NBA: I really just want to be a second-in-command

Chapter 222
So, when it looked like a game that might have been played, it actually wasn't the case at all.

At the beginning of the second half, when Lu Yusheng and Kobe both exerted their strength, the game seemed to have no suspense.

The scene seems to have formed a one-sided situation towards the Lakers.

Under Lu Yusheng's organization, the Lakers have blossomed in more places. Everyone's enthusiasm for participating in offense is very high, and their enthusiasm for defense has also increased.

So everything went very smoothly.

All of this was obviously expected by the Zen master off the field.

He sat there calmly, watching everything on the field, his eyes were empty, and he didn't know what he was thinking about.

When the Lakers led the score to 15 points, Jackson replaced Kobe.

Although Kobe's foot injury has now recovered, Zen Master still wants Kobe to rest more for fear that he will be injured.

On the current court, Lu Yusheng is enough to lead the team.

After Kobe was replaced, he was a little unhappy, "Hey, I just went up and played for 4 minutes, and I felt hot, why did you replace me?"

"Six minutes." Zen master said, "You should rest more to save your energy for the playoffs."

"My physical strength is not a problem, Phil, you know, my physical strength has never been a problem."

"Of course I know this, but you have to think about it from a long-term perspective. Kobe, you have been playing in this league for ten years, and your body wear and tear is already very large. Think about it, the average professional life expectancy of all NBA players It is only three years, and you have been playing for ten years. It stands to reason that ten years may not be a big deal for your physical talent, but the problem is that you are too obsessed with training. Let the body rest and recover, but you are tired of training. In other words, your body has not been fully rested in the past ten years. This is a machine, and it can’t stand it. Think carefully Think about it, do you feel that every part of your body is not as comfortable as before in the past two years, and whether minor injuries and illnesses have started to look for you."

Kobe thought about it, it seemed to be the case.

"So, now, if we want to achieve the great goal in your heart, we have to think about the problem in the long run, we have to find a way to let your body get more rest, the regular season, especially like this kind of game that has been won for sure. If you don’t have a match, you can come down and rest more.” Zen master said.

"But, is this game a sure win?" Bryant questioned.

The Zen master smiled, "Halfway through the third quarter, we already led by 15 points. Isn't that a sure win?"

"But, with that guy around, I don't always feel safe," Bryant said.

The Zen master smiled, of course he knew that the guy Kobe was referring to was Iverson.

"Since you first entered the alliance, you have been competing with him. Counting it, you have been fighting for ten years. I didn't expect that you are still very afraid of him." The Zen master smiled, "Now, I feel that you have completely defeated him. He's left behind, he shouldn't be your threat long ago, right?"

Kobe didn't smile, looked at Iverson who was breaking through on the court, and said seriously, "No, that guy, for me, has always been a difficult guy, and it may be because in my impression, he always It’s because he can create miracles on the field, so I’m always worried that he can surprise me.”

The Zen Master smiled, "I can understand your thoughts, just like me, now, sometimes in my dreams, I still dream of that guy killing me."

Kobe frowned, "Who is it?"

The Zen master smiled, "You don't know about that guy, but what I want to say is that you really don't have to worry about it now. The current Allen Iverson is no longer the omnipotent one who played with us in the finals. Otherwise, the 76ers would not sell him to Denver. You can clearly feel that his explosive power has dropped, and his speed has also dropped a lot. You know, what Allen Iverson can give Everything the team brings is based on his unsolvable breakthrough. Think about it, when we played against them in the finals, the only game they won was because we had no way to solve him. The breakthrough, Fisher is a bit far behind his speed, I tried to let you guard against it."

"Yes, I didn't guard him either. At that time, his speed and explosive power were really unbelievably exaggerated. I have never seen such an exaggerated breakthrough like him again." Kobe said .

"Later, I really had no other choice. When I was worrying, Tyronn Lue took the initiative to find me and volunteered to defend Allen Iverson. To be honest, I was a little suspicious of him at that time. After all, his The defensive ability is actually very average, but I still decided to let him give it a try. After all, I didn't have any good solutions at the time, so I could only be a dead horse as a living horse doctor.

Unexpectedly, this kid's defensive effect was really good. In the second game, he chased Allen Iverson and ran all over the court, which made Iverson very uncomfortable. In the end, it seemed that he only scored [-] points. , but his shooting percentage was very low by Tyronn Lue in that game. "

“艾弗森29投10中，三分球10中3，罚球4中0。”科比说道。

Zen Master looked at Kobe in surprise. He never expected that after five years, Kobe would be able to accurately tell Iverson's statistics in that game...

"Are you sure what you said is true?"

"You can check it out," Bryant said.

Zen master...

"I don't think so. Anyway, there is at least one piece of data, which I think is right." Zen Master said.

"What is it?"

"Iverson made 4 of [-] free throws in that game." Zen Master said, "Tyron Lue prevented Iverson from getting too many free throw opportunities, which greatly restricted him." Zen Master said.

"Yes, since that game, that guy seems less scary to us, and we seem to have found a way to limit him." Kobe said.

"Yes, in the next few games, I started to consume him with wheel battles. There was only one goal, and I didn't let him catch the ball easily, because the tactics that Coach Brown formulated for them were very simple. Iverson attacked alone, and the others Therefore, Iverson must touch the ball in every offensive round, so that their offensive tactics can be played out. My strategy is also very simple. In every round, Iverson can catch the ball, but when receiving Before the ball, my people will haunt you like ghosts, so you have to use a lot of energy to get rid of them.

For this tactic, first Tyronn Lue, then the little fish Fisher, and then you, I even sacrificed part of your offensive energy, just to let you keep chasing him and let him consume energy continuously, so that , even if he gets the chance to shoot, it will consume a lot of physical strength. At that time, in the last quarter, he will have no physical strength at all, and his shooting rate will drop sharply. " said the Zen master.

Kobe nodded, "There is nothing wrong with your thinking, but the problem is that in the next few games, his scoring didn't seem to decrease too much. In that series, if I remember correctly, his scoring average should It's 35 points."

"Yes, this is also what makes me feel unbelievable. I have almost tried my best to engage his physical strength, but that guy's physical strength seems to be endless, and it will never be used up. Until the second half, he can still maintain full speed. Breaking through, disrupting our defensive formation, this is really something I can't imagine. I've never seen a player like this before." Zen Master said.

"That guy is really not easy to deal with," Kobe said.

"But I have to say that my strategy was executed very well. Although he has done more than we imagined, but in the last quarter, his physical strength really couldn't hold on. Although he can still Fantastic breakthrough, but his shooting percentage obviously went down, so that was the key to us being able to win that series," Jackson said.

Kobe nodded.

"However, the problem with Iverson now is that his explosive power and speed have obviously declined too much. He is relatively short in size. In the past, he could easily create offensive opportunities for himself by relying on his exaggerated breakthroughs, but now, he obviously It’s very strenuous, and I’m not as comfortable as I used to be,” said the Zen master.

"But he can still score more than 20 and [-] points per game," Bryant said.

"Of course, but the problem is that it's different from before. Before, he could score 76 points per game, but at the same time, he could use his breakthrough and scoring ability to create many easy scoring opportunities for his teammates, but not anymore. , he can score by himself, but he can't create too many scoring opportunities for his teammates. This is the reason why the record of the [-]ers has been declining year by year. Their management sees it very clearly. They know that if they don't rebuild, they can only go on like this forever , getting worse every year, so they simply made a major decision to trade Iverson away in exchange for draft picks for reconstruction.” Zen master said.

"I think the Nuggets are a good fit for him," Bryant said.

"Yes, it's really suitable for him. Here, there is Anthony as a firepower to help him attract defensive pressure, so that he can attack more easily and unleash his offensive nature unlimitedly. But the problem is that this style of play has a good lower limit. But the upper limit will not be too high, because their offensive tactics are too simple and easy to be targeted, so you can see that their team can sometimes win many strong teams, but when they When encountering those teams with high tactical literacy, they will play very difficult. Such teams may win a lot of games in the regular season, but in the playoffs, they will be very difficult, because A series is really long, no matter how stupid the opponent is, if they fight you twice, they can study you to the same extent, and when they are targeted, they will fight very hard."

"Is that what you did tonight?" Bryant asked.

"In fact, I don't need to arrange it. For a team like the Nuggets, Lu Yusheng can handle it by himself. He is still very good at controlling these things." Zen Master said.

Kobe didn't answer, but said, "I heard that you talked to Mr. Bass about the Lu Yusheng deal?"

The Zen master was taken aback, "How do you know?"

"Are you planning to keep this matter a secret from me?" Kobe asked back with a frown.

"Of course not," said the Zen master. "We were only planning to discuss it with you after Mr. Bass was settled."

"Come on, the boss is settled, what else are you going to discuss with me?" Kobe said with obvious displeasure, "You have no intention of discussing this matter with me at all."

"Kobe, calm down," Zen master said in a low voice, "Don't let others hear it, you know, if the deal fails, being known by the players will affect morale."

"You think Lu Yusheng himself doesn't know?" Kobe said, "Let me tell you, he already knew that you were conspiring to trade him. Why do you think they treat you like that?"

The Zen master said, "Kobe, you shouldn't be angry, you should know, I have told you countless times, this transaction is entirely for our common goal, to help us win the championship."

"But I have told you countless times," Kobe said, "I don't agree with this deal now. Our current No. [-] position can make us the number one in the Western Conference, and it can completely help us win the championship. Is there any reason? Do you have to trade him?"

"But you know, Pau Gasol is more important in our tactics." Zen master also said.

"Are you sure that after he comes, he will definitely help us win the championship?"

"Then do you think keeping Lu Yusheng will definitely help us win the championship?"

"I'm not sure, but since I'm not sure, why must I be obsessed with trading him?" Bryant said.

The Zen master shook his head helplessly, "I originally thought that you would support this deal, but now it seems that you and the boss have the same idea, so in that case, I don't think there is any need to say more, let him stay Well, we can only change our tactical thinking. By the way, how did you know this news?"

"Mr. Bass told me." Kobe said, "He said that he felt that Kubchak and you were so stupid that he felt a little strange, and he would propose such a stupid and loss-making deal."

After hearing this, the Zen master shook his head helplessly, "I think he will at least think that we are working hard, so I can't accept it."

Kobe said, "From now on, change your thinking, Phil, we definitely have a chance to win the championship, I believe. I know you still miss Pau Gasol, but I think we are now lineup, as long as we work hard, we still have a chance to win the championship.”

Zen master shook his head, "With our current lineup, we can get good results in the regular season, but it will definitely be difficult in the playoffs. We really don't have qualified players inside..."

(End of this chapter)