First in scoring

Chapter 449 448. Characteristics of the Bobcats
Just when Zhang Yang broke through, Okafor, who had been squeezing Kwame Brown on the sideline of the three-second zone, suddenly ran to the right sideline. Pietrus also seized the opportunity to run down from the right side at a 45-degree angle. Kwame Brown had to follow him out to defend the off-ball screen. At this time, the only one who could get back to the basket was Garnett.

Ariza pressed forward to defend, but after being passed, he had to stop his pressing action and then turn around to chase, which made him completely unable to affect Zhang Yang's attack on the basket.

It would be a great opportunity for Zhang Yang to take on Garnett one-on-one or pass the ball to Millsap. Garnett is unable to expand outwards, so if he is blocked, Zhang Yang can use the European step to go directly to the basket for a dunk.

This kind of auxiliary cooperation that does not participate in the offense is a test of tacit understanding and requires teammates to be willing to sacrifice voluntarily, which is very rare.

However, mobilizing the defense is only an auxiliary means, and the focus is still Zhang Yang's singles itself.

Ariza is still too young. After a summer of special training, he knows how to defend and can defend most ball-handling players well.

In the previous matchup against the Cavaliers, he, Garnett, Kwame Brown and Gasol Jr. defended James to only 26 of 10 shots.

But it's always tough when you meet Anthony, Roy, Pierce and others.

Before the game, the Zen Master anticipated that Ariza would not be able to defend Zhang Yang. The reason why he still arranged Ariza to defend Zhang Yang was, on the one hand, to let Ariza defend more against these technical masters and accumulate experience. Another reason was the plan throughout the entire season - to reduce Kobe's consumption, especially on the defensive end.

Starting from the second championship season, Jordan no longer served as the main defender on the perimeter and handed it over to Pippen. It was not until the sixth championship season 2-6 when Pippen collapsed due to injury that Jordan took over the main defense job again. Kobe was already 97 years old and it was time for him to step down from the main defense point and play deputy.

Of course, considering Ariza's current strength, the Zen Master only made such adjustments during the regular time of the regular season. Based on this, he reduced the playing time of Kidd and Garnett, sacrificing the overall defense during regular time in exchange for Ariza's growth space and rest time for the veterans.

What he wanted to complain about was the Bobcats' overall offensive ability. In his opinion, the Bobcats' seventh-best average points per game did not fully demonstrate their offensive ability, because he noticed a statistic - when the Bobcats were bullying weak teams, their scoring spikes were not as strong as last season, but when playing against strong defensive teams, the decline in scoring was lower than last season.

Okafor's defensive mobilization and coordination this time is one of the details.

It was the Lakers' turn to attack. Kobe continued to hold the ball in the low post. Zhang Yang retreated in advance to double-team him. Kobe passed the ball to Ariza who cut in. Millsap retreated in to block Ariza's space to attack the basket. Ariza turned around and saw Kidd in the receiving position and quickly passed the ball to him.

Kidd received the ball, swung it behind his back, avoiding Felton's steal, then used his upper arm to push the ball out along his back, and the ball flew into the hands of Garnett, who was one step inside the left three-point line.

Garnett received the ball and took a long two-point shot...and it went in!
The fans at the scene cheered loudly for Kidd. He could ignite the whole audience with just one pass of the ball. Such point guards are rare in the entire NBA.

Kidd, who was retreating, enjoyed the cheers from the fans and also enjoyed the feeling of passing the ball.

Last season, Kidd didn't play well on the offensive end because he lacked players! At that time, there was no one who could play the small forward position. Kobe played small forward, and the shooting guard was a player like Vujacic who had no ability except three-point shooting. Kidd always felt that something was missing when organizing the offense. He was mostly just distributing the ball and pushing the counterattack.

This season, Ariza has the ability to attack and Kobe has returned to the shooting guard position to catch the ball and shoot or initiate offense with the ball. Kidd can finally bring out his strong abilities in organizing the offense and coordinating the offense.

During the transition from offense to defense, the Zen Master looked at the court with a hint of helplessness, while Zhang Yang, who ran to the front court, was extremely excited.

After only one round, Kobe couldn't help it anymore. He waved his hand to drive Ariza to the wing and went to defend Zhang Yang himself!
Zhang Yang fell to the high post and received the ball from Kobe, then launched an attack with his back to the basket.

Kobe defended the back-to-the-basket shot very well, and after Zhang Yang turned around and passed him, he caught up with him.

Zhang Yang broke into the elbow area, but instead of going deep into the basket, he confronted Kobe, made an abrupt stop and shot a close-range jump shot before Garnett could double-team him... It missed!
When Kobe took on the main defensive point, the Lakers' defense instantly became different. Garnett's assisting defense and Kidd's role in cutting off the passing line on the weak side were all demonstrated. Even with Okafor actively moving to mobilize Kwame Brown's defense, Zhang Yang was still covered by Garnett's defensive coverage!

When the Lakers attacked, Zhang Yang was patient and devoted himself to the team's defense.

Seeing Zhang Yang actively shrinking and double teaming, rotating and defending... Zen Master: Look at you, you are not as mature as a 20-year-old. People who don't know you would think you are only 10 years old. Kobe is the main attacker, Kidd organizes the offense and supports, Kwame Brown and Garnett are the inside and outside support, Ariza attacks, the Lakers' triangle offense, even the Bobcats with strong rotation and defense ability can't contain it.

In the next few rounds, the Lakers pressed the Bobcats, but the Zen Master was not very happy about the advantage in the situation, and the score did not reflect much of an advantage!
Facing Zhang Yang's melee defense, Ariza's three-point shooting rate, which was only 30%, was directly wasted. He shot an open three-pointer, which hit the rim with a "bang". It was simply outrageous.

Not only Zhang Yang, but also the Bobcats' 1-4 positions all engaged in hand-to-hand combat from the very beginning. After the rotation defense started, they prioritized blocking the basket. Scoring basically relied on Kobe and Garnett's mid-range shots... and Kidd's three-pointers.

In addition, one of the Lakers' important scoring sources was severely blocked - counterattacks were unfavorable!
Okafor playing center not only brings extremely strong defensive mobilization capabilities to the offensive end, but also greatly improves the ability to defend against counterattacks. Especially after Ibaka replaced Millsap, the fast break with Kidd advancing and Ariza and Kwame Brown flying on the wings was basically impossible to play. Only one counterattack score was made in half a quarter, and it was Kobe who rushed to the basket and scored.

At the official timeout of the first quarter, the Lakers defended the Bobcats to only 8 points, but they themselves only scored 12 points. They seemed to have always been in the initiative, but they only had a 4-point lead in half a quarter!
The Zen Master was a bit frustrated. His starting lineup played the entire first half of the quarter. The opponent's strong offensive team turned into a maddening defensive team, and...

Although his heart was in turmoil, he appeared to be calm and composed as he made adjustments.

Since Kobe has already maxed out his defense out of control, let's just treat it as the playoffs. The Zen Master replaced Kidd and Kwame Brown with Fisher and Gasol Jr., while Kobe, Ariza and Garnett continued to play.

On Carlisle's side, Jarrett Jack, Hill and Perkins replaced Felton, Pietrus and Ibaka, while Zhang Yang and Okafor continued to play.

After the timeout, the Zen Master looked at the opponent's lineup and knew that the opponent would definitely not use fast play to deal with Gasol, whose weight was close to Yao Ming.

Marc Gasol, a rookie center selected by the Lakers in the second round in 07, looks big and strong...really big and strong, very fat, 215 cm tall and weighs 135 kg.

In the second half of the first quarter, the Bobcats continued to play a defensive war of attrition, relying on Jarrett Jack and Zhang Yang's singles on offense.

The characteristic of the Bobcats that the Zen Master cares about was revealed at this time - no matter how well the opponent defends, the Bobcats' offense always has a lower limit and will not be particularly bad!
In the first half of the quarter, Kobe took the initiative to launch a defensive battle, which affected the Lakers' own offense and the Bobcats' offensive rhythm. Normally speaking, even if Kidd and Kwame Brown were off, with Kobe, Garnett, Ariza, and a big center, the Lakers should have defended better in the second half of the first quarter than before.

But the Bobcats scored 1 point more than in the first half and got 9 points!
On the contrary, the Lakers, who replaced their center with a shooting ability and a point guard who was more accurate in catching three-pointers, scored 1 point less than in the first half and only got 11 points!
23 to 17, the Lakers led the Bobcats by 6 points into the intermission.

这分差看起来挺大的，但是，科比、阿里扎、加内特都打满了首节，且科比首节7投4中、其中三分球2中1、外加1中1的罚球拿到10分！
And this 6-point lead...

After the intermission, the Lakers sent out a combination of Kidd, Shannon Brown, Luke Walton, Kwame Brown and Gasol Jr.

The Bobcats fielded a combination of Felton, Zhang Yang, Afflalo, Hill and Brad Miller.

The Bobcats attacked first. Zhang Yang backed away from Shannon Brown in the high post, turned around and rushed straight to the basket. He slammed the ball into the basket through Marc Gasol who had not yet reacted, and caused Marc Gasol to foul!
Kwame Brown, who played with Gasol Jr., was very upset - Fatty, take a step forward, take a step forward, and push it, and I can block it!

Xiao Jiasao: My brain knows it’s time to move, but my body can’t keep up!

However, this ball also exposed that Kwame Brown is no longer adapted to the power forward style of play. If he had moved faster, or could have predicted Zhang Yang's movements in advance, he might have been able to block the shot, or at least prevent Zhang Yang from dunking directly.

The latter problem should be blamed on Boss Joe. Kwame Brown was not properly trained as a rookie and was purely trained on his own. He is quite good at one-on-one defense, but his backup and help defense seemed okay in the early years, but they were purely supported by his athletic ability.

This brings us to the previous question... At this moment, the Zen Master regretted letting Kwame Brown gain 10 pounds to 124 kilograms after the end of last year's finals. His mobility has declined a bit. If he plays as a power forward, he relies purely on athleticism and instinctive help defense, and his effect is not as good as before.

But God knows that Gasol can still have such strong combat power with such a fat body! He thought that this fat guy would need to be trained for a year or two before he could be useful!
(End of this chapter)