For the Los Angeles Lakers, before opening a six-game away streak in the East, they should have seized the opportunity to play the Pacers at home, win another victory, and carry the momentum of two consecutive wins to challenge the Eastern Powerhouse. But in the end, they still failed to do it, losing 104-111 to the opponent, losing the winning streak, and at the same time, the team that had just climbed out of the brink of despair fell to the bottom again, and even led to greater contradictions.
In fact, this game the Lakers did not have a chance to win, they once led the Pacers by double digits in the first half, but from the second half, the Lakers' offense gradually came to a standstill, while the Pacers gradually played a good state, more and more courageous, and finally completed the turnover. The Lakers once were still only strong and invincible, but they still had a lot of confidence against the weaker teams, but now they can't win even against a team like the Pacers that they plan to rebuild, not only the fans, but even the players and coaches.
It is worth mentioning that in this game, Lakers coach Vogel once again refrigerated Wei Shao in the fourth quarter, only letting him play 4 minutes in the fourth quarter, and directly let Wei Shao go down with 3 minutes and 52 seconds left in the final quarter. When asked about it by reporters after the game, Vogel finally showdown directly said: "I want to get the players who I think can win the game on the field." ”
Vogel's words are already very direct, meaning that in his view, Westbrook is not a person who can help the team win. This season in order to let Wei Shao integrate into the team, in fact, Vogel has tried various methods, at the beginning of the season, he let James reduce the ball holding, let the thick eyebrows play the center, let Wei Shao control the ball, the result is that Wei Shao not only failed to do a good job of organizational work, but there were various outrageous mistakes.
Later, in order to help Westbrook speed up and open up space, Vogel insisted on using a five-small lineup, refrigerated Howard and Jordan Jr., and let James play directly to the center, but even so, it was still impossible to activate Westbrook, in today's game, Westbrook played 27 minutes, 17 shots 5 of 14 points, 2 rebounds and 3 assists. In the last 6 games, Westbrook's shooting performance is: 5 of 17, 5 of 14, 7 of 15, 2 of 14, 2 of 12, only one game is OK, the offensive efficiency of the remaining 5 games is simply a disaster, the Lakers have only achieved 2 wins and 4 losses.
To put it bluntly, the difference in the current state of Wei Shao has reached the point where the Lakers management and coaching staff can't stand it anymore, and the reason why Vogel dares to refrigerate Wei Shao for 2 consecutive games is actually agreed by the management. According to ESPN Lakers reporter Dave McMenamin, sources revealed that Vogel has received assurances from Lakers management to support him in taking a tough approach when coaching Westbrook.
At the same time, Dave McMenamin also revealed that in addition to the poor attack, Westbrook's inability to execute tactics on the defensive end also made Vogel unbearable, and sources revealed that the coaching staff had been discussing whether to let Westbrook not play in the final period of the game for several weeks, but they had always exercised restraint due to fears that this would have a lasting impact on Westbrook's psychology. But now, both the management and the coaching staff seem to understand that Wei Shao is really not saved, and he cannot be expected to become excellent again.
Of course, not everyone in the Lakers completely gave up Onysio, James and Anthony are still speaking for him, after today's game, Westbrook left the locker room without any communication with his teammates, it is clear that Westbrook himself is also full of frustration and loss, but in the cruel NBA, if he wants to regain respect, he really can only respond with his court performance.