The time came to May, and most of the NBA playoffs also entered the second round of the showdown, and as the first team to prepare for next season. I don't know how the Mood of the Lakers is at the moment, the team with the Big Three and many All-Stars could have shined in the playoffs, but in the final moments of the regular season, it still did not bring fans the performance they wanted to see. In the end, the ranking fell outside the playoffs and became the most disappointing team. Some fans commented that the Lakers are paying the most expensive taxes and being beaten the hardest. Recalling the scene when the park won the championship two years ago, comparing the performance of today, it is really a bit of a taste of hating iron not steel.
Maybe LeBron James sat at home and watched his old rival Stephen Curry still be able to grasp the rhythm of the game well in the field, and finally lead the team to the series victory, whether he also introspected himself whether he really did his best this season. Maybe Anthony Davis looks at Suns center Ayton, who can be invincible in the Pelicans' penalty area, and remembers his youthful self. Maybe Russell Westbrook, watching Morant dunk and pull the bar at the end of the game, recalled that Wei Zhentian in his early 20s also played like this.
Three former All-Star players have fallen into a trough this season, but perhaps this defeat can also be a stepping stone to future success. As a Lakers fan, we hope that the Lakers can really make corresponding changes in the offseason, because old Zhan is really playing one season less than one season, and he may be the youth of many people. Maybe there will be players like James in the league in the future, but there is only one LeBron James in our youth. So from a fan's point of view, what performances by the Lakers in the offseason would bring the team back two years?
The first point: the importance of wing players is greater than the defender line
The Los Angeles Lakers are perhaps the league's favorite team to sign guards, and according to incomplete statistics, as many as 12 guards have played for the Lakers this season. I remember the most memorable game, that was a regular season game against the Spurs, Vogel lined up a very deformed and very bad set of lineups, probably composed of: Thomas Jr. + Bradley + Munch + Westbrook + James, it sounds good to play a small lineup, and the ugly one is a pure mess. Thomas and Munch are the two points of the average defender are the presence of points; although Bradley can defend, if it is the third position against him, it is enough to choke.
Wei Shao, not to mention, is no longer a young Wei Zhentian, attack, defense are debatable; the only point of advantage is still in the old Zhan, with the old Zhan tonnage can be used as the fifth position, but this is not a long-term solution. Old Zhan, at the age of 37, has to run into the penalty area and confront those big tonnage centers, which is not purely overworked by Old Zhan. The defense is put aside for the time being, let's talk about the handling of the attack, the five people except Munch and Bradley do not have to hold the ball, the other three people need to have the ball in hand, how to distribute the ball is a problem.
So the result of this lineup is that the net win score on the court is -20, which is still a substitute situation for the Spurs. To illustrate two points, it is not a good thing to arrange troops in an unreasonable position and too many defenders. The biggest problem with the Lakers this year is that after the introduction of Westbrook, there is no salary to chase the flank players who can defend. We know that the Lakers sent away Kuzma, Pope, Caruso, these three players are offensive and defensive players on the line, Kuzma is still a large size forward, this year in the Wizards also played a storm, so compared to the deal, the Lakers are losing money.
In fact, there is no problem in recruiting Guago, and his offensive firepower is indeed what the Lakers need. But the key is that Nunn's middle-class contract is too wronged. This year, Nunn didn't play a single game, which is equivalent to a paid recovery, plus several free ball games, and a place. If you imagine giving this middle-class contract to the Warriors' Porter Jr., or the Jazz's Gay, the Lakers will be much better this year. Then in the offseason, a number of defenders were signed: Ellington, Rivers, Bazemore, Bradley, Tucker, and the size of the team was also too small. Of course, there are also signed Ariza, but what level he is this year, everyone has a number in mind.
Players like Stanley Johnson and Gabriel can get a lot of playing time in the Lakers, which is completely because the Lakers have no players to use on the front. I wanted to make a fuss before the trade deadline, but the Lakers didn't have players to trade out and no salary to sign players. This year's Nets also lost to too many defenders, too few front players, and the Celtics Twins played the Nets' outside defense, which was easy to handle.
The second point: choose a good manager, management can not interfere too much
We know that the Lakers threw the blame to coach Vogel at the end of the season, and the coach who once led the Lakers to the championship trophy in the park finally said goodbye to the Lakers. We know that Vogel is a coach who plays mainly in defense, he does have something, but this year's Form of the Lakers can be understood by everyone, even if popovich comes to no avail. Because the manager simply does not have the right to speak, the intervention of management and the unease of the players are one of the factors.
Vogel is the Lakers' scapegoat, but he does lack a bit on offense. The head coach of a team may be able to make the team explode with 120% strength; like this year's Clippers, the injuries of Ka Jr. and George did not stop the Clippers from advancing, and they are still the top eight teams in the West. Without the play-off format, they are already a playoff-level team, and their biggest player is still veteran Jackson, which is the credit of Tyrone Lue, who took over the Clippers and reached the Western Conference Finals last year and completed several headwinds this year.
The Celtics have kept up with the team's defense since poaching Nets assistant coach Ukadu, and their regular-season defensive efficiency is the top presence in the league. In contrast, the Brooklyn Nets, Steve Nash with a full account will not be used, at the tactical level by other managers to explode. If there is no Durant and Irving in the team, then I think it is also signed by the champion. In the playoffs, he was sent home to fish 4-0 by the Celtics, not to mention how Durant performed. At least, in terms of on-the-spot conductor, I don't see anyone worse than Nash.
Therefore, there is a typical example of the Nets, and the Lakers must remember the importance of the manager. Management does not have to interfere with the responsibilities of the head coach, since you chose him to become the manager of the Lakers, you should fully trust him and give him a certain degree of autonomy, rather than having to step in everywhere!