The final whistle has not yet sounded, LeBron James has disappeared into the broadcast camera, he did not hug the Nets generals, but did not turn his head back to the players' tunnel, leaving only a back that made lakers fans feel sad.
James's body language was full of frustration and despair. It is no wonder that the 37-year-old James has done his best, gave everything, he played in 40 minutes 25 shots 14, including 9 three-point shooting 3, free throws 9 8 of 8 of 39 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals, 1 block, he helped the Lakers to fall behind by 23 points at most once to equalize the score. But in the end, the Lakers still lost 115-122 and suffered five consecutive losses.
James overtook Kobe Bryant to become the all-time scoring champion in the year-end war. However, James also suffered five consecutive defeats for the first time after 1009 days, and the game was also reduced to the background board of Clarkston's slam dunk. James regrets the "mileage sadness", but can he be blamed for this? No wonder, when the Lakers won the Nets by 9 points, without James, the Lakers would not even see the hope of a turnaround in the fourth quarter.
In the offseason this year, the Lakers underwent major surgery on the roster, and Pelinka said in an interview that the introduction of players such as Westbrook, Malik Munch, Kendrick Nunn and other players was to help James reduce the burden with more possession points. It sounds sweet, but in fact, this operation is like a disaster for James.
If Pelinka's memory is not confused, he should remember that when James chose to join the Lakers in the 2018 offseason, his predecessor Magic Johnson did not use this reinforcement strategy, and after Rondo, Lance Stephenson and others joined, the magician said that this reinforcement strategy was to help James reduce the burden.
Including last year, the Lakers' series of reinforcements also claimed to reduce the burden on James. However, it turns out that the possession point without stable projection ability can only cause unnecessary consumption to James, and it cannot reduce the burden at all. When James isn't on the floor, it's hard for these out-of-the-box guards to move the Lakers to role players that James pairs with, because opponents only need to shrink the defense.
With the arrival of Russell Westbrook, the Lakers have been greatly affected from staffing to playing style. In order to get Wei Shao, the Lakers gave up too much. Westbrook accounted for more than $40 million in salary space, the Lakers can not afford to introduce players who can shoot and defend, can only choose between shooting and defense, they chose cameron Anthony and Ellington who can shoot, which means sacrificing last season's league first defense.
In order to cooperate with Wei Shao, the Lakers must make sacrifices for the whole team and play more small lineups. After Anthony Davis was injured, James' role as center has become the norm. James as a blocking cover or as a ball point can ensure the Lakers' offense, the problem is that the Lakers have no good defenders on the outside and flanks, their rebounds are lost, and the basket is exploded.
Vogel and acting coach Fitzdale did not like to use Dwight Howard and were met with countless complaints, but the reality is that Howard cannot play a role in most games, and playing more will only drag his feet. Howard played 6 minutes today and the Lakers lost 10 points. It's not that the Lakers don't like to use Howard, it's really useless. Not using Howard means that James can only play more centers, and the Lakers can only accept the problems with the five small lineups.
It must be admitted that Wei Shao's performance in the previous period of time has gradually improved, which is the result of the Lakers' crazy subtraction for him. But now Davis can't play, the Lakers are quarantined, the Lakers are forced to give Westbrook the ball, the problem arises, the more Westbrook does, the more wrong.
Today's game is very typical, Wei Shao is on the floor, the Lakers fell behind, the fourth quarter played less than 2 minutes, the Lakers trailed by 23 points, and the game is watching to enter garbage time. Fitzdale replaced Westbrook, the Lakers immediately launched a counterattack under the leadership of James, short-term player Stanley Johnson provided the defensive intensity that the Lakers needed after coming on the court, and his defensive effect on James Harden was obvious, and the Lakers exploded a 17-0 attack wave.
But Fitzdale did not have the courage to completely abandon Wei Shao, and when he sent Wei Shao back to the court, the Lakers lost their previous sharpness at both ends of the offensive and defensive ends. At 1:34 in the fourth quarter, Mills widened the point difference to a bottom corner three-pointer of 5 points, which was entirely Westbrook's mistake. After Wei Shao and Munch switched defenses, Wei Shao should have chased Mills closely, but he only looked at the ball and did not look at people, and was hit by Mills for three points in the empty position.
At the critical moment, Wei Shao's offensive end also had two attacks under the basket, and wei Shao only shot 4 of 15 shots in the penalty area in the whole game, and the shooting rate in the penalty area was less than 30%, which may even be the least effective attack in the penalty area in Wei Shao's career.
It is not to divide the pot to Wei Shao, the Lakers' current problems are not all Wei Shao's problems, but Wei Shao's problems are indeed the lakers' unavoidable problems.
Now the performance of this Lakers will only make James feel desperate, when Tucker Jr. and Wei Shao can't even put in the empty basket, when the Lakers on the defensive end are showing hands to each other again and again because of communication problems, how can James be optimistic.
Falling behind (or leading) by big scores, seeing the hope of winning, ending up disappointed, looping down several times, and over time it becomes despair.
Such desperation, James experienced in the first half of the 2017-18 season. At that time, the Cavaliers brought in isaiah Thomas, Derrick Rose, Dwyane Wade and other players who were more famous than they were strong, and the result was a dismal defensive record that did not meet expectations. The new general manager, Kobe Bryant Altman, made drastic adjustments to rebuild the lineup through multiple deals. As a result, the Cavaliers won 20-10 in the last 30 games, with a winning percentage of 66.7%.
In theory, Pelinka could also launch a trade like Altman of that year, but the problem is that James was only 33 years old four years ago, still in the stage of omnipotence, and giving him a problematic lineup he can also make up for the loopholes as much as possible. But now, James is approaching 37 years old. Second, at that time, the Cavaliers still had room to operate, and they could exchange multiple instant players, but the current Lakers had limited operating space.
The Lakers have a lot of interested players, Ben Simmons, Jeramie Grant, Miles Turner are all in the Lakers' intention list, but how does Pelinka complete the difficult operation? It's curious.
Regardless of Pelinka's operation, he had to strike as quickly as possible. After all, James's career is running out, and the Lakers have to take advantage of James's last career no matter what, don't let James chill now.