On January 25, Beijing time, the NBA regular season continued. Today, ESPN Lakers reporter Dave McMenamin reported on the estimated time of Lakers coach Frank Vogel's departure on a TV show, saying: "According to what I know, the Lakers will continue to use Vogel, and I expect him to coach the Lakers for the rest of the season." ”
Previously, Vogel reached a one-year contract extension with the Lakers in last year's offseason, and as of now, Vogel's contract with the Lakers is one year away after the end of this season. So far this season, the Lakers have only achieved a record of 23 wins and 24 losses, and are currently ranked eighth in the league. Since the beginning of last season, the Lakers' record has plummeted from winning the championship, and rumors about Vogel's dismissal have emerged. After Westbrook joined the Lakers this season, Vogel's use of personnel once again caused dissatisfaction among fans, so the call for Vogel's dismissal grew louder.
But is the Lakers' current problem really something that Vogel can solve after class? The answer, of course, is impossible. Looking back at the lakers' few seasons without winning the championship, the team's defense is useless, becoming the league's fish belly team every year, and the management urgently needs to improve the team's record, so James was taken to Los Angeles by the magician. But James's first head coach to the Lakers was rookie Walton, that season the Lakers even had James did not advance to the playoffs, the team's defensive efficiency is the league's bottom, and then Vogel took office as the lakers' head coach, and won the championship in his first season in charge of the Lakers.
Regardless of the defensive efficiency of the Lakers' championship season, let's talk about the controversial last season. Last season's Lakers were plagued by injuries, and Zhan Mei was absent for a long time, resulting in the team's poor record in the regular season, but the team's defensive efficiency did not decline, and even jumped to the forefront of the league. You should know that the Lakers' interior starters at that time were Damo and Harrell. Neither of these two is defensive, which is enough to see that Vogel's tactical skills on the defensive end are indeed sophisticated. As for the employment of last season, a reporter at the end of the season also revealed that when the Lakers reached a contract with Drummond, they had promised Drummond to ensure that they would have a starting position after joining the Lakers, and Vogel had to insist on the twin-tower combination.
This season's Lakers are in the same dilemma as last season, the team's main player will continue to be injured, the players are not running well, there have been calls to let Westbrook take the bench role, but Vogel has not done so. Until the most recent game, Vogel abandoned Wei Shao at a critical moment, which also made many fans like it, but Wei Shao's interview speech afterwards also vaguely expressed his dissatisfaction. Fans are dissatisfied with Vogel's employment this season, which is undoubtedly the team's use of Wei Shao, Wei Shao's performance this season is obviously not as good as before, but Vogel still insists on its starting, partner James to play, which leads to the Lakers' offense will fall into hesitation, and the defensive end is even more explosive.
The reason why Vogel did this is actually very simple, one is that Vogel as the head coach should take into account the feelings of the management and the big names of the team, after all, Wei Shao was recruited by James and Davis, and it has been reported recently that Wei Shao is the person Jenny wants, which makes the head coach Vogel have no temper to resist. The second is that the team is really unavailable now, even if it wins Westbrook, the Lakers' staffing in the backcourt is also very general, veteran Ellington has fallen out of the rotation, Tucker is embarrassed, Nunn is still recuperating, and Rondo at the beginning of the season was traded. In fact, the Lakers can play players in the backcourt, there are only a few, it is difficult for smart women to do no rice cooking, let alone Vogel?
The reason why fans complain too much about Wei Shao is because Wei Shao's peak period is in stark contrast with now, which shows that Lakers fans have too much expectations for Wei Shao, and Wei Shao's poor performance this season has caused many fans to fall behind. If Vogel leaves this season and management still doesn't change the team, the Lakers will still become a marginal team in the league.