Legendary star

Chapter 271 Another Dominant Player

"What a dominant player." In the game between the Spurs and the Lakers, the main lineups of both sides basically played for 24 minutes in the first half, and when the halftime ended, the Spurs still led the Lakers 47-37 At 10 points, Michaels, who got the technical statistics in the first half of the game, also sighed, 21 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 8 steals, and 5 blocks. According to statistics in the first half, a 5*5 statistic was completed in the first half of the game. For any player, this is a miracle. It can be said that in this game, Meng Xu played well on both offense and defense. Dominant performance.

"This is indeed a miracle." Looking at Meng Xu who had already entered the player tunnel in the distance, Magic Johnson also showed an elusive smile, and then said in a low voice: "Larry, maybe the two of us All lost."

When the players from both sides walked into the locker room, the fans at the scene were not interested in watching the wonderful performance of the cheerleaders on the field, but were all discussing what happened in this game. Originally, everyone expected before the game. With a 2 to 1 lead and the fact that this is the home court of the Lakers, the Lakers must be able to easily win this game, but the current situation is not very optimistic. Meng Xu blocked the entire perimeter of the Lakers by himself. Now The problem facing the Lakers is that Kobe is not in good shape, O'Neal is alone, and the Lakers have never been able to break free from the Spurs' defense.

"Tim, how do you feel?" In the Spurs locker room, Popovich walked over to Duncan, who was still taking advantage of the break and flipping through psychology materials as usual. Duncan is going back to Wake Forest this summer to take a psychology exam. Master's degree, for Duncan, this is as important as the championship, so as long as he has a little spare time, Duncan will take out the materials he carries with him and take a look.And since the Spurs team came to Los Angeles, Duncan's body has been out of shape, which is also an important factor affecting the Spurs.Although in the first half of the game, the Spurs seemed to completely suppress the Lakers, but it is foreseeable that the Lakers will definitely counterattack in the second half, so Popovich now also wants to know whether Duncan's condition can still Withstand O'Neal, and this is the key to winning this game.

"Coach, don't worry, I will do my best." Duncan closed the book, put it in the locker room behind him, and began to listen to Steve Kerr's tactics. , Duncan has already memorized it by heart, even more proficient than Steve Kerr.

After inquiring about Duncan's situation, Popovich walked to Meng Xu's side again. Popovich looked at Meng Xu with mixed eyes, full of surprise and worry.That year, Popovich only watched Meng Xu's game for less than 10 minutes, and decided that Meng Xu was the player he needed, and used the team's first round pick to select the player who was called "No. 0" at the time. At that time, Popovich expected Meng Xu to be a defensive champion. However, as Meng Xu continued to improve, Popovich expected Meng Xu to become higher and higher. Until this season, Meng Xu Xu is already as important a player as Duncan in Popovich's heart.Therefore, in this season, Popovich has been constantly searching and trying to find a way to perfectly integrate Meng Xu and Duncan. For this reason, he has taken many detours, but in the end they all failed.Slowly Popovich gave up this idea, and instead adopted a system that suppresses Meng Xu, allowing Meng Xu to integrate into Duncan's system, because in Popovich's view, Meng Xu's upper and lower limits are both Not as good as Duncan, so only by integrating Meng Xu into Duncan's system can Duncan's maximum value be brought into play.Originally, Popovich was afraid that Meng Xu would not make such a sacrifice, but to Popovich's surprise, Meng Xu and Duncan were voluntarily sacrificing themselves in order to achieve a seamless connection between the two. To perfect the opponent, this is how the Spurs achieved an excellent record in the second half of the season.

But judging from today's game, Popovich felt that he was wrong. Meng Xu's lower limit may not be as good as Duncan's, but his upper limit will definitely be higher than Duncan's. This is exactly what surprised and worried Popovich. Things, judging from today's game, Meng Xu is very close to becoming a dominant player, and the last dominant player in this league was Jordan.Although the big fat man on the opposite side is also known as the most dominant player at the basket, his dominance must be preceded by the word "under the basket", while Jordan is the dominance that can control the entire court, whether it is in On the offensive end, or on the defensive end, whether it is at the basket or below the 3-point line, they all have the ability to dominate opponents.

"Meng, your performance in the first half was very good, very good, but in the second half, the big fat guy and the explosive head of the Lakers are likely to counterattack, so, I hope you can continue to maintain this state, as long as you If we can continue to suppress that afro boy on the opposite side, then we will be one step closer to victory." Popovich looked at Meng Xu for a full 10 seconds before expressing his requirements and expectations for Meng Xu in the second half. Arrangement, although Popovich also wants to say something to Meng Xu now, but Popovich also knows that it is not appropriate to say that in this kind of place and this time period.

"Coach, I understand." Meng Xu nodded affirmatively, then closed his eyes, and at the same time wrapped his training clothes a little tighter, wanting to seize this little time and rest for a while, Although Meng Xu's stamina has now reached 110 points, playing the entire first half, and playing unreservedly on both ends of the offense and defense, is also very exhausting.

"Ervin, the second half of the game is about to start. Do you think there will be any changes between the two teams in the second half?" When seeing the players of the two teams walk out of the player tunnel again, Michaels asked his side expectantly. Magic Johnson.The performance of the Spurs and the Lakers in the first half could not be regarded as a wonderful duel. Under the suffocating defense of the Spurs, the Lakers' offense could not be played at all. Looking drowsy, Michaels is now looking forward to the improvement of the two teams in the second half.

"There will definitely be, but this change should come from the Lakers. As for whether it will have an effect, it is hard to say now." Looking at O'Neal and Meng Xu who have already entered the court, Magic Johnson also smiled slightly.The Lakers only scored 37 points in the half game, and the Spurs' defense can only be described as frenzied. Therefore, Magic Johnson, like Michaels, is expecting Phil Jackson to make changes in the second half.
Sure enough, as Michaels and Magic Johnson expected, the Lakers made a change after the opening of the third quarter. When the triangle offense could not break the Spurs' defense, Phil Jackson also sent a big team for the first time. Four small lineups, after halftime, Phil Jackson removed Horace Grant and Rick Fox, replaced Robert Horry and Isiah Ryder, hoping to use O'Neal inside The huge containment force created space for the Lakers to score from the outside. At the same time, Isiah Ryder was replaced by Rick Fox, who was abused by Meng Xu's help defense. Compared with Rick Fox, he is still much stronger. After all, this guy was an all-around swingman with an average of 3+19.3+4.3 per game last season, and Phil Jackson also hopes that Isiah Ryder's playing can liberate Kobe , or let Meng Xu have no time to distract Isiah Ryder while defending Kobe.

After the Lakers made changes, Popovich also changed the Spurs' defensive strategy on the court through gestures and command from the sidelines in a short period of time. After Horace Grant left the field, the Spurs became more determined. After attacking O'Neal, at the same time, after the new force of Isiah Ryder came on the field, Popovich asked Meng Xu to turn to defend Isiah Ryder. For Kobe, who only made 9 of 3 shots in the first half, the Spurs He also relaxed his defense. Although Kobe is now a superstar, the core of the Lakers is still O'Neal, and the key to beating the Lakers is whether they can restrain O'Neal. Old Nelson has set a good example for the entire league. As long as the Mavericks play the Lakers, the old Nelson will always double-team O'Neal crazily. If two people can't do it, then three people. For Kobe, the old Nelson always let him go Going to singles, the result of this is that even though Kobe averaged 4 points per game in the 38.5 regular season games with the Mavericks, the Lakers lost 3 of these [-] games.

After Meng Xu changed his defense against Isiah Ryder, he once again showed his brutal dominance to the fans on the field. If Meng Xu can only restrain Kobe when defending Kobe, then in When facing Isiah Ryder, he was completely crushed. Meng Xu was taller than him and faster than him. Even the strength that Isiah Ryder was proud of was in front of Meng Xu. It is also in a slight position, so in the entire third quarter, it was Meng Xu who beat Isiah Ryder unilaterally, not only on the defensive end, but also on the offensive end. Meng Xu also relied on his own height and jumping , various ** Isiah Ryder.

Finally, when the three quarters ended, although Kobe had gradually recovered his touch and scored 3 points in a single quarter, the Lakers were still 15 to 60, 75 points behind the Spurs. Phil Jackson's changes not only did not help the Lakers save the game. On the contrary, he dug the hole bigger and bigger.

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(End of this chapter)