Hypertrophic | In the last seven games, the offensive efficiency is the first in the team, and what changes have been made to Hachimura, who has entered the starting lineup?

Generally speaking, before and after the All-Star is seen as a node in the season. The Lakers got off to a good start to the season with a 6-1 record in their last seven games — and as we said in the previous article, one of the reasons they've been playing well recently is the change in their starting lineup — and the main change in their starting lineup was the addition of Hachimura.

Russell, Reaves, Hachimura, James, Davis, this is not a suitable starting starting point from the perspective of offensive and defensive balance - obviously, the lack of defenders in this lineup has a very big problem on the defensive end. But the Lakers have relied on this lineup to win consecutive games recently - relying on the other side of the court, that is, on their offensive end:

In the last seven games, the Lakers' offensive efficiency has been 122.4 points per 100 rounds, ranking second in the league in the same period. (Previously, they were outside the top 20 in the league in offensive efficiency for most of the time.)

The Lakers' offensive efficiency has skyrocketed, mainly because of their starting lineup - according to CTG, the Lakers' offensive efficiency in the 184 rounds they started was 123.9, which is more than 96% of the league's lineup, and their effective shooting rate of 60.1% is more than the league's 98% lineup.

Efficiency is visible.

And even if we don't adopt the "variable method", let's just look at the data, in this lineup, the most efficient offensive in the last seven games is - Hachimura.

In the last seven games, the team's offensive efficiency was 123.0, the second on the team (second only to Mays, who had a very small sample), and the true shooting percentage of 66.8% was also second on the team behind Mace - considering Mays's small sample, we can actually consider Hachimura as the Lakers' most efficient player in the last seven games.

He averaged 15.0 points per game, shot 42.9 percent from three-point range, shot 58.3 percent from the field, and averaged 7.7 points on the inside line per game. The paint zone hit rate was a terrifying 86.7%.

Compare Hachimura's all-season stats — 5.7 inside points and 66.2% shooting from the field.

Clearly, one of Hachimura's major recent changes has been that he's found a way to score on the inside.

Let's jump into the game and find out.

Let's take a look at a classic round of Hachimura's "inside shot" before this season:

The reason for Hachimura's previous low interior shooting rate is enough to show that friends who have been following the Lakers this season should know that Hachimura has added a lot of such ball-handling breakthroughs in the first half of this season since he practiced with James in the offseason - in order to make up for the decline in the number of breakthroughs caused by Schroder's departure.

But as you can see in the picture – Hachimura's under-the-basket finishing, especially when he breaks through the basket with the ball is terrible – he only pushes hard, the timing of the ball is usually early, and there is nothing outstanding about the under-basket work.

As a result, for a long time this season, Hachimura's basket shots increased, but the basket scoring did not change.

So in the last seven games, what changes have made Hachimura achieve a sharp increase in the production efficiency of the inside line?

Progress in the end of the ball swoop

Yes, Hachimura's breakaway finishes have been a little better in recent games - although overall he is still a player who doesn't have a lot of breakaway skills and doesn't have a good hand, but now he's trying to use some simple tricks to increase his finishing chance and try tougher finishes:

Turning to make a layup, a technique that Hachimura has used a lot recently - Hachimura's dribbling between the moves is not so skillful, the timing of the ball is usually early, and turning is a move that can help him better separate his opponent and better enter the hinterland of the restricted area.

Continue to use the turn to get past the opponent and put the basket - no longer stunned.

Against the Pistons, he turned around and put the basket - this action allows Hachimura to play well to his advantages of wide shoulders and strength.

When he didn't get the position he wanted after turning around, Hachimura could also play to his strengths and turn it into a turnaround jumper – and he gradually began to find a way to combine "what the team emphasized" with "what he was good at."

At the same time, he is slowly finding the feeling of finishing after the confrontation in the face of misalignment:

Against the Jazz, Hachimura got a lot of misalignments due to the Jazz's defensive alignment, and he took advantage of those misalignment opportunities well.

Take the ball in the middle distance, ensure that you are closer to the basket, so as to reduce the impact of early combination, start with a virtual wave, and after carrying the opponent with your strength, you will not pick up the basket with your left hand, but hover in the air and find the angle of hitting the board with your right hand - know that your hands are working, and you can take a more secure finishing method to take a more secure finishing method.

Also starting from the elbow area, Hachimura in this area only needs to dribble to the basket, and after the same ball, he did not try to pick the basket, but directly lifted the ball high to the basket to "rest" - the aesthetics are a little worse, but the finishing efficiency is improved.

Continuing to break through with the ball in the elbow area, Hachimura, who found the feeling of this ball, even completed a switching layup after the aerial confrontation with Kessler after passing the first line of defense.

Against the Pelicans, in the face of Murphy, who is thinner but tall and has long arms, Hachimura took the ball from a mid-distance, and after wiping it down, he did not carry Murphy hard, but shook it and hit the basket with a time difference.

He's even starting to be able to handle the ball after a breakaway – a rarity that still shows how "calm" Hachimura is now after his breakaway.

In addition to Hachimura's own improvement in terms of finishing, in fact, the more important improvement is the change in the way the Lakers use him:

Davis and Hachimura cooperate in high and low positions

We have mentioned Hachimura many times before that he is a player who prefers to go without the ball, especially when it comes to attacking the frame, and Hachimura is better at and more suitable than breaking through with the ball himself.

Previously, Hachimura's main way to catch the ball and attack the frame was to block and dismantle, but as the season progressed, the Lakers' offensive initiation methods increased, and another attack method is gradually becoming his "mainstream offensive method":

Around Game 40 of the season, Davis began to increase his strategy percentage, and one of the direct beneficiaries was Hachimura - in today's NBA, there is usually only one big man on the opponent's court, Davis's good projection performance this season can effectively move opponents inside out of the restricted area, and then Hachimura, who is athletic, will get such an opportunity as shown in the picture.

Of course, this Hachimura base itself is faster and more active.

Continuing to play this kind of high-low coordination, the ball-handler and Davis playing pick-and-roll on the line usually attract a lot of defensive attention from the opponent, so that Hachimura will get a chance under the basket - Hachimura has a very strong ability to jump on both feet, and almost looks like a small ball five position under the basket.

At the same time, pay attention to this round - Hachimura is more patient as we said above, he is not facing the fat tiger to force, but first dunking a little bit and then dunking.

In the second half, the Lakers quickly played this tactic again, but this time Varan recovered faster and interfered with Hachimura - when he went directly to the basket, Hachimura's basket work was still a little worse.

Another method of high-low post coordination - LeBron attracts the defense in the strong side low post, Davis receives in the middle, attracts Wallan, and immediately passes the cut Hachimura dunk.

(By the way, in the above three rounds, you can see how bad the Fat Tiger's off-ball defensive attention is......)

Against the Pistons, Davis and Hachimura cooperate in the high and low positions - move the opponent's No. 5 position out of the restricted area, and then let Hachimura play the opponent's No. 3 or No. 4 position - this is the "pros" of the Lakers' starting lineup, although LeBron and Hachimura can't lead the defense, but on the offensive end, it is difficult for the opponent to have the defensive resources that can match the two big weight No. 4 positions when they need to play against Davis.

In other words, LeBron and Hachimura must have a player who is smaller than him.

Against the Hornets, two rounds in a row to fight the Hornets' flank strength and lack of height - Richards vs. thick eyebrows, Bridges vs. LeBron, and the rest of Ismael, Blake, and Brandon Miller can't match Hachimura.

In every game, the Lakers were able to use their size advantage in the frontcourt to find some misplaced scoring opportunities for Hachimura.

In addition, the Lakers have added tactics that are specifically tailored for Hachimura.

Horns Screen（牛角掩护）

Horn screen is a common style of covering the starting hand, which is made up of two big men, at the same time on the top of the arc, to do the cover for the ball carrier - the ball carrier can freely choose one side to initiate the block, and the two big men are mentioned to the line, the inside line will get a huge space, can help the ball carrier and the next straight man better direct to the basket, if the opponent insists on taking the help defense, can only come from the left and right corners, so that the bottom corner of the three opportunities will be leaked.

Let's take a look at how the Lakers executed:

The Lakers' execution was even simpler, after they landed with "horns", Hachimura ran straight down, Russell used his passing skills to give the ball, and Hachimura was able to finish directly.

Note that Hachimura also has a "detail" that he will make a gesture to call Russell to the side of the cover - this will cause his opponent's attention to briefly move to Russell, and Hachimura will suddenly run back and cut in, and his opponent is usually caught off guard.

See? Hachimura can clearly see this gesture in this round, and even if he doesn't get a chance on the reverse run, the subsequent breakthrough of Russell and Davis will attract the opponent's basket to help defend and win Hachimura's chance to dunk - of course, in this round alone, it would be better if Hachimura could see the thick eyebrows in the open space.

'I think in the last one or two games, the whole team – my team-mates and the coach – try to get me involved more and get more touches. It's very simple basketball, Dlo (D'Angelo Russell) has been very well organized, LeBron (James) isn't here, but LeBron is great too, and AD (Anthony Davis). It's the rhythm, I've been talking about chemistry, and the guys in our starting lineup have chemistry and we just need to keep building it. That's the way I feel comfortable playing, so it's a good feeling. ”

summary

Clearly, Hachimura's recent resurgence in form is not an accident.

In addition to the above changes in individual playing style and tactics, Hachimura has entered the starting lineup and has more and more consistent playing time, which in itself is also a huge positive contributing factor.

Hachimura has always been a scorer, and I did his player report when he first came to the Lakers last season — his style is somewhat similar to the poor man's version of Carmelo Anthony — and consistent playing time and more offensive weight mean a lot to scorers.

There's no doubt that Hachimura has proven his quality as a starter with recent performances – but we also need to be aware that the Lakers' starting lineup still lacks the ability to lead and defend.

In the final 28 games of the season, will the Lakers be able to find a final set of "answers"?