When pride still matters

Chapter 483 The Out of Focus Person
After the timeout, LeBron James did what Phil Jackson wanted him to do.

From the beginning, Jackson regarded James as a high-end version of Pippen to partner Kobe.

If Kobe is 90% Jordan, then the high-profile Pippen should create unparalleled sparks with him.

So far this season, Jackson has seen no similar signs.

Although the Lakers are currently ranked first in the league, this is mainly because their lineup is strong and the lower limit is high. The chemical reaction of the KJ combination has always remained at the level of "Kobe beats James."

Tonight, Jackson made a whimsical on-the-spot decision to place James in the fourth position, but the team was suppressed.

Zen Master quickly woke up and immediately made powerful adjustments, putting James back at the third position and then replacing Artest. He just gave Artest some chicken soup for his soul before replacing him on the court.

Later, Zen Master emphasized: "Let LeBron control the court, don't worry, the game has just begun!"

It turns out that this works.

James first used a three-pointer to stabilize the Lakers' morale, and then assisted on the defensive end to block Durant and Kobe on the fast break. The Sonics' offense was frustrated. Yu Fei's shooting percentage dropped and he missed the first shot. James counterattacked again and Artest hit 2+1 in the frontcourt.

In order to sign Bosh, the Sonics sacrificed part of their depth during the offseason and let go of Marion and Channing Frye. Now that Bosh cannot play, the Sonics are facing a shortage of manpower inside.

James was a little confused as to why the coaching staff didn't kill Artest in this state.

However, if the Lakers can let Artest play the fourth position, Karl will naturally be willing to let Durant play the fourth position and have a try with the opponent.

He had worked with this guy for two seasons in the Cavaliers and knew his character too well.

The result is that both of them faced Durant without the ball, and Yu Fei was left alone.

Yu Fei, who was unguarded, easily scored 2 points.

The focus suddenly shifted from Yu Fei to James.

Returning to the game again, after Roy was replaced, Yu Fei became the main point guard. As soon as he came up, he looked for Durant to pick and roll, and the Lakers made a communication error.

"This is our LeBron!" Memet said excitedly to his colleagues around him, "He is the king, and moving to the Lakers is the most correct decision!"

For Durant, running into Artest on the offensive end might be the worst thing that could happen in the game against the Lakers.

As Artest made the extra free throw, the two sides were tied at 12-12.

On the sidelines, Nike representative Lynn Mermet came back from near death.

James wants to switch defenses, but Artest doesn't think it's necessary.

Jeff Van Gundy said: "If LeBron plays like this every night, the combination of him and Kobe will be unsolvable!"

This time it was the Sonics' turn to pause.

Arteset blinked: "Really? Phil didn't say anything."

The Lakers first used infinite timeouts to dig holes, and then used effective timeouts to quickly chase points. Karl's choice was to replace Roy, O'Brien and Brown and replace them with Morrow, Finley and DeAndre Jordan.

12 is better than 14
"We have to switch defenses when encountering pick-and-rolls!" James was very dissatisfied with Artest's defense. "And we have to do it quickly. What were you hesitating about just now?"

Under normal circumstances, he is still a very combative player, but if it is abnormal, he may make any mistakes on the court that make people doubt his IQ.

At the same time, let Durant play the fourth position.

This is the ongoing impact of Chris Bosh's absence.

If Bosh doesn't play, it's when the Sonics are empty inside and Bynum should be reused.

Being in a different place, James somewhat misses the days when he turned his hands into clouds and rain in Cleveland.

If he were in the Cavaliers, with one look from him, Mike Brown would come to the front and wait for orders, but with the Lakers, this wouldn't work.

Phil Jackson told him from the first day of training camp how Earl Monroe gave up part of the ball to help the Knicks win their second championship in the 70s.

The implication is that if you want to win the championship, you need to delegate power.

James gave up everything in Cleveland to come here, but he didn't know before that he had to give up star power in the Lakers. Therefore, he naturally would not accept it. It was not until the beginning of the season that Jackson compromised and allowed him to lead the triangle offense instead of letting him consciously integrate into the triangle offense.

In James' view, this is the difference between Jordan and Pippen.

Pippen had no choice, but Jordan had it all.

After the third timeout, both teams had shaken off the impact of the start and began to find their respective states.

The Sonics rotated early.

Yu Fei took the initiative to take the lead and played pick-and-rolls continuously, causing loopholes in the Lakers' peripheral defense.

However, Durant failed to stand out.

Although Yu Fei created many opportunities for him, the physical exertion caused by directly confronting Artest prevented him from finding the right shot.

Although Artest is not in the right state, physical combat is the task that least relies on state on the court.

As long as they have the body and strength, and the referee allows strong confrontation, no matter who they are, they can exert their full strength in the confrontation.

Durant aspires to be a player like Yu Fei, so all his training is based on the standards of outside players.

He never thought that if he encountered a team like the Lakers that took the initiative to lower the height of the fourth position, George Karl would also push him to the fourth position.

Because he is tall enough.

Durant missed 3 shots.

Yu Fei began to reduce the frequency of giving him the ball, and instead used him as a pick-and-roll screening tool. The tactical end point turned to the shooters in the two bottom corners.

Anthony Morrow and Michael Finley made big plays late in the first quarter.

Exactly the same tactics, Yu Fei plays a pick-and-roll on both sides to break into the bottom corner. Morrow and Finley both hit three-pointers.

Thirty seconds before the end of the first quarter, the SuperSonics led the Lakers by 30 points, 25-20.

At this time, the Lakers had replaced Kobe and took a rest.

James is on the court, and the Lakers' insiders are Artest and Bynum.

"LeBron, give me the ball!" Artest was extremely confident in beating Durant. "I can break that kid's hand!"

James nodded, and then after Artest attracted the firepower, he sent the ball to Bynum's hands.

Bynum shouted loudly, sat away from Jordan, and dunked under the basket.

Bynum stretched out his arms excitedly and gave James a high-five.

In his opinion, James is the player on the Lakers who knows him best.

"Just fight!" James said gently, "Remember, you are a young king."

The Lakers are Kobe's team, and the coaching staff headed by Zen Master is oriented towards Kobe. Although when he decided to join the Lakers, James felt that he and Kobe would become double kings regardless of size.

But the longer he leaves Cleveland, the more he understands that once a team is imprinted on it, it's hard to change the background.

This is Kobe's team, and it still is so far. James has no intention of becoming the K in the OK War. He respects Kobe as a guest, but he really feels that he does not yet have Kobe-level respect and authority in the team.

Some people say that this is what Kobe gained in exchange for his 14-year Lakers career and three championships.

But he also had something to say.

He is the only top three player in the league who is willing to join forces with Kobe since 2004.

He is much younger than Kobe.

If the Lakers understand these two things, they should take a more cautious attitude towards him.

But the Lakers' attitude is that you haven't accomplished anything yet, so let's win a championship first.

James accepted the challenge, he came here to win the championship.

But he can't win for the sake of winning. He must have his own team like he did during the Cavaliers. Therefore, taking the initiative to feed candy to frustrated people like Bynum is a subconscious behavior on his part.

He doesn't necessarily want to get something from Bynum, he just pursues a lesson he has understood since he first learned basketball: if you know how to pass the ball to others, others will like you.

As far as James knows, there is basically no one on the Lakers who likes Kobe. They respect the person but don't like him. They are impressed by the person, but don't like him. This person is great, but they don’t like it.

Being liked is a difficult thing.

But it's easy to be annoying.

LeBron James, who outraged the basketball world with a live broadcast five months ago, knows this well.

Now, on the final possession of the first quarter, the most beloved basketball player on the planet comes running in wearing the Damn Chosen One.

Facing James, Yu Fei made a quick left crotch cross, followed by a lightning-quick right crotch cross, and then started, tearing open the opponent's defense head-on.

James has strong confidence in his defense, but he knows that as long as Yu Fei breaks through him, it will be impossible to catch up with the opponent.

Because Yu Fei, a former veteran Kobe, learned Kobe’s unique skills.

There was an elbow to the face. There was no live broadcast angle to see this scene. James stepped back as if he was shaken away.

Yu Fei drove to the basket, and Bynum was determined to defend the basket.

But at the moment Bynum took off, Yu Fei slammed the ball to the floor with his right hand, causing the ball to bounce high into the sky.

Durant, who cut in from the side, could not miss the ball again. His slim body rose into the air, grabbed the ball, and smashed the basket, leaving only 0.4 seconds left for the Lakers.

This is not enough time to serve.

The first quarter is over.

22 is better than 27
The SuperSonics lead the Lakers by 5 points.

"Is this your only goal in the first quarter?" Yu Fei asked casually.

Durant thought for a moment and said, "Yes."

"Is meeting Ron Artest so stressful?" Yu Fei has forgotten that he was also made uncomfortable by Artest in the early stages of his career.

Durant said stubbornly: "I'm not used to playing inside."

"Then let's play outside." Yu Feixiao asked, "Can you buy me a few minutes of rest?"

Both Yu Fei and Durant played the entire first quarter, but Karl felt that young people always have better physical strength, so he usually let Durant play a few more minutes.

Durant was already a little tired, but the thought of taking the lead when Yu flew off the court made his adrenaline surge.

"no problem!"

Yu Fei's alley-oop to Durant was played over and over again on the big screen, maybe it was an angle problem.

But the public relations people at the scene found that they were easily attracted by the Reebok products on Yu Fei.

Even though Durant specially wore a pair of mandarin duck shoes tonight and completed a highlight dunk, the focus was still not on him.

This son of America, promoted by Nike, is an out-of-focus person next to Yu Fei.

(End of this chapter)