no shortcuts in basketball

Chapter 151 Taught the Apprentice

The Bulls' bench was also boiling. Thibodeau sat there looking calm, but his clenched fists betrayed him.

After giving up the regular style of playing one big and four small, he faced a lot of pressure, because in the Bulls lineup, there are actually only two power forwards in the true sense, Jr. O'Neal and Taj Gibson.

Gibson still needs to grow. If Jermaine O'Neal can't do it, the Bulls are bound to struggle, and they may even have to trade to solve the problem, which is obviously not a good choice for the Bulls, who already lack tacit understanding.

For the Lakers' offense, Gasol moved to the free throw line this time to support the offense.

Kobe cut to the basket, but Gasol didn't have a good passing angle.

Allen's accomplishments in off-ball defense are excellent.

Seeing this, Gasol suddenly started and broke through O'Neal with the ball.

His footsteps are very beautiful, but Jermaine O'Neal is very focused tonight, he discovered his attempt at the first time, and then followed him closely.

Gasol showed his flexibility with a big hook on the move.

This is also his specialty, but Jermaine O'Neal interfered with his shot angle with his long arm at the moment of his shot.

"when!"

The basketball finally smashed out of the frame, and the rebound was turned and accepted by Jermaine O'Neal.

The Bulls' bench is boiling again.

O'Neal's performance is completely different from the past few games.

Sure enough, for the old guys, playing needs a motivation, and starting is O'Neal's biggest motivation tonight.

And this change is very important to the Bulls, because if the fourth position is not at a disadvantage, then the biggest problem of the Bulls' losing streak in the past will be solved, and the chances of winning the Lakers tonight will increase immediately.

In the Bulls' position, Rose and Yao Ming played a pick-and-roll. Yao Ming separated and then moved down. He received Rose's pass and dunked directly over Fisher's head.

The Bulls opened the game with consecutive dunks, full of momentum.

Seeing this, Kobe knew that it would not work. When Gasol was holding the ball in the high position on the strong side, he actively moved from the weak side to the strong side, and then walked through Gasol's "back door" to cut to the basket.

This is also one of the triangle tactics, and it depends on the tacit understanding between the two.

Obviously, there is a tacit understanding between Ke and his wife.

While Gasol was handing the ball, he immediately set up a pick-and-roll on the spot, blocking Allen to death.

Bryant speeds past O'Neal and goes straight to the basket.

O'Neal Jr.'s size makes it difficult for him to catch up with Kobe.

But just as Kobe was about to stage a "Peter Pan" exclusive flying dunk, Yao Ming had already retreated to the basket.

Facing Kobe's action, Yao Ming held back his strength and stretched out his hand directly.

"boom!"

After a burst of aerial power confrontation, Yao Ming directly flew Kobe's dunk fan out of the court!
After blocking the shot, Yao Ming waved his fist excitedly.

The Lakers also offered him an olive branch this summer, but he didn't choose to go to the Lakers in the end.

The main reason is not the contract, but that he has been defeated by the Lakers in the Rockets for the past two consecutive years, so it is impossible for him to join the Lakers under this background.

It is precisely because of this that he can still hold back his energy even if he changes teams and plays against the Lakers.

For the Lakers' frontcourt ball, Kobe ran an off-ball catch shot, but he still hit the frame even though he couldn't completely get rid of Allen.

Yao Ming protected the defensive rebound, and the Bulls quickly played a defensive counterattack.

Rose and Xu Yong faced Kobe Bryant one-on-two in the previous scene.

When breaking through to the free throw line in the frontcourt, Ross diverted Kobe's attention and passed the ball to Xu Yong.

However, Kobe's puppy footwork was very good, and he quickly turned around to face Xu Yong again.

The space is too small to pass the ball anymore, and the distance to the basket is too close to change direction without slowing down. In desperation, Xu Yong dribbled the ball behind his back to avoid Kobe's defense. The ball hits the basket.gif.

Kobe didn't have time to stop him at this time, so he could only watch Xu Yong complete the fast break after showing off his operation in front of him.

The scene was restless.

The competitiveness shown by the Bulls in the opening game was not at all like a team that had just suffered a losing streak.

Kobe's expression looked more complicated at this time.

Because of the action Xu Yong did just now, he also did it when he was young and still wearing No. 8.

Including the ball blocked by Yao Ming before, he once directly dunked Yao Ming in the same opportunity when he was on the 8th.

This made him feel emotional and had to admit that even though he worked hard to improve his skills, his body function had inevitably declined.

Admitting that you are old is not a shameful thing. Blindly living in the past will only hurt the team, and only by recognizing the reality can you make the right choice in the game.

In the Lakers' round, Kobe began to hold the ball.

It's just that he didn't do the iconic pulling action like in the past, but gave Gasol a look.

Gasol understood and quickly mentioned the high position to make a pick-and-roll.

Husbands and wives also need to take pictures of their butts, but a look between the husband and wife is enough.

With Gasol's pick-and-roll, Kobe quickly broke through with the ball and completed an emergency stop jumper before O'Neal came up.

"Shh!"

Basketball hollow drop pocket.

There was a burst of cheers at the scene.

Kobe and Gasol used their fingers to communicate with each other again during the retreat.

The cooperation between the two just now was not just a pick-and-roll, but also a lot of details.

Although Kobe Bryant's cut in the last round was blocked by Yao Ming, one thing was successful, that is, Gasol successfully blocked Allen.

Maybe others don't care too much about this detail, but Kobe keenly captured Allen's weakness in dealing with Gasol's screen.

As a top defender, he knows how to find and discover the weaknesses of defensive players.

As it turned out, he was successful.

This goal is also critical, because the Bulls' current defensive counterattack is a signature tactic, and it is obviously more beneficial for the Lakers to force the Bulls into a positional battle.

"Defense! Defense!"

And the classic cooperation of Mrs. Ke just now also aroused the emotions of the fans on the scene, and the cheers and cheers sounded in the Staples Center.

The Lakers showed high defensive intensity, Rose dribbled the ball back to the three-point line after a failed breakthrough attempt, and then gave the ball to Xu Yong.

The experience of last season has shown that Xu Yong has a stronger ability to solve hard in positional battles.

Xu Yong didn't have much time left to attack with the ball, so he directly called Yao Ming to mention the high pick-and-roll.

This time, Yao Ming took Ariza away to the free throw line after dismantling it. Xu Yong took the ball and broke through Bynum, then changed direction and flew to the layup to finish.

During this process, Bynum habitually pulled Xu Yong's jersey in an attempt to prevent Xu Yong's layup. Not only did he fail, but he was caught by the baseline referee and was charged with a defensive foul.

After Xu Yong's calf deltoid muscle strengthening training, his explosive power has improved to a higher level than before.

Kobe was nearby at this time, looking at Xu Yong who had landed, his expression was a little dazed at this time.

For a moment, it seemed that he was not him, but turned into that braised egg, and Xu Yong's figure highly overlapped with him when he was young.

6 and 8 are actually only half a circle missing.Xu Yong went to the free throw line, and there were also additional penalties after adjusting his breathing.

9:4.

The fans at the scene were even louder. From the beginning to the present, from defense to offense, the Bulls gave people the feeling that they were the stronger team.

At the critical moment, it was Kobe who stood up for the Lakers.

He used Gasol's screen to continue to break through. Although Allen bypassed the pick-and-roll this time and did not give him a chance to shoot directly, he dribbled the ball and turned around and played a second pick-and-roll with Gasol, and then made a quick hit. Range jump shot.

Although Allen struggled to squeeze past Gasol, his pounce was obviously slow.

"Shh!"

Kobe hit mid-range jumpers one after another, stabilizing the situation for the Lakers.

Moreover, after Kobe retreated to the defensive end, he switched defenses with Ariza and directly defended Xu Yong.

The movement of bending over, the fierce eyes, and the right hand that kept trying to interfere with Xu Yongqi.

Although he feels older, his competitive spirit has not diminished at all.

Yao Ming took the initiative to play a pick-and-roll for Xu Yong at this time, but Kobe successfully evaded with doggy footwork.

Relying on his explosive power, Xu Yong still grabbed a gap and rushed straight to the basket.

However, Ariza's help defense came quickly, and Xu Yong finally chose a falling throw under the front and rear pincers of Ariza and Kobe, but unfortunately the ball failed to hit.

The rebound was protected by Gasol, who directly dribbled down quickly. After showing off a crotch dribble, he assisted Kobe Bryant for a fast break layup.

9:8.

In the blink of an eye, the Lakers have narrowed the point difference to 1 point.

Thibodeau reached out and called a timeout.

There were bursts of cheers and applause at the scene, and Kobe was naturally shown in the camera.

Kobe Bryant scored 6 points with sudden shots, and he is the key figure for the Lakers to chase points.

After the timeout, the Bulls made adjustments to the lineup, and Artest replaced Tony Allen.

Allen's defense can't be said to be bad, but the fact is that he couldn't limit Kobe tonight.

And when he was on the court, the Lakers had five defenses and four defenses, and they were unscrupulous in attacking the ball holder.

Therefore, while Artest can maintain the defensive strength, it can also reduce the defensive pressure on the offensive end.

It's just that in this way, the requirements for Xu Yong are even higher, because he has to keep an eye on Kobe while taking care of offense.

So after making the adjustments, Thibodeau patted Xu Yong's shoulder meaningfully, as if a heavy burden had been placed on him.

Xu Yong's response was to smile lightly.

Kobe is all about offense and defense now, and it is only natural for him to do this when he is younger.

Not to mention that he already did this kind of thing last season when he was a rookie.

And now, he actually has another thought, that is, he has always wanted to try whether his puppy steps can guard Kobe.

Although he had a very successful restriction on Durant during the World Championships, there is still a certain gap between Durant and Kobe today.

Returning to the Bulls' offense, Rose and Yao Ming returned the ball after the pick-and-roll, and Yao Ming made a steady mid-range shot.

To say that the biggest difference between the Bulls this season and last season is the addition of Yao Ming, which can be solved hard, which greatly improves their grasp of positional warfare.

The Lakers are still under a lot of pressure now, because Gasol has no absolute advantage in matchups. As long as Kobe's scoring is stopped, the Bulls can quickly open the score in the starting period.

With Kobe holding the ball, Gasol continued to put up the screen, but his screen failed to stop Xu Yong.

Xu Yongmai was the same as Kobe, but with quicker footwork, dodged the cover and followed Kobe closely.

Like the last round, Kobe took the initiative to bypass Gasol's second pick-and-roll, seizing the gap in the pick-and-roll to shoot a mid-range jumper.

But Xu Yong once again bypassed the screen, and his flying dive caused great interference to Kobe.

Kobe was forced to lean back in the air. Although he showed his waist and forcibly avoided Xu Yong's block, the ball instantly became a difficult shot.

"when!"

The basketball hit the rim and there was a sound of iron hitting, and Kobe's offense stopped.

Thibodeau couldn't hold back his excitement and stood up this time.

In fact, the reason why he replaced Allen, or the reason why he dared to replace Allen, in addition to the previous considerations, there is another more important reason is the existence of Xu Yong.

When he went to Turkey to investigate, he saw with his own eyes how much Xu Yong struggled to restrain Durant.

O'Neal Jr. protected the defensive rebound, and the Bulls once again launched a defensive counterattack. Rose easily passed Fisher's flying layup during the fast break.

The Bulls played well tonight in positional warfare, but their old line is still defensive counterattack.

Although O'Neal Jr.'s appearance has reduced the flexibility of their lineup, with Rose and Xu Yong, two fast break machines, their speed cannot be slowed down.

This time Phil Jackson, who was always calm, couldn't sit still. He got up and went to the sidelines, blowing his iconic whistle with both hands.

He has coached for so many years, and with his reaction speed, he has already felt the great threat brought by the Bulls.

The Lakers advanced to the frontcourt, and everyone else moved to the weak side. Trevor Ariza was positioned in the strong-side corner, Fisher held the ball outside the 45-degree three-point line on the right, and Kobe was in the high position with Xu Yong behind his back.

This is the most standard triangle offensive tactic.

Kobe hopped with both feet to catch the ball, bowed to feel Xu Yong's defensive center of gravity, and then turned right and fell back to shoot after a fake shake.

His series of technical movements were very smooth, but Xu Yong did not hesitate.

Because he learned the fantasy steps together with Kobe.

And when Kobe fell back, his well-timed save gave Kobe a lot of interference.

In fact, the reason why Xu Yong's defensive effect on Kobe is so good is not only that he has learned Kobe's puppy footwork, but also his size is more important.

Although Allen's defensive skills are equally good, his height with shoes is only 1 meters, while Xu Yong's has reached 93 meters. The defensive effect brought by this size gap is completely different.

Kobe is still Kobe, and under the huge interference, he still dodged Xu Yong's block with the ultra-difficult lever.

only……

"when!"

This kind of difficult shot, the final result of conversion can only be three Yanghua two irons.

Yao Ming received a defensive rebound after being stuck with Gasol. This time Artest and Rose made a fast break. Rose's fast break layup was interfered by Ariza and then missed, but Artest followed up with a tip-up. Complete the score.

The scene was restless.

Kobe looked up at the score now.

15:8.

The Bulls opened the score again after a wave of 6-0.

It's just that this time his mood is more complicated than before.

Because of Xu Yong's "apprentice", the speed of improvement on the defensive end seems to be a bit too fast.

(End of this chapter)