Let's talk about yesterday's game.
I know it's going to be hard to calm down Lakers fans after this game — because everyone's focus almost inevitably shifts to Anthony Davis' injury compared to this loss.
There are already enough places for everyone to fight today, so I hope that friends who click on this article can temporarily put aside their anger and disputes, and let us return to the game itself.
In addition to Anthony Davis' injury, the Los Angeles Lakers have two problems to solve before entering G6 - one is that they have been limited by the Golden State Warriors for two consecutive games to only 105 points per 100 rounds; The second is that they gave the Warriors 121 points in this game.
After the G4 match, Darwin Hamm said: "I'm not worried about our scoring ability, everyone has to put their minds on defense. ”
As a result, the Lakers didn't do both well.
This stems from two things:
1. What we said in the G4 rematch - Peyton Jr. started and the [multi-ball penalty] mechanism failed.
2. Adjustments fail, and they don't have the intensity against the Warriors — either physically or on rotation.
The first point is about offense, the second point is about defense. Next, we will analyze the above two points for you through the competition screen.
Defensive focus
The G5 Lakers scored 106 points — bad, but two more than their G4 all-game points — and their problem was not guarding their opponents.
Now in the fifth game of the series, both domestic and foreign basketball analysts and media people have basically reached a consensus:
In this series, the focus of the Lakers and Warriors game is on Anthony Davis and Stephen Curry.
But I'm not sure if you can feel the meaning behind this sentence - this sentence means that the Lakers and Warriors will see who plays well between Curry and Davis? Or is this series an inside vs. outside battle?
Neither actually.
The real meaning behind this sentence - and the real focus of the Lake Warriors battle - is not to score more than the stars, nor is it more powerful than the Warriors' three-point and the Lakers' interior offense, but actually the game between the two teams on the inside offensive.
Let me say it briefly and bluntly: the battle of Lake Yong is actually a game of two forms of internal attack.
I know that this statement may be surprising and confusing to everyone at first.
Aren't the Warriors a "three-point brigade"? How could their focus be on inside offense?
This actually involves a misunderstanding of the public's understanding of the Warriors' offensive system - what is the Warriors' offensive system? This question is enough to expand ten more articles, and I can only explain it to you more briefly:
Many people think that the Warriors are a team that can only "throw three points", and their main job on the offensive end is to use cover to create opportunities for shooters to shoot three points - but in fact, this is incorrect, or even wrong - the Warriors' offensive system, generally known as [passing] or [dynamic offense] in China, the core idea of this offensive system is actually to combine the inside attack with the outside attack - the tactics are too complicated to move out one by one, I will say it in layman's terms, Think about whether Warriors games are usually full of the following scenarios:
1. The outside line runs without the ball, and the inside line passes the ball to the outside line, so that the outside line gets the opportunity to attack directly (the so-called "dealing");
2. After the outside line uses running to involve the defense, or uses the shooting threat to attract multiple defenders, divide the ball to the inside line, so that the inside line can easily score opportunities (the so-called "pass cut");
3. Pass inside and outside, pass inside and then pass outside, so that the opponent's defense constantly cares about one or the other.
Can you understand what I mean? The Warriors' offensive system is actually based on the cover and strategy of the inside to help the outside to share the defensive pressure, and then the outside to create easy scoring opportunities for the inside - although they are famous for their three-pointers, the reason they can win championships, build a dynasty, and distinguish themselves from the failed "two-gun" teams in history is that they can use the threat of projection to drive the inside offense.
(To extend it a little further, in terms of team building mode, this system features that they only need to hoard defensive interior linemen, but they can often come up with the same interior output as having an offensive interior team or breaking through a strong team, so as to do it in a match: both to prevent your inside score and to score inside yourself.) This is something that many teams can't do. ）
If you still don't understand this, then let me give an example:
In last season's Finals, the Celtics limited the Warriors' interior scoring to 26 points in the first game, and the Celtics won; In the second game, the Warriors scored 40 points inside, limiting the Celtics inside to 24 points, and the Warriors won; In the third game, the Celtics continued to limit the Warriors' interior scoring to 26 points, and the Green Army won again; In the fourth game, the Warriors scored inside the Celtics and the Warriors won; In the fifth game, the Warriors scored 50 points inside and crushed the Celtics by 36 points, and the Warriors won again; In Game 6, the Warriors scored 6 points lower than the Celtics, but shot 6% higher than the Celtics.
The Warriors win the championship.
Back to this series - the Lakers have been saying that they are a team that emphasizes interior offense, but in fact, except for the first game, the Warriors have a higher total inside score score than the Lakers in the last four games.
I don't know if my explanation is clear enough, but after listening to the above, let's think back to the adjustments made by the Warriors in these games - all of their adjustments are trying to use Curry to find Davis to block and dismantle - and their intention is not to let Curry attack Davis, but to move Davis out of the box and then attack the inside.
In this game, the Warriors' most obvious improvement over their G4 is actually a problem - how determined role players are to hit the basket.
In this game, the Warriors scored 50 points inside and shot 61% from the inside, although they also got similar numbers inside in the last game, but the difference is - the last game the Warriors constantly attacked the interior was Curry and Payton Jr., and this game was Green, Wiggins, everyone.
I still remember that I mentioned to the Warriors at the end of the final G3 rematch: The Warriors' Wiggins, including Curry, Thompson, etc. should be more resolute in rushing the frame - at that time, a comment at the bottom asked me: Aren't the Warriors more punching the frame looking for a hat, not a way to die? (similar meaning)
Now we see the results – of course not.
Regarding the question of the Warriors attacking the interior after Davis was transferred, it can actually be divided into two - first, whether Davis wants to go out or not; Secondly, if Davis goes out, can the Lakers' interior defense do better?
So far, when the Warriors have taken Curry's ball to block, the Lakers' strategy has been for Davis to go out and delay.
Obviously, you can't say that this defensive strategy is wrong - if you let Curry get a shot on the outside, it's like playing "Russian roulette", and if you are not careful, you may repeat the mistakes of the king and send Curry a masterpiece that will go down in history.
So maybe all the Lakers can do is look at the second question — can their interior defense do a better job with Davis' strong delay against Curry?
Now there is bad news for the Lakers - the Warriors' current set of starters, Curry, Thompson, Payton Jr., Wiggins, Green. With the exception of Curry and Thompson, Davis has set the remaining three right.
The result was – two losses and one win – and that one of those victories also had the element of Lonnie Walker's late burst.
Sounds desperate? It's true that Davis didn't work well with all three — which is why these alignments are called "targeted" adjustments for the Warriors.
But the good thing is that we've seen everything too, and now all the Lakers need to do is "the lesser of three evils."
G2 Davis vs Green, Warriors scored 127 points;
G4 Davis vs Payton, Warriors scored 101 points;
G5 Davis team Wiggins, Warriors scored 121 points;
It seems, I can only say that it seems – counterpoint Payton is a relatively good of the three options.
Green is the most capable of covering and handling the ball down the line of the three, and this point Lakers are best solved by changing defenses;
Payton Jr. already saw some of his role in the last game - obviously, he is faster than J Green in the downstream, and he is also better at handling the ball and punching the frame, which is why the Lakers changed the alignment this time.
And Wiggins, now let's review his performance again:
The cover given to Klay twice in the opening game seems to be of acceptable quality — but given that it was Russell who squeezed the cover, this is questionable for the time being.
We see that one advantage of him over Peyton Jr. is that if Davis puts him like Peyton Jr., he has the confidence and ability to punish with a direct C&S three.
This ball Curry blocked Wiggins, chose the hand that did not pass Wiggins, and passed directly to Dream Green, who cut in the bottom corner - it seems that Wiggins' secondary processing ability is not so trusted?
But this round is more exposed by the lack of effort by the Lakers - I am extremely dissatisfied with the fact that the Lakers allowed Dream Green to score 20 points. For example, LeBron should have appropriately recycled to interfere with Wiggins' downturn, but he didn't, which hindered Vanderbilt's defense — but even then, Vanderbilt should have been tougher instead of letting Green play 2+1.
Wiggins justified his ability to cover — a solid block to Reeves, and Curry hit a three-point shot from a distance.
The Warriors will also look for Wiggins in the switch to try to punish Davis' priority sinking strategy — but I think that's something the Lakers will have to bear. (If they insist that Davis be paired with Wiggins)
James' Bad Defensive Round - This round he should decisively let go of the chase to make up for Curry. Wiggins' role in this round was simply to raise Davis' defensive position a bit.
Wiggins has another advantage over Payton Jr. — when he's determined to be aggressive, he can also act as a ball carrier in the block, and if the Lakers choose to switch defenses, he can punish Schroder for such misplacements.
After receiving the pass, Wiggins' downward threat was much greater than Payton Jr. - the G4 Lakers also defended Peyton Jr.'s frame at least a few times, and this time Wiggins went 8-of-12 from the basket (although not all down).
I don't know what to judge after watching these rounds — from my perspective, I think Davis is worse against Wiggins than he is against Payton Jr.
Davis against Payton Jr., Peyton Jr. has few other threats than coming up to cover Curry (although this trick does work), and Wiggins not only does cover down as much as Payton Jr., he can also use this set of counterpoints to punish the Lakers in other ways:
He can simply use the threat of shooting to move Davis out of the box, let others and Curry do cover cooperation, and then use Davis' contraction to shoot three-point shots or break through;
He can use the Lakers' defense change to play small;
After receiving the ball, his athleticism and size also doomed him to be far more difficult to stop than Peyton Jr.
If Davis is available for the next game (and I think he will) — my suggestion is for the Lakers to use him against Payton Jr., not Wiggins.
Let's talk about some other issues - we talked about the Warriors' increased aggressiveness of role players, and the Lakers didn't face them in terms of "intensity", and the above graphs are not obvious, I put together some of the Lakers' defensive "bad moments" that they must do better and more aggressive in these situations in the next game:
James' lack of concentration led to a big open three-point shot in the bottom corner of Peyton Jr.
James was too easily overtaken by Wiggins when retreating, resulting in a loss of baskets.
It seems that Davis doesn't need to pay so much attention to Peyton Jr. on the weak side? If he had come early to catch Wiggins, the Warriors might not have been able to play this round — Schroder had actually circled behind Dream Green, he could go to Peyton Jr. on the outside, and Wiggins may not have such vision and passing ability.
The wrong Top Lock choice - After passing Moody's cover, Hachimura should have changed to a normal defense between Thompson and the basket - even if Thompson chose to play outside, Schroder could switch defenses directly, but he still executed Top Lock, resulting in eating Klay's cover and failing to interfere with Poole's throws.
Wrong rotation selection - G4, the Lakers chose "upper horse" vs. "upper horse" in the transition section: Schroder + Reeves ++ James + Davis played out, and achieved good results against the Warriors' second-quarter lineup, but this time they changed back to the "middle horse" vs. "top horse" in the first three games.
Russell couldn't keep up with Poole's easy breakthrough in speed, and the small lineup couldn't match Rooney, making it easy for the Warriors to play under the basket.
Until the Warriors got on Wiggins, almost all of the starting lineup — four of the five-man group with the first net score — and the Lakers were still this small lineup of James and Russell with three backups.
Russell made a defensive error in this round, did not look at the position of Wiggins and Lonnie Walker, and focused on Curry to completely miss Wiggins,
Let the mouth brother easily cut into the layup to score. (On the other hand, it is caused by the height of the lack of frame under the basket)
Davis' defensive mistakes - which are also the consequences of his position on Wiggins - when there is Curry and Wiggins in front of him, Davis subconsciously stopped the retreat, did not recycle the inside, and dreamed of catching the ball and scoring a layup.
Then, the Lakers inexplicably changed to Davis' alignment with Dream Green for a period of time - and like G2, the Warriors can be said to be handy when they play this set of blocks, and the Lakers are completely unstoppable.
(The tacit understanding between Chasing Dreams and Curry, as well as the level of strategy of Chasing Dreams, is incomparable to others)
After the Warriors chased and dismantled, the Lakers switched defenses and chose to bag Curry, but failed, and the defense was broken again.
The Lakers were played for two consecutive rounds but did not change their alignment, and continued to change defense in the third round - chasing dreams and eating Schroder caused fouls.
Moreover, this set of counterpoints even continued into the second half.
Curry chased the block, the Lakers changed defense, Chase Dream blocked Reeves with a magical "back cover", and Curry scored a layup.
Davis may have had experience with that round in the second quarter, and he went to chase his dreams, but Payton Jr. received the ball and hit it — I think in this kind of retreat, what Davis needs is not to find someone, but to step back to the basket as quickly as possible and occupy the position under the basket, so that whoever the Warriors rush to the frame needs to go through him for a layup - not to be able to easily go around behind him.
James retreats without looking at people or staggering.
It was Davis who was transferred out again, and Vanderbilt tried to break the pass to Wiggins, but instead missed Green.
Very inexplicably, Davis has been sinking in the first few games, including this first half, but this round he suddenly defended - not surprisingly, the basket was lost.
Just put these GIFs.
As you can see, the Lakers are not only a problem of strategy on the defensive end, they also have a big problem in execution - I know that after the victory on the last game, the players may be tired and maybe a little relaxed mentally - but your opponent is the Golden State Warriors who fought back, and the Golden State Warriors who even chased Green to rush to the basket.
The truth is, the Lakers' defensive performance wasn't enough for them to win the game — and it's really not just the referee's penalty scale.
On the offensive end
As mentioned above, the Lakers' current problems are not only on the defensive end - their last two games have also been mediocre on the offensive end.
This offensive "weakness" began with Russell.
Although Russell scored 15 points in this game, he only had two assists — before Peyton Jr. started the lineup, Russell averaged 16 points and six assists in his first three games, compared with just nine points and 2.5 assists in the last two games.
Perhaps it's not all the credit to Peyton Jr. – in fact, Russell's defense against Peyton Jr. in G1 in the series can be said to be a take-and-take.
If G4 is Russell's probabilistic hand disorder as a projective scorer, then perhaps the main reason why G5 affects Russell is his two fouls in the first quarter and his quick three fouls in the second quarter.
It's no secret that Russell is a player who needs to "find rhythm" or even "find confidence". When his playing time in the opening stages is cut too much, his performance suffers.
As the Lakers' third star, his influence will radiate to the whole team - Davis is a player who often receives more than 80% of assists, and Russell accounts for 38% of those assists given to him - I think Russell's importance is self-evident.
When he is plagued by fouls or not resolute, the Lakers' ability to attack Peyton Jr. from other ball points is limited:
(By the way, in this game, the Lakers didn't seem to focus much on attacking Curry in the first quarter, and offensive choices like these two rounds were very sloppy.) ）
In addition to being aggressive, Russell must also better control his fouls.
In addition, LeBron also needs to improve his aggressiveness at the beginning:
Faced with such a quick attacking opportunity, G5 LeBron's handling of the opening game was not aggressive and cautious enough.
He started by trying to name Curry, using the method of calling the top of the arc to block high - but this round Curry cracked it by grabbing the front of the cover man in advance.
The next game the Lakers should make some arrangements for this situation, such as this time Reeves suddenly made a reverse run to cut to the basket, James passed the ball, can put Green under the basket into a one-defensive situation.
At the same time, they can also change to playing ghost cover to quickly break apart, or James can call cover on the flank, which makes the Warriors' delay more difficult by shortening the distance from James to the basket.
Or try to name Curry - this round is a bit similar to a ghost block, but James wants to directly impact Curry - Curry uses one..... Ugh, the way of blocking is cracked.
This round is also a way, but James chose to risk passing Reeves instead of a safer pass to Davis - this round choice is affected by the point difference, if it is the Lakers who lead by 7 points at this time, James may choose the more risky but more aggressive pass Reeves.
(Incidentally, whether it's Russell or Schroeder in the bottom corner will also have an impact on offense, such as this round if Schroeder can move a few steps to 45 degrees, and there will be a chance under the basket and 45 degrees.) ）
In addition to LeBron, many Lakers role players are not prepared for the Warriors' physical contact level:
Hachimura and Rooney concede the ball after colliding; Hachimura blocked an empty basket for Lonnie Walker, but Walker missed the shot James was defended - these two pictures are just a microcosm.
The Lakers do have a lot of great role players — but these people are also mostly playoff rookies who haven't experienced that kind of scene yet, and they don't have the consciousness to treat the game as a battle, a fight.
Next I hope they can do better – of course, this requires their leaders to lead by example.
The Lakers have been emphasizing that they are a team that is based on interior offense, but their interior offense can't be just the name Anthony Davis — if the Warriors can do it, the Lakers can't beat the Warriors worse than the Warriors in what they are good at.
summary
Overall, the Lakers didn't do as well as they could in many aspects of the game — not that they didn't try, but that they didn't work hard enough to beat their opponents.
Throwing away all the techniques and tactics, the most important thing for the Lakers in the next game is to show the same consciousness as the Warriors.
They need to understand what they are facing and what they want to end - you are facing a dynasty, a terrorist team that can fight against the league's first offensive team, a terrorist team that can fight against the league's first defensive team, and a "Western Division king" who has not suffered a defeat in the West when all the staff is healthy.
As Magic Johnson said: Finishing the Warriors could be the hardest thing in the world.
Let's wait and see, the sixth game of Saturday's series is sure to be a great showdown.