Legendary star

Chapter 212 Gemini Showdown (2)

"These two guys are so strong." In the game between the Spurs and the Lakers, at the beginning of the game, after O'Neal and Duncan used up a lot of physical strength to attack the basket continuously, the main attack point on the court gradually turned to Meng Xu. Transferred here with Kobe.Kobe is better to say that, as the No. 2 head of the Lakers, and the player with the strongest personal ability and scoring ability in the team except O'Neal, when O'Neal needs to rest and accumulate energy, Kobe needs to take over the offense as a matter of course. flag.And Meng Xu doesn't have Kobe's status in the Spurs. At this time in the past, David Robinson and Duncan took turns as the offensive core, but since the injury last season, David Robinson's ability and state have declined more and more. , and it was O'Neal who defended David Robinson in this game. In this case, David Robinson basically has more than enough energy now, and Avery Johnson, the current general is shooting, and the breakthrough is average. At this time, you can't count on it. As for Sean Elliott, you can't count on it even more. The former All-Star player has basically degenerated into a spot-up shooter.

Under such circumstances, when Kobe had no hope of breaking through on the offensive end, he used difficult fadeaway jump shots in front of Meng Xu again and again. Although under Meng Xu's interference, his hit rate was a little bit worse. But Kobe also made 9 of 4 shots and 2 of 2 free throws in the first quarter, scoring 10 points.Unlike Kobe Bryant's time and time again, the kind of backward shot that is very similar to Jordan, Meng Xu uses his excellent off-ball running position to constantly throw off Kobe or Rick Fox who is defending him, using a shot similar to Reggie Miller. The kind of emergency stop jump shot kept hitting Kobe. In this case, Kobe and Meng Xu also dedicated an exciting "answer-ball" for all the audience in the first quarter.In the end, Kobe and Meng Xu scored 10 points each in the first quarter, and the Spurs and Lakers also tied at 21.

"It's really interesting. Both of them are going to be Pippen's players, but now they are getting farther and farther away from Pippen." Looking at the players of the two teams leaving the field one after another, Magic Johnson said such a paragraph without thinking .

"Ervin, why do you always like to say things that people can't understand? Are you trying to show the inscrutable to the audience all over the United States?" The interacting Michaels, after hearing what the magician said, asked sarcastically at the first moment. Although Michaels and the magician had a good personal relationship, but in order to attract the audience, the two were explaining. There will always be a few words of ridicule at the other party intentionally or unintentionally, deliberately creating conflicts between the two.

"El, with your IQ, it's hard for me to explain this to you, because even if I say it, you can't understand it." After hearing the sarcasm in Michaels' words, Magic Johnson also made a face Disgusted and unfathomable expressions, by the way, leaned to one side, and let out a big laugh, and the audience behind them also burst into a burst of laughter after hearing the two people mocking each other, and then In order to alleviate the embarrassment of his partner, Magic Johnson stopped laughing and continued: "I think Popovich and Mr. Phil Jackson on the opposite side will definitely understand what I mean."

Of course Popovich and Phil Jackson can understand what Magic Johnson is saying now. Whether in the Lakers or the Spurs, O'Neal and Duncan are the cornerstones of the team and Jordan of their respective teams. The helper and second master trained by others, that is, Pippen of their respective teams.But now, both Kobe and Meng Xu have deviated from the paths their respective teams planned for them in advance.Especially Kobe is the most obvious, this rebellious boy with afro, if he was still a new star in the league last season, then after the baptism of the Western Conference Finals, Kobe has become one of the hottest superstars in the league this season.At the same time, after the start of this season, Kobe's offensive desire has become stronger and stronger. Compared with last season, Kobe's personal offense with the ball has also increased. Taking the previous 2 games as an example, Kobe scored 5+ points per game, of which There are 20 games with 3+, and the average points and shots per game have surpassed last season by a large margin, but Kobe’s rebounds, assists, and even steals and blocks have declined to varying degrees in these four statistics. Kobe’s performance , has indicated that he has gradually deviated from the track of a team player.

Although Meng Xu is not as obvious as Kobe, and has only participated in 3 games so far, but from today's game and the game against Timberwolves last week, we can see Meng Xu's desire to attack the basket. Compared with last season, it is more than a little bit better. As for the changes of Meng Xu and Kobe, only Popovich and Phil Jackson know whether it is good or bad.

In the second half of the second quarter, when the main lineups of the two teams returned to the court, the situation on the court was still very similar to that of the first quarter. Kobe and Meng Xu soared points on the court.Therefore, such a battle for No. 1 in the league between Duncan and O'Neal eventually evolved into a battle between Meng Xu and Kobe.

"Coach, do you want to call a timeout?" When Meng Xu ran behind Duncan along the baseline, and Kobe, who was defending Meng Xu, was blocked by Duncan. The basketball passed to Meng Xu behind him, and Meng Xu increased his personal score to 20 points through this emergency stop jump shot.After seeing this situation, Steve Cole, who was standing on the sidelines, also put forward his own suggestions to Popovich beside him.There are now 5 assistant coaches under Popovich, but if you talk about observations, it may be due to a long player career. Among the assistant coaches under Popovich, Steve Kerr is extremely talented up.

"Not yet." Popovich turned his head to look at Steve Kerr, and then continued to watch the situation on the court. Although Meng Xu continued to score, Meng Xu's scoring method has never been out of the team Different from Kobe's singles with the ball, all of Meng Xu's points are scored by running off the ball, throwing off defenders and receiving passes from his teammates to score, and Popovich can also see It can be seen that Duncan was obviously playing for Meng Xu in this game.

For this season's MVP, Duncan wants very much, but in the current NBA, if you want to win the regular season MVP, you must meet the two conditions of the best team and the best players. , the regular season MVPs are basically the stars of the top 3 teams in the league, and most of them are the stars of the teams with the best record in the league, such as O'Neal last season, and Malone last season, so for Duncan The MVP dream, the Spurs will win more games this season than last season, and the most important thing is to gain an advantage in the 4 games against the Lakers.Because in Duncan's heart, there is only one biggest competitor for his MVP, and that is O'Neal. , Duncan will not take it to heart, in Duncan's heart, they are no longer players at the same level as him.

But relying on oneself alone cannot defeat O'Neal and his Lakers. In the past, David Robinson could help him, but with David Robinson getting injured again last season and getting older, he also needs another helper Meng Xu, who was born in Wake Forest like himself, is undoubtedly a very good choice.Therefore, from the beginning of this season, Duncan has been giving Meng Xu some opportunities intentionally or unintentionally, but it is different from Duncan's thinking. For Popovich, as long as there are signs of possible turmoil in the team, he must immediately It was strangled in the cradle, so why did Phil Jackson endure Kobe's changes, but Popovich couldn't bear Meng Xu's changes.

Unlike Duncan, O'Neal is not interested in any honors in the regular season this season. There is only one thing O'Neal cares about now, and that is the championship. In order to ensure that he can win the championship this season, he can get enough As early as the beginning of the regular season, O'Neal and Phil Jackson discussed it. In this season, O'Neal will reduce his playing time and at the same time have at least 10 minutes of rest during the long regular season. The game is about time, and when it comes to the playoffs and finals, there is the stage for O'Neal to show his talents.Therefore, O'Neal not only supported Kobe's initiative to ask for the lead, but even condoned it.But what surprised O'Neal was that it was precisely because of O'Neal's connivance this season that Kobe wanted to replace him.

After halftime, Kobe had 23 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists, Meng Xu had 22 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, and 2 steals. They were the best players in their respective teams. After the tie in the first quarter, it was tied again at 48 in the second quarter.When the third quarter started, Meng Xu sat on the bench again and didn't get a chance to play in the entire third quarter.As for the reason?Naturally, Popovich knows best. Without knowing what started, Popovich set a small rule for Meng Xu to get off the game after scoring a maximum of 3 points in the regular season. If he can still play in the fourth quarter, he can only put Meng Xu on the bench in the third quarter.

　Today is really a sad reminder. I typed slowly at first, and I was planning to add 4000 words. I didn’t expect to write [-] words. I clicked memory cleanup without saving. More than two hours were wasted like this.

　　Thanks to the boy in the black and white shirt for the reward and the monthly pass, thank you.

　　Thanks for the monthly ticket of -8℃, thank you

　　
　
(End of this chapter)