When pride still matters

Chapter 118 God of Responsibility

"Damn it, how can we let a team that can't even make the playoffs in the Eastern Conference play like this! Are these still the Lakers?" Jack Nicholson roared excitedly, "Are you playing seriously? !”

Then, Gwyneth Paltrow, who was elected Oscar-winning actress for "Shakespeare in Love" in 1999, made a sharp comment about Fei: "DC's No. 44 is really uncultured. He is so annoying. Shaq should teach him a lesson." he!"

However, Shaq, who had high hopes from the movie queen, was currently competing with his partner.

After the Lakers called a timeout, Phil Jackson looked at Kobe and said, "That's enough, Kobe, you can't play like this anymore! Our tactics are not like this! You are destroying the entire system!"

As a result, Kobe did not back down, "Didn't you say that? I have a history of 'deliberately sabotaging' games! I have the habit of 'deliberately sabotaging' games! I have a need to 'deliberately sabotage' games! I'm just doing what you say Me, why are you angry?!"

Some time ago, Jackson, who couldn't bear Kobe, told reporters such a story - Kobe in high school would "deliberately sabotage the game" in the first half of the game in order to become the team's savior at the last moment, resulting in a stalemate between the two sides. Then, Kobe You can be the savior.

It's hard to defend yourself when your coach personally attacks you with words like these.

Because many people will say that your coach knows you best.

Kobe's agent, Arn Tellem, hated the Zen master so much that he once wanted to sue the Zen master for defaming Kobe.

The fact that Kobe brought this up now made Zen Master even more angry.

"I think you need to calm down!" After saying that, Jackson turned his eyes to veteran Mickey Richmond who was sitting on the bench. "Mitch, you replace Kobe."

Then, Jackson replaced the energyless Robert Horry on the defensive end with the energetic and brutal forward Mark Madsen.

The Wizards are much more cautious about formation changes.

If it is not necessary to make a substitution, Collins prefers not to change the lineup.

Because they relied on the current lineup to achieve a 3-point lead, it would not be good to make a rash change.

"Fry, do you need anything else?"

Collins feels like she is Yu Fei's nanny now.

He would give Yu Fei whatever support he needed on the court.

But he was never ready to be someone other than Jordan's nanny.

"Strengthening zone defense, we can't let O'Neal attack our insides at will." The more games Yu Fei plays in the modern era, the more profound his understanding of the transformative power contained in the NBA's legalization of zone defense and the introduction of the defensive three-seconds.

The NBA went through a long war of words before unblocking zone defense.

A group of old coaches believe that zone defense is a bad thing that is not conducive to the game. Why?Because this kind of thing requires players to build a line of defense in a fixed area rather than actively confronting their opponents.

In other words, teams that really use zone defense don't care about the effectiveness of man-to-man marking.

Doing so will reduce the player's defensive responsibility.

However, it is the emergence of zone defense that allows NBA teams to make multiple choices on the defensive end. They can choose to give up investing defensive resources on someone in the opponent, so as to concentrate on dealing with those who are really worth dealing with.

Opening is a science. In the small ball era, he needs to take into account the shooting percentage, hot zone, recent performance and the player's shooting percentage at various points. But now, there is no need to go to so much trouble and see who on the Lakers does not have a high three-point shooting percentage. That's it.

Brian Shaw, 33% from [-]-point range?Go short!
Rick Fox, shooting 31% from three?Do you dare to stand outside the three-point line?
Mark Madsen, a coolie blue-collar power forward with no shooting ability at all, can be ignored.

Mickey Richmond, the abandoned son of the Wizards, an old waste who was decisively abandoned by Jordan and proved to be correct, shot 29% from three-point range.For the Wizards to look at him from the outside more than once would be a sign of disrespect for his three-point shooting percentage.

According to the standards of the small ball era, the Lakers' lineup really has no shooters worth worrying about.

Jackson's attempt to free O'Neal by pinning Bryant backfired.

Every time O'Neal gets the ball, three or four Wizards basically come in to double-team.

His only option is to pass the ball to the outside and let his teammates shoot open three-pointers.

But why do all the outside wizards who shoot over 30% of their three-pointers help O'Neal out?They started hammering and kept hammering.

Yu Fei and other teammates tried their best to protect the long rebound and fought back easily and happily.

17 is better than 29
The Wizards, who were playing away games, turned away and entered the second quarter with a 12-point advantage.

"good very good!"

Collins, who felt he was hopeful of winning tonight, clenched his fist fiercely and said, "Fry, come down and rest for a while."

Yu Fei had no objection and would not rest if he was 12 points ahead. If OK temporarily reunited and caught up again, he would not have any rest.

Collins replaced Yu Fei and asked Lu to lead Bobby Simmons, Tyrone Naseby, Kwame Brown and Jasidi White in the second quarter.

Seeing this lineup, Yu Fei also felt that their manpower was really inferior to the other's.

Regardless of the Lakers' strong performance in the first quarter, as long as O'Neal is no longer obsessed with beating the Wizards' inside in the low post, or Kobe no longer is himself in the eyes of a Zen master, others can collectively rely on OK's overwhelming wings. sparkling underneath.

Jackson is no ordinary head coach, though.

He knew that if he replaced Kobe and brought him back when O'Neal led the team to fall behind by 12 points, Kobe would desperately chase points. If he succeeded, it would mean that he was right. If he failed, , that’s because O’Neal dug the hole too hard.

Either way, he has a reason.

For Zen Master, this is a major blow to the coach's prestige.

He won't rely on Kobe to turn the tide on the court.At least until the situation was reversed, Kobe had to sit out the court as punishment for defying his coaching staff.

Jackson touched O'Neal's shoulder, whispered a few words in his ear, and then selected his starting lineup for the second quarter.

Derek Fisher, Devin George, Rick Fox, Robert Horry, Shaquille O'Neal.

Suddenly, the Lakers went from a team with tight space to a team with wide space.

This is Shaquille O'Neal's dream lineup.

Three of the four teammates around him have a three-point shooting rate of over 37%. Faced with this kind of outside threat, the Wizards have to consider whether it is worth double-teaming O'Neal again.

After only playing one round in the second quarter, Yu Fei felt that he couldn't sit on the bench for long.

O'Neal went to the low post as soon as he came up. Although the Wizards insisted on defending the zone, they no longer dared to shrink like they did in the first quarter.

Fisher knows how to pass the ball to O'Neal in this state.

After O'Neal got the ball, he didn't dunk over Jasidi White like Yu Fei thought, but turned around, hooked, and hit the ball.

19 is better than 29
Even O'Neal doesn't have many dunk opportunities in a game. Hooks near the basket are his most conventional scoring method.

If the opponent is tall enough, he may be able to interfere with his hook. As a short center, White cannot cause trouble to O'Neal in terms of height or strength.

In this way, as long as O'Neal is in position, hooking in front of White will be as easy for him as practicing on the air.

The problems on the defensive end are about to emerge. When it comes to the offensive end, the Wizards look even more embarrassed.

Without Yu Fei, the all-around creator, the players on the Wizards field have too single functions, and there is no outstanding player.

Tyronn Lue has speed, but if the Lakers' success rate in sports games increases, his speed will be of little use.The current Fisher is not the old fish who can only look away with his hands on his hips when facing speedy point guards in the future. He is too experienced when facing Lu Guidance, his former younger brother.

Pull away first, Coach Lu will definitely not shoot, then open his hands, ready for confrontation at any time.

The Wizards passed the ball around, and in the end they had to let Bobby Simmons hit Devin George, to no avail.

"Fry, we need you on the field."

Yu Fei had been sitting there for less than a minute when Collins walked up to him with a look on his face and said.

Does this mean that with greater ability comes greater responsibility?
Yu Fei is happy to be the responsible god of the Wizards.

Then, within 1 minute of Yu Fei waiting to play, O'Neal first punished the Wizards for double-teaming with a pass, and Devin George hit a three-pointer.

Later, Tyronn Luti played faster, but his problem of being unable to stop when he got up remained unchanged. As a result, a light layup didn't even hit the basket.

When it came to the Lakers' offensive round again, O'Neal was trotting in the middle, seemingly deliberately maintaining the same pace of advancement as his teammates.

In the blink of an eye, O'Neal had entered the three-second zone and loudly asked Fisher for the ball.

Fisher passed the ball decisively.

The Wizards players on the field reacted immediately. White attacked from the front, Naseby defended from the side, and Brown interfered from the other side.O'Neal hit high and was not afraid of being double-teamed by three people. He actually used his divine power to forcefully jump up and put the ball in, causing White's third foul.

"You trash!" O'Neal shouted wildly, "You are no match for your Shaq Daddy!"

This is tricky for Collins.

Although the Wizards are still ahead, White has committed three fouls.

Now he has to replace White.

In addition to White, do the Wizards have anyone who can stand at the five position and beat O'Neal?

Only Popeye Jones can be counted on, but this guy also committed two fouls in the first quarter, and Collins didn't want to take any chances.

So, no more.

Collins could only do the next best thing. His eyes fell on Laettner, "Christian, you go up and replace Garcetti."

Seeing Laettner replacing White, Yu Fei expressed surprise, "You play center?"

Leitner, who had never been on good terms with Yu Fei, asked unhappily: "Is there a problem?"

Yu Fei didn't know whether he was worried about Leitner or gloating, "It seems that Doug really doesn't love you at all."

As a result, Leitner blocked Yu Fei with one sentence: "That's not why you spoiled high school students are so useless!"

His words were not directed at Yu Fei.

For whom?Of course it's Kwame Brown who plays the four position on the court.

If the current Brown plays center, he is very likely to be defeated by O'Neal, so Collins would rather let Laettner deliver it than send Brown to O'Neal's mouth.

Although Yu Fei hates Leitner, there is nothing wrong with what he said.

(End of this chapter)