Data Analysis - Why Lakers player Kennett suddenly lost favor

Recently, the NBA summer league started, Los Angeles Lakers player Knector was criticized for his poor performance (the state recovered in the third game today). His current situation in the Lakers is like Li Yu, the last leader of the Southern Tang Dynasty, who unexpectedly succeeded to the throne (the 17th pick in the first round of 2024 was selected as an important substitute), but soon he was annexed by the Northern Song Dynasty and lost the throne (Doncic was traded after joining), and his treatment after being imprisoned was worse than that of one day (because Ma Wei failed the physical examination and miscarriage, he lost his rotation position, and his playing time was reduced again and again), and finally he left a final note: How much sorrow can you have, just like a river of spring water flowing eastward.

NBA players' reputation is like the stock market, rising and falling, ups and downs. You should know that in the first half of last year, Knector was still hovering in the top three positions in the Best Rookie list for a long time, but at the end of the season, even the first and second teams of the All Rookie team were not selected. Recently, the Lakers and the team reporters said bluntly that the league generally believes that Knector's value is only worth one second round, so what level is he now? Today's Star Test will bring you Kneckett's data analysis.

Knector is an older show that has been playing for five years in college. His style of play has basically been set. In the last year of college, he was personally guided by Durant's former mentor Rick Barnes at the University of Tennessee. Rick Barnes used him as the absolute core to formulate a large number of offensive tactics. He did not disappoint everyone, and scored a highlight data of 21.7 points and 4.9 rebounds per game, and his three-point shooting percentage reached 39.7%. It is no exaggeration to say that this year Knector was NCAA Durant. Under his leadership, the team reached the ultimate quarterfinals in March Madness. His internal and external scoring battle with Zach Eddy has become one of the classic NCAA battles in recent years.

His draft reputation reached the top ten picks, but in the end he dropped to the 17th pick, many people think that the Lakers have gained a treasure, but the primary problem he faced with joining the Lakers is the role transformation problem. In the NCAA, you are Durant, and you have to start with Du Runwang when you come to the NBA. In Redick's ideal plan, it is to carry forward Knector's shooting ability, build him into an excellent outside firepower point, and then improve his defensive ability to form a 3D player. This is also Redick's transformation path after entering the NBA from a college pride. Therefore, at the beginning of the season, Redick valued Knector very much, and the saying was circulated at that time: "Shooters know the best shooters."

After a season, he has 34% of his time playing shooting guard, 56% of his time playing small forward, 11% of his time playing power forward, 40% of his 2-point score, 60% of his three-point score, 17% of his independent score, and 83% of his receiving score. Through the data model, it can be seen that Kneckett is a forward guard who is responsible for receiving scores in the Lakers. He is completely upgraded according to the template designed by Redick. So how will this point increase plan be achieved in the final effect?

First, let's look at the most important thing, which is also whether Kneckett can establish reputation in the NBA, and respond to three-point shooting.

During the entire regular season, Kneckett received 281 three-pointers, ranking second among the Lakers.

First Reeves 288 times, 38th Village 240 times, 4th Vincent 231 times, 5th James 205 times, 6th Finney Smith 199 times, and 7th Christie 144 times.

He hit 105 goals, and his shooting percentage was barely qualified. This shooting percentage ranks 6th among the above seven players, first James 42%, second eighth Murata 41.7%, third Christie 41%, fourth Finney Smith 40.2%, fifth Reeves 39.9%, and seventh Vincent 37.2%.

It can be seen that Kneckett's most anticipated three-pointer was not outstanding in the entire Lakers, but we should look at one node in depth, that is, the data comparison before and after Doncic joined to see if it was because Doncic suddenly lost his tactical position after he joined. Before Doncic came, Kneckett received 194 three-pointers in 49 games (first in the Lakers), and his 68-point shooting percentage was barely qualified.

The second Reeves in the team received the ball and made 182 three-pointers and made 66 goals and hit a 36.3% shooting percentage.

The third eighth Murakami caught the ball, made 168 three-pointers and made 74 goals, and hit a 44% shooting percentage.

The fourth in the team, Christie received the ball and made 144 three-pointers and made 59 goals and hit 41% from the field.

The fifth in the team, James received the ball, made 134 three-pointers and made 56 goals, and hit a 41.8% shooting percentage.

The sixth in the team Vincent received the ball and made 111 three-pointers and made 44 goals and hit a 39.6% shooting percentage.

The team's seven Russell received the ball and made 103 three-pointers and made 30 goals with a shooting percentage of 29%.

It can be seen that at the beginning of the season, Kneckett's most reused phase, his three-pointer efficiency was also the worst in the team, only higher than Russell, who also had an organizational support role. After Doncic arrived, Kneckett received 87 three-pointers in 29 games (fourth in the Lakers), with a 37-point shooting percentage of 42.5%.

Fenny Smith, the first in the team, received the ball and made 137 three-pointers and made 56 goals, shooting 40.9%.

The second in the team Vincent received the ball and made 120 three-pointers and made 42 goals and hit a 35% shooting percentage.

The third Reeves in the team received the ball and made 106 three-pointers and made 49 goals and hit a 46.2% shooting percentage.

The 58th Murakami caught the ball and made 72 three-pointers, hitting 26 goals and shooting 36.1%.

The sixth-ranked team, James received the ball and made 71 three-pointers and made 30 goals and hit a 42.3% shooting percentage.

The seventh in the team, Doncic, caught the ball, made 65 three-pointers and made 25 goals and hit the 38.5% shooting percentage.

It can be seen that after Doncic joined, with the miscarriage of Mawei's trade, Kneckett returned to the game, and his three-pointers under this lineup system became more accurate. So why did he still play less and less? It is the issue of defense, especially when Doncic, James and Reeves' three main players are not defensively capable, in order to balance offense and defense, Redick can only use players with better defense to match them. In terms of direct position competition, Knector's defensive ability is not as good as Finney Smith and Vincent. Later, Vanderbilt, who has better defense and Goodwin, who has better rebounds, gradually occupy the rotation time.

How poor is Naknector's defense?

The opponent averaged 7.4 shots in front of him throughout the season. This defensive task ranks 12th in the Lakers. The opponent averaged 3.6 goals in his defense, with a shooting percentage of 48.6%, and an average shooting percentage increase of 3 percentage points. The defensive efficiency ranks third from the bottom among the Lakers' main players playing, only higher than Goodwin's 5.4 and Reeves' 3.3. He also played such poor defensive data when his defensive task was so light, especially in a team like the Lakers that needed competitive record. It is difficult to meet the appearance requirements of rotation players alone.

Specific defensive position data.

The defensive back player has 1,591 rounds in 307 minutes, and the defender hit 49.5% under his defense, of which 58 of his three-pointers under his defense hit 42%. This indirectly shows that his defensive missed or filled-in problems are relatively serious, and the opponent's outside line is almost uninterference-free shooting.

The defensive forward player had 1220 rounds in 243 minutes, and the forward player hit 46% in his defense, of which 26 of 83 three-pointers were shot 31.3%, which was still qualified against the defensive forward player.

The defensive center player has 163 rounds in 31 minutes, and the center hits 59.2%.

After a careful look at his defensive problems, it is definitely not caused by his physical disadvantage. His joint training test data in 2024 is very outstanding, with a bare foot height of 1.96 meters, a wingspan of 2.05 meters, and a standing height of 2.62 meters. It is a very standard size for the forward guard.

Transformation agility test 10 seconds 56 (2nd in the same class), 2 seconds 79 (1st in the same class), 3-quarter sprint 3 seconds 07 (11th in the same class), standing bounce 76 cm, running maximum bounce 99 cm (12th in the same class, Devin Carter 1.06 meters in the same class), it can be seen that as a white man, Knector is very good in agility, explosiveness, jumping strength, and body advantages, and can show these talents on the offensive end, counterattack speed is very fast, and dare to hold the ball to fight.

From physical test data, it can be seen that he has a complete foundation to become a qualified defender, but defense requires insight, skills, experience, and execution. Perhaps Kneckett is used to being a big brother scorer in college, so the team does not need him to invest too much defensive strength, and the disadvantage of entering the NBA is magnified.

So at the end of the season, there is an argument that Knector was delayed in the Lakers. Redick did not correctly grasp his instructions for use, learn from his strengths and weaknesses, play his offensive talent, and let him play a sixth-man substitute scorer are more correct methods of use. However, the Lakers' offensive strength is now saturated. With the three major players Doncic, Reeves and James, it is difficult to give Knector more opportunities to hold the ball.

His data on autonomy in the offense last season was that he made 58 three-pointers and made 23 goals and 40% of his shooting percentage, 66 mid-range shooting shots and 31 goals and 47% of his shooting percentage, 127 goals and 76 attacking boxes, and 36 goals and 47.4% of his shooting percentage.

The ball-holding three-pointers and mid-range offense are good, and the breakthrough efficiency is average, but the data sample size of these three ball-holding skills is too small and there is not much objectivity.

NBA is the cruelest. Anyone has to adapt to the team's number one star. If you adapt to it, you stay. If you can't adapt to it, you leave. Knector is definitely a potential player. If he really gets sufficient offensive ball rights, he may become a substitute scorer like Gordon Heywood after a major injury, or a pure shooter like Novank. However, no matter which direction he develops in the end, it is because his defensive ability is not good. If he cannot improve his defense, he can only be used in a limited lineup. At least under the current Lakers lineup configuration, he seems very embarrassed.

This year, the Lakers fans all scolded him. Since they have changed from Durant to Du Runwang, don’t give him another blow. I hope he can improve himself as soon as possible and strive to gain a foothold in the league.