The Lakers are lucky, the team has achieved two consecutive wins, in the team with a 10-day short contract to supplement Stanley Johnson, and ushered in the return of Tevere Ariza so that the Lakers forward personnel are no longer so stretched, especially Johnson's competitive state has brought a lot of help to the Lakers' defensive end, with such a good size and defensive skills of the player, the Lakers' five small lineup effect has been significantly improved, and James also played dominance in the fifth position, seven consecutive games 30+, This also allowed James to find confidence and adapt to the way of playing in the fifth position, but although the Lakers won, the problems exposed by the team are not one or two games, it can be admitted that James playing center will make the Lakers' offense more fluent, but at the same time, the Lakers' rebounding protection shortcomings are also really exposed.
In the Lakers and the Blazers game frontcourt rebounds 5:21, in the game with the Timberwolves rebounds 4:20, including the previous frontcourt rebounds against the Grizzlies the same data disparity, James played five to bring vitality to the team's offense, but the Lakers five small lineup of rebounds protection is really not enough, in many times the key moment of chasing points The Lakers will always be grabbed by the opponent one key rebound after another, more than one frontcourt rebound will be one more offensive opportunity, it can be said that the Lakers gave the opponent nearly 15 second offensive opportunities in vain This is not a good signal, now in the fourth quarter the Lakers are too obsessed with the use of small lineups, their highest height on the court is James 2 meters 06, the remaining players are not tall, and players such as Munch and Anthony are not a well-known defensive player since the beginning of his career, but the Lakers must ask them to stay on the court to provide offensive firepower, but the Lakers bench clearly sits a player with strong rebounding ability - Dwight Howard.
Howard has not been given the opportunity to play many times this season, even the playing time is difficult to guarantee, his playing time is cut to pieces, fans once for Howard, obviously their own rebounds were completely exploded by the opponent, and there is a tall Howard with outstanding rebounds, in the game with the Grizzlies Howard and Davis Twin Towers combination of the defensive effect is obviously very good, very good limits the play of Adams and Little Jackson, but the Lakers coaching staff quickly won Howard down the court, After that, Adams snatched up the rebound in the frontcourt, and Jackson Jr. named Davis one by one. To know that the 19-20 season the Lakers are using Howard as a secret weapon, McGee is more often a fake starter, in many key moments to keep Howard on the court, and Howard's defensive efficiency on the court has been very good, but this season's three-time Howard seems to be out of favor, even if the team lacks people in the inner line can not remember Howard's existence, and even can steadily give Jordan Jr. playing time, Howard is difficult to have a chance.
Howard has the lowest scoring career this season, the lowest rebounding career, the lowest playing time career, the lowest average shooting career per game, averaging only 15 minutes per game, 4.9 points and 5.3 rebounds, and averaging only 2.8 shots per game. To say that the 36-year-old Howard is in poor shape? To be honest, this is really not the case, Howard should not be treated this way, many games this season have been abandoned, in some games Howard has been given enough playing time to bring a lot of help to the team, compared to Jordan Jr. on the field did not even bother to stretch his hands, Howard on the field to bring more vitality to the teammates. Even if Howard doesn't get a chance to play every game, he always sees the first player to stand up on the bench after his teammates score a wonderful goal, he is always on the bench as long as the coach calls him to be ready, the 36-year-old Howard is still the big boy who loves to laugh.
The Lakers lineup this season has been unstable, the Lakers are also the most changed team in the league, the team did suffer a lot of injuries in the early stages, coupled with james and Davis's rotational absence due to injury, now many people trigger health and safety agreements, so the whole team is not stable, which directly makes the Lakers' role players have been greatly affected, Howard is no longer the super core of the Magic era, he is just a role player, personnel changes have a great impact on their adjustments, So you will see that Howard has a hard time getting a stable playing time this season, and even after some games the coaching staff will tell Howard that he will not get a chance to get out of the market, and then suddenly put him on the field, which Howard himself can not grasp, and such a change has always made Howard unable to maintain a stable competitive state, Howard's performance on the field is indeed not as good as before, this season under Howard's defense, the shooting rate of opposing players will rise from 47.4%, directly to 49.8%, Less than 6 feet under the basket (frame data), the shooting percentage of the opposing player will rise from 62.8% directly to 69%.
Another reason is the conflict between Howard and Davis, although Howard and Davis said that it is not a big problem, both sides have resolved privately, but this kind of thing will be more or less a little estranged no matter how to repair it, you will see Howard play awkwardly this season, maybe this matter is not so easy for the Lakers to let go. In fact, putting aside the suspicion of Howard and Davis, Howard himself is already old, his state can certainly not be compared with the 19-20 season, fans who have watched the game will know that Howard's bounce, defense has declined this season, mistake control and foul control are not good, but the Lakers do have problems with Howard's use, the skinny camel is bigger than Ma, even if the declining Howard rebounds and frames on the court will do better than Anthony and Johnson's generation.
Instead of the Lakers letting James exhaust and exhaust every game to do these dirty jobs, it is better to choose to believe that Howard gives him a certain amount of playing time, Howard doing these things is certainly not worse than James, he has done these dirty work for a lifetime, his experience is definitely more than other players, Howard has not played a wonderful performance this season, James, Davis have tried to center, why not consider giving Howard enough time, the basketball court only has to master the rebound to master the victory is not it? The Lakers have made a stupid decision two years ago, and they can't let this stupid thing happen a second time, right?