Byron Scott on D: 'It was just terrible'

NEW ORLEANS -- Los Angeles Lakers coach Byron Scott ripped his team for yet another lackluster defensive effort Wednesday, saying that he's not yet sure if their issues with stopping teams can even be repaired.

"To be honest with you, most of the time, the things that we want to do, they haven't done," Scott said after his team's 109-102 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans, during which the Lakers trailed by as many as 23 points.

"And I don't know if it's because they're incapable of doing it or not."

Following a loss that dropped the Lakers to 1-7 this season, Scott fumed about the Pelicans scoring 60 points in the paint, with star Anthony Davis going for 25 points on 12-of-16 shooting.

"They got pretty much anything they wanted in the paint with no resistance whatsoever," Scott said. "It was just terrible. That was probably the worst defense that we've played from the preseason all the way to this particular point."

Scott has focused on defense all season, yet the Lakers rank last in the NBA defensive efficiency, allowing 114.5 points per 100 possessions.

"We're not even close to our expectations, or at least mine," Scott said. "Like I said, we've just got to keep working. I know our guys are thinking a lot. We've got to get out of that pattern. But the effort has to be there and we have to play with a little more grit. That's the bottom line."

Will Scott change what the team is trying to do on that end?

"I want to at least see if they can do it," he said. "If they can't, then we'll change. And I've told our guys that. We want to see in the next three or four games if we can do that, and if we can't, then we'll change and go to something else."

Kobe Bryant, who scored 33 points on 10-of-28 shooting, marveled at how many points the Lakers gave up in the paint.

"It was a layup drill," said the Lakers star guard. "Just layup after layup."