So far this season, the Lakers' performance has disappointed many fans. They are currently 21-20 and only seventh in the West. Many people think that the Lakers are likely to end up in the first round like last season, but "Lake Show Life" believes that the Lakers' hopes of winning the championship have not been dashed.
First of all, the NBA season is actually early, the NBA championship will not be produced in December or January, and many teams are at their best at the beginning of the season, but they will be beaten back to reality in the playoffs. Don't forget, last season's 15 Lakers players, only 3 of them will remain this season, and any team with a lineup change of more than 80% will need time to adapt to each other.
And in the first half of the season, injuries made the Lakers worse, James missed 12 of the 38 games, thick eyebrow injuries, Nunn has not returned so far. The squad is not stable enough, which obviously has caused a lot of impact on the team. Now that the Lakers have 9 players over the age of 30, it's clear that this is for the playoffs, because the playoffs are slower and athleticism is obviously less important.
Speaking of injuries, because of injuries and health and safety agreements, Lakers players have missed a total of 170 games. The Lakers' most important injured player at the moment is undoubtedly Thick Brow, who has struggled with shooting this season, shooting only 18 percent from three-point range, in addition to tucker's 16 misses and Ariza's missed seven.
Before the start of the season, many people thought that Bradley would be cut by the team in the middle of the season, but in fact, Bradley has started 28 games and become one of the best players on the defensive end. A lot of people want to know what kind of team the Lakers will be when they don't have injuries.
When it comes to the Lakers, we have to talk about Westbrook, which is a controversial guard, and everyone's controversy about him mainly focuses on three aspects, he averages 4.5 turnovers per game, but his mistakes have declined significantly recently. Since joining the league, Westbrook has not been a good three-point shooter, and this season he has shot 44 percent from the field, a career average. As for defense, Westbrook's biggest problem may be a lack of concentration. Objectively speaking, compared with the beginning of the season, Wei Shao has better adapted to his role in the team.
Since James appeared in the center position, the Lakers' offensive problems seem to have eased, the Lakers' space has become better, and they have no shortage of excellent shooters. Anthony is now one of the league's best sixth-handers, averaging 13.2 points per game and shooting 39 percent from three-point range and Munch with 40 percent three-pointers. Counting Ariza, the Lakers have five regular rotation players, and the three-point shooting rate is at least 39%, and the three-point shooting rate of James and Rivers Jr. is also more than 36%, and it is clear that the Lakers' offensive firepower has improved significantly.
Finally, it has to be said that defense can win the championship, and the players who can play in the lakers at the beginning of the season are more offensive in style. The first step in the team's right choice was to sign Bradley, who would keep an eye on the opponent's main ball carrier, while they also left Rivers Jr., who was willing to do some dirty work on the field and get Vogel's appreciation.
Ariza then returned and the team signed Stanley Johnson with a difficult exception, maybe they didn't contribute much on the offensive end, but they were all players needed by a winning team. While many believe that this season's Lakers are no longer in the title race, it seems a little early to say that they gave up.
in Kelsang