Why did the Lakers lose so much to the Mavericks in this year's NBA playoffs?

Against the Mavericks, the Lakers' problems are actually old problems.

Offensive end: Fisher is old; Artest lacks effective air cuts; Kobe's skills are becoming more and more sophisticated, but his athletic ability is no longer at its peak; Gasol and Bynum are weak when they are together There is no space; the substitutes, except for Odom, generally lack impact and do not like to lob the ball inside; the team does not have stable long-range firepower to open up the front line.

Defensive end: Fisher is old; Artest's help defense cannot cover the perimeter, so Kobe has to do it; Kobe's pressure on the ball is not as good as in his peak period; Gasol + Odom They can't protect the restricted area when paired together; they can't guard mid-range shots when Gasol + Bynum are paired together.

So against the Mavericks and encountering a tricky matchup, all these problems were exposed.

The Lakers' goal has always been to release jump shots to block the paint? The Mavericks have enough shooters to change the rotation. Terry, Peja and Barea in the first game, Stevenson and Barea in the second game, and Terry and Peja in the third game. They had full firepower and excellent quantity and quality. The Lakers died.

The Lakers' offense relies on the inside? The Mavericks also have enough big men. Chandler and Haywood were recruited last year to support the Lakers' towers. There are not enough inside lines, so we need to shrink to make up for it. The Mavericks took advantage of the Lakers' long-range shot, and as soon as they shrunk, the Lakers couldn't even make a move. In the first game, except for Kobe, the Lakers made 1 of 10 three-pointers; in the second game, the Lakers made 2 of 20 three-pointers; in the third game, the Lakers made 3 of 13 three-pointers.

Of course, the Mavericks not only rely on shooters, they also have aces. Nowitzki singled out Gasol, which can be said to be arbitrary. Nowitzki's post-up singles, which he worked hard to develop after being "black eight" in 2007, shined in this series. Gasol can't be dealt with at all.

The wonderful thing is that the Mavericks not only let Nowitzki play in isolation, but also used him to play a variety of tricks. This is Kidd's credit. The Mavericks are familiar with the Lakers' habit of shrinking the penalty area when defending pick-and-rolls, so they specifically asked Kidd and Nowitzki to play high pick-and-rolls. The Lakers dare to shrink from other insiders, but they are afraid of Nowitzki after all. As a result, Barea took advantage of the Lakers' fear of Nowitzki in the second game, shuttled smoothly and shot quickly.

The question is: Since the Lakers have had these problems before, why didn’t previous teams take advantage like the Mavericks?

One of the problems is Gasol.

Since the playoffs this year, Gasol has been in a sluggish state. Originally, his offensive performance had always been poor when he partnered with Bynum, which was not surprising, but this year's decline is really big. The reason is that in addition to the lack of space in the past, the Lakers now make too few air cuts, which has greatly reduced his support ability; Bynum has become the main player inside, and he is forced to provide support. The Lakers couldn't open up space, forcing him to often sneak outside the three-point line to lob the ball. Gasol, who has always liked to play smooth and brisk, can imagine his mood in today's stagnant Lakers system. Gasol was not originally a passionate insider. When his mood deteriorated, his performance deteriorated.

Problem 2, periphery.

The Lakers actually had a deformed layout like Kobe Bryant + three frontcourts last season, and the quality of long-range shots, air cuts, passes, speed increases, etc. provided by the outside were generally low. This season, the Lakers outsiders are just one year older, and Shannon Brown, who was furious at the beginning of the season, has now become mediocre. When the Lakers completely became a slow, half-court offensive and defensive team, their peripheral shortcomings were even more exposed due to their rigid play style. Although Artest is also trying hard to make awkward air cuts, and Fisher is also trying his best to break through for layups and shoot three-pointers, the team's vitality is really lacking-at this time, Farmar and Wu The significance of Jacic became apparent.

The third question is mood.

As Riley said in the 1980s, the difficulty in defending a championship is that teams that have won the championship will lose their hunger, so it is extremely difficult to encourage them to continue to win the championship.

Riley himself has only defended the title once. Only the Cardinals and Kundera of the Lakers in the 1950s have won three consecutive championships. Taking Gasol as an example, the most important thing about the aging Lakers is not the body, but the mind. The Lakers have never been calm: last season, Gasol questioned Kobe's shot selection. Of course, in the end, they worked together to overcome the difficulties and won the championship. But in 2011, Gasol and Odom have already won championships in the NBA and international arenas. The fighting spirit that can cover up all contradictions is somewhat exhausted, so the performance on the court is: the Lakers are not so hungry anymore, that kind of vicious The energy disappeared.

Jackson, known as the "Zen Master", is not a tactical person. He focuses on stream of consciousness. His strengths are controlling players and responding to situations. What is a sigh of relief is that neither of Jackson's two magic weapons worked in the Western Conference semifinals, causing the Lakers to be eliminated in an embarrassing manner.

Cleverly resolving players' depression, dissatisfaction and conflicts is Jackson's specialty. After entering the playoffs, Pau Gasol continued to slump, but Jackson had nothing to do. In Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals, Jackson gave Gasol a rare punch. When Jackson found that he still couldn't wake up Gasol despite his kindness and power, he couldn't help but make a gaffe. Disputes in the Lakers locker room have been repeatedly reported to the media by players. Andrew Bynum's criticism of his teammates' lack of trust caused an uproar.

In the second quarter of Game 4, the Mavericks set off a three-point frenzy. Jackson called timeouts continuously to mobilize his troops but failed to get a positive response from the players. The collapse was unstoppable. The Lakers, once under Jackson's control, have derailed, and Jackson is unable to control the direction of this team.

One of the main reasons why the Lakers couldn't beat the Mavericks was that they couldn't guard Dirk Nowitzki. From the perspective of player conditions, the Lakers do not lack ideal candidates to face Nowitzki. Gasol and Lamar Odom can directly guard Nowitzki one-on-one, while Ron Artest and Matt Barnes can guard the big one with small ones. The problem is that Jackson is worried about gain and loss. He does not want to compromise the offensive firepower provided by Odom for the second team, so he does not let Odom go to fight Nowitzki. Jackson did not trust Artest and Barnes, and used Artest to defend Nowitzki briefly. Barnes was even more ignored, and only played 12 minutes per game in the Western Conference semifinals. Jackson was superstitious about the power of the three towers in the penalty area and basically gave up on using small defenses as a weapon. Nowitzki averaged 25 points per game in the Western Conference semifinals and shot 57% from the field. How could the Lakers remain undefeated?

Jackson did not change. In Game 3, Artest was suspended, and Jackson put Odom into the starting lineup. Jackson intentionally used the three towers to attack the Mavericks' penalty area. Although it had some effect, Odom's first start weakened the Lakers' bench firepower. Jackson had to extend Odom's playing time, allowing Odom to play 42 minutes. Gasol and Bynum played 40 minutes and 37 minutes respectively. As a result, the physical fitness of the three towers turned red in the fourth quarter, and the Lakers suffered a reversal. . If Jackson could give Barnes a chance in Game 3 and continue to keep Odom in the second team, maybe Odom wouldn't have made that fatal catch error at the critical moment of life and death.

The conservatism of "Zen Master" is also reflected in his arrangements for the Lakers' key balls. The tactics are so simple that they are ridiculously simple. The almost unchanged high pick-and-roll between Kobe and Gasol gives the Mavericks a clear target. In the first game of the Western Conference semifinals, the Mavericks saw through the Lakers' tactical intentions at the last moment. Jason Kidd disrupted the cooperation between Kobe and Gasol and became the key to the reversal of the victory in that game. Jackson has many classic cases of surprising wins in the playoffs, but in this Western Conference semifinals, what we saw at critical moments was just the unsuccessful "two-man turn" between Kobe and Gasol.

Trapped in a cocoon, Jackson lost to himself. Of course, the failure of a series cannot erase Jackson's great achievements, but it only proves that there is no undefeated myth or immortal legend in this world. The Lakers lost and Jackson got old.