Legendary star

Chapter 112 The biggest opponent
The most embarrassing thing for the Lakers now is Glen Rice. After coming to the Lakers last season, Glen Rice played very happily under Kurt Rambis, but after Mayfair Jackson took over the Lakers this season, Everything has changed. First of all, his tactical status has declined. Under Rambis, Glen Rice and Kobe have equal tactical status. Both of them are playing around O'Neal. Under him, Glen Rice is very uncomfortable playing. With Glen Rice's ability, he can't be the finisher in the triangle offense, and Glen Rice's running support ability is also average, which is far behind Pippen. inside.For the complicated movement in the triangle offense, Glenn Rice would get dizzy as soon as he saw the dense black lines on the tactical board. Although he had worked very hard, he still could not meet the requirements of Mayfair Jackson.

Now on the court, the Lakers play more smoothly without Glen Rice. Although Robert Hawley and Rick Fox are not as capable as Glen Rice, their understanding of the triangle offense far exceeds that of Glen Rice. People's running ability is also stronger.As long as O'Neal holds the ball, Hawley will run towards the bottom corner. Duncan will double-team O'Neal, then Hawley will be empty. Although Hawley has average athletic ability, he still shoots pretty well. He is still a big man who can shoot three-pointers. , If there is no double-teaming, it is O'Neal's chance to single David Robinson, and the crossover between Rick Fox and Kobe is also very good, and Rick Fox's off-ball screen ability is also top-notch.With Kobe and Rick Fox covering each other, Meng Xu and Sean Etrio had to change their defensive targets frequently, but with Sean Etrio's ability, let alone defend Kobe, just keep up Kobe barely.Seeing the situation on the court, Glenn Rice also understood that his career with the Lakers was over. A player who couldn't adapt to the team's tactics but was still worth trading could end without thinking about it.

Four minutes into the third quarter, Popovich called a timeout again. The Spurs' tactics against the Lakers in the past have failed. With him, as long as O'Neal and Glen Rice are restricted and Kobe, the supporter, can play casually, then the Lakers' triangle offense cannot really rotate.But now when O'Neal is the supporter, the Spurs have to double-team O'Neal. Unlike Kobe, no one in this league can defend O'Neal one-on-one, and O'Neal's offensive efficiency and lethality at the basket are also better than Kobe was too strong.

After the timeout, Popovich made adjustments to the Spurs' lineup, replacing Sean Ettelio with Jaren Jackson, using Jackson to defend Fox while Duncan defended Robert Hawley.

O'Neal once again charged into the interior with the ball, and Kobe crossed Fox as usual and screened for the opponent. When Kobe and Fox intersected, Meng Xu, who was following Kobe, was blocked by Fox, and Jackson, who was following Fox, He was also blocked by Kobe, and after a short delay, it was Jackson who defended Kobe. Jackson was not as tall as Sean Etterio, but his movement speed and defensive awareness were much stronger than Sean Etterio. When Xu followed Fox to the strong side, Meng Xu suddenly left Fox and ran towards the bottom corner.

"What's wrong with Meng?" Just when Bill Walton was still puzzled by Meng Xu's defensive choice, what happened on the court directly shocked Bill Walton speechless.

The moment Meng Xu rushed to the bottom corner, Duncan gave up Robert Hawley to double-team O'Neal who had already knocked David Robinson out of position. O'Neal, who was double-teamed by David Robinson and Duncan, passed the ball without hesitation. It was given to Holly, who had just run to the bottom corner and was already unguarded. In the game just now, the Lakers had already hit two goals in a row by Holly in this way.

Just when Holly received O'Neal's pass and was about to adjust and shoot, Meng Xu had already appeared in front of Holly, and Duncan also left the basket at this time, heading for the area on the right side of the free throw line Run, go and intercept Fox there, while blocking Hawley's upward passing lane.

"The cooperation between Meng and Tim is so tacit. In this series of defensive cooperation, the two did not communicate at all. It is really hard to imagine that the two of them only played together for one season."

After Meng Xu blocked the passing route, Holly hesitated for a while, and then jumped up to meet Meng Xu. Holly is 2 meters tall, and his bounce speed is very fast, and the speed of his shots is also very fast. So Hawley is not afraid of defensive players like Meng Xu who are shorter than himself. At the same time, Hawley is a natural player with a big heart. He has hit key goals many times in his 06-year career. He is also the hero of the Rockets' two consecutive championships. .

Hawley has such self-confidence. Although Meng Xu is the best defensive player this season, Hawley doesn't think Meng Xu can do the same to himself.

"What?" After Holly took off, Meng Xu also jumped up close to Holly, but Meng Xu's take-off height really surprised Holly.

Holly's bounce is also very good, but because Holly's shot speed is very fast, and in order to get the best shooting feel, Holly will not wait until the take-off height reaches the highest when he takes off and shoots.But this time, when Hawley reached the height where he felt the best when shooting, he found that he had no chance to make a shot at all. His shooting trajectory was completely covered by Meng Xu. Even if he shot, it would add a block statistic to Meng Xubai That's all.

In desperation, Holly had no choice but to take a shot when his take-off height rose to the highest point. Holly, who had completely lost his shooting touch, made an unprecedented shot under Meng Xu's interference.

"Fox, pay attention to your defense." In order to let Kobe save energy and spend more energy on the offensive end, Phil Jackson asked Kobe and Fox to switch defenses, using Fox to defend Meng Xu, while Kobe defended relatively easy Jackson. But when Fox faced Meng Xu, he let Meng Xu take a step, and Meng Xu hit a three-pointer very easily.

"Mayfe, it seems that our biggest opponent in the future will be this Spurs." Lakers assistant coach Jim Clemens said standing behind Mayfair Jackson. Compared with the rookie challenge, Meng Xu has made great progress now, although The vision of the players is not very good, but Jim Clemens believes that Meng Xu's future achievements will not be too low since the Rookie Challenge. It is already a very difficult opponent. If Meng Xu can continue to grow, as long as he has the same offensive ability as Kobe this season, then the Spurs will always be an insurmountable opponent for the Lakers.

"Well, so we still have to make some changes next season." Mayfair Jackson nodded, expressing his agreement with Jim Clemens, and at the same time glanced at Glenn Lai who was sitting on the bench from the corner of his eye. s.

(End of this chapter)