and containment speed and he gets his hands on a lot of balls. The numbers that we’re looking at with 41 percent tonight and only 86 points for the Jazz, he impacts that end of the floor at a high level.”
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has been a decent guard for the Lakers since arriving in 2017. He has averages of 12.2 points, 4.0 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.1 steal in the 158 games he has played as a Laker.
Vogel has given Caldwell-Pope plenty of minutes despite his struggles, which is why the criticism has been harsh as well. However, his recent comments provides a clear reason why.
Here’s to hoping KCP will be able to shrug off the rest and bounce back.
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