preface
Although The performance of Wei Shao this season is not satisfactory, it can not erase Wei Shao's outstanding performance over the years, and the Lakers still have expectations for Wei Shao, because the performance before and after the Westbrook All-Star Game every year is judged to be two, which is why the Lakers want to keep him in the team before the trade deadline. So as a post-All-Star god, can Westbrook find his form in the last twenty or so games?
God after the All-Star Game
When Wei Shao played for the Wizards last season, the performance of the first half of the season was also quite sluggish, many people said that he dragged Bill's hind legs, but he did not know that after the All-Star Game, Wei Shao used his excellent performance to carry the Wizards into the playoffs. In last season's NBA official announcement of the 20th week's player of the week, Wei Shao once played 22.3 points, 17.3 rebounds and 18.3 assists in a week, leading the Wizards to a record of 3 wins and 1 loss. Last season, due to the shrinkage season, the All-Star Game started earlier, and there are 38 games left after the end, and Westbrook's stats in these last 38 games are 23.6 points, 12.8 rebounds and 13.1 assists.
Thanks to his great performance in the last 38 games, Westbrook eventually improved his statistic to 22.2 points, 11.5 rebounds and 11.7 assists, which may not be the best Westbrook has been in all these years, but it is far from his pre-All-Star stats.
At the same time, Westbrook also broke Oscar Robertson's triple-double record last season, becoming the player with the most triple-doubles in history. Although he didn't make it to the All-Star and didn't make it to the All-Team, his performance was attractive enough. Otherwise, the Lakers would not have risked so much in the summer to trade Wei Shao, which is to see his play after the All-Star.
Post-All-Star outbursts have become the norm for Westbrook over the years, treating injuries every summer, resulting in Westbrook entering a very poor state at the beginning of the season, but as he gradually adapted, Westbrook regained his MVP season level. Davis sprained another ankle before the All-Star Game began, a clear thunderbolt for the Lakers, who will not have this core interior line in the next four weeks. So the Lakers are more looking forward to his outbreak, the current Data of Westbrook is only 18.3 points, 7.8 rebounds and 7.5 assists per game, which is the third time in his career that the average score per game has not exceeded 20 points, and the number of rebounds and assists has also declined to a certain extent, I don't know if he can improve the average data as last season.
The Lakers gave enough trust to Wei Shao, James is willing to play the inside line for Wei Shao, the current Lakers are 27 wins and 31 losses, ranking ninth in the West, to be honest, the Lakers' play-off seats are not so stable, so it is more necessary for Wei Shao to play an excellent performance. Behind the Pelicans has only 2.5 wins left with the Lakers, the Lakers playoff seat is also in jeopardy, must rely on the star to play a wonderful performance can be, this burden can only be placed on Wei Shao's body, I hope that the God after the All-Star game can really play God's play.
Be prepared for disappointment
But one thing to tell Lakers fans is that they must be prepared for disappointment, because this season may be different from previous seasons, and these places will also determine that Westbrook may not be as threatening after the All-Star game as before, as Barkley said, the Lakers should be prepared not to enter the playoffs. Why? First of all, Westbrook did not suffer injuries this summer, but entered the regular season in a healthy state. So this season, Wei Shao only missed one game, because his physical condition is indeed very good, but in the case of good health, Wei Shao still plays such a performance, which shows that he is not physically, but his own state has indeed fluctuated.
Another point is that since Durant left the Thunder, although Westbrook has been in the playoffs, except for the 2020 Rockets playoffs, Westbrook has never broken through the second round. And his playoff inefficiency is also obvious to all, during the Wizards last season, Westbrook averaged 19.0 points, 10.4 rebounds and 11.8 assists per game, but only shot 33.3%, 16.8 shots per game can only hit 5.5 times, and on the defensive end by Simmons unlimited targeting, and the Wizards series is Simmons's most comfortable series. Therefore, even if the Lakers barely enter the playoffs, Wei Shao's help to the team is minimal, and basically will not become the person who affects the trend of the game.
In addition, the pressure on los angeles to play for him is also not felt in Washington, Westbrook in the Wizards no matter how badly played, few people stood up to question him, but in Los Angeles as long as there is a mistake, there will be a lot of posts on the Internet to scold him, so this season Westbrook's state of flux, even at key moments were hidden by Vogel Snow, Westbrook is a very strong person, such a practice is also a great stimulus for him. Wei Shao is 33 years old this season, age is also a big problem for him, if the young Wei Shao certainly does not feel tired, but at the age of 33 anyone will decline, not to mention wei less who wants to play with his body, so whether Wei Shao can continue his previous performance after the All-Star Game is quite a question.
Now it seems like a lose-lose decision, with the Wizards now in 11th place in the East and the Lakers in ninth place in the West, both teams both down from last season, and the person who made the deal really deserves to be fired.
epilogue
Although the performance of the Westbrook All-Star game in the past few years will pick up, but the fans must not have too much expectation, the decline in the state of Westbrook is already an indisputable fact, if the Lakers put their hopes on Westbrook this season, then this team basically does not have much to look forward to, the Lakers' problems depend on everyone to solve together, this is the key to victory.