So I am the god of basketball?

Jerry Sloan didn't replace the Jazz guys until the last minute.

Under the leadership of Stockton and Karl Malone, the Jazz have been chasing this 20-point difference. But the point difference continued, and until the end, the Jazz still lost by more than 20 points.

This is the cruelest part of competitive sports.

Of course it’s not just competitive sports, it’s the same in many aspects. It's not something you can do just by working hard.

The Jazz met the "Five Small" lineup. Jerry Sloan stepped up the confrontation with his "muscle stick" and used various fierce confrontations to deform the opponent's movements. They met their opponent.

The first is the offensive end. Insider Karl Malone exposed the weakness of a single offensive method at the basket in front of the "double-team double swordsman" composed of Barkley and Ben Wallace. If there is no way for him to face the frame, then with his back, he will have no way to move around with his feet in the double-team of these two people, even to complete an attack.

Don't say that as long as you can pass the ball, that's it!

You have to know if Karl Malone can score a goal in this situation. This can make the Lakers' double-teaming more passive. First of all, any sign of Karl Malone catching the ball under the basket will cause the Lakers' players who want to double-team to immediately retreat inside. At the same time, it will be more thorough when double-teaming.

The change in mentality alone is enough to benefit the Jazz.

The reason why the future Shaquille O'Neal is called "the most dominant player in the NBA at his peak" by the American media is that no matter how many people are standing in front of him, as long as he is activated, he can face the defense. Or, causing damage, this is the most terrifying thing about the "big shark".

Including Olajuwon, just look at the highlights of his career. Various clips of using gorgeous footwork to complete shots under double teams prove his ability to forcefully solve the problem at the basket.

Let’s talk about Yao Ming again.

Although his final results and honors did not reach that level, they were even far behind Karl Malone.

However, if you choose one of the "Top Ten Balls" for Yao Ming.

Even if the first goal was a "fast break score by circling the ball behind his back to avoid the defender's steal", then the second goal must have been when he was double-teamed by three people under the basket and used "sh tango" to play with the three people to complete the score. Goal.

To be honest, the ultimate mode of an inside line is to continue to cause damage during double-teaming, so as to continue to cause headaches to the opponent.

This is the biggest reason why Karl Malone ended up without a championship...

His style of play is more suitable for being a "second boss".

But he doesn't have the brains of someone to raise "thugs" by his side!
孟浪最终拿到了29分6篮板8助攻；巴克利这场比赛拿到了19分13篮板5助攻；

The Lakers' "dual-core" mode became much more obvious in this game.

The cooperation between the two of them is the engine of the entire team's offense. It is also the cooperation between the two of them that fully reflects the Jazz's weak perimeter defense. Russell, the best defensive player, always stood in front of Meng Lang. There is no big problem with this kind of defense. The only problem is that when Meng Lang picks and rolls with Barkley, once Russell can't get around it, the rest of the Jazz's perimeter will have no ability to cover up.

Whether it was Stockton or the "Death Ray Gun", when they stood in front of Meng Lang, they were just there to give them away and were of no use at all.

The main reason Russell was able to defend against Danzi was because of his size and strength.

The aging Jordan's explosive power is not as durable as before, and he uses his weight more to fight and gain an advantage. But this happens to be Russell's advantage.

Advantages for advantages, physical advantages must be factored into age. So Russell barely guarded Jordan.

Although Meng Lang also relies on his body to create a confrontation advantage, his explosive power is also among the best in the league, and he is at his peak age. With the pick-and-roll helping him get space to start, Meng Lang's explosive power can be displayed. And when he charges up, the impact will be there.

Haven't you seen someone rely on this pick-and-roll breakthrough to score 20 points in his career for more than 1 years?

Of course, when Meng Lang rushed forward, he mainly relied on his speed to get past Russell, who came belatedly. There were some differences. After LeBron accelerates, he mainly uses his own inertia to push away all defenders with force.

This is also the reason why when I watch him break through, he is always slow and confrontational, and it feels like he has taken a lot of steps.

This became more prominent as he got older and his explosive power became less vigorous.

There is a saying that before "012" was introduced, basically all of his actions were indeed moves, but NBA referees did not call them. After "012" was introduced, many of his similar operations did meet this standard and did not Counting walks, as for the rest, it's mainly because the referees don't care about him.

Meng Lang's breakthrough looked much smoother.

After Russell was blocked, he really couldn't keep up with his speed when he started again.

And if Karl Malone intercepts in front of him, Meng Lang will immediately give the ball to Barkley, allowing him to misplace Russell.

Barkley showed off his big butt, and even Russell couldn't take it and walked around. No matter how heavy he is, he is only as big as a small forward, but Barkley is a solid inside player. And he is only 1 meters tall. Everyone, what is talent?

Being so short, he can still carry so much meat, and he can still fly in the sky!

If you study Barkley's talent carefully, you will find that he is really awesome!
In fact, it can be seen from here, what is the biggest problem on the defensive end of the Jazz:
The Lakers have Meng Lang on the outside and Barkley on the inside. They don't have any defensive resources to deal with the sustained singles of these two people alone. Especially after the pick-and-roll, the Jazz's defense pales in comparison.

After the game, Bill Walton said bluntly: "Maybe Jerry Sloan never thought that one day, he would lose because of the pick-and-roll tactic that he is most familiar with and is best at!"

His words seemed to hit home with Jerry Sloan.

Because after the game, Jerry Sloan had no expression on his face, and anyone who heard his slightly calm tone could tell that he was angry!

"We didn't play at our own pace, we didn't play to our strength. In my opinion, the loss in this game was all because we didn't become the right version of ourselves!"

In fact, the Jazz worked very hard in this game, including Karl Malone, who adjusted his mentality after his reprimand. It's not that they didn't play their own characteristics, but the Lakers' routine just restrained them and prevented them from being themselves.

But Jerry Sloan also knew very well that he could only say this!
If the Jazz wants to win next, they must be more determined. This is the only way they can win!

The excellent cooperation of the Lakers' "five little ones" was a bit beyond Jerry Sloan's expectations.

Speaking of which, Sloan did not pay attention to the "Five Juniors" at first. First, in the game between the Jazz and the Lakers, members of the "Five Juniors" were absent. This resulted in the Jazz being the first to Meet the "Five Little".

After playing against another "five small" team in this league, they achieved a 2-0 record. It made him feel that the "five small players" were nothing. It might be useful against other teams, but when playing against the Jazz, this lineup would have to be adjusted a little further.

This is a "younger brother" style of play.

But now the Lakers have told the Jazz with a big victory that the regular season is the regular season and the playoffs are the playoffs. Please don't confuse the two!
"Now it seems, dream, you are going to the finals again!"

In the players' tunnel, Meng Lang met a reporter who greeted him. After listening to his words, Meng Lang just smiled slightly. He's never been one to pop the champagne at halftime. Besides, this isn't even halftime. At most, this is a good start. Although he couldn't think of any changes to the Jazz's next formation. But look, after the second game, Meng Lang really knows how to handle this series!

Early the next morning, Meng Lang got another piece of good news.

Not surprisingly, the news is:
The NBA officially announced the regular season MVP awards for this season.

This is the last award of the season.

Although there have been countless signs before that Meng Lang won the second regular season MVP award in his career, it is not a big problem.

However, after he won the regular season MVP, the media throughout the league was still in an uproar.

There is no other reason than that he defeated Michael Jordan.

"Sports Illustrated" once again put Meng Lang on the cover, and the title was even more spicy: "The next 'king', Meng Lang is ready to wear the crown!"

Meng Lang refused to shoot a new cover for "Sports Illustrated" during the playoffs, so "Sports Illustrated" chose this time. Meng Lang shot a poster for "Sports Illustrated" after he became a Lakers player last year:
In the poster, he lowers his head and holds the basketball tightly with both hands, looking like a "basketball believer".

And on the entire cover, there is a crown slowly falling.

It perfectly complements the theme!

Meng Lang wore a crown for the first time, not by himself, but by Sports Illustrated for him!

"ESPN" used this slogan: "Beat Michael Jordan again, Meng Lang is in the limelight, his time is really coming!"

The "again" here refers to Meng Lang winning the "scoring title" previously.

Now, he has defeated Michael Jordan and won the regular season MVP. These repeated victories have also allowed ESPN, the most partisan media, to decisively choose a new force to add to his rise.

Among these compliments, there were also some voices of shock. None of them expected that Meng Lang actually defeated Michael Jordan and prevented him from winning the regular season MVP again. They also generally believe that if Meng Lang and Michael Jordan meet in the finals this time and defeat Jordan, then this season will be a historic one.

In the past many years, there has never been a period when the handover of the scepter has been so clear.

"Magic" Johnson also said: "I think Michael should now be able to deeply understand the feeling when we saw him. He successfully created his own time, but the NBA is about to enter the next era. "

He said something similar to Bird, but that was the summer of '92.

At that time, he never imagined that Meng Lang would accomplish this in just five years, in the summer of 5.

Of course it's also very extreme.

Because if he doesn't seize class and power, Jordan will naturally retire...

Meng Lang's rise this year can be said to have captured Jordan's final "peak period." ——Well, this is from the perspective of this group of people. No one could have imagined that the original Jordan could still perform such a perfect "curtain script" a year later!
Yes, or how is he the "God of Basketball"?

ESPN, which is best at picking up titles, shouted the slogan "23VS24"!

When Meng Lang heard this slogan, he was stunned for a moment.

Unexpectedly!

His duel with Jordan actually brought forward the stunt 12 years later.

In the next 09-10 season, the league shouted the slogan "23vs24" twice. It's a pity that someone's team was armed to the teeth, but still failed to enter the finals.

On the contrary, it gave the league another rumor of "Howard replacing LeBron alone".

Of course, there is also the most classic final round in 00: the ancient-style Hukai battle!
However, it seems that this gimmick is still a bit evil, judging from the fact that the league has been calling for it for two years and has not been able to pull it off. I just don’t know if the drama of “the person I was waiting for didn’t come” will happen this time too.

Jordan was visibly stimulated, and it was evident from his performance during the game that night.

The desire to attack and the decisive attitude to win are simply...

Larry Bird took turns sending outside players to target him, but with little success.

In the end, with Larry Bird looking helpless, Jordan scored 41 points and led the Bulls to win the second home game of the series. Big score 2-0.

The New York media used the photo of Larry Bird standing helplessly on the sidelines as the headline of their sports section: "It is certain that Bird has never wanted to go back to his youth like he did last night!"

From the looks of it, Michael Jordan should be able to keep up his game.

Meng Lang saw that the Bulls, led by Jordan, won a big score of 2-0, and knew that the Pacers should be in danger. He knew the Pacers would never give up like that.

but……

how to say?

The reason why Michael Jordan is Michael Jordan is that when he leads by a big score, he is basically stable. According to statistics, Michael Jordan led the series 31 times in his career and won 30 of them!
Only once was it reversed.

Similarly, Kobe Bryant only once had a big lead in the playoffs and was reversed.

As for a certain person, he had a big lead in the series but was reversed 5 times!

It can be seen from this data that Jordan is really stable!
He is basically certain to enter the finals, and the pressure is on Meng Lang's side.

Before entering the arena for this game, he looked very serious.

Barkley looked at him like this, but he was not surprised at all. He patted him on the shoulder: "Don't worry, man, just accept the award with peace of mind. We will definitely be able to hold on to this home court tonight and we will never dampen your interest." !”

Meng Lang laughed after listening to his words.

Although this is not the reason why he is serious, but the goal is the same anyway, which is to win. Just like whether you go through the back door or the front door, the purpose is to get out, so he has nothing to explain. (End of chapter)