On April 11, Beijing time, the Lakers ushered in the last game of the regular season of the season, the whole team went to Denver, away to challenge the Nuggets. The Lakers, who were still two points behind in the final reading of the seconds in the fourth quarter, formed a bag near the sideline of their own half against the Nuggets' Forbes. Lakers guard Austin Reeves was quick to cut the ball off Forbes and then hit the field all the way. After two consecutive dribbles behind defenders, Reeves made a layup with 6.4 seconds left in the fourth quarter to tie the score to 135.
The Lakers' successful defensive round happened right in front of the team's bench, or specifically, in front of the team's coaching staff. Seeing the disciples form a circle against Forbes, Vogel, who had been sitting peacefully in the chair, suddenly bounced up, his left hand still clutching the tactical board, while his right hand was raised above his head and waving back and forth, as if he was also participating in the defense. Seeing Reeves complete the steal and run all the way to the front, Vogel clenched his right fist and revealed a long-lost smile.
Such a scene is indeed worth his pleasure. Because for a coach like Vogel who takes the training of defense as the magic weapon, seeing the disciples use the right way and positive attitude to put his defensive concept into practice on the pitch may be the moment when his value is most displayed. The Lakers also used Reeves' defensive counterattack to drag the game into overtime, and finally beat the Nuggets 146-141, with two consecutive wins, ending the regular season of the season.
After the game, the Lakers' locker room was full of jubilation, because the young rookie Reeves not only completed key steals and goals in this game, but also contributed a triple-double of 31 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists. You know, the last time a rookie wore a Lakers jersey and scored 30+ triple-doubles, it goes back to the 1960-61 season, when the Lakers rookie who did this was called Jerry West. Numerous Lakers players took bottled water and drink buckets and poured various liquids on Reeves's head, congratulating the young man.
As the players celebrated, Vogel was giving an interview in the press room. Vogel, who was still smiling, walked into the press room and felt a strange atmosphere. It turned out that just after the overtime game between the Lakers and the Nuggets, the famous journalist Wernarowski, known as "Wo Shen", updated his social media and exposed a fierce message. The protagonist involved in this revelation is Vogel, who has just led the team to win the Nuggets.
Wonarovsky wrote: "According to sources informed ESPN, Frank Vogel has coached his last game with the Lakers, and this decision will be communicated to him personally as soon as Monday." The Lakers' next coach selection work will be a long and searchable process, and the team has no favorite candidate for the time being. ”
Although the Lakers have not yet been officially announced, considering that Wonarovsky has always been known for his rapid and accurate disclosure, his release can basically be equated with a "real hammer". In this way, most of the reporters' questions around Vogel have nothing to do with the game, but involve this revelation and his future situation.
"I haven't been told about this XX thing yet," Vogel exploded after hearing the news from reporters, before continuing, "I'm going to continue to enjoy tonight's game and celebrate with my young players." Because it was their persistence and perseverance that pulled us back into this game and helped us win. ”
As for this, Vogel's face was no longer smiling. The atmosphere at the press conference was also not as relieved as it was after a season of victory. The clouds that have hung over the Lakers over the past season not only show no signs of dispersing, but have become more sinister.
For Vogel, his heart may have already expected the arrival of this day. At the beginning of the season, the Lakers "very reluctantly" offered him a one-year contract extension with only the last year of his three-year contract left. The subtext of this action is actually to tell Vogel that the team's trust in him is very limited, and if the team does not perform well in the next season, it may be possible to let him go at any time. After all, only one more year of contracts, the Lakers even if they lose money do not have to lose so much.
As a result, during the course of the season, Vogel led the team to a problem. The overall defense he was proud of in the first two seasons of coaching disappeared, and the Lakers, who abandoned the defense and turned to attack, did not reach the elite level of the league. Westbrook, who has just joined the team, has been unable to integrate, Davis has played very hard in the fifth position, and Vogel has swung back and forth between the big lineup and the small lineup, and the team's performance has never improved.
In such a tortuous progress, the Lakers' lineup began to suffer from injuries and injuries, and Vogel's adaptability was also questioned as never before. If you don't count the last few games after the Lakers are determined to be out, Vogel has sent 39 different starting lineups in the first 79 games of the Lakers, but he has never been able to find a plan that can lead the Lakers out of the predicament.
Halfway through the season, Vogel's position was once in the limelight, but just a few wins, as well as the positive momentum of the team, made the management finally decide to let Vogel coach until the end of the season. At the time, there were rumors that if Vogel could lead his team into the playoffs and go very far in the playoffs, he would have a chance to keep his mark. But as the Lakers personally sent themselves out of the playoffs at the end of the season with an eight-game losing streak, Vogel must have known that his relationship with the Lakers was coming to an end.
Looking back at the Lakers' season, whether it is the performance of the team or the final results, they do not say "success", even the evaluation of "mediocrity" is not on their side, and it can only be summed up to label their season as "failure". And since it fails, someone has to take responsibility. Judging from the current situation, Vogel, who is about to leave the class, is the first candidate to bear the responsibility for failure.
It is obviously unfair to put all the responsibility for the Lakers' failure this season on Vogel alone. However, as mentioned earlier, Vogel did not gain all the trust of the team from the beginning of the season, and this already small trust was further reduced during the season. So now, the team is the first to shoot him, which is also reasonable.
And. The Lakers started so early this time, and it also gave people the feeling that they were going to make a big move. Look at the Lakers' recent coaching changes — Mike Brown hastily dropped off five games of the season, and Mike Dantoni hastened to take the position. Later, after Dantony left class, the Lakers spent a full 4 months and three rounds of interviews before finally selecting Byron Scott to take over. However, in the seasons that Scott coached, the Lakers' main task was to send Kobe Bryant, so the results did not improve, and Scott was immediately fired after Kobe's retirement. Just 5 days after Scott's class, Luke Walton took over the coaching whip and began to lead the young Lakers forward, but after James' arrival, Walton was obviously not suitable for coaching the team that wanted to rush the championship, so he left in 2019. Then, after less than a month of coaching, Vogel moved to Los Angeles.
From the recent coaching changes, it can be seen that the more the Lakers are in a hurry in the selection of coaches, the more they often have no good results. Perhaps it is precisely because of this consideration that the Lakers decided to break up with Vogel early this time, leaving enough time and space for the new round of coach selection.
As for Vogel, although the way he left the Lakers was somewhat unseemly and the ending was not perfect, he proved himself to be a capable coach and a coach who was capable of leading the team to the championship through three years with the Lakers, especially through the championship in the 2019-20 season. Two seasons after winning the championship, the Lakers were unable to exert their full strength in the coaching process due to reasons such as lineup composition and injuries. And there are also reports that the team's top management has also interfered with his coaching. All the factors that combined led to the end of his parting ways with the team today.
But through those three years with the Lakers, Vogel has clearly returned to the league's first-line coaches. Just after breaking the news that Vogel was about to leave class, Wanalovsky wrote another one: "Vogel led the Lakers to win the NBA championship in 2020, and there is no doubt that in the future head coach change of the league, he will become one of the candidates again." ”
Because of this, Vogel's breakup with the Lakers may be a better option for both sides.