Healthy basketball, starting from eating the old Lakers F4

Normally, after the whistle blows at the end of the game, there is nothing else for the players and fans to do.

But things were different inside the United Center tonight.

As soon as the game ended, the lights in the United Center suddenly dimmed.

It's not that all the lights were turned off completely. The audience seats and the player passage were not affected. Only the lights shining on the court were temporarily turned off.

At the same time, the live sound system at the United Center and the large screen in the dome also changed immediately.

The goals that Kobe had scored in the past 20 years were replayed on the big screen one by one at the United Center.

In order to increase the sensory stimulation for the fans at the scene, the exclamations of the live commentators at the United Center were also heard through the speakers at the scene, mobilizing more fans' memories.

When this happened, the vast majority of Bulls fans at the scene realized that this was another way for the Bulls to express their respect for Kobe.

However, at this time, only a very small number of fans stood up from their seats and began to applaud spontaneously.

More fans are still sitting in their seats, enjoying Kobe's ever-changing and picturesque scoring highlights.

After the highlights, which lasted more than ten minutes, were over, the lights on the court changed again and focused on Kobe.

More than 20,000 fans at the scene stood up from their seats one after another and applauded Kobe, who looked a little emotional and confused on the court.

"Kobe! Kobe! Kobe!"

As some fans chanted Kobe's name, other fans followed suit.

Before long, the voices from all sides came together, becoming more uniform and regular.

More than 20,000 spectators at the scene shouted Kobe's name.

At this time, even the Bulls players who had returned to the bench joined everyone in shouting Kobe's name.

Kobe stood there quietly, still looking up at the big screen in the dome.

Kobe knew very well that this was the United Center's way of paying him the highest tribute.

But at this time, Kobe didn't know what to say.

After the lights were completely restored, the Bulls players, led by Durant, came to the court one after another to pay tribute to Kobe again.

After exchanging greetings with Kobe, Duane chatted with Anthony for a few more words before returning to the locker room alone.

……

After defeating the Lakers in the opening game, the Bulls quickly got on the right track and began to integrate the team's lineup.

Although the Bulls played very well in the previous preseason, some problems were quickly exposed when the competition became more intense in the regular season.

The outside lineup of Curry, Durant and Bojan, after being studied by the coaching staffs of most teams in the league, still exposed many problems on the defensive end.

Fortunately, the defensive quality of the twin towers of Horford and Gobert is very high. The Bulls can rely on the inside players to delay the defense and make up for some deficiencies in the outside defense.

When facing a team composed mainly of conventional forwards, the Bulls are afraid of shooting from the outside, but as long as they increase their physical strength, the opponent's shooting will become inaccurate.

If you rely on breakthroughs, the big delay in the inside and the double-teaming of the outside players can effectively limit the opponent's ball-holding offense.

However, when facing teams that use small guards as their primary offensive point, the Bulls' starting lineup will have more serious problems on the defensive end.

Fortunately, Rondo has actively integrated into the Bulls' main lineup.

In crucial games, Rondo can start as point guard, Curry can play as shooting guard, and Duane can return to the small forward position.

Of course, there are some problems with this lineup for a guard-centric team.

The problem of Rondo and Gobert's insufficient shooting ability will also affect the Bulls' overall offensive space and increase the burden on Durant and Curry on the offensive end.

If Jokic replaces Gobert, the quality of defense in the interior will decline again.

Especially when facing a fast point guard, it is even more difficult for Jokic to protect the basket.

So, although the Bulls' lineup depth is quite good, it is not invincible.

When facing different opponents, the Bulls need to constantly adjust their lineup and tactics, which greatly increases the workload and work pressure of Mike Brown and Tyronn Lu.

After the start of the new season, the Bulls played well overall, but they did not immediately top the Eastern Conference.

On the one hand, teams across the league once again regard the Bulls as the big devil.

It can be said that all the coaches in the league regard the Bulls as imaginary enemies, so they work tirelessly and persistently to study the Bulls.

Then, when facing the Bulls, we will deploy targeted lineups and tactics to limit the Bulls' performance, strive to defeat the Bulls, and build confidence in winning, impacting the playoffs, and challenging for the championship.

On the other hand, the Bulls themselves need to remain competitive and ensure that most of the players on the team remain hungry and eager for victory and honor.

Therefore, the main players of the team have to give up some ball possession and playing time so that the rookies in the team can improve their strength through competition.

However, the Bulls are rarely able to give rookies enough playing time and opportunities while ensuring the team's record and morale.

However, there are quite a lot of rookies in the team.

Also because there are more people than jobs, the competition among rookies is more intense.

The second and third year rookies want to play and strive for better statistics, and the first year rookies also hope to get better training.

But opportunities are always limited, and only about ten people can play in a game.

Excluding the five starters, there are seven or eight rookies left, and not everyone can get a turn.

Even though there is sometimes garbage time in the entire fourth quarter, such opportunities do not occur frequently.

Driven by interests, coupled with the pressure of the game and the envy, jealousy and hatred inherent in the players' personalities, the atmosphere in the Bulls locker room has become increasingly disharmonious.

Sometimes during training games, conflicts occur between rookies.

Of course, when a group of men get together, there will always be some sparks.

When playing games, I would get angry and start arguing endlessly because of my teammates' mistakes or my opponents' provocations.

Not to mention team sports like basketball, which involve intense physical confrontation.

So, when playing ball, it is normal to have some movements.

Even if everyone is teammates, it is understandable that some conflicts break out on the court.

Some minor conflicts can be resolved by just arguing on the spot, and everything will be fine after you calm down for a while.

The worst that can happen is they'll just throw punches at each other and then shake hands and make peace.

However, if the harassment continues for a long time or the team becomes unreasonable, we can only resort to compulsory measures - demotion to the Development League.

In this way, the conflicting parties can be temporarily separated, and time is used for both parties to slowly calm down.

Fortunately, there are many conflicts within the Bulls, but most of them are minor. Many times, after Duane, the team leader, stepped in, the rookies in the Bulls also slowly learned how to handle the relationship with their teammates under Duane's guidance.

Of course, sometimes coaches Mike Brown and Tyronn Lue will step out to reconcile conflicts and relieve the various pressures that the rookies are carrying and accumulating.

As the saying goes, paying attention to everything is learning, and understanding of human nature is writing.

A coach who can succeed in the NBA is not only good at tactics and lineup arrangement.

What is more important is to understand the principles of being a human being and be good at handling the relationship between players, coaching and management, and the relationship between coaches and players.

After two or three months of training by Duane, Mike Brown, Tyronn Lue and others, the rookies on the Bulls quickly became well behaved.

During this time, they also understood the importance of teamwork and not just considering their own interests.

However, in some ways, the Bulls have become more harmonious and the players have become more united because the team's running-in period has ended and the team's record has steadily improved.

In the NBA, the best way to resolve conflicts within the team is to unite as one, defeat strong enemies together, and win one victory after another.

Victory can overcome everything and make the team more united and perfect.

Many teams complete their transformation in the playoffs by relying on one victory after another to let everyone know how to overcome difficulties when the team is in trouble and who to play around.

This season, the Bulls have established Curry as their first offensive point, but at critical moments, the offense still revolves around Durant.

After the Bulls' lineup stabilized, there were fewer teams in the league that could take advantage of the Bulls.

By the middle of the season, the Bulls had only lost a handful of games.

Many times it is because we have won too much and have become a little lax in our mentality. In addition, when training rookies, we have dug holes in the early stages of the game and failed to make up for it in the later stages, which led to our carelessness and loss.

However, just when the Bulls were full of momentum and ready to challenge for the top spot in the Eastern Conference, some of the rookies on the team suddenly hit a wall.

Perhaps it was because Portis, Rooney, Josh Richardson, and Norman Powell were relegated to the Development League for most of last year, the time when they hit the rookie wall was collectively delayed by one year.

Recently, in order to prevent Durant, Curry and other main players from overwork and injuries, the Bulls have given more playing time to rookies aged sophomores and juniors.

For this reason, Portis, Rooney and others attracted the attention of coaches of other teams, and targeted arrangements were made.

Then, Portis, Rooney and others were a little confused and didn't know what to do on the court.

They can't score points, and they can't protect rebounds. The best they can do is set a screen for their teammates, and there's nothing else they can do.

Sometimes, poor performance of role players will undoubtedly affect the overall performance of the team.

This is also why some people always like to talk about role players.

That being said, the Bulls' adjustment speed is pretty good. They are not actively looking for veterans in the free market, but instead making full use of the team's own resources.

Rondo, David West and Zaza Pachulia got more playing time in a short period of time. The Bulls reduced the use of rookies and the team's record quickly stabilized.

Until February 2, when the Bulls defeated the Cavaliers, who were ranked fourth in the Eastern Conference, at home, the Bulls happened to top the Eastern Conference with a record of 16 wins and 40 losses, leading the Raptors by 17 wins.

There is a lot of competition in the Eastern Conference this year. In addition to the Raptors, who met the Bulls in the Eastern Conference Finals last season, there are also the Magic led by Leonard and the Cavaliers, who have two No. 1 picks.

In addition, teams such as the Pacers, Celtics, and Hawks should not be underestimated.

As for the West, the competition is even more intense.

So far, there isn't even a 40-win team.

The top four teams in the Western Conference basically have around 35 wins each and their strength is relatively close.

Of course, the Bulls and Raptors were able to win 40 games before the All-Star Weekend because of the Eastern Conference bonus.

Although the salary cap has expanded in the past two years, not all Eastern Conference teams have become rich all of a sudden.

Some team owners are used to living a life of careful budgeting and are not used to giving so much money to stars at once.

After all, a team located in a small city only makes tens of millions of dollars in net profit a year.

Considering that dividends must be paid to other shareholders.

The amount of money that the major shareholder receives in a year is not even as much as what the team's boss receives.

This situation will undoubtedly make the team owners envious and jealous, and they will be unwilling to give up the benefits to the players in the team for nothing.

Because these days, most Western Conference teams are poaching players and increasing spending.

Correspondingly, the Eastern Conference teams are the ones that are losing stars and high-quality rotation players.

The owners of some Eastern Conference teams have made some money by receiving payments from the league and even actively trading players.

However, their team's strength has declined as a result and they are not very competitive.

In such an environment, the top teams in the Eastern Conference are reaping the benefits of the Eastern Conference and their team records are even more outstanding.

However, the overall structure of the alliance is still that the West is strong and the East is weak.

Fortunately, the Bulls' dominance in the Eastern Conference is strong, and the team's performance is not too exaggerated because of the Eastern Conference bonus.

In fact, there are only three or four teams that are truly qualified to compete for the championship in a season.

Many teams look very strong and lively in the regular season, but become paper tigers in the playoffs.

The Bulls have proven themselves in the finals time and time again, so they naturally don't need to worry about these problems.

The biggest highlight this year is still the Western Conference playoffs.

Let's see which team will experience the baptism of success, wash away all the dross, and truly have the possibility of competing for the championship.

Back to the topic, the regular season is in mid-February and the annual All-Star Weekend is here again.

As the defending champions for two consecutive years, the Bulls still have some strength. This year, a total of four players were selected for the All-Star Game.

Duane and Curry were selected as starting guards for the Eastern Conference All-Star Game, while Horford and Rondo were this year's All-Star substitutes.

Rondo has not been selected to the All-Stars for several years since leaving the Celtics.

This year he played as the sixth man in the Bulls. Because his playing time was only 26 minutes per game, his statistics were also average, and his average points per game were not even in double digits.

Logically speaking, Rondo was not eligible to be selected for the All-Star Game.

However, the current situation in the Eastern Conference is incomparable to that of previous years, and this is because in the past two years, Eastern Conference stars either ran to the West to avoid Durant, or were poached by Western teams aiming to win the championship.

The overall quality of stars in the Eastern Conference has not been high in recent years, so the Eastern Conference All-Stars are somewhat difficult to produce. Whether it is fans or reporters, they have to choose more from rookies.

Only the team's head coach is nostalgic and likes to pick some veteran players.

Therefore, veterans like Rondo, with the help of the Bulls' exposure and team record, finally reaped some benefits from the Eastern Conference and added a new achievement to their personal honors.

By the way, there are more Bulls players in this year's All-Star Game, which means that if the Eastern Conference All-Star team can win, it can help one person win the All-Star MVP honor. (End of this chapter)