So I am the god of basketball?

"Man, good job. It's hard to imagine this is your first game. You hardly made any mistakes on the court!" After the game, Derek Fisher hooked up with Tyronn Lue and walked off the court.

what?
If you are not satisfied, why do you still praise him?
Haha, do you know there’s a saying “If you want to destroy someone, let him become famous first”?

We use the "dirty tricks behind the scenes"!
But Fisher's words did not make Tyronn Lu happy.

Although this guy came two years earlier than him, but... he has no presence at all!
If they hadn't become teammates now, he really wouldn't have known that there was such a person on the Lakers.

Is there any difference between his praise and the praise from an old man on the street?

Compared to his words, Tyronn Lue wanted to know more about Chuck Daly and Meng Lang's evaluation of him. Unfortunately, these two big guys didn't even consider him.

The game ended with the final score of 116 to 90.
The Lakers won by 26 points.

From the moment this game was arranged, it was designed to make the Lakers happy.

The cheers at the scene continued. Seeing the championship banner raised at home, the people of Los Angeles were happier than one another. In addition, although the opponent was the Magic, the Lakers were in very good shape tonight.

Compared with the Magic, it is a world of difference.

The "shortened season" is relatively rare in the history of the NBA. Therefore, many experts habitually evaluate the strength of a team based on paper strength at the beginning. However, as the closed training camp progressed, they saw many players whose performance declined significantly due to the lockout.

Only then did they realize that in such a special season, paper strength is important, but the players' condition and whether the team can stay healthy are equally important.

In fact, this is indeed the case.

In the original 98-99 season, the team that finally made it to the finals was the Knicks, ranked 8th in the Eastern Conference. They completed the second "black eight miracle" in NBA history and made it to the finals. This was also Ewing's "last spring."

After being taught a lesson by the Spurs on the stage of the finals.

Ewing became the only star in the 90s who was eliminated by the other three "four major centers".

Olajuwon is just the opposite. He is the only star among the "Four Great Centers" who has eliminated the other three.

So there is a reason why Ewing is ranked low...

However, this time it is unlikely that such a situation will occur.

Let’s not talk about whether the Heat can still take the first place in the Eastern Conference. Even if the New York Knicks and the Heat meet in the first round, it is unlikely that they will be eliminated in the eighth round.

Shaquille O'Neal is one of the stars who has been swept the most times. He was swept five times in total.

But he has always been good at bullying weak opponents.

What's more, this Heat team is armed to the teeth...

Given the New York Knicks' current state, it will be difficult for them to complete the "black eight".

Ewing is only capable when playing against "the fifth of the four great centers" like Mourning.

The Lakers' performance made the fans happy. This is only the first game of the new season, but it seems that they are not affected by the long suspension at all.

In addition, Meng Lang returned to the number one position and delivered a "triple-double" of 27 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists in the first game, which really made them feel like they were back to being familiar.

Moreover, after the experience of playing at the No. 27 position, Meng Lang is now very calm on the offensive end, which makes him more comfortable at the No. 15 position. He scored points in this game with only shots.

He made 10 of the shots, including 3 three-pointers, and made 4 of 4 free throws.

The hit rate is incredibly high!
Apart from him, the most outstanding person in this game was Kobe.

Entering the third season of his career, Kobe's personal ball-handling offensive ability was demonstrated. Facing Meng Lang's old teammate Anderson, he played one-on-one about 7 to 8 times in the game and hit 4 of them.

In addition, the catch-and-shoot technique he developed in the previous two seasons has also become one of his regular scoring methods.

Of course, Meng Lang’s contribution here is greater.

Not to mention that the ball was passed by Meng Lang, usually when Kobe received the ball and made a shot, Meng Lang was double-teamed, which gave him a wide-open shot opportunity.

His shooting percentage in this game was also 50%!

Compared to his original collaboration with Shaq, Kobe felt a lot less pressure when working with Meng Lang.

joke!

Shaquille O'Neal's double team attack certainly caused the opponent's defense to shrink. But no matter what, the single defense and backup defense on the perimeter still existed. And it was also for this reason that Shaquille O'Neal had the opportunity to play 1v1.

It's really easy to play next to O'Neal.

But let’s just talk about attracting defense.

Kobe and him have a mutual relationship.

He was attracting defense for Kobe, and Kobe was also creating space for him to play one-on-one.

It’s different when Kobe works with Meng Lang.

After Meng Lang attracted the double team, Kobe, who was standing on a different side from Meng Lang, would definitely get a less stressful shooting environment. And when he and Meng Lang stood together, anyone with a brain knew that defending Meng Lang was the most important thing.

He gets more open looks.

And this is impossible to prevent. You know, there are only two defensive resources on the wing. Once Meng Lang attracts a double team, Kobe is mostly in a 1v1 or 1v0 situation. If the opponent wants to help defend Kobe, they need someone from the inside to help defend.

But do I need to say more about Kobe's ability to play one-on-one in mismatch situations?

Why "basketball reasons" kept Chris Paul from joining the Los Angeles Lakers
Compared to the defense that an inside partner can attract, a point guard like Chris Paul is a better partner for Kobe.

The Lakers' "new F4" also proved this point. Even when working with Steve Nash, and Steve Nash in his twilight years, Kobe's catch-and-shoot percentage reached 54% during that period!

There are also Howard and Gasol in the interior.

If some people did not want to be blue-collar workers anymore and insisted on showing their offensive art under the basket, coupled with the impact of injuries, the "new F4" also has the ability to win the championship.

It can only be said that after Kobe won the fifth championship in his career, his luck was almost gone.

This is "destiny"!
Just like some people who have been running around since leaving the Cavaliers for the first time, playing with various top ten players in the league, but even so, they still only won 4 championship rings. Just talking about the luxury of the team configuration, if it were Jordan, he would have at least championships.

Otherwise why do people say "He doesn't look like a prince even when he wears the dragon robe"?

All he can do is put a crown on his head and pretend that he is really a king.

Ahem, we’ve gone off topic.

In short, Kobe himself probably doesn't know how happy he is.

全场比赛下来，他也拿到了23分另外还有4篮板3助攻2抢断1盖帽的数据。

This data alone is almost the best in a single game in his career.

In the previous two seasons combined, he had few games with such data. Ben Wallace scored 8 points and 14 rebounds.

The appearance of that "Peak Ben" is becoming clearer and clearer.

Divac also scored 17 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists.

Judging from the result of this game, after Barkley retired and Jones left, the biggest beneficiary of the Lakers' tactics on both ends, apart from Kobe, is Divac. He has more finishing shots in the paint and more assists in the high post.

Meng Lang was not surprised by Divac's performance. He is 31 years old this year, but his peak period was until 02, which means that in the next three years, he will be a top-notch center in the league.

Moreover, the era of the "four great centers" is gradually coming to an end.

It is not easy for a team to have a Divac.

It is a pity that any of the "four centers" in the 90s would have been the top five in other eras, but they were all born in the 90s. Unfortunately, none of these four people stood out and dominated this era, even for a year or two.

The 90s, which are about to pass, belong to two people, one is Michael Jordan and the other is Meng Lang.

What’s even more speechless is that these two people won 90 out of the 10 championships in the 8s.

Except for the 99 championship which has not yet been decided, the 90 championship was won by the Detroit Pistons, which had nothing to do with the center...

Shaq was lucky. He won two championships with Meng Lang and became the only lucky one among the "Four Great Centers".

It is worth mentioning that David Stern has recently been promoting the decade of the 90s.

The 80s was an era of "black and white competition". "Magic" Johnson and Larry Bird met in the finals three times. And they also won 3 championship trophies in the 80s.

Larry Bird has 3 and Johnson has 5.

But they are two "big guys" from the same era.

Compared with them, Jordan and Meng Lang are different.

Jordan's peak period was in the first few years of the 90s, when he won three consecutive championships. At that time, Meng Lang had not yet entered the league. But Meng Lang was a guy like "Magic" Johnson. He peaked as soon as he debuted and soon dominated the following years. Even the return of Jordan could not stop him from winning two consecutive championships.

Just looking at the first five years of his career, he is the most successful player in the NBA, bar none.

The "24VS23" between him and Jordan was seen as a "battle of inheritance". Meng Lang lived up to expectations and won the championship, ushering in a new era.

The storytelling in the 90s is actually not any worse than that in the 80s.

The NBA has already decided to go the international route. The "Black and White Duo" ten years ago is the accumulation of this league, and the "Inheritance of the 90s" is the story of the time. Most importantly, Meng Lang is still in this league.

What is a "living legend"?

David Stern felt the need to make a documentary.

Of course, it is also essential to create momentum for the new generation of stars.

The 96 generation is called the "golden generation".

After observing for several years, a group of new stars have indeed emerged who are worth promoting.

They will inevitably become the group of people who challenge Meng Lang after “Meng Lang challenges Jordan”.

David Stern looks forward to these stories playing out.

The Lakers, who won the opening game, faced the Golden State Warriors in the second game.

Adelman came to Golden State, and just like when he went to Sacramento, he brought the "Priston tactics" to the team.

The "Princeton Style" was invented by Pete Carell, who used this style to lead Princeton University, a school where no student enjoyed an athletic scholarship, to 500 wins in the NCAA and set 14 records for the lowest points allowed.

The purpose of the "Princeton Style" is "the strong can take advantage of the weak, and the smart can take advantage of the strong."

The essence of this style of play emphasizes:
People move, the ball moves, in coordination.

Human movement refers to movement without the ball, cutting and back-running, while ball movement refers to continuous passing and sharing the ball.

Among them, the counter-run is the signature of Princeton's style of play.

To put it bluntly, this is a "civilian tactic."

But if a star player uses this "civilian tactic", it can even exert greater power.

Because their abilities are definitely stronger than those of ordinary players.

Among the three stars of Golden State, Chris Webber needs no introduction, he was born for this tactic.

There is no need to say much about Anfernee Hardaway. His playing style is gorgeous and selfless, and sharing the ball is not a difficult task for him.

Originally, in Adelman's view, the biggest problem was the "madman" Sprewell.

But what’s interesting is that after getting to know him, he discovered that although the “madman” has a bad temper, he can also share the ball when playing and is not selfless at all.

This gave Adelman tremendous confidence.

With the arrival of Adelman, the Golden State Warriors' trades this year are also an effort to add to the "Priston system."

They signed Brad Miller in free agency.

The lockout in 98 caused many people to lose their original glory.

Like "Rain Man".

But it also becomes an opportunity for many players who prepare carefully and wait for the right time.

Among them is Brad Miller.

In 1998, Brad Miller, who graduated from Purdue University, participated in the NBA draft that year, but was not picked by any team. So Miller rushed to Europe, went to the Italian basketball league to make a living, and joined a basketball team called Bini Viaggi.

At this time, the league was suspended, and the American national team that was going to participate in the World Championships had to select talents from overseas. Miller was lucky to be selected. Although he only won a bronze medal this time and averaged only 5.2 points and 3.3 rebounds per game, his solid basic skills attracted the attention of Adelman.

The Warriors need this kind of versatile center.

Then a contract brought him to the Golden State Warriors.

In addition to Brad Miller, the Warriors also brought in Doug Christie.

After Pippen left Toronto, the Raptors went into a slump. Christie, the core player of the team who entered the NBA in 92 and was already 29 years old, became a high-quality resource.

The Warriors gave a first-round pick in 00, plus two expiring contracts and the rookie Maurice Taylor they had just selected last year, bringing him from the Raptors to Golden State.

As a result, the Warriors lined up a starting lineup of "Hardaway at No. 1, Madman at No. 2, Christie at No. 3, Chris Webber at No. 4, and Brad Miller at No. 5." (End of this chapter)