议起复盘 | 八村休赛期跟随老詹特训升级 进首发后令湖人逆袭
After several twists and turns, the Lakers finally settled on the starting five-man group composed of D'Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves, Hachimura, LeBron James, and Anthony Davis. The emergence of this lineup can be described as "coming out after a long time".
Originally, it was not a worldwide problem to let the five players with the highest annual salary and average points per game start the team, and teams such as the Nuggets and Celtics have made such a simple choice. But the Lakers are different, coach Ham did a lot of experimentation and repeated adjustments, and finally made a reluctant choice based on reality.
When Ham put Hachimura in the starting lineup, the Lakers began to counterattack. In the last 25 games, the Lakers are 17-8, with a winning rate of 68%, and retain the hope of hitting a higher ranking.
"He's the Lakers X-factor," James said of Hachimura, "and he's been playing well since he's been in the starting lineup." When he performs well, we will play well as well. ”
Hachimura's core foursome worked so well, why didn't Ham use this starting lineup until February?
In the middle of last season, Hachimura joined the Lakers through a trade, and his regular season performance was average, averaging 9.6 points per game, with a true shooting rate of 55.3% and a three-point shooting rate of 29.6%. However, Hachimura once again proved that he is a natural playoff player, and he has had playoff highlights with the Wizards, where he averaged 12.2 points per game in the playoffs after coming to the Lakers, shooting 66.8% from the field and 48.7% from three-point range. In the Western Conference finals with the Nuggets, although the Lakers were swept, Hachimura was a key piece of the puzzle on both ends of the offensive and defensive ends.
In the offseason, the Lakers gave Hachimura a three-year, $51 million contract extension, and it seems that Hachimura is very important for his size, athleticism, and offensive ability. Hachimura is also very self-motivated, he studied under James, followed James to practice his face frame singles skills, and worked hard to improve his ability to attack the frame, and he didn't want to rely too much on mid-range shooting as he did in the past.
"I'm just trying to get more out of the basket, I know I have the ability to shoot from the middle, but I'm also trying to be more aggressive and get to the rim, and I've done a lot of training and I've been in the gym doing a lot of strength training. My body is stronger and my steps are more diverse. If I have good footwork, I can attack from any position. I already have mid-range shots and size, I just need to work on my feet and everything is going well," Hachimura explained.
Hachimura is aiming for a starting spot, and his confidence lies in his offseason promotion plan on the one hand, and his excellent resume in last season's playoffs with the core quartet to win 34 points in 32 minutes on the court.
However, Ham was reluctant to start Hachimura, and Ham emphasized the balance between offense and defense, so Vanderbilt, who has strong defensive and rebounding ability and active defense, is Hamm's first choice. Vanderbilt's preseason injury disrupted Ham's plans, and he opted to start Prince who can open up space and supposedly defend multiple positions. As for why Hachimura didn't start, Hamm's explanation was that Hachimura didn't pay attention to defensive rebounding protection. Insiders revealed that Hachimura's defensive attitude, passing, and rebounding positions did not meet the requirements of the coaching staff, and his style was more suitable for serving as a score-grabbing sixth man.
Ham wants a balance between offense and defense when it comes to the lineup, and that's right. The problem is that with the Lakers' roster configuration, with Reddish and Vanderbilt paired with Davis, who lost his mid-range shooting touch after leaving the Orlando campus, the offensive space is like a disaster. The Lakers' defense is barely around the top 10, but their offensive efficiency is at the bottom.
Prince deserves credit for shooting 39 percent from three-point range as a starter, but Prince played a paradox. With a large sample size, the more minutes he plays, the more he's dragging down the Lakers. The data shows that as of January 31, he was on the court at the same time as Zhan Mei, and the Lakers lost by 73 points in 785 minutes. In the same period, Hachimura had 140 minutes and +13 points, and Vanderbilt had 154 minutes and +19 points.
In other words, Prince's defensive performance is not as good as Hamkua's, and the single style on the offensive end does not help the Lakers obviously, and its effect on the court is not as good as Hachimura and Vanderbilt, who have distinct styles.
Lakers reporter Buha has repeatedly written articles suggesting that Ham let Hachimura start, first pull up the offensive efficiency, and focus on offense. James sent a "funnel" emoji, and several Lakers players vaguely expressed their dissatisfaction with their respective roles. Coupled with Vanderbilt's renewed injury, Ham was finally pushed to make the decision to start Hachimura.
Playing the Knicks on February 4, Hachimura entered the starting lineup, paired with the core foursome, and the Lakers won. The effect of this change of lineup was immediate, and a few days later, the Lakers' starting five scored at least 20 points, the first time in 31 years.
Many people see Russell's return to the starting line as the starting point for the Lakers' comeback, but it is not. Russell's form did improve after returning to the starting lineup, but before Hachimura entered the starting lineup, the Lakers had a 6-5 record in 11 games, barely a win rate of more than 50%. After Hachimura entered the starting line-up, the Lakers entered the fast lane.
In the last 25 games, the Lakers are 17-8, a winning rate of 68%. As of April 1, the Lakers' new starting five Tigers have been on the court for 297 minutes and have won by 23 points. The Lakers' starting five averaged more than 100 points per game, ranking first in the league during the same period, four points more than the Celtics' starting five. The Lakers' slow heating problem was solved, and the average points per game in the first quarter increased from 28.6 points to 30.2 points, and the average points per game increased from -2.6 points to +1 points before, bidding farewell to the opening pit.
"Our new starting lineup has height, height, arm length, athleticism, and Hachimura has worked well with us," James said of the new lineup.
"As you can see, it's a much smoother, smoother lineup, and we used it in the playoffs last year, so we've been trying to build on last year's lineup," Hachimura said. But because of squad changes, injuries and other factors, we didn't really play together much, and now we're finally starting to use this lineup again. ”
As a starter, Hachimura performed well, averaging 15.8 points per game, shooting 58.5% from the field and 44.7% from three-point range. In all 32 games he started this season, the Lakers are 21-11 and put it to 54 wins in 82 games.
As a space point, Hachimura's performance this season is completely satisfactory to the Lakers. He has made two three-pointers in 22 games and has shot at least 40 percent from three-point range in 32 games, with a catch-and-shoot three-point shooting percentage of 41.8 percent.
After hard training in the offseason, Hachimura's shot distribution obviously began to magicalize, and he concentrated more shots in the restricted area and outside the three-point line, and the proportion of mid-range shots plummeted. Hachimura's 29.5 percent shooting percentage from within three feet is just below his rookie season, and his 78.9 percent finishing efficiency is just below his 2021-22 season. Hachimura scored 1.16 points per round on the low-post offense, which is more efficient than Davis (1.09) and James (0.98).
"The opponent usually plays the tall players against me and James, and the other tall players who defend well against Russell or Reaves, so Hachimura usually has to face a short defense, and we use this set of positions to let him attack in the low post and attack twice," Davis explained.
"It's nice to be with him, he knows where his shot is, he's there, we've got a tall, athletic wing," James said. Sometimes we'll play small balls with low altitude and he and I can switch guards and continue to protect the rebounds, so he's key to our success. ”
So far, the Lakers have not been able to find a perfect lineup that is both offensive and defensive, but having Hachimura start the offense is indeed the most reasonable choice for the Lakers.
The Lakers' new starting five tigers do not have a single defensive strength, Hachimura is unable to help Russell and Reaves share the defensive pressure, he is more suitable to play against the fourth and fifth positions, and free Davis to help defend.
Is it still possible for the Lakers to find a balanced five-man group that is offensive and defensive? Even though there is little left in the regular season, the Lakers still have some chances. Vincent has returned, and his ball-defence is above Russell and Reaves. Vanderbilt has a chance to return this month, and his one-on-one defense and offense with Hachimura could be the ultimate answer for the Lakers' forward.
Davis is looking forward to the full Lakers: "We've started to find the right lineup fit. Obviously, when Vanderbilt returns, our starting lineup can still change, and he is an important part of our defensive system. ”