Legendary star

Chapter 475 A Gift for Los Angeles People (1)

"The timeout ended and O'Neal, who had only rested for more than 3 minutes, had to play again. Meng Xu, who scored 14 points in a row, really put too much pressure on the Lakers."

Perhaps Larry Bird had expected that Phil Jackson would make such an adjustment. After the timeout, the Pacers replaced Meng Xu and Reggie Miller, and sent Mutombo, Lorenzen White , a three-inner lineup like Jeff Foster, Larry Bird hoarded a lot of insiders last summer, and now finally has a place to play.At the same time, after the timeout, the Pacers still insisted not to double-team O'Neal, and still cut off the connection between the inside and outside of the Lakers and blocked Kobe as the main defensive strategy on the court.

"This game consumes too much on O'Neal!" At the last moment before the end of the second quarter, O'Neal, who was sweating profusely and out of breath as he watched Mutombo fight under the basket , Jeff Van Gundy on the sidelines also shook his head. Although O'Neal has only played 20 minutes in total, it is not a big deal for O'Neal who has often played the entire game in his career, but this kind of wheel battle for the Pacers takes turns. The consumption strategy still makes it very difficult for the Lakers.If the Pacers do not double-team O'Neal, it is an absolute opportunity for O'Neal. If you don't hit O'Neal, it will definitely be a tactical error and a great waste. But if you keep hitting O'Neal, it will hit the Pacers' arms and accelerate O'Neal's physical strength. Consumption, 20 minutes on the court, 19 of 12 shots, 9 of 6 free throws, O'Neal scored 30 points before the end of the first half, if this momentum continues, O'Neal can score at least 50 points in this game + or even 60+, but with O'Neill's current physical exertion, it is very unpredictable what kind of state he will maintain in the fourth quarter.

"DiBacon, you performed very well in the first half. In the third quarter, you should rest first." During the intermission, as soon as he entered the locker room, Larry Bird called and praised Mutombo. Fan.Judging from O'Neal's scoring data and shooting percentage, Mutombo's defense is far from successful, and it is not an exaggeration to describe it as being blown up by O'Neal. For Germany, Mutombo's defense in the first half undoubtedly met Larry Bird's arrangements and requirements, with waist blocking, leg kicking, and various small moves. Mutombo tried his best in every defense, although It was still impossible to restrain O'Neal, but it also greatly consumed O'Neal's physical strength.Mutombo, who is a passive defender, consumes more energy than O'Neal. Although it has been nearly 5 minutes since the end of the first half, Mutombo, who is sitting in front of the locker, is still sweating. It has collapsed to the point where it is almost speechless.

"Guys, it turns out that the Los Angeles Lakers are mediocre!" Under O'Neal's crazy performance of 30 points in the half, the Lakers only led the Pacers by 6 points at the end of the first half, compared with Larry Bird's expected 10 points. There is still a certain distance between points and above. It can also be seen from this that the true strength of the Lakers is far from being as exaggerated as it appears on the surface. Except for O'Neal and Kobe, the other two giants are just superficial. , in the Lakers' current tactics, there is no room for Payton to play at all, and Malone is now 40 years old, and with a knee injury, both Mutombo and Jermaine O'Neal will eat him to death Yes, even Lorenzen White and Jeff Foster can wrestle with Malone. In addition, the Lakers have now given up the triangle offense they are good at. Therefore, compared with the Lakers last season, this year's Although the overall strength of the Lakers has increased, the increase is very limited.

"Okay, I won't say much else, guys, it's time for us to overtake the score in one fell swoop." After Larry Bird finished speaking, assistant coach Lester Conor began to announce the first The list for the three quarters includes point guard Meng Xu, shooting guard Richard Hamilton, small forward Tyshawn Prince, power forward James Posey, and center Jermaine O'Neal.Since the game between the Pacers and the Magic, the backcourt combination of Tyshawn Prince, James Posey and Meng Xu used the full-court pressing tactics to defeat the Magic. Even a superstar like McGrady After being jointly blocked by them, Larry Bird began to experiment with this lineup in the Pacers' daily training, in order to surprise his opponents in the finals and face the Nets in the Eastern Conference finals. , when the Pacers and the Nets scored 2 to 2, Lester Connell suggested that Larry Bird use this lineup in advance in the crucial fifth game, but Larry Bird refused. Larry Bird only said one sentence to Lester Conor: "This is a gift for the Lakers, and no one can open it first!"

"Guys, come to the field and give this gift to the proud Los Angeles people!" Amid Larry Bird's shouting, all the Pacers players walked onto the field one by one.

. . . . . .

"Sure enough, the Pacers used a full-court press against the Lakers in the third quarter, but the Pacers' lineup looks a bit weird, Meng Xu, Hamilton, Prince, Posey, Jermaine O'Neal, the Pacers are present The five players on the field are all more than two meters tall." At the beginning of the third quarter, Meng Xu stuck Payton in the backcourt and began to press Payton all over the court.However, Michaels quickly discovered the weirdness of the Pacers lineup. All the players on the field were more than two meters tall, and Meng Xu, who was 5 meters tall, was the shortest of the five Pacers players.

"The current lineup of the Pacers is indeed a bit weird at first glance, but if you look closely, it is still very reasonable. Meng Xu can play the position of point guard by himself, and James Posey often plays power forward in the Pacers. , defending the opponent’s fourth position is commonplace for James Posey, so there is actually nothing unreasonable about the Pacers’ current lineup.”

"Mr. Pat Riley, there has always been a theory that with the development of basketball, in the future, a team composed of five players with the same height can play as well as a traditional team. There is still a certain gap between the player's lineup and Mr. Pat Riley's theory, but it is already very close. Except for Meng Xu who is 2 meters tall and Jermaine who is 01 meters tall, the other three players , all in the range of 2 to 11 meters, but Meng Xu and Jermaine's style of play is also very consistent with Mr. Pat Riley's concept." Jeff Van Gundy saw the Pacers After this lineup, I immediately thought of my teacher Pat Riley. Although Pat Riley has been advocating the idea of ​​his five magicians, it has been almost 2 years now. In the effort to collect five magicians, the first step has never been taken.

Meng Xu's defense is extremely aggressive, and even Phil Jackson, who is sitting on the bench, feels a strong sense of oppression. Compared with Jamal Tinsley, Meng Xu's defense has improved by two levels. Not only that, although Phil Jackson had expected the Pacers to counterattack during the halftime break, it was beyond Phil Jackson's expectation that the Pacers would put up such a strong defense at the beginning of the game. Meng Xu and several other Pacers players showed an aura after the opening game that they had never seen in the first half. Under such circumstances, Phil Jackson's expression also became vigilant.

"Small sample, when I was playing the full-court press, you were still wearing crotch pants and playing the press in front of me!" Although Meng Xu's sudden press defense was a bit unexpected, facing Meng Xu from the backcourt At the beginning of the pressing, Payton not only did not panic at all, but also showed a disapproving expression.After all, pressing defense is also one of Payton's special skills. Payton, who knows the advantages and disadvantages of pressing defense well, faces Meng Xu, who is taller than himself, while advancing with the dribble. Already thinking about how to get rid of Meng Xu's defense.As the only point guard in NBA history who won the best defensive player and defended Jordan in a mess in the finals, Payton is indeed qualified to mock Meng Xu.

"There is a saying in Huaguo that a good man doesn't mention the courage of the past. Gary, you are old now. Do you think you are still the glove of the past? You are just a role player of the Lakers, the younger brother of O'Neal and Kobe, so don't Tell me about the past when you defended Jordan." After hearing Peyton's sarcasm, Meng Xu immediately sarcastically returned.

"F****, you bastard." Payton is also a good trash talker. His trash talk level is several times higher than Kobe's. Spew out all kinds of words starting with F.Under Meng Xu's irony, Peyton's fiery temper immediately came up. Why do young people nowadays have no sense of dignity and inferiority? With a little achievement, they start to despise all the seniors. Isn't that true? A good sign.

At the same time, Payton, who had already dribbled through the middle circle, first accelerated and moved a few quick steps toward the left side of his body, and then directly took a step back and changed direction, trying to get rid of Meng Xu's defense at this moment, but To Peyton's surprise, Meng Xu seemed to have seen through his intentions long ago. Before he changed direction, he got stuck on the route he was planning to break through. In desperation, Peyton had to take another step back, hoping Can get rid of Meng Xu's pressing.

"Gary, you're running down, it's going to be 24 seconds."

　Thanks to Li Bai for the monthly ticket that may not be too white, thank you.

　　Thank you for the monthly pass of Hongmeng Pig, thank you.

　　Thank you handsome literary youth for the monthly ticket, thank you.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)