The NBA playoffs are in full swing, and the Lakers have already ended their season. After the end of last season, the Lakers carried out a large-scale reinforcement, and many people were full of expectations for this Lakers team before the start of the season, and even thought that they were a strong contender for the championship. But they didn't make it to the play-offs. James, who has been idle at home lately, also feels very disappointed when talking about the playoffs. It doesn't seem like he doesn't like the fact that he doesn't have the ball to play now, and he's even more determined, saying flatly that this will be the last time in his career not to play the playoffs.
Why didn't the Lakers make the playoffs? Maddie has also summed up his views recently. In his opinion, the Lakers' trade after the end of last season was a huge failure, they traded a lot of veterans, but the management expected them to defend, which is a very stupid idea. In fact, most of the Lakers' regular season losses this season are because they have problems on the defensive end, although James's average score per game this season is still at the top of the league, but the Lakers have not achieved good results, which is a strong proof of the Lakers' weakness on the defensive end.
Many fans think that Vogel's dismissal is actually very wronged, but there must be a person responsible for the end of the Lakers this season, so Vogel is the best candidate. Why is Vogel wronged? You must know that in the first two years, the Lakers under Vogel's rule their defensive efficiency was high in the league. Isn't that enough proof of Vogel's coaching ability?
Let's look at the Configuration of the Lakers at that time. They have a lot of defensive strikers in the forward position, Danny Green, Pope, Caruso, Kuzma and so on are very good defenders. But after last season they traded a bunch of veterans over the age of 35. Anthony, Ellington, these are all players who are not good at defending. When the team does not have a defensive configuration, the natural team's defensive system will also collapse.
So although Vogel repeatedly emphasized defense off the field, he could not change the fact that the players were moving slowly. So this season the Lakers are losing on the defensive end. Strictly speaking, management is the person who should be most responsible for the Lakers' failure this season. Their series of brainless operations have caused a once championship team to wither to the point of not being able to make the playoffs, which is indeed a rare occurrence in a century.