Beijing time on January 11, this season's NBA schedule has been halfway through, for the Los Angeles Lakers, 21 wins and 20 losses is not ideal, but the good news is that the Lakers' players are gradually becoming healthier, and they have begun to slowly grope out some excellent rotation system, although the state of Westbrook is worrying, but the hot state of the star LeBron James can still bring enough confidence to the Lakers and fans.
After the Lakers' loss to the Grizzlies, Lakers celebrity Magic Johnson still praised James's performance on social media, saying that no one has played better than James in the past three weeks, and in the past three weeks, James has averaged 30+7+6 per game and shot 52% from the field. At the same time, James has scored more than 30 points in 18 games this season, which is also the most in the league.
LeBron this season ended the health mode early, and now it is directly in the starting center position, at the age of 37, he showed a strong ability to adjust, and in the center position, James played an extremely terrible efficiency, and personal scoring data has also soared.
Today, NBA reporter Kevin O'Connor wrote an analysis of james's role in the No. 5 position, writing: "In LeBron's lineup as a center, the Lakers score 3.2 points per 100 rounds than other teams. The move worked because LeBron was able to crush the defense by breaking into the interior: According to PBP, he had 41 percent of his shots in the under-basket area, compared to just 31 percent of all the other lineups. His scoring has also improved dramatically, to 32.9 points per 36 minutes, while when he plays with one or more big men, he scores just 25.5 points per 36 minutes. ”
Not only that, Kevin O'Connor also pointed out that when James plays the fifth position, the offensive efficiency of the other Players of the Lakers will also increase, because James has created excellent breakthrough routes and empty opportunities for his teammates. Whether it's for James or the other players in the Lakers, the appearance of center James seems to be the result of everyone's happiness.
But James is actually past the time to chase the data, and his strongest offensive ability in recent years this season is more forced. The Situation with the Lakers this season has been very bad, after Davis' absence, the team has no stable scoring points except James, not to mention that after the bad trade in the summer, the team's defensive ability has also declined dramatically, and Westbrook has completely failed to take up the team's hopes.
Many Lakers fans joked that the arrival of Westbrook forced out james, the strongest in recent seasons, and the real situation is basically the same. In order to make Westbrook play more comfortable, Vogel has adjusted the team's starting lineup countless times this season, and the team's lack of a traditional center forward is also directly related to his arrival. His low shooting ability determines that he must break through to have more opportunities, so in order to make him play more comfortably, Vogel has not given Howard, who is actually in good shape, too many opportunities recently, but has allowed James to stay in the fifth position, and several of the team's forward players have almost taken turns in the fifth position in defense.
For a long time at the beginning of the season, the Lakers actually tried to let Westbrook lead the team's attack with the ball, but the effect was quite bad, so James once again became the team's ball-holding core. In the absence of a steady scoring point for the team, he could only take on more of the team's scoring responsibility. But this is not a long-term solution, James is 37 years old, he has consciously paddled in the regular season a few seasons ago, and now he is forced to go all out, which is bound to affect his physical condition, and the Lakers' dependence on him is now at the highest stage since he joined. And, until the Lakers trade in for a stronger player or Davis comes back, the situation is basically unsolvable.