NBA: Los Angeles Lakers Are Not Best Team In Western Conference According To Frank Vogel

Los Angeles Lakers head coach Frank Vogel does not want to put too much weight on his team’s record, which is the best in the West, as he thinks they are still not the best team in the conference.

Rather than become exhilarated with how things are going for the Lakers, who have been on a playoff drought for nearly seven years, Vogel is taking the more cautious approach instead.

“I don’t really look at it like that,” Vogel said per Brad Sullivan of the Lakers Daily. “We have a team that is confident that we can beat anybody, but we have a lot of room for improvement. The newness of our group still gives me a great deal of concern in terms of what the stretch run is going to look like, and the battles we’re going to face in the playoffs.”

The Lakers boast a 44-12 record with 26 more games left in the regular season and will enter Thursday’s clash against the Golden Warriors looking to win their seventh straight. The team has exhibited top-notch cohesiveness and chemistry with LeBron James thriving on his role as their primary facilitator and Anthony Davis being relied on as their anchor on scoring and defense.

The players possess the same mindset as Vogel as he continues to preach his boys not to get too high in wins and not too low in losses. In fact, rarely used forward Jared Dudley even urged Rajon Rondo to step up his game especially with the Playoffs approaching.

“I would say the thing about Rondo is that he’s so smart, so intelligent,” Dudley said on the “Inside the Green Room” podcast. “What he has to realize... is hey, the game has changed, we need you to score more to open it up for others... Your threat of shooting, I don’t care if you go 1-4 from three, if you’re open you have to shoot it... And then yes, he’s our second-best playmaker.”

“We need Rondo to win the championship, we need him to play at a high level. We already know what LeBron and AD are gonna do. It’s our role players and certain things, and I always say ‘don’t do more, do exactly what you’re supposed to do.,’” he added.