The current dilemma the Lakers are in is largely due to Westbrook, but not all Westbrook. The Lakers themselves still have many problems. There are still many problems the Lakers need to solve in the second half of the season, especially Westbrook and Westbrook. The use of the James combination will be a key to determining the fate of the Lakers this season.
Facts have proved that the combination between Westbrook and James does not achieve the effect of 1+1=2 on the court. Although Westbrook himself is also working hard to make changes and integrate into the team, he is helplessly limited by his physical fitness. The decline, the relative roughness of various basic skills, and the natural shortcomings of reading ability on the court, he has now become a major shortcoming of the Lakers on the court. When he and James were both on the court at the same time, both seemed very uncomfortable. When Westbrook led the team alone, it was difficult for him to maintain a high level of offensive efficiency. Many games were played by James and Westbrook took a break. When the team was opened by teammates, the same was true in this game, but Westbrook did not appear on the court in the final climax of the Lakers overtaking the score.
This has become a very embarrassing problem. The Lakers can’t keep Westbrook watching the game, but his low shooting percentage, turnovers, and defensive misses do exist. And when he and James are on the court at the same time, James His overall driving ability has dropped significantly. Westbrook’s shooting ability is difficult to convert James’ pass into a score, which explains why it’s still difficult to help the Lakers win in four consecutive 30+ games, and his own positive and negative values have always been very high. Downturn. How to solve the problem of matching between the two is indeed the biggest problem the Lakers currently have.
But in addition, another big problem for the Lakers is the weakness of the inside line after the “thick eyebrow” injury. Jordan has almost been abandoned. In the last 12 games, he has not played a minute in 4 of the 8 games he played. 5 of the 8 games he played were less than 10 minutes, and most of the other games also appeared in garbage time. Then the only pure insider available to the Lakers is Howard, but Howard has missed four games before due to injury, and in the games he played, his state is not good, whether it is rebounds or offense, he has been waiting for a long time. The defensive end has also been continuously targeted as a weak ring.
Therefore, in recent games, the Lakers have begun to be forced to try a small lineup. In this year-end battle, Howard also only played for 6 minutes, and the second half did not play a minute. More often, James and Anthony were dead in the paint, but Since then, the weakness of the Lakers in the paint has been further exposed. Although Anthony has continued to defend the rebounds in the paint, it is difficult for him and James to fight in the paint for a long time. The Lakers’ inside warning has already been sounded.
On the front line, the Lakers are also facing big problems, especially on the defensive end. Ariza, Bazemore, Bradley, and Reeves have triggered health and safety agreements and were forced to quarantine. The proud Lakers forwards fell into distress. Although James and Anthony can still provide firepower on the offensive end, the Lakers are already stretched on the defensive end. Baezmore, Bradley and Reeves are this season. The Lakers are the most dependent defensive guards on the perimeter. As a result, the Lakers can only urgently sign Stanley Johnson as an emergency response, but this is obviously not enough. The Lakers’ defensive loopholes on the front line still seem to be a big problem.
The consecutive losses have put the Lakers in a situation of internal and external troubles. Not only did Westbrook’s trade rumors spread frequently, but also the team seemed to have a lot of cracks. Before Howard and the thick eyebrow quarrel, Howard stated that he had been with the Lakers. The Lakers’ locker room frequently bursts with problems. How to stabilize the team’s mentality in a difficult situation is also a major problem that the Lakers urgently need to solve. From this point of view, there are still many difficulties facing the Lakers.
(Arco)Return to Sohu to see more
Editor:
Disclaimer: The opinions of this article only represent the author himself. Sohu is an information publishing platform. Sohu only provides information storage space services.
.