Beijing time on January 3, in an NBA regular season game that ended today, the Lakers narrowly defeated the Timberwolves 108-103, winning 2 consecutive wins, although a victory is worth rejoicing, but in the face of the Timberwolves who are short of soldiers, the Lakers can only win in the end, which shows that there are still many problems in the team. Especially in this game, the Lakers' poor performance in rebounding was hotly discussed after the game, and the Lakers will also talk about this topic.
Speaking about the team's rebounding disadvantage, James said: "Obviously, it's too much to have the other side grab 20 offensive rebounds, and we have to do better in that regard. But what we're doing well is that the average defensive rebound lost only gives the opponent one point, which is a very good statistic, that is, the opponent grabbed 20 offensive rebounds and only scored 20 points of secondary offensive points. So, when they get offensive rebounds, at least we put in the effort to get back on the defensive, or most of the defensive success. So, that's a good point. ”
James is not wrong, this game the Lakers lost 28-56 to the Timberwolves in rebounding, including 4-20 in offensive rebounds, and even appeared in an offensive attack, the Timberwolves snatched the offensive rebounds in a row, fortunately they did not let the Timberwolves convert these offensive rebounds into more points, but it must also be admitted that if it were not for the Timberwolves' shooting rate in this game, it would be replaced by a team with slightly better three-pointers. Maybe the Lakers collapsed directly in the third quarter.
In fact, in the last 3 games, although the Lakers have achieved 2 wins and 1 loss, their rebounding performance has been bad, and the rebounding performance in the three games is: 28 to 56, 47 to 54, 39 to 43, and the total loss of 39 rebounds in the three games has not been more than the opponent. At the same time, look at the Opponents of the Lakers' three games, the Blazers and Timberwolves are all in a crippled lineup, and the relatively neat Grizzlies used Adams to rule the interior line at the last moment and completed the reversal of the Lakers.
At this stage, the Lakers mainly play five small lineups, so that James played a center has indeed played a good effect. According to statistics, when James was on the floor tonight, the Lakers' net effectiveness was +10.8 (39 minutes, 10.8 points per 100 rounds), while the Lakers' net effectiveness was -31.0 in the 9 minutes he was not present. In those lineups where James is not on the floor, the Lakers' offensive efficiency is only 63.2. It was when he wasn't on the floor that the Lakers couldn't score at all.
On the one hand, this data shows how efficient James can be when playing center, but it also shows that the Lakers are now too dependent on James, especially at the end of today's game, James has been tired enough to hold his hands on his knees and gasp. Obviously, the Lakers are currently seriously depleting James's physical strength, and James in the fourth quarter is obviously a bit unable to move. Therefore, it can be said that the five-small lineup is not a long-term solution for the Lakers, especially when the opponent has a big center, or James needs inside support, the Lakers should still be on the big center, but this game James is tired, the Lakers can not grab rebounds, Vogel has always refused to go to Howard.
Vogel's choice was naturally questioned, and his own explanation for it was that he wanted the Lakers to adapt to rebounding competition in the small lineup: "If we're going to explore this style of play, we're going to have to learn how to handle that." But Vogel's explanation did not get the support of the fans, but angrily criticized Vogel for, saying that he was too rigid and stubborn, completely squeezing James, and even if Howard is in poor form now, he should not be discarded for 2 consecutive games.
In the next game, the Lakers' opponent will be the Kings, the inner line of this team sits on bagley, Thompson and other tough players, if the Lakers still only intend to use James to carry the inside line, it is very likely to lead to loss, when the need for center help, fans still hope that Vogel can be slightly flexible.