no shortcuts in basketball

Chapter 152 Eastern Welfare
After the first quarter, the score on the field was 26 to 20, and the Bulls led by 6 points to end the first quarter.

After Kobe was restricted by Xu Yong, the Lakers were at a disadvantage in the starting period, but after entering the rotation, Odom on the Lakers side was in a brave state, and successive scoring helped the Lakers bite the point difference.

In history, Odom won the only Sixth Man of the Year honor this year in his career.

As for the Bulls, Thibodeau only used 8 players in the first quarter, and only Hinrich, Korver and Artest got playing time on the bench.

And at the beginning of the second quarter, Xu Yong, who had only gone down for a minute to rest, was replaced again.

After confirming the eyes, this Thibodeau is genuine.

But the good news is that O'Neal came on as the ninth man at this time.

O'Neill's debut also caused a burst of whistles and booing.

In fact, there is another hidden incident in O'Neal's appearance today, that is, this is his first appearance as a substitute for the visiting team.

Los Angeles fans will naturally not let go of such an opportunity.

But O'Neal still looks the same as he did against the Heat before, smiling and polite.

At this time, the lineup of the two sides, the Bulls: Hinrich, Korver, Xu Yong, Artest, O'Neal.

Thibodeau obviously has not given up on the one-on-one and four-on-one style. If he wants to make it a secret weapon, he has to figure out the best time for it to appear.

Lakers field lineup: Steve Blake, Shannon Brown, Matt Barnes, Odom, Gasol.

First up was the Bulls' offense, and O'Neal fell directly to the low post and leaned against Gasol for the ball.

O'Neal was obviously the same as when he was playing against the Heat, with a smile on his face and a lot of energy in his heart.

At this time, the ball is in Xu Yong's hands. Of course, he will not fail to see O'Neal's body language.

Moreover, the lineup on the court is the same as the inside-out tactics used by the Chinese team in the World Championships.

After Xu Yong signaled the weak side to pull away, he then directly lobbed the ball to O'Neal.

Feeding O'Neal is not much different from feeding Yao Ming.

After O'Neal received the ball, he directly forced Gasol.

Although Gasol has a very low center of gravity, his weight disadvantage makes it difficult for him to carry O'Neal.

Moreover, the Bulls have a lineup of one team and four teams. Among the four teams, three outsiders are very accurate, and the rest of Artest is also above the standard, so the Lakers dare not shrink at will at this moment.

As a result, although my sister-in-law worked hard, she couldn't withstand the impact of the meat bomb!
After O'Neal knocked Gasol away, a close-range small hook sent the ball firmly into the basket.

Looking back, at Thibodeau's signal, the Bulls deployed a 3-2 zone defense.

Obviously, Thibodeau is protecting O'Neal from getting out of the basket.

The Lakers broke the zone defense, Gasol connected at the free throw line, and finally threw the ball to Blake who was outside the three-point line in the right corner.

There was no problem with breaking the zone defense, but the defensive rotation of the Bulls' big and four small lineups was faster than expected. The moment Blake made a shot, he was interfered by Hinrich's flying block.

"when!"

Although Hinrich didn't cover the ball, Blake's shot was obviously wide, and the basketball hit the frame.

O'Neal at the basket accurately judged the basketball's landing point, grabbed it with his long arm and then threw it to Xu Yong on the outside.

The Bulls played a defensive counterattack, and Xu Yong hit Brown directly in the fast break and sent the ball into the basket.

30:20.

As soon as the second quarter started, the Bulls played a small climax, and the point difference on the field also reached double digits for the first time.

Thibodeau unconsciously reached out and clenched his fist on the sidelines.

In fact, as early as in the previous game, the Bulls proved that the tactics of one big and four small are very suitable for them. The only problem is that the defense at the fourth position is weak.

Now it seems that Xu Yong's proposal has grasped the key to the problem. As long as it is not used first and the right time is found, it is still very powerful.

Moreover, the Bulls have two big men, Yao Ming and O'Neal, which also makes Thibodeau's use options more diverse.

The camera showed Phil Jackson, and the "Zen Master" still did nothing as in the past, choosing to hand over the game to the players.

At the critical moment, it was Gasol. He faked a sudden pass from the free throw line, forced his way to the basket and caused a head-on collision with O'Neal, causing damage.

This ball Gasol played as tough as last season's finals, but O'Neal is not Garnett, and the price Gasol paid was being knocked off his back.

The Los Angeles fans at the scene immediately booed O'Neal.

I saw the newcomers laughing, but not the old ones crying.

But O'Neal didn't care, because it was clear that the Bulls had the upper hand.

Gasol adjusted and hit both free throws, helping the Lakers narrow the point difference to single digits again.

The Bulls advanced to the frontcourt and continued to play positions, and the ball was fed to O'Neal under the basket again.

O'Neal continued to play singles with the ball, and the Lakers chose to flank this time.

O'Neal quickly distributed the ball, and the Lakers chose to rotate the defense. When the ball was passed to Xu Yong, Xu Yong faked a shot and then broke through to the basket.

Seeing this, Gasol was forced to make up for it, but at this moment, Xu Yong threw the ball directly to the right side of the basket.

Over there, O'Neal was still near the baseline after passing the ball, and now he was led by the ball into the air, and after catching the ball with his right hand in the air.

"Oh!"

Across from Barnes, who was rushing forward and trying to stop, a powerful one-handed dunk completed the lob.

The fans at the scene were stunned for a moment. Is this the 38-year-old O'Neal? !

O'Neill also looked very excited after completing the alley-oop. He turned around immediately, opened his legs and waved his hands, and walked out of his unrecognizable overlord step celebration.gif.

At this moment, he is a showdown, he is here to win!
The Staples Center was agitated.

Not only because of O'Neal's unexpected dunk, but also because of the current situation on the court.

Originally thought that the Lakers could recover the score in one go during the bench period, but the result now is: the Lakers have never played in the starting lineup, and the bench can't beat it!
Thibodeau's deadly main rotation settings allow the Bulls to maintain a high lineup strength on the court.

And neither Gasol nor Kobe could find a good angle to play under the Bulls' defense.This has basically become the decisive factor in the outcome of this game.

After the final four quarters of fierce fighting, the Bulls beat the Lakers 116-101, ending their opponent's five-game winning streak and their own two-game losing streak. .

赛后的数据统计，公牛队这边徐永27分6板5助攻，罗斯24分4板11助攻，姚明15分10板3助攻，奥尼尔14分5板，阿泰斯特13分3板。

For the Lakers, Pau Gasol contributed a team-high 23 points and 9 rebounds. Kobe Bryant played abnormally under the watchful eyes of Xu Yong. He only made 26 of 7 shots and scored 21 points only by free throws.

It is worth mentioning that this is also the first time Xu Yongjin has surpassed Kobe in statistics since he entered the league.

After the handshake, O'Neill was caught by media reporters on the sidelines for an interview.

After winning the ball and playing a good performance, O'Neal was also in a good mood facing the reporters.

Even when the reporter asked about the substitute issue that fans are most concerned about, O'Neal seemed completely indifferent.

"I won't be a substitute for anyone, except Yao."

O'Neal's sympathy for Yao Ming, in the history that Xu Yong has experienced, he did not shy away from saying that he was blocked by Yao Ming three times in a row, and he took the initiative to put on Yao Ming's coat at the Hall of Fame.

Now that we are in the same team, this is not called bragging, this is called seeking truth from facts.

You must know that if you ask him to serve as a substitute for Howard, he would rather retire in place.

Winning this game is important for the Bulls.

That was not just a victory, it was as simple as allowing them to respond to outside doubts. What was more important than that was that Thibodeau opened the "one big and four small" in the correct way.

Even incidentally, Thibodeau also figured out the most suitable rotation method for the Bulls now: starting Rose and Xu Yong in the backcourt, Artest and O'Neal partnering forward, plus Yao Ming inside, and Hinrich as a substitute Lock the rotation position with O'Neal, and choose who to play in the backcourt Allen/Korver depending on the opponent's situation. This is the basic 8-man rotation.

Although it took some time, the season has only started for more than half a month, which is not too late for the Bulls.

And there is good news for the Bulls, that is, after the difficult schedule at the beginning of the season, they will have a relatively sweet journey.

Their next opponents are: Cavaliers, Raptors, Hawks, Pistons, Nets, Clippers, and Trail Blazers.

Among these seven opponents, only the Eagles and Trail Blazers can theoretically pose a threat to them.

Here I have to mention some basic rules of the league's schedule.

The league is divided into the East and the West, which is what we know as the East and the West. Under the divisions, there are 6 divisions, such as the Central Division and the Southwest Division.

Based on these foundations, the rules are: different divisions play against each other twice in a season (one home and away game each), different divisions in the same division play three times a season, and the same division and the same division play four times in a season (twice home and away each).

Therefore, a simple game of victory cannot fully reflect the strength of a team, because there is a strength gap between the East and West, and there is also a strength gap between teams in different divisions.

Yes, Eastern Welfare does exist.

And for the next part of the schedule, you can completely understand that the Bulls are going to start eating this kind of benefits after a difficult battle.

……

Time flies, time came to early December, and the Bulls ended their entire November game.

Their final record was 11 wins and 2 losses!
That's right, the Bulls didn't let this wave of benefits go away. Counting the victory over the Lakers, they won an eight-game winning streak!

Although taking a closer look, this is a serious benefit, but just like James never said how many benefits the Heat's 27-game winning streak has in history, Bulls fans will naturally not mention it.

You only need to know that the Bulls played the league's longest winning streak, and that they topped the East after the end of the first month, and even the top record in the league!

As a result of this record, Thibodeau was undoubtedly elected as the best coach of the month, and Rose was also successfully elected as the best player of the month for the first time in his career with his performance of averaging 26.5 points, 3.7 rebounds and 7.1 assists per game.

Yes, Rose's numbers are far from flashy, but that's because the Bulls can play more than him.

11月的比赛里，徐永场均贡献23.5分5.2板4.6助攻，投篮命中率和三分命中率分别为51%和40.3%，效率惊人。

而姚明也在11月交出了场均17.6分10.6板3.7助攻1.8盖帽的全能发挥，投篮命中率更是生涯新高的56.2%。

The Bulls didn't have a Big Three lineup, but third-year Ross and second-year Xu Yong played the Big Three together with Yao Ming.

Even O'Neal was able to deliver excellent data of 67 points and 9.6 rebounds with a 5.2% shooting rate.

It's clear that the Bulls have found their way to win.

And the Heat are not ranked second in the Eastern Conference, their record in November is amazing... 11 wins and 7 losses, ranking seventh in the Eastern Conference!

They did achieve a wave of four consecutive victories when October and November intersected, but in the 10 games they lost in November, their opponents were: Celtics, Hornets, Jazz, Knicks, Hawks, Pacers and Mavericks.

And the result of such a reversal of polarities finally made fans on social media start a Jedi counterattack against Jamie's previous remarks.

"The Heat are seventh in the Eastern Conference? Am I out of my mind or is the league counting their wins as losses against the Heat?" A comment from "KBfnas".

"Some people eat welfare and eat and eat, and they become welfare themselves." Comments from "KBforever".

"To quote a certain fan, you have to believe that at the end of the season, the Heat will still be No. [-] in the league."

"It must be that the Heat's opponents are too strong. The Space Bee and Five-Star Lord. The alliance is not just bullying the Heat's three giants and they haven't gotten used to it yet!"

"You guys are really black for the sake of black, aren't the Celtics and Mavericks strong teams?"

"So you also know that the Mavericks are a strong team! Then the question arises, are the Bulls considered a strong team?"

"It's still that Wade and Bosh are too bad, dragging down LeBron. LeBron should be ruthless and directly join the Bulls. How can there be so many things now!"

……

When the fans were arguing on social media, Xu Yong found Grover at this time.

"I want to start training the turn and back technique."

Generally speaking, the authorities are obsessed with the bystanders, but this sentence is just the opposite for Xu Yong.

He is very clear about the reasons for the Bulls' current record, so his attention is not on the team's record at this time. On the contrary, he has been focusing on improving his own strength.

So just like Kobe who won the championship back then went to Olajuwon to train his footwork, Xu Yong immediately took action after he found that he had learned his puppy footwork and had time to train other skills.

Originally, he planned to wait until the offseason to find Kobe for this technology, but thinking about the look in Kobe's eyes when he beat the Lakers before, he felt that even Kobe might have reservations about him for the time being.

But fortunately, he now has Grover, a trainer goat who has also been the personal trainer of Jordan and Kobe Bryant, and he must know this technology well.

(End of this chapter)