So I am the god of basketball?

The 11th championship flag fluttered above the arena.

For the Lakers, Meng Lang has officially become part of the team's history. When future Lakers fans talk about the history of the Lakers, the name they will inevitably mention is Meng Lang.

Even though he has just won a championship for the Lakers, this is only Meng Lang's first season with the Lakers.

He led the team to win the championship right away. Even if the Lakers gave Meng Lang's dignity in the summer of 96 an unprecedented "no handover" in NBA history and put away their dignity as the "Purple and Gold Dynasty", they would not be able to do so. The media will laugh at them again.

On the contrary, they will feel...

The Lakers made the right choice.

After all, look at other teams, they spent everything they had and still couldn't win a championship trophy.

Compared with what they experienced, the Lakers only gave a "trade veto". They are really lucky!
Speaking of which, this is also the reason why LeBron James kept changing teams, but there were still teams willing to bet on him. Even if the cost is huge, for the sake of the championship, they are willing to risk whatever LeBron James needs.

Of course, there is a difference between "all-or-nothing" and "all-or-nothing".

The Heat and the Lakers have always had a "reservative" attitude towards building a lineup around LeBron James. Only the Cavaliers' management did not consider the future at all and threw everything they had into it, overdrafting it. Nearly 10 years of savings and future finally yielded a championship trophy...

However, it can be seen from this that as long as they can win the championship, even if it is just a championship, many teams in the league are willing to put all their efforts into it. This is especially true in a small ball market like Cleveland.

If in the future the Cavaliers "sell the pot" and finally win the championship with a lineup with LeBron James as the core, compared to today's Lakers management, which only has a "trade veto" status quo, I don't know what will happen. Won't cry out loud.

Old Bass has always been pursuing the shape of rings, so many classic models were born.

This time is no exception!

The eleventh championship ring in Lakers franchise history looks a bit like a torch.

Needless to say, the reason for such a design is that Johnson and Meng Lang's "wind of inheritance" has been blowing for the entire season!
Meng Lang came off the field with the ring. Ermeng also came to the sidelines today and put the ring on his two fingers.

The golden color is very eye-catching and attracts the child's attention immediately.

The camera nearby moved over at this time and recorded this scene that is destined to become a classic.

Then the game officially started.

No one on the Jazz team was on the sidelines to watch the ring presentation.

Obviously, even these old guys would find it difficult to watch the Lakers players who stepped on them into the Finals last season receive their rings.

This is especially true for Malone and Stockton.

You must know that they entered the league one after another around 85, and have been fighting in this league for 12 seasons, but until now they have not even touched the floor of the finals.

This is really...

Those who hear it are sad, those who see it cry!
Their desire for the championship is getting stronger and stronger, and their desire to win tonight's game is also extremely strong!
It is worth mentioning that although the outside world is generally not optimistic that they can win the opening game, it can even be seen from the relaxed attitude of most Lakers fans at the scene:
The people of Los Angeles don't think they can cause trouble to the Lakers!
The reason is nothing more than the Lakers beating the Jazz severely in the Western Conference Finals last season. In addition, the Jazz did not have many lineup changes this summer. The Jazz, whose average age is one year older, will definitely see some decline in combat effectiveness, after all, they are already at this age. In their view, if the Lakers don't win by more than 15 points tonight, it's considered merciless.

Even though the Lakers have lost a lot of their strength this summer, especially the top priority "Magic" Johnson.

However, for this reason, the Jazz are not pessimistic about tonight's game.

Moreover, these old guys in Salt Lake City, under the leadership of Jerry Sloan, to be honest, do have resilience. Even if we lost all our pants in the Western Conference Finals last year, the new season is a new beginning. If we won the championship last season, will we definitely win the championship this season?

Of course it’s not necessarily the case!

So, don’t think so much, just do it!

The game officially started soon after.

After Jones held the ball for half the game, Meng Lang received the ball from the wing and faced Adam Kiefe. He did not rush to drop the ball, but continuously tapped the ball with his toes to test Kiefe's reaction. Kife, the 92th pick in the first round of 10, is 2 meters tall and is a blue-collar No. 06 player. After entering the Jazz in 94, he has been active in the lineup as a power forward substitute.

But in the first game of the new season, he was placed in the Jazz's starting lineup, appearing in the forward group with Karl Malone and Greg Foster.

This is Jerry Sloan's "deviation" in the new season.

Karl Malone and Stockton are another year older, and the aging of the entire Jazz lineup in the new season is inevitable. A team like this really has no chance of winning if it competes with its opponents on athletic ability. So Jerry Sloan boldly placed a fourth position like Adam at the three position.

The purpose of this is to compress the opponent's offensive space and make it more difficult for the opponent to break through.

As for outside shooting...

To a certain extent, it was given up by Jerry Sloan.

No wonder, at this time, the “truth” on the basketball court is still:
The closer you are to the basket, the easier it is to score!

Of course, this is Jerry Sloan's lineup arrangement for the team during the regular season. In the playoffs, he still trusted Russell's perimeter defense more.

This is also the biggest difference between the regular season and the playoffs:
If this can guarantee winning most of the regular season, then it is a good tactic. But in the playoffs, if this tactic cannot win the last laugh, then it is definitely not the optimal solution.

So even though Keefe's mobility clearly became a problem for perimeter defense, Jerry Sloan still tried to put him into the starting lineup.

Meng Lang's continuous fake moves deceived Ji Fei's center of gravity, and then he decisively forced a breakthrough. When he rushed into the three-point line, looking at Karl Malone who was filling in, Meng Lang passed the ball toward the basket. Taking the ball, a very conspicuous open space, layup... missed!
Okay, this is a big book!
But he successfully grabbed the rebound and passed it to Meng Lang.

Karl Malone, who was busy going back to grab the rebound, saw that the ball was back in Meng Lang's hands and made up for it again.

In just this round, there are signs of "in and out". It is conceivable that Karl Malone will move a lot on the court this season.

Meng Lang raised his knife and scored the team's first 2 points of the new season. The scene was also filled with cheers. The city was used to giving Meng Lang the shouts that only "city masters" could enjoy.

"Second Dream" seemed to recognize that the cheers were for his father. Sitting in the audience on the sidelines, he danced with joy and successfully won a close-up shot. In the Jazz's offensive round, the one-year-old "Utah duo" continued to play the "pick-and-roll tactics" they had played for more than ten years. However, as soon as Stockton bypassed Karl Malone, a fluffy figure appeared in front of him. "Afro".

Kobe switched defenses in front of him in time.

When he turned around to find the figure of the "Death Gun", Eddie Jones, the "best defensive second team" last season, had already switched defenses.

"The Lakers' defense this year seems to be the best in the league..."

In the ESPN commentary box, Bill Walton watched the Lakers' quick defensive switch at the first and second positions and was full of praise. However, before he finished speaking, he realized that he had said something wrong.

The Lakers' defense this year is not only the first in the league...

It has also been upgraded!
Compared with Meng Lang and Jones last season, there is no essential difference in the speed of Kobe and Jones switching defenses. All very quickly.

But compared to Meng Lang this season, the original "Magic" Johnson's defense speed at the third position is still far behind...

Seeing that Stockton couldn't give the ball to the "death gun", he quickly raised his hand and gave the ball to Karl Malone, whom he trusted most.

Big Ben gritted his teeth and resisted Karl Malone's elbow, trying his best to prevent Karl Malone from reaching the basket smoothly. Then Meng Lang rushed over and joined forces with his boss, leaving Karl Malone with no chance to make a move.

The ball passed from his hands again.

The ball was in the hands of the Jazz players and there was no way to complete the transfer.

"beep!"

"24 seconds!"

The scene was filled with cheers. Jerry Sloan was cursing on the sidelines, which was in sharp contrast to the Lakers players who were filled with excited smiles in the audience. Even Lakers fans did not expect that in the first round of the new season, the Lakers could guard their opponents for 24 seconds. Especially when the opponent is a team with strong tactical execution like the Jazz, they are even more excited.

The cheers continued until Jones pushed the ball forward. It wasn't until Meng Lang stepped forward to hold the ball that his voice gradually became quieter.

Still facing Ji Fei, Meng Lang had just gained a clearer understanding of his movement speed, so in this round, he directly used his explosive power to get rid of the latter, took one step inside the three-point line, and succeeded in another jump shot.

With his current ability, letting a fourth position player like Kiefe guard him is basically giving him "pull-up jump shooting" training... If the Jazz keeps defending like this tonight, then he will keep playing like this!

Stockton chose to take the lead this time. He just bypassed Karl Malone and made a "pull-up three-pointer." This choice was not rational. Maybe it was because Kobe's defense just now was too timely, which scared him a little.

Or maybe he wanted to take more initiative with this shot, such as letting Kobe Bryant fight harder. In this case, his passing can better penetrate the Lakers' defense.

As a traditional No. 1, one sentence that Stockton keeps in mind is:

Only by attracting help and defense can a good passing opportunity appear!

The "pick-and-roll" tactic further fully demonstrated his concept.

It's just that the first shot tonight was a bit eager, and the ball hit the basket directly after being released.

The ball was flat and flew out, and Barkley steadily collected the rebound.

Seeing that his own rebound was protected again, Chuck Daly was quite satisfied.

The Jazz came up with the "three highs", so he changed the lineup in this game and put Ben Wallace in the starting lineup to improve the mobility of the entire team. I thought I would lose some rebounds against the "Three Highs". But so far, Barkley and Wallace's protection of the rim has surprised him.

You must know that the average height of these two people may not even be 2 meters, but they continue to protect the rebounds in front of the Jazz, whose average height is over 2 meters.

If Meng Lang heard his inner thoughts, he would definitely say:
Just kidding, this is the configuration of two "rebound kings"!
Go out and ask around to see who can get such treatment.

Such a configuration cannot be achieved just by height.

Moreover, the positions of these two people are really stable, even Karl Malone can't get an advantage from them.

The ball continued to be given to Meng Lang, and two consecutive attacks were successful. It could be seen from Ji Fei's expression that he really didn't want to defend Meng Lang alone anymore.

But Jerry Sloan just played one-on-one defense if he was determined to do so, without any other instructions at all.

Just look at it.

Meng Lang naturally didn't hesitate. After switching to the third position, there was only one thing left in his mind, and that was to take action himself, to score or distribute the ball!
This is the job of the small forward!

The Jazz's double-team was frightened away by his pass fake, and Meng Lang easily completed a layup.

Score 6 points in a row!
The atmosphere was comparable to a nightclub scene at midnight, it was so exciting.

In the first game of the new season, you can see Meng Lang soaring points on the court. This feeling is not ordinary. What's more, this night is also "the night where championship rings are awarded," which makes people want to dance to the music.

This situation lasted until 6 minutes and 34 seconds of the first quarter. Meng Lang had already scored 11 points at this time. Ji Fei couldn't guard him at all. Facing his shots, not only did he succeed in all his shots, Meng Lang also completed one during the period. "2 plus 1", thanks to Meng Lang's performance alone, the Lakers already led by 8 points at the end of the first quarter.

Since the Jazz were widened by 6 points at the beginning of the entire first quarter, they have never been caught up to a smaller point difference. For them, the entire situation can no longer be described as passive.

It is not an exaggeration to say that it is a "stagnant water".

Therefore, when they came off the court, all the Jazz players had their heads lowered. For those who didn’t know, they thought it was a replay of the scene after Game 4 of last season’s Western Conference Finals.

Well, for the Jazz, this moment may be darker than that night.

because……

That was the stage for the Western Conference Finals, and it was just the first game of the new season. (End of chapter)