On January 3, Beijing time, the Lakers narrowly won 108-103 against the Timberwolves, even though the team can indeed win 3 in the past 4 games, but the Lakers in all 4 games are LeBron James as the team's starting center.
In the game against the Timberwolves, the problems in the Lakers' small-ball lineup rebounding can be said to be completely exposed. At the end of the game, the Lakers were picked up by the Timberwolves with 56 rebounds, including up to 20 frontcourt rebounds, while the Lakers team only picked up 28 rebounds in this game.
You know, since the 1983-84 season, only 4 teams have taken at least 62 rebounds, and there are at least 20 offensive rebounds, and the opponent has lost less than 38 rebounds, so the Lakers can win this game or somewhat "escaped the disaster".
But the Lakers narrowly beat the Timberwolves in this game is more controversial is that Dwight Howard still can't get any playing time, when the team's small-ball lineup is relatively behind in rebounding, it is a surprising situation that players like Howard who can help the team better protect the basket can not get the opportunity to play, which also has to make people doubt the Lakers coach Frank Vogel's ability to rotate the lineup and change the lineup.
If Frank Vogel is reluctant to use Howard anymore, this Lakers lineup is definitely still flawed, even if Anthony Davis returns, it is impossible to solve the Lakers rebounding problem, but what if Davis is plagued by fouls in a game? At the same time, with Davis's physique, the No. 5 position on the top of many games can be said to be prone to injury problems again.
Because of this, Frank Vogel definitely still needs to "learn" which teams to play against, and some media have said that Vogel should not be too rigid in sticking to the small-ball lineup, so that even a few minutes of playing time can not be given to an interior player like Howard. Us media Ben-Rosas also agreed:
'Totally agreed, it's no problem to have him on the pitch for 10 minutes or so, even when LeBron is off the pitch.'
From my point of view, Vogel must change the rigid arrangement of using only small ball lineups throughout the game and completely abandoning the traditional center, because even after Davis's return, the pressure of the No. 5 position on the top may make Davis suffer from injury problems again, and giving a traditional center player like Howard about 10 minutes of playing time will not affect the team's regular rotation, and even give the team a protective frame and rebounding help.