The Lakers lost twice, after losing to the Hawks on the road, the team suffered 3 consecutive losses, this time 6 consecutive road trips, only achieved a record of 2 wins and 4 losses, which is difficult to satisfy. Compared to the Clippers next door, in the absence of the big two, the road trip has achieved 4 wins and 3 losses, which looks much more decent. In this game, the two giants combined to bomb 47 points, 12 rebounds and 16 assists, and even the comeback OddsMank also bombed the 33+10+5 data, but why did the Lakers still lose to the Hawks who hovered in the play-off area? Perhaps there are the following issues worth paying attention to:
1. Lineup deformity
The Lakers' current lineup looks luxurious, but it is actually very uncoordinated!
Those who can attack cannot be defended, such as Munch, although the offensive firepower is excellent, but the defensive end is difficult to say.
Defensively outstanding, such as Stanley Johnson, when he is on the court with Westbrook, the other side can almost ignore the Lakers' outside line. Horton Tucker's offense looks a little better than Stanley Johnson's, at least he can break through with the ball, but the outside attack is equally miserable.
The young Bradley is a great 3D player, with 3 points, a defense, and even a good shot, but now the form is difficult to regain the courage of the past, the ups and downs, it is difficult to expect more from him!
When the Lakers need the height of the interior line, they are the last choice, but they will squeeze the offensive space of Westbrook, which is simply incompatible, and Vogel can only helplessly complete the No. 5 position of Wei Shao.
2. Poor defense
The Lakers could not defend several outside lines, resulting in the inside line being protruded into a sieve, and the inside line thick eyebrows hit five, the hands were difficult to cover the sky, simply could not cope with it, early led 4 offenses, and finally the defensive end was even more afraid of hands and feet!
Many people accuse Vogel of not giving Howard more time, but in fact, Howard is like a double-edged sword on the court, and his current state, in a system like the Lakers, does more harm than good! The defense is slow, easy to be misplaced by the outside line, the defense is almost a loophole, although his defensive threat on the inside is still there, but when Howard is on the field, Westbrook's efficiency declines sharply, and the attack is completely abolished, so Vogel can only make trade-offs, preferring to attack less, rather than hoping on Howard, who only defends in the penalty area, because of small mistakes.
As a result, the Lakers' defense has also formed a vicious circle of dilemma, which is an important reason for the lakers' overall defense this season.
3, the two giants lack the ability to hammer the tone
James is not there, who is the End point of the Lakers at the crucial moment? Thick eyebrows are no longer the thick eyebrows of the 19-20 season, and Wei Shao is not the beast that no one can stop when he rushes up! The most important reason why the Lakers have been reversed by double digits many times this season, in addition to poor defense, is that their offense has also gone wrong.
In the fourth quarter, Thick Brow scored only 5 points on 2 of 5 and Westbrook scored only 2 points on 1 of 3, when the two giants can only play such a performance at a critical moment, who can the Lakers' offense expect? By Munch with a base salary?
We all know that the more anxious the game, the more you need the star moment, but the Lakers' two stars have become a decoration at the key moment, and they are not the kind of stars with the top pulling power, and when they can't attack, their teammates don't get better chances because of the opponent's defensive tilt. Thick-browed outside shots plummeted, leaving opponents with only a need to keep an eye on his interior offense, and Westbrook was even more difficult to say, after the Pacers were finally removed by Vogel, which has explained a lot of problems.
4. Vogel's coaching problem
While losing isn't always the coach's responsibility, looking back at the Lakers' woes this season, it's hard to believe that this has nothing to do with Vogel, the championship coach. Taking this game as an example, the Eagles' situation is actually not much better than that of the Lakers, before this game was 23 wins and 25 losses, ranking tenth in the East, while the Lakers are 24 wins and 26 losses, the two are comparable. Although the Lakers are less James, they have ushered in the comeback of thick eyebrows and Munch, the double giants + a more neat character lineup, and the paper strength will not be inferior to the Eagles.
Thick eyebrow contributed 27 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 1 block, Wei Shao contributed 20 points, 7 rebounds, 12 assists and 1 steal, and was 8 of 15 shots, 4 of 3 points, 2 of 2 shots, and only 4 turnovers, for Wei Shao, it was already a very efficient performance, not to mention, the just-returned Munch also played a giant performance, bombarding 33 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists of the "James-style data", but such a performance still failed to help the team win, who can blame?
Players almost all play as they should, and even some people play beyond the norm but still can't win, so should the coach reflect on his tactical problems? In the decisive moment, why is there no better tactic that can better activate the team's attack, rather than the star being helpless after the dud?