After the Lakers lost the game they should have won, all the contradictions turned to Vogel.
Vogel's current situation is indeed embarrassing, after all, this season has played any team five or five, such a Lakers is really far from our expectations.
Some media even analyzed that it was only a matter of time before Vogel was fired, and even listed coaches who might take over the Lakers after Vogel was fired, such as Luke Walton, Mark Jackson, Jeff Van Gundy, and Mike D'Antoni. Anyway, I said that there is a nose and an eye, and it feels as if it makes a lot of sense.
Indeed, now both some media and fans believe that Vogel should pay for the Lakers' weak performance this season. But there are also some "alternatives" who are reluctant to argue with people who silently reply to Vogel's remarks about firing him:
"You know a ball"!
The Lakers are 24th in offense and 19th in defense this year, and if it weren't for the favorable schedule at the beginning of the season, they might not even have a 50% win rate. At this point, the vultures began to circle around Vogel, and when you think about it, it's not surprising.
Vogel was hired two years ago and won the race against Tyrone Lou and Monty Williams. At that time, he was considered the most suitable coach for the Lakers, and Kidd could only play by his side.
All Vogel did was lead the Lakers to the second-best win rate in team history and the team's 17th championship.
It wouldn't be appropriate to blame The Lakers' weakness this season entirely on Vogel, just as it would be to blame engineers for the sinking of the Titanic or bad cards to poker players.
Vogel's foundation is defense, and the Lakers have ranked in the league's top three defensive efficiency over the past two seasons and first in the league last year. The Lakers at that time included Pope, Caruso and Schroeder. The current Lakers have Anthony, Westbrook and Austin Reeves. James has yet to switch to "defensive" mode, and Thick Brow is still adjusting to the heavy lifting of being a center.
Is it too early to start blaming Vogel at this point?
In his few seasons in charge, the Lakers are far from the top offensive powerhouse, but that's enough for them. Vogel has made adjustments this season to speed up the team's offensive pace. From 16th last season to 2nd in the league, while leaning towards a smaller lineup. It was because of a change in the squad, with a lot of wingers in their rotation, as well as Russell Westbrook.
When the Lakers finished the Westbrook trade in the summer, I felt that the situation was not good, because judging by James' several championship-winning lineups, he needed a good enough shooter around him, not a ball carrier. Now, it's really bad.
Westbrook's scores this season look good, averaging 20.6 points per game, but inefficient (44.6 percent shooting, including 31.3 percent three-point range). He has 4.7 turnovers while delivering 8.7 assists, which is fatal, especially with the league's fast-paced, fast-paced offensive-defensive style of play now. Defensively, when Westbrook is on the floor, the Lakers conceded 9.1 points more per 100 possessions than when he's not on the floor.
Let's make a hypothesis, if the Lakers traded Kuzma's contract for The Sacramento Kings' Buddy Hield, what would they look like?
Hield, who has shot 37.8 percent from three-point range with the Kings this season, still looks like the best ideal guy on James' side. At the same time, where will this part of the money vacated by the transaction be used? In Chicago, Caruso leads the NBA in steals. In Boston, Schroeder did well. In Washington, Harrell has regained sixth-man status of the year.
That deal greatly limited the Lakers' subsequent series of operations, and their choice became very limited, that is, a large number of veterans and veterans signed up later. Of course, there is no intention of denying these signings, on the contrary, these signings are the best choices that can be created in a very limited environment.
In fact, when the Wizards launched the Westbrook trade, almost no team was willing to take over. The Knicks aren't so stupid anymore, and the Rockets don't welcome Westbrook back to the deal for John Wall. He still has more than $90 million in his contract, to say the least, which makes it difficult for him to transfer.
Until the Lakers suddenly take the bait!
On the surface, the Lakers did not overreact to the current unsatisfactory start. Thick Brow sees Sunday's victory over the Pistons as the starting point for a winning streak. James called this season the toughest challenge of his career, and he said he was willing to take it. Westbrook has experienced a lot of adversity in recent years, and he says he won't be overwhelmed by what happened this year.
Wei Shao said: "My principle is never, never panic. We want to motivate each other. No matter what people outside the locker room think, they think we should play this way and that way. It's been a long year. But at the same time... We have to have a sense of urgency to win at home and win the games we should win. ”
That's the problem. The Lakers played a lot of games that should have been won early. And usually they don't win. They lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves, Sacramento Kings and Portland Trail Blazers. They lost twice to the Oklahoma Thunder. They will play six away games in their next nine games, including against Memphis, Dallas and Chicago.
Vogel said: "We knew this season would be bumpy. This season we have to reach the top at the right time, we have to understand that we have to use 82 games to learn from each other, every day, every game is growing... We have to have a big mindset for this team. ”
Can Vogel hold out until the day when the willows are dark and the flowers are bright?
As Vogel said after losing to the Clippers today, they're still trying some lineups, they're still running in, and they should have played better. Vogel is tuning the current roster at his own pace, and Nunn and Ariza will also return soon, just don't know if the Lakers management will have enough patience.
And, the reality is that the Lakers aren't acting like a team that can meet ideal expectations, and history suggests that coaches will pay for it.
Last offseason, Vogel was renewed for a year. He could lose his job and could be replaced by David Fitzdale, Phil Handy or any assistant coach currently sitting next to him. Or it could be replaced by one of Luke Walton, Mark Jackson, Jeff Van Gundy and Mike d'Antoni.
He can be a scapegoat for the Lakers' weak performance. But there is no doubt that none of this should be paid for by Vogel.