So I am the god of basketball?

The game started and the Warriors jumped to the ball.

When Hardaway dribbled the ball to the front court and faced off against Meng Lang, his eyes sparkled and his gaze was sharp. This was the moment he had been waiting for.

Although Meng Lang also played the No. 1 position two years ago, the Warriors and Lakers were at a different level at that time. Now the Warriors are stronger than before, while the Lakers are much weaker than before. The overall strength of the two teams is at a similar level.

However, facing Meng Lang, he did not force a single play, but passed the ball to Chris Webber who was in a high position.

Then move quickly.

The "Princeton" tactic requires high movement of players.

Why couldn’t the 09 Rockets beat Princeton?
In addition to Yao Ming's high-post coordination being a problem, the team's movement was a big problem. You can't ask a player like Aaron Brooks to run according to the tactics.

When the back line is messed up, the entire team's movement will not be good.

Although the Warriors' lineup has just begun to practice the "Princeton" tactics, it seems very skilled.

Especially Hardaway.

This is all thanks to the "triangle tactics" used by the Magic team.

The "triangle tactics" is completely different from the "Princeton tactics". However, the "triangle tactics" has very high requirements for space. Therefore, movement on the field is essential. These can help players develop good running habits.

After Hardaway bypassed Chris Webber, Webber quickly helped to form a pick-and-roll and blocked Meng Lang who was following closely. At the same time, Webber showed his skillful technique and the ball flew over Hardaway's head to the top of the basket.

Hardaway's catch-and-shoot skills are not his strong point, but he is very good at alley-oops.

"Bah!"

Hardaway's dunk showed off his physical fitness.

It is said that leaving the Magic really saved him from getting injured in Orlando as he did in the same period. Of course, the injury was not the key, the key was the infection during the operation, and then when he said that he felt uncomfortable during knee rehabilitation, the Orlando team doctor believed that it was his psychological effect that caused him to miss the best recovery period.

At this time in the NBA, minimally invasive surgery to treat players' knees is still unfamiliar territory.

No one knew how to maintain the body after the operation, and no one knew what complications would arise, so Hardaway fell from his peak after the operation.

The same goes for Grant Hill, Chris Webber, and Tracy McGrady…

It was not until after 2014 that sports medicine became more developed and injuries like Paul George's broken leg were recovered. This shows how important it is for a player to be born in the right era. Although this may make you one of the famous "background boards", at least you will earn more money and have a more dazzling career.

Rather than many regrets.

The good news is that Meng Lang's departure from Orlando was like the flapping of a butterfly's wings, which prevented Hardaway from staying with the Magic and preventing him from suffering injuries.

Just like Bob Hurley didn't get into a car accident.

However, it was really annoying to see this guy flying in the air and provoking him.

Meng Lang held the ball and beat Hardaway. Now his "post-up" has become perfect, and he is getting more and more comfortable. Soon this ability card will be practiced to the extreme. I don't know what "skills" Olajuwon's ability card will have...

Is it possible...

Is it really that golden legend?

Hardaway and Meng Lang were similar in size, but the difference in strength was obvious. He had to accumulate strength and grit his teeth to stand firm. At this time, Meng Lang suddenly turned around and easily made a two-pointer with a "turnaround jump shot".

There was nothing Penny could do except stand and watch.

With an easy response, it was the Warriors' turn to attack again. Chris Webber did not give the ball to Hardaway after the pick-and-roll this time because the quality of his screen was not high this time. Meng Lang was very experienced in bypassing his screen and immediately passed the ball to Brad Miller on the other side.

The original career trajectory of the first generation of "Big White Bear" was with the Pacers and O'Neal's team.

His style is actually similar to Divac, both are "big meat shields", but they are also very versatile.

Originally, he was supposed to play with Chris Webber after Divac, but unfortunately Webber suffered a serious knee injury and lost to Kevin Garnett in the playoffs.

It is the famous "Broken Crown" picture.

This was Kevin Garnett's peak as the leader of the team, and that year was also his best year as the team leader alone.

It can also be seen from this that even a regular season MVP cannot easily lead a team into the Western Conference Finals. It is already difficult for an ordinary All-Star to lead a team into the playoffs.

Of course, those who are surrounded by helpers and brag about being the “Seven Jedi Samurai” should not try to offend.

What's more, what kind of people are these "Seven Jedi Warriors" fighting against?

Miller took the ball and continued to move. Christie, who happened to move to this position, took the ball and shot.

In this era when there is no "3D" concept, Doug Christie is considered the first generation of "3D players", with sharp defense and excellent shooting. And before Bibby came to the Kings, he should be the most stable shooter in shooting key balls, more stable than Peja who joined later.

The 02 Kings were incredible. They were all experts at performing poorly at critical moments. It can only be said that team spirit is something very mysterious.

It wasn't a critical moment yet, and Christie's shot hit the target steadily.

The person defending him is Fox.

Compared with Kobe and Meng Lang, outside players are indeed better at shooting at this point.

This is also what the "Princeton" tactic emphasizes, attacking the opponent's weakest point.

The Lakers still gave the ball to Meng Lang.

When Meng Lang tried to break through, he found that the Warriors' formation had decisively shrunk. He did not hesitate at all and immediately threw the ball to Kobe on the wing.

1v1 environment.

Having just scored 20 points in such an environment in the previous game, Kobe is now extremely confident and just plays whenever he gets the ball.

It's a pity that Christie taught him a lesson.

"Dangdang!"

This is the smell that comes from the sound of blacksmithing.

This is Kobe!
Big Ben grabs the offensive rebound.

Brad Miller is 2 meters tall, and Chris Webber is also a standard power forward. Both of them have averaged 13 rebounds per game in the season, although Miller is still a rookie. But it is still difficult to grab rebounds from them, but Ben did it. But he didn't have the space to shoot after grabbing the rebound, so he could only dribble to the outside.

Meng Lang took the ball and shot a three-pointer directly. This shot caught the Warriors off guard. The ball fell into the basket, which also caused a low cheer from the audience on the sidelines.

Really too strong!
After averaging 40 points per game last season, Meng Lang is even more adept at scoring this season.

Many media outlets say that for so-and-so, scoring is as easy as eating and drinking.

But based on the feelings of these Warriors fans, this description is not accurate for other people, but it is very accurate to describe Meng Lang.

And the last person who gave them this feeling was no one else...

Michael Jordan!

They had never seen a player with such strong scoring ability, except for the two of them.

Although there is a "madman" in the Warriors, if they are asked to be honest, the "madman" is not that kind of person!

However, Meng Lang was very fierce, and the Warriors counterattacked very quickly. This time Chris Webber pretended to pass the ball, but he broke through to the basket. The person who followed him this time was Ben Wallace. He followed Chris Webber's movement, but the latter could also play the main dribble between the legs like the "Magic Team". The breakthrough was no different from the guard. The technique was quite in place. A layup, relying on the higher height, completed the goal.

Big Ben stroked his afro in frustration.

Is this what Princeton means by “everyone is a soldier”?
All three rounds were successful, and the goals were scored by three different people.

This "multi-point blossoming" style of play is a challenge for the Lakers' defense.

The Warriors, on their part, seemed to have found a way to defend them.

They double-teamed Meng Lang, forcing him to pass the ball to his teammates as much as possible.

This is similar to the way the Heat played in Game 3 of the Finals.

But the Heat lost badly that time, but this time, the Warriors performed very well.

The main reason……

Kobe Bryant!

Kobe, who played very well in the previous game, was also extremely confident in this game. He played one-on-one whenever he got the ball. Then he was beaten up by society. Whether it was Christie or the "madman", they were not something he could handle at this stage.

Kobe's real level now should be above the starting line, the level of an All-Star substitute. If he breaks out, he can reach the level of an ordinary All-Star.

It is definitely enough to face other defenders, but it is still a little bit lacking when facing Christie and the "Madman".

In the first quarter, he made 7 of 2 shots, very "Kobe", the "little blacksmith" from Italy.

It was also because of his poor performance that the Lakers fell behind the Warriors 12 to 30 despite Meng Lang's 34 points in a single quarter.

The "Princeton" multi-point blooming style of play is indeed a headache.

Especially when these few people who are very suitable for this tactic stand together, this tactic can really bring out better power.

In fact, when the original Lakers met the "Gorgeous Kings" in the 02 Western Conference Finals, they did not rely on defense to defeat the Kings.

The Kings lost three of their seven games, and scored more than 7 points in all seven games. Such an average score was really strong in the "iron bucket defense" era of the early 3s. But just like the "four centers" who dominated the era in the 7s, it was not the "four centers" but the outside player Michael Jordan. In the "defensive era" of the early 90s, it was not the team with the best defense that dominated the era, but the man with the most destructive power, Shaquille O'Neal!
The Lakers had the last laugh thanks to their more ferocious firepower.

In Game 7 of the series, they scored 112 points, which was the only game they scored over 110 points, because the Kings scored 106 points in that game...

So if you want to defeat the "Princeton" system, defense alone is not enough.

And from the later progress of the game, we can see that the Lakers' defensive system with Ben Wallace as the core of the backup defense was severely restricted by this kind of multi-pick and run tactics.

Ben Wallace was unable to perform to his full potential, even though he had three blocks in this game.

But compared with the number of successful backup defenses, there are more times when the backup defense is not timely.

"Big White Bear" played his role very well.

Kobe couldn't get going on offense, and the Lakers didn't play their style on defense, so after slowly falling behind in the first quarter, the Lakers kept chasing points. In the end, they lost to the Warriors 102-108.

Replacing Bibby and Peja with Hardaway and "Madman", this team's athletic talent ceiling is higher, the style of play is more flamboyant, and many of the scoring tactics seem to be more difficult to resist.

After all, you can interfere with Bibby's shooting, but few people can stop the "madman" flying in the air from bombing the basket.

You can make it difficult for Peja to catch the ball, but if you want to block Hardaway's quick pass, the difficulty really rises sharply.

This is the Golden State Warriors.

克里斯-韦伯本场比赛砍下了22分11篮板；哈达威拿到了18分4篮板7助攻；狂人拿到了26分6篮板4助攻；克里斯蒂拿到了15分4篮板2助攻；米勒拿到了8分6篮板……

They each performed their roles and played the best they could under the "Princeton" system.

湖人队这边，孟浪拿到了41分7篮板8助攻，今天不止是科比，其他人的状态也不是太好，从数据就能看出来，迪瓦茨14分6篮板3助攻；本-华莱士4分12篮板；福克斯8分3篮板3助攻……

Although Kobe scored 20 points, he took a total of 20 shots, 1 shot for 1 point. Even without looking at his specific numbers, we know that his efficiency is definitely not high.

After the game, a reporter asked Meng Lang: "Did this game bring Kobe back to his original form? Do you think Kobe can be your helper?"

Meng Lang said: "Whether Kobe is my helper or not, the biggest responsibility for the loss tonight also lies with me. If I get 50 points and 9 more points, I think we will be the winner, so the responsibility is still on me!"

These words were so familiar that no media dared to question them.

Because just last season, Meng Lang said something similar and then scored 60 points against the Pacers.

Their first thought was that the Lakers' next opponent was in trouble.

They thought Meng Lang would go all out in that game.

However, in the end, they guessed wrong. In the Lakers' next game, someone did play very strongly, but it was not Meng Lang, but Kobe, who scored a season-high 27 points in this game.

Coupled with Meng Lang's 37 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists, even though the other players' form has not recovered yet, the Lakers avoided a "two-game losing streak."

Meng Lang had expected the other players to be in poor condition, just like the Lakers last season, as they were all adapting to their new responsibilities. (End of this chapter)