NBA: I just want to play soy sauce, you let me win the championship

Chapter 171 The stadium is small, but also very big

After being beaten three times in a row, O'Neal was a little embarrassed.

What do you mean?
Use me as a breakthrough point?

This is the first time in many years that I have encountered a team with such fantastic ideas!

But I have to say that this hit the 7-inch mark of this Lakers team.

If it were a different team, Horry might be able to share the pressure for O'Neal very well, allowing him to squat under the basket when he wants, and guard out when he wants to.

With O'Neal's high mobility, he can fight however he wants without any hassle.

But Horry is a space power forward with insufficient athletic ability. He faces Chris Webber, the most offensive power forward in the early 21st century.

Whether it's a strong attack under the basket or an outside shot, Webb can put full pressure on Horry.

It was very difficult for Horry to defend Webber alone. He was almost out of breath. He expected O'Neal to help defend him. How dare he leave Webber even half a step?

To help O'Neal out?
You don’t have that ability, you know?

Even if he replaces Samaki Walker with better athletic ability, the problem still won't be solved.

As long as Weber pulls to the weak side, do you want to follow him and defend?
Defense, then O'Neal cannot be helped.

Without defense, Webber's offensive power is not comparable to that of Divac, and the Kings may score more points.

It's better to keep Horry. At least on the offensive end, he can use his three-point shooting ability to help O'Neal open up space.

Phil Jackson quickly called a timeout and rearranged his defensive tactics.

If the Kings keep hitting from beyond the three-point line, Phil Jackson may not care, because at this time, no one believes that three-pointers can kill people.

Several previous games also proved his point of view.

But now that the Kings are constantly hitting mid-range shots close to the basket, Phil Jackson has to be more vigilant.

Countless game experiences tell him that mid-range shots can kill people.

For example, the "God of Basketball" he worked with, after his first comeback, used accurate mid-range shots to dominate the league and win his second three consecutive championships.

It's so strange in this era. The three-pointer is not considered elegant, but the mid-range has received unprecedented attention.

However, in the American environment where "successful experience" is particularly important, it seems so reasonable.

Rookie players have a "draft template."

The coach must be an NBA insider.

Team building replicates the successful experiences of various teams in history. "Twin towers," "one inside and one outside," and "double guns" are not new words. These words appeared in the NBA decades ago.

There's nothing new under the sun!

Phil Jackson's solution is also very simple and crude, shrink the outside!

As long as there is someone in the mid-range, they can help defend in time and interfere with the Kings' shots near the penalty area.

The NBA basketball court is very large, larger than the FIBA ​​standard basketball court. Doncic said that scoring goals in the NBA is much easier than in FIBA ​​because there is more space and there are more offensive opportunities.

But the NBA basketball court is also very small. Each of them is close to 2 meters tall, and with a wingspan of more than 2 meters, three players can reach the three-point line holding hands!

This group of animals has super athletic ability. As long as they are not far away, they can always interfere with the opponent's shooting.

But it can only go so far.

Everyone is in this alliance, who doesn’t know who is who?
You have excellent athletic ability and can quickly come up to fill the position. Then I will speed up the shooting rhythm and not give you any reaction time.Or even simpler, I just have a high attack point and I can’t interfere.

Therefore, when the inside must be defended, the team's defensive focus can only be on the mid-range or outside.

The Kings played a magic ball game before, so the Lakers' choice was to guard the inside and add perimeter marking.

It feels a bit like the Spurs defending the Lakers.

When the Spurs beat the Lakers, they have to guard the inside, keep an eye on the Lakers' outside role players, and then let Kobe shoot from the air.

Therefore, every time he plays the Spurs, Kobe performs very well because he can get a lot of shooting opportunities in the mid-range.

Now that the Kings consciously want to take advantage of O'Neal's characteristic of squatting under the basket and not wanting to come out to hit the mid-range, the Lakers will naturally have to shrink their front line.

Is shrinkage useful?
The status of the Kings' perimeter players in the team is much higher than that of the Lakers' group of role players whose main role is to open up space for O'Neal.

Adelman also arranged tactics when the Lakers called a timeout.

"If the Lakers shrink their formation and help defend in the mid-range, Michael, after you pass the ball to Divac, go outside the three-point line and wait for him to pass the ball." Adelman turned to look at Christie, "Doug, Kobe will definitely help defend the ball handler, and you are also waiting for opportunities in the two corners."

Seeing Bibby and Christie nodding, Adelman turned to look at Lu Yuanzhi again, "Max, you and Chris continue to threaten the basket, but at the same time, you have to shoot outside the three-point line according to the situation on the court."

"You are very smart, I know you can understand the situation on the court."

"The Lakers will definitely continue to change their defensive focus and use changes in defensive rhythm to disrupt our offensive rhythm."

"You can not only threaten the Lakers at the basket, but also have shooting ability from beyond the three-point line. You are a very difficult player for the Lakers to guard."

"What you have to do is to seize their loopholes and launch an attack after their center of gravity tilts."

Lu Yuanzhi did not expect that Adelman would have such a high opinion of him and give him a high degree of independent choice on the court.

But Adelman was right about this. Although the Kings' players are all different in the NBA, their minds are not filled with muscles, and Lu Yuanzhi is undoubtedly the biggest one.

Not only because during the regular season, he often sits on the bench and has more time to learn and observe the situation on the court, but more importantly, Lu Yuanzhi's unknown secrets.

He is a time traveler!

Lu Yuanzhi not only accepted the basketball concepts of this era, but also had in his mind the more advanced and flexible basketball concepts of his own time and space.

Unlike most players of this era, Lu Yuanzhi values ​​space more!

Where is the deadliest shooting spot?
basket?

Middle distance?
Outside the three-point line?

No, no, no, it’s that point that was missed by the defender!
Those spaces that cannot be covered by defense!
The Lakers came back from a timeout and O'Neal hit the basket again, but the Kings didn't panic at all this time.

If you can score points, can't we score points?

When the Kings attacked, Bibby continued to look for Divac for a pick-and-roll. This time, Fisher was blocked again. Bibby quickly broke through to the basket and then gave the ball to Divac outside the penalty area.

Horry in the penalty area pounced out at this time, and Kobe, as Adelman expected, returned to the inside, preparing to cut off Divac's pass to Webb.

Divac faked a shot and quickly passed the ball out.

Fisher ran hard to Christie in the bottom corner. He couldn't interfere with Weber's offense inside, but he was able to put Christie's defensive pressure on the outside.

Exquisite rotation!
But when Fisher ran halfway, he discovered that the ball did not fly to the bottom corner at all, but flew in another direction.

(End of this chapter)