Finally, the Warriors became the second Lakers! Learn from the lesson next season, Cole, Butler is not a god

In the playoffs G5, Doncic's "big toy" Gobert transformed into O'Neal, scoring 27 points and 24 rebounds, exposing the Lakers' inside disadvantages. The Timberwolves punished the Lakers' old and short with their youth and body shape advantages.

After the Lakers finished their playoff journey, the US media's finger was unanimously directed at the center. Some fantasized that if the Lakers had not had "seven-day no-reason return" Ma Wei, the current results would be different. Some also accused Pelinka of doing nothing for many years without partnering with the No. 5 position for the Brow. Pelinka learned from his mistakes and revealed at the season summary meeting that the team will make strengthening the center in the offseason as its primary goal.

In addition to the Lakers, the Warriors, another traffic squad in the West, are also victims of the lack of traditional centers. Although the Warriors still have hope of advancing to the second round, the Warriors VS Rockets are exactly the same as Lakers VS Timberwolves. The two big guys of the Rockets Adams and Shin Kyung do whatever they want in the inside, and they double-team Curry from the outside without any consequences. Due to the lack of high-quality inside players, the Warriors have consumed a lot of money to play five small players for a long time, and they are even more passive in hand-to-hand combat in the playoffs.

In fact, the Warriors' underlying logic is not wrong. After all, there has never been an All-Star traditional center in their Golden State Dynasty. The problem is that the league is not as valuable as it used to be back then. The value of traditional big men is gradually increasing. Giants such as Teacher, Embiid, and Antetokounmpo can change the outcome on the field by themselves. The most important thing is that the trend in the league has become encouraging confrontation, and fans have developed aesthetic fatigue with three-pointers, and many people have called for a return to violent basketball for physical confrontation.

The Lakers and Warriors, the two worst teams in the interior, are precisely the teams that suffer the most due to upgrades and confrontations, especially the Lakers who have been hurt the most. No team this season is more obsessed with small lineups and unlimited defense switching than the Lakers (although they are often forced to do so). The Lakers' regular season free throw rate is the best in the league, but in the more intense playoffs, their free throws have dropped sharply, which not only affects the Lakers' offensive efficiency, but also a huge challenge to their defense.

As the representative of "violent basketball" in the playoffs, the confrontation between the Warriors and the Rockets is continuing to heat up, and the referee's penalty standards are unprecedented. In this way, the defensive Rockets become the beneficiary. A team like the Warriors, which is short in size and mainly relies on shooting to score, plays extremely passively.

The Warriors and the Lakers learn from their lessons. The Lakers are destined to build a team with Doncic as the core in the future. As a replica of Harden, Doncic's minimum configuration must be a rebounding center. As for the Warriors, you did rely on the five-small lineup before, but in fact, the Warriors' overall height on the field was not at a disadvantage. Now Butler is here. Even if he can make free throws, he cannot replace the center. Butler + Zhuang Meng can't protect the penalty area on the defensive end. No matter what the result of the tiebreak battle, the Warriors should seek to strengthen the center in the offseason.