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Hypertrophy is materialized | Lakers in a 3-0 desperate situation: James is indeed old, but the biggest problem is thick eyebrows

The Denver Nuggets went 3-0 with the Lakers.

Many people were surprised by this result, but to be honest, I wasn't surprised — I said back in the preview that the Nuggets are strong; And G2, the Lakers have also fought to the point of exhaustion.

The tricks have basically run out, and the determination to fight to the death has been taken out — I said, the Lakers played well enough in the first two games, especially G2, which was one of the best performances of the season — and lost so well, so what's so strange about losing another game when you're playing a little worse?

The only thing that supports the Lakers winning the G3 is the "rules", but friends who know me should know that I never believe in any rules.

In my opinion, in terms of strategy and execution, the performance of G3 and Lakers is inferior to G2, or even inferior to G1.

G1, although their "three guards" failed to change the formation, but at least they had ideas, they blasted out an extraordinary offensive performance of 126 points, and the change of alignment in the fourth quarter was even more effective, almost staged a reversal;

G2, Hamm predicted Malone's prediction, the alignment strategy and defensive style fine-tuning are very targeted, the Lakers' execution is also very good, really played a "sense of despair", led the Nuggets for three quarters, and finally lost the game by a fraction;

And G3, on the basis of G2, Hamm did not come up with more changes or changes - but as everyone wished, he appropriately reduced the playing time of some "three defenders"; At the same time, it continues to strengthen the importance that some of the defensive end attaches to Murray. (This game against Murray is already completely Curry's treatment, Top Lock + full court defense, and even a lot of bags)

Hypertrophy is materialized | Lakers in a 3-0 desperate situation: James is indeed old, but the biggest problem is thick eyebrows
Hypertrophy is materialized | Lakers in a 3-0 desperate situation: James is indeed old, but the biggest problem is thick eyebrows

In terms of execution, both their G1 and G2 managed to control the mistakes very well, and this one was 12 times, and the G3 cap breaking figure was also the lowest in three games - everyone was tired.

I am quite critical of Hamm's refusal to take Russell this time, but probably Hamm does not have many "tricks" that he is sure of - take TBJ that has not been played for a long time? Or take Beasley, who is worse defensive and equally uncertain in offense?

(As for the increase in Van der Biao's time, I can only say that there is a difference between the game and what everyone imagines, Van der Biao for Russell, this is not just "Russell can't attack anyway, Van der Biao can at least defend" - but will completely change the opponent's defense and his own attack)

Hamm chose to trust Russell to get his hands back before great uncertainty—like I said, I was complaining, but not entirely incomprehensible.

(Hamm's biggest entanglement may be that Van der Biao's effect on defending Murray is not very good, he can't squeeze cover, just let Murray hang an extra layer of blocking difference, but the damage to the offensive end is huge and solid...) )

Hypertrophy is materialized | Lakers in a 3-0 desperate situation: James is indeed old, but the biggest problem is thick eyebrows

(With Van der Biao on the floor, the Nuggets will change into position, the powerful Gordon will top the thick eyebrows in the next set, Jokic will completely empty Van der Biao to assist the defense, the Lakers' inside offensive pressure will increase sharply, and they can no longer kill Jokic)

Hypertrophy is materialized | Lakers in a 3-0 desperate situation: James is indeed old, but the biggest problem is thick eyebrows

(Van Debiao is present, the Nuggets shrink the inside line more ruthlessly, especially the 211cm, 128KG Jokic sits in the middle, the restricted area can be said to be "leaky")

Hypertrophy is materialized | Lakers in a 3-0 desperate situation: James is indeed old, but the biggest problem is thick eyebrows

(Offense is equivalent to 4 to 5)

The Lakers already have very little room to adjust in the rotation — that's what I said after the G2 game, and the game proved my guess.

In G4, the Lakers may make some changes: such as reducing Russell's time, or even taking Russell as a starter; For example, try Beasley or even TBJ, such as activating Bamba - but these formations, in the current situation, can be said to be just a gamble, or even just "dead horses as living horse doctors".

Form is greater than content.

And even if it did, it was just Hamm to let everyone see it — I'm trying to figure it out. If it doesn't work, then I can't help it.

But Lakers fans and friends don't need to be discouraged or indignant about this — starting with G1, I've always emphasized one thing — the choice of rotation is not the real reason why the Lakers lost to the Nuggets.

What is the reason why the Lakers really lost? Or, what are the Lakers' real winners?

As I actually said in my preview, it's not a "back three" or a "two backs," not Russell or Lonnie Walker or Troy Brown — that's the X factor at best.

Lakers vs. Nuggets this series. The most fundamental winner and loser lies in the pairing between Davis and Jokic.

Now, we can refine this sentence - the Nuggets and Lakers, the most critical winner and loser, lies in the double star performance of both teams.

In these three games, Murray fancy hung all the Lakers' defensive players:

Xiao Hei defended him, he broke through to the middle distance and under the basket, using his body size to force Xiao Hei;

Hypertrophy is materialized | Lakers in a 3-0 desperate situation: James is indeed old, but the biggest problem is thick eyebrows
Hypertrophy is materialized | Lakers in a 3-0 desperate situation: James is indeed old, but the biggest problem is thick eyebrows
Hypertrophy is materialized | Lakers in a 3-0 desperate situation: James is indeed old, but the biggest problem is thick eyebrows

Van Debiao defended him, he kept looking for blocks and demolition, hanging Van Debiao or forcing the Lakers to change defense;

Hypertrophy is materialized | Lakers in a 3-0 desperate situation: James is indeed old, but the biggest problem is thick eyebrows
Hypertrophy is materialized | Lakers in a 3-0 desperate situation: James is indeed old, but the biggest problem is thick eyebrows
Hypertrophy is materialized | Lakers in a 3-0 desperate situation: James is indeed old, but the biggest problem is thick eyebrows

Davis and James defended him, because of his slower steps and did not dare to stick too tightly, he directly pulled out a three-point bukkake.

Hypertrophy is materialized | Lakers in a 3-0 desperate situation: James is indeed old, but the biggest problem is thick eyebrows
Hypertrophy is materialized | Lakers in a 3-0 desperate situation: James is indeed old, but the biggest problem is thick eyebrows

The Lakers defended him off the line, and he scored with multiple cover shots; Lakers Top Lock, he counter-ran empty cut to catch the ball for a layup.

Hypertrophy is materialized | Lakers in a 3-0 desperate situation: James is indeed old, but the biggest problem is thick eyebrows

(This round, Blackie defended him with an excellent Top Lock)

Hypertrophy is materialized | Lakers in a 3-0 desperate situation: James is indeed old, but the biggest problem is thick eyebrows

(The next round, Murray immediately cracked it with a Back Door Cut.)

In three games, Murray averaged 35 points, 7.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game, and even more terrifying was his true shooting percentage of 66%.

Jokic is tough enough — I said in the preview that when Davis can't get Jokic one-on-one and needs "help" (not to mention a bag), the Lakers are basically "out of luck."

(When you pinch Jokic, with his passing ability and Nuggets' three-point grasp this year, being shot through can be said to be accidental or inevitable)

And when Jokic can't stop it, Murray still plays like this, then the Lakers really can't do anything.

This is the "Yomu" combination, this is the "OK combination" of the new era.

Hypertrophy is materialized | Lakers in a 3-0 desperate situation: James is indeed old, but the biggest problem is thick eyebrows

And when Jokic and Murray both showed phenomenal performances even in the big bosses of the championship-winning team, the Lakers' double stars were particularly weak.

In the face of huge consumption on the defensive end, James' three-point shooting percentage in this series fell to the bottom (15.8%), and although his breakthrough can still tear the Nuggets' defense, his physical strength has not allowed him to break through 20 times per game - even, in fact, LeBron has only 9.7 breakthroughs per game in the three Western Conference finals. (And in LeBron's prime years, such as 2018, he averaged more than 23.3 times per game)

LeBron is old, there's no doubt about it, and for the past few years, he has been supporting his offensive production with improved shooting and off-ball, but when the shooting feel leaves him, he is left with no ball and about 15-20 minutes per game to hold the ball and "power".

West finals averaged 23.7+10.3 assists per game, 55% true shooting percentage - he is not bad, but more like a second-in-command than a big master.

And Davis, the team's de facto big boss right now, didn't have the upper hand against Jokic.

In three games, Davis averaged 28.7 points, 11.7 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 2.7 blocks per game, which is beyond reproach from the statistical point of view, but everyone who has watched the game should know what I am talking about:

1. Davis did not succeed in limiting the opponent in the one-on-one match with Jokic - Jokic faced Davis on 15-of-26 shooting, shooting 57.7%;

2. Davis also did not perform well when attacking Jokic - Davis faced Jokic on 21-of-43 shooting, shooting 48.8%;

Hypertrophy is materialized | Lakers in a 3-0 desperate situation: James is indeed old, but the biggest problem is thick eyebrows
Hypertrophy is materialized | Lakers in a 3-0 desperate situation: James is indeed old, but the biggest problem is thick eyebrows

(This series is full of rounds like this, and Davis does not perform well against Jokic whether it is a low back or a high dribble.)

I don't really mean to "dump the pot" here, I'm just stating a fact:

As the team's boss, Davis is inherently incomparable to Jokizi in his ability to develop offense, which everyone knows. The Lakers' only hope is that he can overwhelm Jokic on individual offense and defense — such as killing Jokic on the offensive end and limiting Jokic's personal offense as much as possible.

(It's easy to say "he can't do it" now, but we all know that a lot of people were looking forward to it before the game actually started.)

But he didn't do it, and he didn't do it on both ends of the offensive and defensive ends.

In this way, the Lakers' disadvantage is completely irreparable.

Let me use an analogy.

In 2020, the Lakers are two big kings, and the Nuggets are one big king and one small king.

And this year, the Lakers are one king with a 2, and the Nuggets are two kings...

Hypertrophy is materialized | Lakers in a 3-0 desperate situation: James is indeed old, but the biggest problem is thick eyebrows

In this case, does it really matter whether you use Lonnie Walker or Troy Brown, a back three or a two-back?

Or let's put ourselves in the shoes of James, if it's James who is averaging 35 points and 66% of his true shooting percentage right now, and whether the Lakers are three guards or two guards on the court — does it matter?

Again, I don't mean to blame James here - he's 38 years old, he's averaging more than 40 minutes per game, he's taking on Jokic's matchmaking, he's still the Lakers' best player for limiting Jokic (results only), and he's also responsible for the Lakers' most offensive initiation tasks with three stump points...

Like I said in the last part, he is old, but he has a clear conscience.

Here, I just want everyone to ignore those "distractions" and see the essential problem of the Lakers' series - it is also the problem that I have been emphasizing since the beginning of the season (old fans who have been paying attention for a long time should know) - James is old, what should the Lakers do?

This is both a question that the Lakers need to think about in the current unfinished series, and also something that the Lakers need to think about this summer.

Hypertrophy is materialized | Lakers in a 3-0 desperate situation: James is indeed old, but the biggest problem is thick eyebrows

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