Legendary star

Chapter 128 Tie-break (1)

On May 2000, 5, the last round of the Western Conference semifinals, the last game between the Spurs and the Lakers, will be played at the Lakers' home stadium, the Staples Center. This season, the Lakers have bid farewell to the 20-year-old Great Western Forum Stadium, moved to the Staples Center Arena, and in the first season at the Staples Center Arena, the Lakers won the first record in the regular season, and countless Lakers fans are also looking forward to, moving in In the first season of the new arena, the Lakers can regain the championship.

The series between the Lakers and the Spurs has reached such a level. It can be said that the two teams have no secrets at all. In the previous six games, the two teams have completely exposed all their weaknesses and strengths. Vicky and Phil Jackson also made all the adjustments that could be made, and under this situation, they are already very familiar with the two teams, and they can only rely on the players' own performance.

Since Phil Jackson adjusted the tactical positions of Kobe and O'Neal, and replaced Glenn Rice's actual role in the team with Rick Fox and Robert Hawley, the Lakers' offensive fluency and deterrence have been relatively high. Compared with the regular season, the overall level has been raised, and the Spurs reimbursed David Robinson. Relatively speaking, the Lakers still have a great advantage in this game.So for this game, Phil Jackson is still very confident.

Compared with Phil Jackson's full confidence, Popovich is a bit vague. At Staples itself, the whistle will be slightly biased towards the Lakers, and O'Neal's deterrence and lethality are obvious to all. Can the Spurs' inside line resist? O'Neal is still a question mark, and Popovich himself has no idea how the Spurs' perimeter team can perform in this game after experiencing the fiery touch of the previous game.

At 6:[-] p.m., in the locker room of Staples' visiting team, Popovich was making pre-game arrangements and mobilization with a serious expression. The importance of this game is self-evident. If they win, the Spurs will advance to the Western Conference Finals. If they lose, they all go home to fish.For Popovich, who is aiming to defend his title, he doesn't want the Spurs to end the season like this.

"I don't have much to say. I hope everyone can forget the previous game and the previous score, and play this game as the first game." If David Robinson's injury, and the team lost After the Battle of Tianwangshan, if Popovich had no idea about this round of the series, then after the Spurs won the last game, Popovich's heart for this round of series was rekindled hope.

After Popovich finished the final mobilization, assistant coach Mike Budenholzer began to announce the starting lineup of the game and the tactical arrangement after the opening.In this game, Popovich made adjustments to the starting lineup again. He did not follow the personnel arrangement of the previous game in the lineup. Targeted arrangements will be made. Another point is that Popovich doesn't believe that the Spurs' outside triathlon can continue the feel of the previous game. It is really stupid to pin the victory on luck.

In this game, Samaki Walker will serve as the starting center for the first time this season, while Tim Duncan will serve as the power forward. Oeliy returned to the starting lineup after being the sixth man in more than 10 games. Point guard Jalen Jackson replaced Avery Johnson. Len Jackson is a bit better than Avery Johnson in both defense and shooting.And Sean Elliott and Avery Johnson will appear on the bench, which means that when the Spurs are at a slight disadvantage in the main lineup, Popovich wants to use his brains on the bench.

Just as Mike Budenholzer finished announcing the starting lineup and explaining tactics to each player with the tactical board prepared in advance, Popovich sat next to Meng Xu.

"Meng, do you remember the first game against the Raptors this season?" Popovich patted Meng Xu on the shoulder, as if he wanted to have a chat with Meng Xu.

"Remember, that was the first time in my career to kill an opponent." Of course, Meng Xu will never forget the away game between the Spurs and the Raptors. In the first game after acquiring the big heart skills, Meng Xu made 3 of 11 7-pointers in the game, and finally made a lore shot. It was that game that made Popovich firm. Meng Xu's determination was strengthened. After that game, Meng Xu began to play the main force in the Spurs, and gradually became an important member of the Spurs.

"I remember that before that game, although you had to practice shooting more after every training session, your shooting percentage was still very poor, to the point where sometimes you didn't dare to shoot when there was an open space. Although now you The middle distance is still very poor." Popovich said here, and couldn't help laughing: "Do you still remember the first time I yelled at you from the sidelines?"

"Yeah." Although Popovich laughed, Meng Xu didn't dare to follow suit. When Popovich said this, Meng Xu also nodded.The first time Popovich yelled at himself from the sidelines, it was because he didn't shoot when he was open. At the beginning of this season, as a substitute for the Spurs, Meng Xu's main task was to defend. Qi didn't have too many demands on Meng Xu, as long as he did a good job in defense, even if it was 0 points and 0 rebounds, Popovich would never say anything.But since Meng Xu showed his shooting talent, Popovich's requirements for Meng Xu have also increased, and he will yell at him if he is not careful.

"We can't beat the Lakers with Tim alone, so in this game, we need your performance, just like in the game against the Raptors, Celtics, and Knicks." Popovich said, suddenly Standing up: "Throw that damn basketball in."

"I see." Meng Xu nodded, "I'll throw that damn basketball in." Since the last game, Meng Xu has liked the feeling of passing the ball. The reason for the ball is because of his status in the team and more assist points. Since the last game, Meng Xuci has experienced the joy of passing the ball. The feeling of hello, me, everyone, is still there It stimulated Meng Xu's young heart, but Meng Xu couldn't refuse the head coach's "special request".

(End of this chapter)