basketball purple front

Chapter 488 There are still 12 games left in the regular season

"Mr. D'Antoni! Can you really not 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 frustrated him.

"Tang, it's not that I don't want you to play, it's just that the superiors don't allow it, and you have been sent to the injury watch list, I have no right to lift the ban for you." Mike D'Antoni doesn't want Tang Qian to play, don't look Howard has played very well in these few games, and his personal data is impressive, but because of him alone, the entire Lakers offensive and defensive system has been distorted.In this way, the Lakers' desire to play a 7-game winning streak has completely become empty talk.

In fact, it is not only Tang Qian, even Nash, Gasol, and even Kobe, have approached him in private and asked him to lift Tang Qian's "team ban".But still the same sentence, Mike D'Antoni is a "half-way monk". He himself has no foundation in the Lakers. How can he talk about fighting against the strong "general manager's office"?
Unless he's a dynasty coach like Jackson who won five championships for the Lakers, that's about it.

Otherwise, in the Lakers, if the head coach wants to compete with the general manager, it is a big joke.

It is said that during this road trip, Kobe personally called Mitch Kupchak to "unban" Tang Qian, but it ended in a dispute between the two sides and an unhappy breakup.Why do you ask Mitch Kupchak to do this?Why not let Tang Qian play?Doesn't he think about the record of the Lakers?This is a good question. First, Mitch Kupchak’s “suspension” of Tang Qian was just a personal grievance and a personal face. But after the Lakers’ losing streak, he began to think deeply. If the Lakers won’t make it this season What about the playoffs?Then how should I get rid of the blame, and how can I find a way to "moderate the contradiction"?After some thinking and weighing, Kupchak found the answer, which is to keep Howard, keep the "Four Kings" lineup of the Lakers, and then promise the fans that last season was just a lack of running-in, and next season will go through the system. After the running-in of the Lakers, the "Four Heavenly Kings" of the Lakers will fully demonstrate their strength.The second is to arrange the transition of the royal power in advance. In Mitch Kupchak's view, Kobe is already old and not enough to support the big ship of the Lakers, so no matter what his statistics are this season, the future will always be Howard. 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's as outrageous as his draft judgment, which makes people feel ridiculous after the fact.

He may really have a super "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 the present, although Mitch Kupchak doesn't say it, but in his heart, he may have already given up on this season.

He is not so firm in his belief that the Lakers will create miracles.

The Lakers can also squeeze into the playoffs in the 2012-2013 season.

So under the influence of this implicit negativity, Mitch Kupchak did the most wrong and stupid thing in his life.

Bao Huo abandoned Tang.

Quite Huo Qike.

On March 3, the Lakers defeated the Sacramento Kings in overtime at home. Because of Kobe's absence, Howard made a big splash in this game, and finally scored 17 points, 40 rebounds and 23 blocks.In the end, the Lakers defeated the invading Kings 7-111 with 107 points, stopping their own season record and falling below 4%.

After the game, ESPN didn't know what they had in mind, but they actually boasted about the game, as if without Kobe, the Lakers would be reborn and become a strong team in the league.He doesn't even look at what kind of team the Kings are this season. They are currently ranked No. 13 in the West, and their record is terrible. Tang Qian really doesn't know what to brag about defeating such a rebuilding team.

Howard himself also accepts this kind of remarks. Taking advantage of Kobe's absence, he declared that he believes that the Lakers tonight are the Lakers that are really on the right track!I hope that the following games will be like this game tonight!
What is the underlying meaning of this statement?It is clearly saying that he must be the center in the future, so that we can win.

It completely wiped out the dedication and hard work 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 2 and a half games away from the ninth place in the West, and 4 and a half games away from the eighth place in the West.

Two days later, the Lakers swallowed the defeat again and were beaten by the Grizzlies, directly losing as much as 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-low efficiency made the Lakers' offensive and defensive rhythm completely blocked, and was eventually defeated by the Memphis people. Strong friction.

34 wins and 34 losses, the winning percentage fell back to the 50% threshold again.

Then in back-to-back games, the Lakers were upset and lost to the Phoenix Suns, the last in the Western Conference and the third in the league.In this game, Howard once again fell into the vicious circle of infinite singles. He took 24 shots but only scored 22 points. At the same time, he only had 10 rebounds, just completing a double-double.In the post-match press conference, Howard complained loudly that the rest of the Lakers were inaccurate, wasted his assists, were not active in defense, and caused him to consume too much energy on the defensive end.But he didn't even think about it. With his shitty pass and assist level, how many good shots can he give?Besides, within 2 minutes, his personal low-post singles may occupy about 37 points, which makes Nash's organizational ability and Gasol's offensive ability close to a half-waste state.In addition, Howard deliberately conserved energy on the defensive end in order to collect data, which also caused the already weak Lakers defense to collapse instantly, and for a while, it seemed to become a sieve, turning holes everywhere.

Nash made a rare voice of disapproval, saying: Indulging in individual singles, the team has no way out!

But helplessly, the mainstream media were vigorously reporting Howard's remarks, so Nash's protest fell to nothing, and half of the waves did not stir up.

With 34 wins and 35 losses, the Lakers' season record fell below the 50% mark.

Afterwards, the Lakers defeated the Washington Wizards by 3 points, 34 wins and 36 losses. The outside media finally broke out and began to criticize the Lakers and Kobe frantically.

Now that 70 games have passed, the Lakers are getting worse and farther away from the eighth in the West. Who dares to expect the Lakers to enter the playoffs?At this time, Howard also secretly discussed with his agent Dan Fagan about leaving Los Angeles to enter the free market to test the waters.

City of Angels, Los Angeles, Lakers, hey, you all go to hell! ! !
Howard was not in a hurry to talk about the corrupt situation of the Lakers.

PS: More will be added tomorrow~
(End of this chapter)