Slam Dunk: My Study Abroad Career in Northern Hunan

Chapter 666: A rising star!

OK During the Lakers' three consecutive championships, did Kobe Bryant support O'Neal?
Did his peak period officially begin after he won the scoring title in the 05-06 season?
This kind of question is a hot topic discussed by many fans. It has to be said that Kobe's personal honors are not too many. Honors such as MVP, scoring champion, and FMVP were not obtained during the OK period.

Moreover, during the Lakers' three consecutive championships, O'Neal's dominance in the paint was recognized by the league. If you have Joe, choose Joe, and if you don't have Joe, choose Shark. This is not a recognition of O'Neal's terrifying dominance.

But
Did Kobe achieve such achievements and historical status because he was lucky enough to have O'Neal in his arms?

It doesn't seem to be.

There is no doubt that O'Neal was one of the biggest legs in the league at that time, but the ability that Kobe showed was not O'Neal's leg piece.

It is true that O'Neal was the well-deserved boss of the OK Lakers at that time. After all, when Jackson went to the Lakers and officially helped Kobe Bryant, O'Neal was already the most valuable center in the league.

In the business league, sometimes many things can be seen from player salaries. O'Neal, whose worth is nearly twice that of Kobe, is the well-deserved leader of the team.

In terms of tactical position, the OK Lakers' triangle offense can't do without O'Neal, but it also can't do without Kobe.

Kobe's role in the Lakers is much greater than Pippen's role in the Bulls.

This can be intuitively reflected from the number of shots and scoring data of these two people.

OK, the Lakers were a relatively standard dual-core system in the league at that time. Just like Magic and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the early years, it was a relatively traditional system configuration.

So when did Kobe start to show the characteristics of a superstar player?

The answer is the .97-98 season.

In Kobe's second season in the league, he has already demonstrated his strong ability and training value. As the youngest All-Star player in history, Kobe is also affectionately called the person most like Jordan by fans.

In this day and age, saying you play like Jordan is the highest compliment for a player. This is completely different from what "you play like James" means.

It's just that coach Del Harris doesn't have much trust in young high school rookies like Kobe, and has always put Kobe on the bench. This situation was not changed until the arrival of Zen Master.

In today's game between the Lakers and the Timberwolves, the entire development of the game was within the preset range of Coach Philip. There was only one thing that was a little beyond his expectation, and that was Kobe Bryant who came on the bench. His outstanding performance was really scary. He jumped.

The fact that the Lakers did not collapse in the second quarter was precisely the result of Kobe Bryant's efforts.

The second quarter is over.

During the short break, coach Philip quickly made personnel adjustments and replaced Wu Dao, who had been resting for a long time, on the court. Marbury was replaced for a short rest, and Tom and Roberts came off the court with him.

The replacements for these two people were Sam Mitchell and Garnett.

After this rotation, the Timberwolves also turned into a lineup headed by Wu Dao and Garnett and supplemented by Sam Mitchell, Chris Kyle, and Ben Wallace.

The team's perimeter defensive ability has declined compared with the starting lineup, but it has also improved significantly compared with the previous rotation lineup.

"In the third quarter, we tried to attack inside as much as possible."

"Kevin, if you catch the ball in the low post, try to hit it inside to reduce the number of shots you take."

"A player of Shaquille's size consumes his energy very quickly."

"When you hit the basket, you also have the opportunity to draw a foul."

"As long as we can hold Shaquille down like we did in the previous two quarters and prevent him from performing, we can win this game easily."

Coach Philip quickly arranged the game for the players and quickly arranged the tactical system for the third quarter. Wu Dao listened carefully to Coach Phillip's arrangements and nodded silently, approving of the coach's strategy.

Before today's game against the Lakers, Wu Dao took the opportunity of an adaptive training session to talk to his teammates about ways to limit O'Neal. His defensive strategy was the same way the Spurs defended O'Neal in those years.

Taking advantage of Duncan's mobility and defensive ability, the Spurs made O'Neal suffer a lot. If it weren't for Kobe, the second-in-command, who also had outstanding offensive capabilities, the Lakers would have had a hard time with the Spurs' "nemesis" in those years.

After all, Philip is an NBA-level coach. He only needs to simply listen to a "concept" for the defensive system envisioned by Wu Dao, and he can naturally add in the rest of the details.

The team's defense was only briefly practiced, and the Timberwolves took it to the court to test it in today's game.

Garnett and Wallace have excellent defensive talents themselves. They only need to listen to a general idea of ​​such defensive tactics to know what they need to do when they are on the court.

No, judging from the defensive effects of the previous two quarters, this tactic is extremely useful.

In the third quarter, Coach Philip and the Timberwolves players naturally had to continue to implement the defensive policies of the previous two quarters.

For the Lakers, O'Neal, who played two consecutive quarters, was replaced by the coach and took a rest. Horry returned to the court and formed the Lakers' inside line with Campbell.

As for the outside, Mario Bennett (1995th overall pick in the first round of 27, 198cm, 102kg) replaced Eddie Jones and got a chance to play, while Fisher was replaced by Rick Fox and formed the outside with the two of them. Also in the lineup is Kobe Bryant.

Looking at it, the Lakers have become a group of role players, and their stars are dim.

Timberwolves ball rights.

The basketball came out from the backcourt. The young Chris Kyle quickly brought the ball into the frontcourt and didn't stick to the ball at all. He directly gave the ball to Budao on the wing.

The player who defended Wu Dao was Rick Fox. As for Kobe, he was assigned by the coach to defend Chris Kyle.

On Mitchell's side, the opponent he faced was Bennett.

The Lakers obviously have no intention of giving up the game. When O'Neal is not present, these players are also very serious about the game and are very cautious when defending.

The defensive pressure faced by martial arts is not small.

Although Kobe Bryant is not a direct opponent of martial arts, he has always been eyeing martial arts and looks like he will pounce on him at any time.

As for Robert Horry on the inside, his attention is also focused on martial arts, and he only occasionally pays attention to Garnett's position.

Even though there was only Rick Fox defending Wu Dao, in fact, once he moved, he would easily be double-teamed or triple-teamed.

After receiving the ball, Wu Dao took the ball and took a few steps toward the right sideline. Chris Kyle at the top of the arc thought of setting up a pick-and-roll for Wu Dao. When he saw the action, Wu Dao waved his arm to signal him to leave. It's just that Chris Kyle left, but Kobe, who was originally guarding Chris, took advantage of the convenience of chasing and directly intercepted Wu Dao.

Kobe is a smart man. He saw the Timberwolves intercepting and double-teaming O'Neal off the court before, and he knew that the referee's penalty for "illegal defense" today was "very large."

This kid also followed suit and directly double-teamed the martial arts master.

He didn't believe that the referee would call him illegal defense. This was just the regular season. Even if it was the home whistle, it wouldn't be so outrageous!

Kobe and Fox quickly completed the double-teaming, and sure enough, just as Kobe expected, the referee turned a blind eye! Wu Dao was also aware of Kobe's movements, and without any hesitation, he changed his dribbling rhythm and took a sudden step against Rick Fox's defense. His sudden advance also startled the two Lakers, and Kobe also quickly bypassed him. In front, trying to intercept the martial arts behind Fox from the front.

However, as the two men moved backward together, Wu Dao paused, hooked the basketball backwards, and passed the ball directly towards Chris's back at the top of the arc.

Chris, who received the ball in an open space at the top of the arc, made a slight adjustment and directly shot an open three-pointer.

Opportunity, real opportunity.

Chris has three-point ability, and after joining the Timberwolves in Martial Arts, Chris knew that their team did not lack the so-called "ball-holding offensive core." In order to get himself a chance to play, Chris' training subjects were also targeted. Some adjustments have been made.

The passing ability of defenders must be practiced. In addition, Chris has strengthened his catching and shooting ability.

If you can't be Jordan, it's not a bad thing to position yourself as Cole. At least, you won't be unable to get a "chief" substitute.

Chris's transformation and accumulation can now yield some results.

"Uh-huh!!!"

The basketball went directly through the net.

On the sidelines of the court, Coach Del of the Lakers looked at the Lakers' defense in this round. He covered his forehead with his right hand and felt disappointed. He came to his senses and shouted towards the court:

"Kobe, what are you doing?!"

"Is this how you defend yourself?!"

"Still outside the three-point line! What are you going to do?!"

"Look at your own people. Isn't this kind of omission a reward for points!"

Coach Del was very angry. Although Kobe didn't say anything on the court, there was a look of shame on his face.

He had a huge problem defending him this round, and there was no room for him to defend himself.

In transition between offense and defense, without O'Neal, the Lakers are like a giant missing a leg.

Wu Dao and Chris switched defenses, and he was responsible for guarding Kobe. In fact, the Lakers' offensive points are not too many. From the martial arts point of view, as long as they can crush Kobe, the Lakers will be misfired.

The Lakers' player holding the ball was Kobe. Kobe was not an "orthodox point guard" and was even labeled as an "independent" by fans later.

But this does not mean that Kobe cannot play the role of point guard.

Shooting guards are also guards, right?
Kobe, who was holding the ball, saw Wu Dao and his teammates switching defenses to defend him personally. His eyes suddenly lit up and he became slightly excited.

Slowly dribbling the ball closer to the three-point line, Kobe dribbled in a suspended position, twisted his hips to the left, feinted for a moment, dropped the ball with his right hand, and accelerated towards his right side.

"!"

Kobe's movements were very skillful and extremely smooth. It was because of Kobe's hip twisting and feinting that his movements were slightly delayed during pursuit, allowing Kobe to successfully lead him by half a body.

Kobe's desire to attack was very strong. After taking advantage of his position, Kobe accelerated aggressively, held the ball with one hand, stepped on the free throw line with one foot, and actually shot the basket directly from this position.

Kobe's movements were so fast that even Garnett on the inside couldn't react in time to make up the defense.

The basketball flew out of Kobe's hands, hit the front of the backboard, and bounced into the basket with a soft sound.

After the attack was successful, Kobe clenched his fist with one hand and showed a "resolute" look. "By the way" when returning to defense, he deliberately walked around in front of some media cameras before speeding towards the Lakers half court.

It can be seen that Kobe really wants to prove his ability, and judging from this goal, Kobe has indeed proved his offensive ability.

Being able to break through martial arts defenses and score points is not something that just any cat or dog can possess.

"Martial Arts, how could you be defeated so easily?"

"It's so embarrassing!"

"Be serious."

"You sat for too long, are you out of shape?"

Garnett's big mouth is sometimes not only aimed at his opponents, but martial arts is also within the scope of his trash talk.

Wu Dao didn't answer. He was singled out. What was there to say?

Without saying a word, he accelerated towards the Lakers half and quickly entered the Lakers half.

Kobe was positioned at the top of the key, leading the team's defense.

When Wu Dao entered the frontcourt, he also quietly glanced at the direction where Wu Dao was. Feeling the terrifying momentum emanating from Wu Dao, Kobe grinned and just glanced at Rick Fox with some sympathy, without paying attention.

If you're angry, be angry. Anyway, the person who's going to compete with you in martial arts is not me, Kobe!

Kobe thought this in his mind, and his eyes also fell on Chris who quickly dribbled the ball into the frontcourt.

Budo on the wing glanced at Chris Kyle and stretched out his hand to signal Chris to pass the ball. The latter understood and quickly sent the ball to Budo's hands.

Budo took the ball, faced Rick Fox's defense, tapped his right foot, took a simple test step, and then quickly collected the ball under Fox's gaze, while raising the ball and feinting.

I thought that Wu Dao's shot was a fake move to pave the way for a breakthrough, but what Fox didn't expect was that Wu Dao didn't seem to be feinting at all. Looking at his focused look, it seemed that he really wanted to shoot? !

The movement of his body was faster than his brain reaction. Rick Fox straightened his arms and jumped up high, hoping to block Wu Dao. However, the moment he took off, Wu Dao dropped the ball quickly. With a single acceleration, Rick Fox was already left behind.

The moment Wu Dao broke through Fox, Kobe on the side and Robert Horry on the inside all made moves, directly attacking Wu Dao from two directions.

Robert Horry was the first to bear the brunt and appeared directly on the path of martial arts.

However, in the face of his defense, Wu Dao had no intention of evading. Before Robert Horry could stand firm, Wu Dao directly lifted up the ball. While pressing his body against Robert Horry, he grabbed the ball with his right hand and made a sky hook. Sent the ball away.

Kobe, who arrived belatedly, stood on the side of Wu Dao and quickly turned his head to look at the basket.

Under his gaze, the basketball hit the board on the side and fell back into the net with a soft sound.