So I am the god of basketball?

The Western Conference semifinals between the Lakers and the SuperSonics officially began.

The SuperSonics are first in the Western Conference and have home-court advantage.

Logically speaking, they should be the more motivated party.

However, judging from the pre-match performances of both sides, this is not the case.

The Sonics are serious here.

On the contrary, the Lakers have more young people, but they are more relaxed.

But it's no wonder. Although Kobe and Ben Wallace are young, they have already won the championship trophy twice, and this experience makes them able to face the playoffs calmly.

Even in the playoffs, they took a deep breath and slowly exhaled:

I feel like everything is back!
That's it!
And don't forget, they eliminated the Supersonics in last season's Western Conference Finals to enter the Finals.

Although Barkley and Eddie Jones are no longer on the team this time, and the team's roster depth has been weakened again, the Supersonics did not make any reinforcements this summer. Not only are all the players one year older, they also do not have the extra money to renew some of their expiring contracts, and can only watch them enter the free market.

If we talk about weakening the SuperSonics, they are also weakening them.

But unlike the SuperSonics, the Lakers, who have a young core, can make up for the lost combat power even if several main players leave as long as the young people grow up.

Judging from the results of the first round of the playoffs, Kobe has made great progress.

Are you kidding? He even won the “Most Improved Player Award”!

Then Ben Wallace also entered his prime.

Divac also recovered.

It is worth mentioning that Divac was originally known as the representative of "high energy with a minimum salary" and was the most underrated inside player in the league. This is not a very friendly evaluation of his worth, but it is enough to show that if his abilities are fully utilized, he can reach the first-class level of the center position.

Again:
If it weren't for the Philadelphia 76ers' inside duo being so superb, the Lakers' Ben Wallace and Divac would be the league's top "inside duo".

There may be some who are on par with them, but there are almost no ones who can surpass them.

This was also reflected in the competition.

After Payton and Mourning connected last year, Mourning's strong attack with the ball under the basket became one of their biggest tricks.

But this time, the Supersonics wanted to make another opening appearance.

As soon as the ball flew out of Mourning's hand, it was slapped away by Ben Wallace.

Gary Payton rushed towards the ball in a hurry, but found himself competing with two young guys, Kobe and Meng Lang.

Born in 68, he is now 31 years old.

At this age, his condition is still at its peak, but his explosive power and legs have indeed declined.

Anyway, compared with these two young men, he is far inferior.

The ball was caught by Kobe and then quickly passed to Meng Lang.

Meng Lang looked at him and knew what he was thinking. But he had been performing really well recently, so he threw a high pass to Kobe.

But Kobe was thinking of starting over again and increasing his speed, and then Meng Lang passed the ball to him.

He jumped up in a hurry, but was unable to hit the ball into the basket, so he could only throw it back to Meng Lang.

Meng Lang scored the first goal of the semi-finals with a one-handed slam dunk.

"It seems that I overestimated you!" Meng Lang explained what it means to "take advantage of others".

Kobe:…

I can only say that there is no tacit understanding, absolutely no tacit understanding.

The task of defending Gary Payton was given to Kobe, and Meng Lang was mainly responsible for double-teaming Mourning with Ben Wallace.

The idea is to put enough pressure on him to force him to handle the ball quickly.

After all, this season's Mourning was selected to the "Best Second Team". He is at his absolute peak and must be given the respect he deserves:

The defensive intensity must be maximized for him!

Mourning really didn't dare to shoot this time. The ball went to the wing, and Darr Ellis took a three-pointer, which fell accurately into the basket.

Ellis is one of the most accurate three-point shooters on the SuperSonics this season, averaging 43.3% of his three-pointers per game. This is why he can still survive in the league after entering the league in 83.

We can also see from the history of the NBA that any high-quality shooter can have a long enough career.

For example, Ray Allen, even when he was 40 years old, there were still teams hoping that he would come back and join their team.

When the score difference is only 2 to 3 points, such a player is enough to make a team's year's hard work come to nothing, or all of it go to waste.

Ray Allen's subsequent three-pointer further elevated his overall historical status.

Of course, his three-pointer only enhanced his historical status, but it actually saved someone's career.

Ellis's three-pointer was also crucial, as he helped the Supersonics break their scoring drought.

But Chuck Daly did not intend to change his defensive tactics, and he decided to put more pressure on Mourning.

Mourning himself is not an inside player with strong passing ability. His previous season average of most assists per game was only 2.3. In most other seasons, his average of assists per game was only about 1.5. This season, he has barely reached his career average of 1.4.

This is his normal level.

He is a blue-collar inside player, although he averaged 20 points per game.

The disadvantages of lack of scoring methods and lack of ability to attack with the ball are still very obvious.

There is no way Chuck Daly would change his playing style just because of this beautiful pass.

And Ellis only averaged 10 points per game.

If you have the ability, you can score 40 points tonight and beat the Lakers!

Someone said that the series was lost because the role players did not play better, which is nonsense. Everyone knows that the playoffs are a battle between core players.

The opponent's role players performed better. Is it possible that the opponent's core players led the team well?
He never knows how to think about his own players. No wonder he only won four championships throughout his career despite having so many star teammates.

There's another reason Chuck Daly can take his time...

That is:
rash!

One step outside the three-point line, he took the ball and looked at Ellis who was not able to come up. He raised his hand and made a three-pointer, successfully responding.

There was a low cheer from the Sonics' home court.

Meng Lang's header is so shocking no matter when he looks at it.

Some players make the opposing fans nervous when they get the ball, and Meng Lang is undoubtedly such a player. And he can always prove that your nervousness is not wrong!
It was the SuperSonics' turn to attack again.

George Karl looked at the constipated pass and wanted to curse. This season, the Supersonics averaged 100.9 points per game, and their scoring momentum is definitely not weak.

But when facing the Lakers, why does the offense seem to be so stagnant?
The ball came into Mourning's hands again, and this time he failed to find an open teammate. When Ben Wallace's slap was about to hit the ball, Mourning had no choice but to raise his hand and shoot the ball.

The shot was too forced and bounced out of the rim. Divac pinned him behind him and Ben Wallace easily grabbed the rebound.

George Karl on the sidelines twisted his fat body as if ants were crawling on his body, and his anxiety was clearly revealed at this moment.

He wanted to call a timeout.

The ball was in Meng Lang's hands again, and Gary Payton stepped forward and confronted Meng Lang.

He knew very well that he could not let the Lakers score any more goals.

Meng Lang was not in a hurry to face him. He dribbled the ball slowly, directed his teammates to run, and played like a traditional open position. But just when his feet reached the three-point line, he suddenly took a step, and Meng Lang walked towards the basket like a bulldozer, crushing Gary Payton.

After a year of training at the No. 3 position last season, Meng Lang's size is now that of a pure forward.

Gary Payton is a "sticky little goblin", but in the face of the absolute tonnage gap, he can only retreat step by step and can't hold on at all.

Meng Lang went all the way to the basket. Mourning couldn't stand it anymore and came over to him. Meng Lang swung the ball handsomely and the ball flew straight over his head. Divac got the ball under the basket, used his back to hold the opponent, and easily put the ball into the basket.

The delicate craftsmanship of the "European Tank" is clearly revealed.

"beep!"

George Karl had no choice but to call a timeout.

In fact, the problems of the Supersonics have been exposed so far. They were the most powerful team in the regular season, and it was Gary Payton and Alonzo Mourning who ensured the team's bottom line. Moreover, this was a special season, and the schedule was too tight. The role of their "core" combination, which had a tacit understanding and was durable, was infinitely magnified in the regular season, thus covering up the problems of the Supersonics.

This SuperSonics team's new players are not as good as last season.

After the timeout, the Sonics' lackluster offense exposed this fact.

At the end of the game, the Lakers, who had taken the lead at the start, won their first game of the semifinals very smoothly without any ups and downs.

Bill Walton said: "The Lakers players are at their best in the most important playoffs!"

He believes that the Lakers were able to beat the SuperSonics so easily because they were in good shape.

There is actually nothing wrong with this statement, because the Lakers have indeed gone through the regular season to develop their current style of play.

It is very different from the "defensive counterattack" of last season.

Because the main center this season is Divac.

He doesn't move that fast, so a lot of times they can't counterattack.

The Lakers' defensive system this season is based on a man-to-man defense tactic with Ben Wallace as the backup, while Divac is responsible for dealing with Ben Wallace's only "natural enemy", the large-tonnage inside players.

Then Meng Lang organized the offense, using his strong personal scoring ability to attract double-teaming to pass the ball, and Divac's support made the Lakers' offensive tactics more diverse. Try to create space for Kobe to play one-on-one, so that he can have a more comfortable offensive rhythm.

At the same time, it is equipped with outside shooting.

As for the indispensable one-on-one play under the basket, the current Lakers are lacking it, but there is nothing they can do but let Divac bear this part of the pressure.

Although one-on-one play under the basket is not Divac's best skill, he can still stand out when he is needed to do so.

This is enough!

This season, the Sonics' offensive system collided with the Lakers' defensive system.

Kobe can keep a 1v1 eye on Gary Payton from the outside, while Mourning, who is responsible for causing damage under the basket, is double-teamed by Divac and Ben Wallace. When these two people are unable to open the game, relying solely on outside shooting to support the game is undoubtedly a foolish dream.

The 12-point difference also illustrates this point.

Barkley, as always, gave all the credit to Meng Lang: "38 points, 10 rebounds, 14 assists, what else can I say? This is Dream. No other player can lead the team to win in various ways like him. It is no exaggeration to say that as long as the team needs him, he can even play inside and still perform at the regular season MVP level!"

"..."

And often at this time, Kenny Smith never said a word, just watched and listened.

He understands Barkley very well.

If he had won two championship trophies with Meng Lang, he would have definitely praised Meng Lang as a god...

Barkley: Ugh, Dream is a god!

There was no change in the second game of the series. The Lakers quickly took the lead at the home court of the Supersonics and maintained this advantage until the end. The score was 2-0.
In the eyes of many people, it is only a matter of time before they advance.

In fact, even the Seattle media couldn't refute this.

They are already thinking about the next question:

Should the Supersonics enter into reconstruction?
Judging from the regular season alone, Sean's trade of Alonzo Mourning was a success, and they continued their strong form for two years. But if they can't beat the Lakers, then the Sonics' system is really unnecessary.

But the sad thing is...

Mourning is the "second center" in this season's "Best Team".

If he can't even beat the Lakers with the "Glove", then...

How should they trade to have stronger power to defeat the Lakers?
There was no answer to this question yet, so they went home to go fishing.

The Lakers showed no mercy when they returned to their home court, winning two games in a row and eliminating the Supersonics 2-4.

At the end of the fourth game, several "broken gloves" were thrown in front of Payton from the Lakers' audience.

Gary Payton, who always talks trash, blushed for the first time.

He didn't know how many times he had lost to Meng Lang.

However, he had plenty of ways to make himself look less embarrassed: "What's wrong with losing to Dream? Didn't Michael lose when he met him? It's normal for me to lose..."

Jordan: …

Fuck you!

How come everything involves me!

Jordan, who was already annoyed enough, was now even more annoyed.

But no matter how much he worries, what is going to happen will still happen:
4-2!

The Heat eliminated the Bulls and advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals again.

The Bulls were sent home by the Heat for the second consecutive year.

Interestingly, the day after the Bulls were eliminated, the Trail Blazers defeated the Warriors and made it to the Western Conference Finals... (End of this chapter)