Legendary star

Chapter 472
"Jeff, I am very happy. You can explain this year's finals with us. After leaving the NBA for so long, do you miss it very much?"

"Al, it's only been one season since I left the Knicks. For someone who has been busy for more than ten years, I haven't had enough rest, so I don't miss it at all. If it weren't for the salary that ABC gave me I couldn't say no, and I'm still on vacation in Miami."

On June 2003, 6, after 11 o'clock in the evening, at the Indianapolis Bankers Life Arena, the 7-2002 NBA Finals was about to kick off. On the sidelines, he accepted the invitation of ABC TV Network to serve as this year's Jeff Van Gundy, the commentator for the finals, was bickering with Michaels, while Magic Johnson was watching the two guys silently laughing.The Lakers played against the Pacers. For Magic Johnson, it was time to choose a difficult disease. One side was the Lakers that he had played for more than ten years and he loved the most in his heart, while the other side was his favorite. For a player identified as the successor, how to grasp the scale of commentary is really a headache. Fortunately, there are three commentators in the finals now, and he can paddle a little.

The fans at the Bankers Life Arena are also very relaxed now. While watching the cheerleaders' performance, they are waiting for the players from both sides to play. Strong, but the Pacers fans don't care, we are the league's number one, the defending champions, we have already beaten the Lakers once last year, and we don't mind beating them again this year.

"Jeff, you are a head coach with rich coaching experience, so from your point of view, what are the advantages and disadvantages of the starting lineups of the Lakers and Pacers in this game?" Michaels, who came to the starting list for this game, did not immediately introduce the starting lineups of the two sides, but handed over the list to Jeff Van Gundy.

"The Lakers and the Pacers are very strong inside. O'Neal, Malone, Mutombo, Jermaine, all four of them are super-class inside players, but the Lakers still have a slight advantage. After all, O'Neal is almost the same on the offensive end. There is no solution, but Larry has made it clear that he will not double-team O'Neal in the finals, so I am really looking forward to what kind of method Larry will use to defend O'Neal. Look forward to it as much as I do, if you really can limit O'Neal without double-teaming, then the head coaches of the entire league will be very grateful to Larry." Speaking of this, Jeff Van Gundy also stopped and smiled, how to deal with O'Neal has been It is a big problem for the entire league, so after Larry Bird said that he would not double-team O'Neal, there are really many people waiting in front of the TV, wanting to see what Larry Bird is like. He can deal with O'Neal without double-teaming. After a pause, Van Gundy went on to say: "At the same time, due to the existence of four powerful insiders, whether it is the Pacers or the Lakers in this game, their breakthroughs will be affected. Great restrictions, at this point, will be very detrimental to the Pacers. We all know that the most commonly used tactic by the Pacers is to score the ball after Meng Xu's breakthrough. After Meng Xu's breakthrough is restricted, the Pacers There is no way to talk about the attacker's breakthrough tactics."

"That's true." After hearing Jeff Van Gundy's introduction, Michaels on the side also nodded. An inside line with a strong ability to protect the frame will cause great obstacles to the breakthrough of outside players, not to mention Now both the Pacers and the Lakers have two insiders like this, and the four big guys are all crowded under the basket. The dependence of the player is much smaller. At this point, it is indeed very disadvantageous for the Pacers.

"As for the outside lines of the two teams, each has its own advantages and disadvantages. Since Glenn Rice left, the small forward position has always been the Lakers' shortcoming. The Lakers' current two small forwards, whether it is Brian Shaw, It's still Devin George, who can provide little help to the team. Perhaps it would be a very good choice to let Robert play small forward, but in this case, the Lakers' rotation will have a big problem. And the organization The guard is a relatively obvious weakness of the Pacers. In this season's playoffs, whether it is against Billups of the Pistons or Payton of the Nets, Jamal Tinsley's performance on the defensive end is very good. Perhaps the Lakers can use Jamal Tinsley as a good breakthrough. The last is the position of shooting guard. Of course, Kobe’s ability goes without saying. What I want to talk about is Hamilton of the Pacers. Richard is An obviously underestimated player, although he averaged only about 14 points per game this season, Richard is a player who can score 20 or even 30 points whenever the team needs him, and his defense is also very good , plus the Pacers and Reggie Miller, so the Lakers actually have no advantage in this position."

"Jeff means that in this game, the Pacers will still play Meng Xu, and the Lakers may play Payton?"

"Of course, this is the best choice for both parties, but the specific situation can only be determined according to the arrangement of Larry and Phil..." Jeff Van Gundy obviously didn't finish his words, but the reason behind it was Michaels and Phil. Magic Johnson knows that Meng Xu is the Pacers' boss and tactical core, so there is no problem for the Pacers to beat Meng Xu.As for the Lakers, the boss of the team is O'Neal, and the core of tactics is also O'Neal. Even without O'Neal, there is still Kobe. It is still a question of whether O'Neill and Kobe will agree to this arrangement by Jackson.

"It seems that it is not so easy to control a team full of superstars!" After Jeff Van Gundy's analysis, Michaels also had a little more sympathy when he looked at Phil Jackson. Phil Jackson, who is extremely beautiful, doesn't know how hard it is behind the scenes.

Looking at the starting players of the Lakers who have already entered the field, Michaels is more and more sympathetic to Phil Jackson. The two core players of the Lakers, Kobe and O'Neal, have no communication at all, and there is no warm-up on the court. The interaction, where O'Neal and Payton were practicing free throws talking and laughing, while Kobe was doing warm-ups before the game on his own, and the other two starters Karl Malone and Devin George were obviously also very good. It's embarrassing, it doesn't work to stand on O'Neal's side, and it doesn't work to stand on Kobe's side. The seemingly powerful Lakers are already undercurrents.

"Come on, Kobe." When the players of the two teams finished warming up and the jump ball players representing both teams had walked into the middle circle, Meng Xu, who was standing behind Jermaine O'Neal, also noticed Kobe who was opposite him, and looked into Kobe's eyes. The burning flame, Meng Xu smiled slightly, and said softly to Kobe, although Kobe might not be able to hear what Meng Xu was saying on the noisy court, but Kobe could definitely understand what Meng Xu meant, this is a The tacit understanding between the same kind of people.

. . . . . .

"In that case, let's show you my mid-range shot!" Jermaine O'Neal beat O'Neal in the jump ball very smoothly, winning the Pacers' first chance to attack, but after the start of the game , Meng Xu found that the Lakers seemed to have a different defensive strategy for him. Phil Jackson neither asked Kobe to defend him, nor did he have any intention of double-teaming him. He just let Devin George stick tightly. look at yourself.The moment Meng Xu received a pass from Jamal Tinsley sideways, Devin George immediately put a hand on Meng Xu's waist, and at the same time stuck Meng Xu's calf from behind to stop Meng Xu exerted strength, and at the same time, when German George was close to Meng Xu, there was obviously a gap on the right side of Meng Xu's body.Devin George's defensive intentions are very obvious, that is, to prevent shooting and not to prevent suddenness, which is similar to what Jeff Van Gundy said. With O'Neal and Malone on the inside, the Lakers are really not afraid of the Pacers' breakthrough.Perhaps when Meng Xu's mid-range shots are not good, Devin George's defensive strategy will be somewhat useful, but now?In order to surprise the Lakers in the finals, after Meng Xu obtained the skill of the king of mid-range shots, he never used it in the game.

Due to the obvious loopholes in Devin George's defense, Meng Xu didn't even make a fake move, so he turned directly to the right side of his body, forcibly got rid of Devin George's defense, took two steps, and Meng Xu rushed to the At the edge of the paint area, at the same time, Karl Malone, who had already prepared to assist in the defense, immediately gave up Jermaine O'Neal, and rushed towards Meng Xu with open arms.

When the distance between Meng Xu and Ma Long was less than one meter, Meng Xu quickly stopped and jumped up.At this moment, the reporters who were squatting or lying under the basketball hoop raised their cameras one after another. Although Karl Malone, who is 2 meters 06, is a bit short in the power forward position, compared with Meng Xu It was quite a bit higher, so it was definitely not a wise thing for Meng Xu to choose to shoot in front of Ma Long when Ma Long had already defended in place, and even those reporters with a dark mind were already expecting Meng Xu Xu was blocked by Ma Long.And those reporters who supported Meng Xu were looking forward to Meng Xu using his super airborne ability to get rid of Ma Long's block in the air, or to stage another pull-bar shot from the spot.

"How is this possible?" Ma Long, who jumped up to meet Meng Xu, just made the movement of blocking the block, and found that the basketball in Meng Xu's hand had disappeared. When shooting, you have to show off your super ability to stay in the air. Even if you have finished all the shooting actions, you will hold the basketball and wait in the air for a while, and wait until the defensive player hits the ground before taking a calm shot.However, Meng Xu's sudden stop jump shot this time is completely opposite to his previous shooting style. The jump height has not reached the highest level, and there is no adjustment. He almost throws the basketball in his hand at the same time as the jump. , so that Karl Malone had no time to react while still rising.

Before landing, Ma Long looked back and found that the basketball thrown by Meng Xu had been hollowed into the net. Not only was Meng Xu's shot extremely fast, even the flying speed of the basketball thrown by Meng Xu was amazing.

"This, this, this, is this Meng Xu's pull-up jump shot?" After Meng Xu hit the pull-up jump shot, everyone on the sidelines was a little unbelievable, especially the reporters who were waiting for Meng Xu to make a fool of himself. I forgot to press the shutter in my hand.

　Thank you Yishi Zhixun for the monthly pass, thank you.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)