In the 2021 offseason, after knowing clearly that with the combination of James + thick eyebrows, it is difficult to have enough advantages against the Nets, Bucks, Suns and other teams; the Lakers management has let the wind out this summer - will look for a giant guard, and James, thick eyebrows to form a big three.
Originally, Defenders such as DeRozan and Hield had a good chance to join the Lakers. Only in the case of killing Wei Shao in the middle of the road, the Lakers management did not hesitate much, and decisively used Kuzma, Pop and other people as chips to win Wei Shao...
The Lakers have formed a super big three, but they have never been able to play the expected dominance
After getting Westbrook, the Lakers formed the only two "super big three" combinations in the league. After all, whether it is James, Westbrook or Thick Eyebrows, their personal performance at the peak is not only all-star level, but has completely reached the superstar level. Because of this, the outside world has great expectations for how the Big Three can play in the new season...
However, the so-called "the greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment." After the start of the new season, the Lakers, who have James, thick eyebrows and Westbrook, did not play a dominant force as desired. Instead, they lost to the Warriors and the Suns, and only got a bad start of 2 wins and 3 losses.
And in the follow-up Lakers also lost to the Timberwolves, Thunder, Grizzlies and other teams, so that after a third of the season, the Lakers only ranked seventh in the West with 16 wins and 15 losses, which did not meet the expectations of the outside world.
Thick eyebrow injury retreats: James blasted 31+14+6, but could not lead the team to win
In the recent Lakers vs Timberwolves game, thick eyebrows left the court due to a contusion to their left knee. I thought that facing a team of this level as the Timberwolves, even if there is no thick eyebrow, relying on the strength of James + Westbrook, the Lakers can easily achieve a victory.
However, after the thick eyebrow injury retreated, James and Wei Shao did not seem to be able to exert their full strength, and only got 18 points, 10 boards and 5 assists, 14 points, 4 boards and 3 assists respectively. In the end, the Lakers returned to the sky and lost to the Timberwolves 92-110, ending a rare 3-game winning streak...
After the game against the Timberwolves, the result of the injury of the thick eyebrow also came out - due to the strain of the medial collateral ligament of the left knee, he would have to miss at least 4 weeks in the future. This also means that the Lakers can only rely on the play of James + Westbrook to win in the coming month.
James himself knows this - in the absence of thick eyebrows, if the team still wants to win, but also wants to achieve better results, it can only rely on its own play. Therefore, in the recent Lakers vs Bulls game, James appeared to be full of offensive desire at the beginning, trying to use his personal ability to bring a victory to the Lakers.
Even though James was desperate to win on his own, he didn't find his form in the first quarter — a poor performance of just 2 points and 1 board on 6-of-6 shooting in a single quarter. Fortunately, from the second quarter onwards, the adjustment was timely, and finally the whole game came down, James could also get 31 points, 14 boards, 6 assists, 1 break and 2 blocks.
And under the leadership of James, the Lakers have always maintained a certain point difference and always maintained the opportunity to win. But in the end, it backfired, and the Lakers lost to the Bulls 110-115 on the road...
If these 3 defects cannot be improved, even "Full Strength Zhan" cannot save the Lakers
1. Compared with the opponent, the Lakers have too many overall mistakes. In this offseason, the Lakers did not introduce defenders such as DeRozan and Hield, who were more suitable for their own system, but instead introduced Westbrook who played similarly to James. I thought that after a summer of hard training, Wei Shao would be able to enhance his projection ability and carry out a certain degree of transformation.
But what people did not expect was that Wei Shao was still that Wei Shao, and if he wanted to play, he still needed a lot of ball possession in his hand. And Wei Shao did not completely convert the ball into points and assists, many of which he directly converted into mistakes. Coupled with James's own turnover rate + the number of mistakes in the new lineup, this has led to the Lakers' new season's number of turnovers remains high.
For example, in the recent Lakers vs Bulls game, their total number of mistakes reached 19 (Westbrook 6 times, James 4 times, Rondo 4 times), but the opposite Bulls had only 10 total number of mistakes (DeRod and Caruso 3 each). It is precisely because the Lakers have too many total mistakes and give the Bulls too many opportunities to fight back, otherwise the Bulls may not be able to defeat the Lakers led by James + Westbrook.
2, compared to the opponent, the Lakers are absent enough defensive intensity. The reason why the Lakers in the 19-20 season were able to beat the Blazers, Rockets, Nuggets, and Heat to force the championship is mainly due to their defensive intensity. At that time, the entire team, except for James when he was physically weak, was able to provide quality defense in almost every position.
However, when the Lakers introduced defenders such as Westbrook and Ellington in the offseason, with their age and playing style, they could not provide high-quality defense for the team's outside line, so they forced the thick eyebrows to often come out to supplement and assist in defense.
Now, after the thick eyebrow injury has retired, when Howard has not yet returned, the Lakers' overall defense has been greatly affected. And when the Lakers can't do a good job of defense, with their offensive firepower that is not the top level, it is difficult to win the game.
3, except for James, no one on the offensive end can stand up. When the Big Three are on the floor at the same time, whether it is James, or Westbrook, or Thick Eyebrows, most of the time they can have two efficient cuts of 20+ points, ensuring the lower limit of the team. However, after the thick eyebrow wound retreated, Wei Shao still did not stand up and take on the offensive responsibility he needed to bear...
In addition, when Bradley, Tucker and others miss the game, the offensive firepower of veterans such as Ellington and Ariza is relatively limited. If it were not for the new signing Thomas Jr. with a certain scoring ability (19+13 in the last two games), the Lakers may have played more difficult.
In summary, "too many overall turnovers + insufficient defensive intensity + insufficient offensive firepower", which is the main reason why James shot 31 points, 14 boards and 6 assists with 52.3% shooting, but could not win the team. After all, the support that teammates can give to James is too little, such a situation, in fact, even "full strength Zhan" can not drive.
Therefore, the most important thing for the Lakers to win at present is to solve the team's three defects of "too many mistakes, insufficient defensive intensity, and too few offensive points"; otherwise, even if the Lakers can win the weak team, it is difficult for them to win the top six teams in the playoffs. That is to say, if the three defects that currently exist cannot be improved in time, then even "full strength" cannot save the Lakers. Maybe by the time the thick eyebrows come back, they will already fall out of the top eight in the West...