In this clash between the Lakers and the Grizzlies, the Los Angeles Lakers, who have been in the "sweet period" of four consecutive wins, have once again tasted the bitterness of defeat, not a small bitterness and then a sweet, but a completely large bitterness, which is simply difficult to swallow. Needless to say, in addition to recovering some points at garbage time, the Lakers had almost surrendered at the end of the third quarter. Among the five people who started the game, only James seemed to really not want to lose, scoring 35 points in 14 of 19 in the game, and also surpassed the "big O" of the ancient god beast to climb to the seventh place in the all-time assist list. However, in addition to James, the lakers' other starting four Westbrook, Munch, Bradley and Stanley Johnson totaled 8 of 39, adding up to 22 points, it is clear that such a sluggish performance, I am afraid that the Lakers want to win is difficult.
This basin of "cold water" undoubtedly extinguished the bubble of four consecutive wins, once again allowing the Lakers to see the gap between themselves and the strong team, and at this time, a complete and utter defeat is not a bad thing for the Current Lakers. For the Lakers and Vogel, the three major problems presented by the team are very abrupt, if you can't find a solution to them, I am afraid that the Lakers will be in danger this season.
Always fantasizing about low-salary players being able to play ten times more than their worth
It has to be said that in the previous four consecutive games, the young player Munch signed by the base salary has undoubtedly become an important role in the team, and in the previous 6 games, Munch averaged 22 points per game, as if he had become the second scorer in the team except for James. Munch's offensive ability is naturally unquestionable, and believing that the cold feel of this game will not make most fans lose confidence in Munch, after all, as a pitcher,he can't guarantee that he can walk through every game day night. Bradley, who was claimed by the Lakers in the offseason, has obviously sat outside the team's starting lineup, and at both ends of the offensive and defensive ends, Bradley's contribution to the team is definitely worth the money.
Stanley Johnson and Reeves Jr. are undoubtedly a bonus for the Lakers this season, and on the defensive end, the physically qualified Stanley Johnson can inject vitality into the aging front, and Reeves Jr., who has a high ball quotient, can also find his own foothold in the rotation lineup. Three of the four are on a base-pay contract, while Stanley-Johnson is currently only on a short-term contract. Indeed, all four of them are value-for-money players, if the Lakers want to be able to play more than ten times their own value on every game day night, it is undoubtedly like a fool's dream, if they really have so stable, the field can contribute extraordinary performance, then in the free market, other teams can wait until the Lakers sign them with a base salary?
The squad is changeable, there are many uncertainties, and the physical condition of the veteran is not optimistic
After Stanley Johnson joined the team, Vogel seemed to have finally found a starting line-up that suited him. James + Westbrook + Stanley Johnson + Munch + Bradley, indeed, with this lineup, the Lakers did eat some sweetness in the dividend period of the game, but in this game against the strong opponents of the Grizzlies, this lineup has shown great problems both on the offensive end and the defensive end.
Compared with the previous opponents, the young Grizzlies are obviously more focused on defense, in this game, the previous hot Munch and Bradley rarely have the opportunity to shoot in the free position, so it is difficult for these two backcourt players to ensure efficient shooting efficiency, and can only play iron frequently. On the defensive end, rebounding protection has become a major pain point for the Lakers, in adams' absence, the Grizzlies can still grab 7 more rebounds than the Lakers, and their fast offensive rhythm has almost crushed the entire Lakers' defensive system, and presented a "no matter where the ball is passed, it is empty" scene.
Master Huo and Wei Shao's use of problems
It seems crowded to have Westbrook and Howard play at the same time, so in recent times, Vogel has adhered to the concept of "if you can not use Howard, you can not use Howard", and it is necessary to carry out the small lineup to the end. However, in terms of the protective frame of the interior line, the Lakers can not bring too much resistance to the opponent, especially in the second half of the game, James's physical fitness began to decline, and any Grizzlies player can almost easily mess around in the Lakers' inner line. However, after Howard came on the court, the team's offensive and defensive speed began to decline across the board, and whenever the offense did not successfully score, the Grizzlies would use the rapid counterattack rhythm to repeatedly hit the Lakers' defensive lineup, and it is clear that the acceleration also made the Grizzlies gain a miracle effect. Therefore, after Howard's appearance, the Lakers still seem to be unable to do a good job on the defensive end, and there will be frequent leakages on the outside.
However, for Wei Shao, in order to reduce the number of his mistakes, he has begun to gradually change his playing style, and even wants to change to playing "no ball" attack, it is obvious that for Wei Shao, who has poor projection ability, this change has undoubtedly become a kind of torture. For the Lakers, Wei Shao wants to rely on the "less to do less" way to alleviate the excessive number of mistakes, which obviously does not work, and the triple-double king with an annual salary of 44.21 million cannot make much contribution to the team. Therefore, for the two players, Westbrook and Howard, the current positioning of the two of them in the Vogel tactical system is not clear, and even gradually can not play.