The biggest news in this offseason is that Westbrook comes to the Lakers, the big three are out, who is fighting with? The Lakers were seen as favorites to win the championship before the start of the season, but now their 14-13 record is only 6th in the West, far below the expected target. And the 9th and 10th Blazers and Timberwolves are only 2.5 wins away from the Lakers, and they are also eyeing the playoffs. It can be said that the Lakers' goal today is not as long as winning the championship, and it is very good that they can stabilize in the top 5 in the East at the end of the season! But in fact, there are too many problems for the Lakers today, and it is difficult enough to achieve this goal! Don't throw the pot to Wei Shao, the Lakers have too many problems...
Many people have thrown the Lakers' current record of bad performance and sluggish state on Wei Shao, thinking that Wei Shao and Zhan Mei are completely incompatible, and Wei Shao's decline is too serious. But do you know that in the 27 games in which the Lakers appeared, Wei Shao participated in all of them, becoming the only full-time player in the Lakers' starting lineup, which is simply a model! Westbrook's average this season, although only 19.5 +7.5+8.5, is too far behind last season's 22+11+11. But we also know that the Lakers currently don't have a No. 2-spot score-stable Beal with a steady score of 30+, no pitcher like Bertans, not even a pitcher like Matthews, not to mention a No. 4-slot Yamura. The Lakers' flank talent in addition to James is only the old melon, the old Ariza, the old Ellington, and the shorter Bazemore.
Indeed, Kuzma + Pop + Harrell lost the depth of the Lakers, Pop has proven himself to be a better 3D than Danny Green, Kuzma also has excellent singles talent, and Harrell is a booster of the team's spirit. And the Lakers also lost Caruso in the offseason, and the much-malignEd Schroeder. Although Schroeder was spat at for his average organizational skills, the average of 15.5 + 3.5 + 6 per game last season was no better than that of Munch and Horton Tucker this season. Munch averaged only 10+2.5+2 per game, and Tucker averaged only 10.5+5+3 per game. And Caruso's defensive ability is not comparable to these two, and the old Rondo can compare. It's all to blame for Nunn, who was originally reused, but now he hasn't played a game due to injury.
Some time ago, James's abdominal muscle strain led to missed many games, and 12 of the 27 games this season have been missed. The author feels that the 37-year-old James is not as physical as before, and he does not have the influence of the game before! Even now James can cut 30+ in 3 consecutive games, and can also cut a triple-double at the 20+10+10 level. James's decline is reflected in James's data, this season James's overall data came to 26 + 5.8 + 6.9, the score is not much different from last season, but rebounds and assists fell sharply. This also shows that James' energy on the offensive end is now more limited, even if he comes to Westbrook, James focuses on scoring, but the scoring data is almost the same as last season. The reason for not going forward and retreating, James did fall!
Last season's playoff thick eyebrow groin strain, the Lakers were directly reversed by the sun, which also shows the importance of thick eyebrows for the Lakers! This season, Thick Brow returned from this small injury and played a perfect statistic averaging 24+10+3+1+2 per game, and was in very good shape. But let's take a look at his advanced data, the offensive efficiency of 100 rounds is 105.8, ranking 185th in the league; the defensive efficiency of 100 rounds is 109.1, ranking 188th in the league. Offense and defense are in the middle of the league, obviously, this is still a big gap with the thick eyebrows of attack and defense. This also means that the thick eyebrows are not working hard, and the impact on the game is relatively small if there is data alone!
Guago is indeed worthy of praise this season, originally in the Lakers pension, the result became to be chewed old. The 37-year-old Guago can also contribute about 13.5+ 4 per game, proving that There is still oil in Anthony's tank. But the 107-kilogram weight, 108.8 per 100 rounds of defensive efficiency dragged down the Lakers' defense. That is, Guago is too slow, with the average efficiency of this season's thick eyebrows, Playing Time limited Howard, the Lakers' interior defense is too bad. The Lakers have conceded 108.8 points per 100 possessions this season, ranking 13th in the league, just the middle of the league. Coupled with 1m 93 Ellington and 1m 93 Bazemore, the Lakers' forward defense is almost the bottom of the league!
Vogel seems to have proven his true coaching ability this season, and once James slips, Vogel doesn't have a good way to do it. In the face of the vast majority of games, Vogel appeared helpless, being beaten by the kings of the league's downstream team in double overtime, even losing to fish belly like the Thunder and losing to the Grizzlies without Morant. Vogel is still the Vogel, the ability to adjust is too slow, too dependent on superstars, which is far inferior to Tyrenlu. And the defense that Vogel built during the Pacers era, and the depth of the lineup in the 19-20 season, the Lakers' talent is far from enough, which has also caused the Lakers' embarrassing situation today.
Can the Lakers get better now? Obviously, the Lakers' natural shortcomings still can't be solved, the problem of the team's aging, the defensive problem of the front, the decline of James, and the problem of rotation depth. This has also directly affected the overall strength of the Lakers, and Wei Shao has proved that he has only declined a little bit from his athletic ability at his peak, or the same Wei Shao in the past. Having also won 3 assist kings, is Wei Shao's assist ability really poor? Obviously, he just loves hot-headed at times, the passing choice is sometimes bad, and the vast majority of moments of Wei Shao are worthy of recognition! However, according to the current situation, the Lakers should have no problem in the playoffs. As long as the playoffs come, the thick eyebrow glass attribute has not exploded, and the Lakers have the hope of playing the role of the dark horse!