Chapter 481 There are 12 games left in the regular season
"Mr. D'Antoni! You really can't let me play?" Tang Qian came to the training hall early in the morning to block Mike D'Antoni. But the answer he got still made him frustrated.
"Hot, it's not that I don't want you to play, it's just that the higher-ups don't allow it, and you've been placed on the injury observation list. I have no right to help you get out of the ban." Why doesn't Mike D'Antoni not want Tang Qian to play? Don't look at it.
Howard has played well in these games and his personal statistics are outstanding, but because of him alone, the entire Lakers' offensive and defensive system has been distorted. As a result, the Lakers' desire to win seven consecutive games is completely empty talk.
.
In fact, not only Tang Qian, but also Nash, Gasol, and even Kobe have approached him privately and asked him to lift Tang Qian's "team suspension." But as the saying goes, Mike D'Antoni is a "half-way guy."
"Monk", he himself has no foundation in the Lakers, how can he compete with the powerful "general manager's office"?
Unless he is a dynasty coach like Zen Master who won 5 championships for the Lakers, then that's pretty much it.
Otherwise, in the Lakers, it would be a big joke if the head coach wants to compete with the general manager.
It is said that during this away trip, Kobe personally called Mitch Kupchak to ask Mitch Kupchak to "unban" Tang Qian, but it ended in a dispute between the two parties and an unhappy breakup. You ask Mitch Kupchak why?
Do this? Why not let Tang Qian play? Doesn't he think about the Lakers' record? This is a good question. First, Mitch Kupchak "suspended" Tang Qian at first, just for personal grudges and personal dignity, but
After the Lakers lost in a row, he began to think deeply, what if the Lakers just can't make the playoffs this season? How should he take the blame, and how can he find a way to "ease the conflict"? After some thinking and
After weighing, Kupchak found the answer, which was to keep Howard and retain the Lakers' "Four Kings" lineup, and then promised the fans that last season was just a lack of running-in, and after systematic running-in next season,
The "Four Kings" of the Lakers will fully demonstrate their strength. The second is to arrange the transition of kingship in advance. In Mitch Kupchak's view, Kobe is already old and is no longer enough to support the Lakers.
, so no matter what his statistics are this season, it will always be Howard in the future. Paving the way for Howard in advance may be able to maintain the Lakers' championship potential.
In the end, the facts will tell Kupchak how outrageous his vision is.
It was as outrageous as his draft judgment, which made people laughable afterwards.
He may really have a strong "robbery ability", but in terms of vision, he has never been top-notch, not even top-notch among general managers.
Then... the season has progressed to this point, and although Mitch Kupchak doesn't say it, in his heart, he may have given up on this season.
He is not so firm in his belief that the Lakers will create a miracle.
The Lakers can still squeeze into the playoffs of the 2012-2013 season.
So under the influence of this implicit negative mentality, Mitch Kupchak did the most wrong and stupid thing in his life.
Protect Huo and abandon Tang Dynasty.
I support Huo Qike.
On March 17, the Lakers defeated the Sacramento Kings in overtime at home. Due to Kobe's absence, Howard made a special performance in this game and ended up scoring 40 points, 23 rebounds, and 7 blocks. In the end, the Lakers won
111-107, defeated the invading Kings by 4 points, preventing his season record from falling below 50%.
After the game, ESPN didn't know what they were thinking, but they actually boasted about this game, as if without Kobe, the Lakers had been reborn and become a strong team in the league. He didn't even look at the situation of the Kings this season.
What kind of team is currently ranked 13th in the Western Conference with a miserable record and defeated such a rebuilt team? Tang Qian really doesn't know what to brag about.
Howard himself also accepted this kind of remarks. Taking advantage of Kobe's absence, he declared that he believed that tonight's Lakers were the Lakers that were truly on the right track! I hope that the following games will be like tonight's game!
What is the hidden meaning of this statement? It is clearly saying that everything must be centered on him in the future, only in this way can we win.
It completely wiped out the dedication and efforts of the entire Lakers team in the previous 60-odd games.
Kobe sat in front of the TV and watched with a cold expression on his face.
With 34 wins and 33 losses, the Lakers are still two and a half games away from ninth place in the Western Conference, and a full four and a half games away from eighth place in the Western Conference.
Two days later, the Lakers suffered another defeat and were beaten by the Grizzlies, losing by 21 points.
Although Howard scored 20 points and 15 rebounds in this game, he also spent 20 shots and a large number of free throws. Such ultra-inefficiency caused the Lakers' offensive and defensive rhythm to be completely blocked, and they were eventually beaten by the Memphis people.
Strong friction.
With 34 wins and 34 losses, the winning rate has once again dropped back to the 50% threshold.
Then in back-to-back games, the Lakers were upset and lost to the Phoenix Suns, who were last in the Western Conference and third in the league. In this game, Howard once again fell into the cycle of infinite singles, taking 24 shots but only scoring 22
Points were scored, and he only had 10 rebounds, just completing a double-double. At the post-game press conference, Howard complained loudly that the rest of the Lakers were not shooting accurately, wasting his own assists, and was not active in defense, which hurt his defensive end.
Exhausted too much physical energy and so on. But he didn't even think about it. With his shit passing and assist levels, how many good goals could he get? Besides, in 37 minutes, he probably had to do a lot of low-post singles.
Occupying about 30 points, this makes Nash's organizational ability and Gasol's offensive ability nearly useless. In addition, Howard deliberately conserves energy on the defensive end in order to improve statistics, which also caused the Lakers' already weak defense to collapse instantly.
, for a moment, it seemed like it had become a sieve, with loopholes everywhere.
Nash rarely expressed his disapproval, saying: There is no way out for the team if we are addicted to individual singles!
But unfortunately, the mainstream media were vigorously reporting on Howard's remarks, so Nash's protest fell into disfavor and did not make even a splash.
With 34 wins and 35 losses, the Lakers' season record fell below the 50% mark.
Later, the Lakers defeated the Washington Wizards by 3 points, 34 wins and 36 losses. The outside media finally broke out and began to crazily criticize the Lakers and Kobe.
Now that 70 games have passed, the Lakers' win gap from eighth in the Western Conference is getting bigger and bigger. Who dares to hope that the Lakers can enter the playoffs? At this time, Howard also secretly talked to his agent Dan.
Fagan discussed matters related to leaving Los Angeles and entering the free market to test the waters.
City of Angels, Los Angeles, Lakers, hey, you all go to hell!!!
Howard was calm and optimistic about the Lakers' corrupt situation.