After a failed season, the Lakers once again completed a major lineup change, introduced the third giant Wei Shao, and created a new big three Wei Shao + James + thick eyebrow brother.
At the same time, the Lakers introduced double-digit new signings in one go, creating a very gorgeous lineup list and becoming a reasonable championship favorite.
As a result, since the beginning of the game, the Performance of the Lakers has been a mess, Wei Shao has been outside the system, the team's former killing and defensive system has completely collapsed, coupled with the thick eyebrow brother has been plagued by injuries, the team only ranks ninth in the West with a record of less than 50%.
Due to the poor record, the internal contradictions of the team have also been exposed, the coach Vogel has fallen into a sacking crisis, and the Lakers' "shadow management" has also been exposed for his coaching and lineup arrangements.
Coupled with the Lakers' inaction before the trade deadline, the team reporter pointed out that the management has showdown Zhan Mei, since the two insist on trading Wei Shao in the offseason, the team will never take the future chips to send Wei Shao away after half a season.
Harrison Faigen, a reporter with the Lakers, has exposed that some players and staff within the Lakers are currently desperate and only hope to survive the last month of the regular season.
Judging from the information currently exposed, the Lakers have many problems that are difficult to solve, but in the final analysis, all the problems of the Lakers are because of problems on the court, and then there are problems outside the scene.
As long as the problems on the court are solved and the team starts to win games, everything will be back on track, which is also the fastest option for the Lakers to solve the problem at present.
Obviously, James is also practicing this principle with actions, trying to use his energy to help the team carry through this stage, then everything will suddenly be clear.
The US media "Lakeshowlife" also thinks so, and believes that the Lakers are still the favorite to compete for the championship, because the Lakers still have 3 major killing moves, as long as they enter the playoffs, then no one can despise them.
Among them, the current outbreak of James is undoubtedly the cornerstone of the Lakers' pockets, and the coach Vogel, who has been criticized by the outside world, may become a victim.
Reason one: The thick eyebrow brother will return to health
Due to injury problems, the outside world is bashing the thick eyebrows, especially considering that he was still the league's top interior player a year and a half ago, such a huge gap is really difficult to accept.
However, combined with the performance of the thick eyebrow brother in the last comeback this season, it is not difficult to find that the thick eyebrow brother who faced the pressure did not swing, he quickly completed the change of body shape, and the state after returning was significantly different from the beginning of the season.
And so far in his career, the performance of the thick eyebrow brother in the playoffs has been extremely dominant, his only problem is health, as long as he returns healthy before the playoffs, then the Lakers will have a huge advantage in the interior defense, and will also solve the problem of the lack of defensive quality in the current small lineup.
Reason two: The Lakers still have enough incentives to choose from
Obviously, the Lakers are not in a desperate situation, and they have enough means to motivate the team.
The first means is to get Wei Shao to the bench, which is the most intuitive and effective way to solve the problem of Wei Shao's ball distribution and insufficient execution at key moments.
The second option is to get rid of Vogel and bring in another coach, which is the most common incentive for troubled teams.
The last resort is to completely follow the Cavaliers style, build a lineup around James and shooters, and adopt a desperate style of play.
Reason Three: James Bottom
As mentioned above, the Lakers have not been forced to have no way back, even if there is no way back and James is the bottom of the team.
Although he is 37 years old, James has proved with his actions that he can still carry the team forward as long as he wants, and in the past week, James has completed a single 50+ performance twice, and the team has won in both games.
Therefore, in the case of few remaining in the regular season, the team can completely rely on James, and the competition for places in the Western Conference playoffs is not fierce, and James does not have to carry the team forward, as long as the team is healthy to enter the playoffs, then in the 7-game series, the quality of the stars will determine the final victory or defeat.