Legendary star

Chapter 499

On October 2003, 10, the NBA 8-2003 season officially kicked off. In addition to the opening game between the Pacers and the Lakers, there are two games that will be played at the same time today, one is the Spurs against the Mavericks, and the other is It is the Heat against the Pistons. It can be said that the three games arranged by the NBA today are very attractive games.Needless to say, the Pacers and the Lakers, the two teams that met in the finals last season, the first matchup of the new season, plus the awarding ceremony of the championship ring broadcast live across the United States, naturally three games today maximum focus.

However, the alliance's arrangements for the opening game have also been criticized by the outside world. It is definitely a very cruel thing for the losers to let the loser of the finals witness the championship ring awarding ceremony of the winner at the winner's home court. , and the most cruel thing is that the Lakers have served as a foil for the Pacers at the Bankers Life Arena for two consecutive years. Therefore, many media biased towards the Lakers have been calling on the league to adjust the opening game of the new season. This kind of "tragic" thing continued to happen.But for the league, allowing the loser to witness the winner's championship ring awarding ceremony will undoubtedly inspire their fighting spirit, and at the same time create antagonism between the two teams. The NBA needs the Celtics very much now. There is a grudge with a giant like the Lakers, so although David Stern stated that he would change the arrangement principle of the opening game, the schedule of this season has been set, and it is absolutely impossible to change it. It's next season.

The game between the Spurs and the Mavericks, as the two teams with the best record in the Western Conference last season, is naturally very eye-catching.Moreover, after the disintegration of the Big Four of the Lakers, the Mavericks and the Spurs are undoubtedly the two strongest teams in the Western Conference. The duel between these two teams is also considered to be a preview of the Western Conference Finals this season. Two of the "Four Power Forwards", Tim Duncan and Dirk Nowitzki, are in a direct duel, so the game between the Spurs and the Mavericks has received as much attention as the Pacers and Lakers opener.

Compared with the Mavericks who have risen strongly in the last two seasons, the Spurs are undoubtedly an evergreen tree in the Western Conference. Since Duncan joined the Spurs, it has been the eighth year this season. Teams, from the Spurs, Jazz, Trail Blazers, to the Spurs, Trail Blazers, Lakers, and then to the Spurs, Lakers, Suns, and last season's Spurs, Lakers, Mavericks, the other two have changed batch after batch. Only the Spurs, always standing on the stage, watched their opponents change one after another. With the downturn of the Kings and the disintegration of the Lakers, I don't know which new member the "Big Three in the West" will usher in this season.

In the remaining game, the Heat played against the Pistons at home. With O'Neal joining the Heat and the continued reinforcement of the Pistons this summer, the Eastern Conference this season is no longer an era where the Pacers are alone. The Nets, who joined the Pacers in the conference finals for two seasons, and the Celtics, who have made drastic reforms, will officially enter the Eastern Conference this season.

"Meng, congratulations!" Kobe on the sidelines looked at the Pacers' championship ring awarding ceremony, and hated his teeth. After all, the Pacers won the two championships by stepping on the Lakers. Or, the Lakers may have won three consecutive championships now, but after starting to play and warm up, Kobe still performed very generously. He not only walked to the Pacers' half court and hugged Meng Xu, but also sent blessings to Meng Xu. It's hatred, it's friendship. Regardless of the grievances between the Pacers and the Lakers, Meng Xu and Kobe really cherish each other, and the personal relationship between the two is also very good.

"Kobe, congratulations to you too, congratulations on finally getting your wish and owning your own team!" After Kobe sent blessings to Meng Xu, Meng Xu also responded to Kobe, being able to become the most special one of the Lakers has always been Kobe's dream wish, after the Lakers sent O'Neal away this summer, Kobe finally got his wish. However, I just don't know that after losing O'Neal as a partner and a group of outstanding teammates, Kobe will finally be able to lead the Lakers away. No matter how far it has come, maybe one day, Kobe will miss the time he fought side by side with O'Neal.

"Yeah." After hearing Meng Xu's words, Kobe could also feel that Meng Xu hadn't finished speaking. Although Meng Xu didn't say anything, with Kobe's wisdom, how could he not guess what Meng Xu wanted to say, so After Kobe stared at Meng Xu for a few seconds, he nodded towards Meng Xu and turned to leave.Although the conflict with O'Neal has reached the point of irreconcilability, when the owner of the Lakers, Buss, called Kobe and said that the Lakers would send O'Neal away and leave Kobe behind, Kobe still felt melancholy and lost. Partners who have fought side by side for seven years, and the conflict between Kobe and O'Neal is also due to problems on the court. The two have no deep hatred in private.But now Kobe has already put the melancholy and loss behind him, replaced by lofty ambition. Although O'Neal is gone, the Lakers still have themselves. As long as he is still there, he will definitely be able to lead the Lakers back to the finals , and won the championship, and this first step is to start by defeating the Pacers.

Due to the loss of two starters and several important rotation players this summer, and because of salary issues, the Pacers’ signings this summer are also very difficult. Rick Carlisle has been busy for a summer. In addition to signing with Jermaine O'Neal, he also signed a few veterans who came to the Pacers to hold their thighs with a veteran's basic salary, Derek Coleman, the No. 90 pick in 5, and Kendall Gill, the No. 5 pick , Kenny Anderson, Mutombo's No. 36 pick in the same year, and Steve Smith, the No. 37 pick of the year, Rick Carlisle signed four veterans who are over 38 years old in one go this summer, plus With the official age of [-]-year-old Mutombo and [-]-year-old Reggie Miller, the Pacers have become the oldest team in the league. At the beginning of this season, the New York Times jokingly called the Pacers the Indiana Nursing Home.

But this is something that can’t be helped. Jermaine O’Neal’s salary this season is 1350 million, Mutombo’s 1050 million, Meng Xu’s 1207 million, and James Posey’s 700 million. Reggie Miller, who has played for the team for more than ten years, the owner of the Pacers gritted his teeth and gave Reggie Miller the 1000 million originally planned for Hamilton. Just these few people have far exceeded the 4384 this season. With the addition of other players, even if the Pacers only spent 600 million to sign four veterans, the Pacers' total salary this season is still among the top three in the league.

Although the Pacers have been very successful under the coaching of Larry Bird, after Rick Carlisle took over the Pacers, he still began to change the team according to his own thinking. He was able to coach the Pacers who won the championship for two consecutive years. It is definitely something that most coaches dream of, but it is not a huge pressure. In the past six seasons, the Pacers have reached the division finals 5 times, reached the finals 3 times, and won the championship trophy twice. Therefore, no matter who is Larry Bird's successor, his record can't be bad. Whether it is the team's management or the team's owner Simon Brothers, they all hope that the Pacers can achieve three consecutive championships this season. Create his own dynasty, and Rick Carlisle also wants to prove himself in the Pacers, and prove to the world that the Pistons fired him is a big mistake, so Rick Carlisle must not wait for death, stand still, only change, Only by making the Pacers stronger can they achieve the feat of defending the title this season.

Due to the lack of a qualified point guard, Rick Carlisle asked Meng Xu to play point guard again this season. In this round of the series, Rick Carlisle also knew very clearly how to use Meng Xu to make Meng Xu more threatening on the court. Therefore, before the start of the new season, Rick Carlisle tried his best to persuade Meng Xu to change. Play point guard and let Meng Xu concentrate on connecting the team's offense.

At the same time, in order to allow Meng Xu to devote more energy to the offensive end, Rick Carlisle also changed the Pacers' defensive strategy. The Pacers' defensive strategy last season was man-to-man defense, and from time to time they came to the whole game. Pressing, and as the core of the outside line, Meng Xu must not only lead the defense, but also assist in the defense. It can be said that Meng Xu's energy on the defensive end is no less than that on the offensive end. Moreover, the Pacers have James Posey, and Tashaw In the case of En-Prince's two perimeter defenses, letting Meng Xu take on the heavy responsibility of leading the defense is also a huge waste of resources, so this phenomenon must be changed.

After Meng Xu changed to play point guard, Rick Carlisle put James Posey on the starting lineup and let Posey take on the heavy responsibility of leading defense. At the same time, Rick Carlisle also gave up the Pacers' original man marking Defense, the introduction of 3-2 zone defense, zone defense is a common defensive method in international basketball games, but in the NBA game rules, zone defense will be recognized as illegal defense, so this very good and efficient defense method is in the NBA Even though the NBA lifted the restrictions on zone defense and off-ball double-teaming in 2000, but until now, among the 29 teams in the NBA, few teams will play in the game. The use of zone defense and man-to-man defense is still the current mainstream.

"Kobe has a strong desire to attack today!" At the beginning of the game, Kobe showed a strong desire to attack. The Lakers' five offenses after the opening were all completed by Kobe. After O'Neal and Phil Jackson left , the Lakers became Kobe's team alone. The newly appointed head coach Frank Hamblen also developed tactics completely around Kobe. It is also most suitable for the current Lakers. Although this tactic requires continuous singles with the ball, it is also necessary to pass the ball to teammates who are open after continuous singles have attracted the opponent's double-team. But Kobe is now obviously Without this kind of awareness, no matter whether the Pacers double-team or how many people double-team, Kobe will ignore the defensive players. Kobe, who has been holding back for several years, will definitely go crazy for a while after the start of the new season.

"Kobe, if you play like this, you will never be able to beat me!" In the first quarter, Reggie Miller and James Posey took turns to defend Kobe, no matter whose defense they faced, Even double-teaming, there is no way to stop Kobe, whether to advance or not depends entirely on Kobe's luck. Although under the key care of the Pacers, Kobe's shooting rate is not high, but at the end of the first quarter, Kobe Still made 13 of 6 shots, 3 of 3 1-pointers, 3 of 2 free throws, and scored 15 points in a single quarter, but the Lakers were 22 to 31, trailing the Pacers by 9 points, because throughout the first quarter, When the basketball was in Kobe's hands most of the time, Kobe only had one assist. Therefore, in the last round of offense, facing Kobe who switched to defend himself, Meng Xu also shook his head at Kobe, seeing Meng Xu's expression , The purpose of saying these words to Kobe is not provocation, but more like persuasion.

"I will never lose to you!" Originally, before the start of this game, Kobe was looking forward to a duel with Meng Xu, because now there is no one to restrain him from behind, but with As the game progressed, Kobe discovered that Meng Xu had no desire to score at all today. Instead, he played assists. Meng Xu, the two-time scoring champion in a row, only took one shot in the first quarter and missed it. Meng Xu can't score 1 point in a single quarter, so it's news to say how much.

"Maybe!" Looking at Kobe's persistent eyes, Meng Xu stopped trying to persuade him. Kobe's style of play has now been completely finalized. No matter how much outsiders persuade him, it's impossible for Kobe to make any changes, so he is up to it. Go ahead, when he gets rid of his stubbornness and feels that there is something wrong with his style of play, then he will naturally make changes.

Finally, in this highly anticipated opening game, the Lakers lost 85 to 103 to the Pacers by 18 points, while Kobe scored a game-high 48 points. As for Meng Xu, in today's game, Meng Xu only shot He shot 13 times, made 13 of 7 shots, 9 of 7 free throws and scored 24 points, 10 rebounds, and 16 assists. In the first game of the new season, Meng Xu scored a triple-double. Correspondingly, in Driven by Meng Xu, seven Pacers scored in double figures and defeated the Lakers very easily.

"This task is really difficult to complete!" After hearing the system prompt after the game, Meng Xu also heaved a sigh of relief. Compared with the two advanced tasks of Sha Dao and Domineering, Wang Dao's advanced It will be much more difficult. First of all, in terms of ability value, physical talent, offensive attributes, and defensive attributes are required. All three attributes must exceed 90. At the same time, one attribute must exceed 95, and the overall strength evaluation must reach 94. It can also be seen from this that Wang Dao also pursues the comprehensiveness of strength more than Killing Dao and Domineering. No matter whether it is offense or defense, there must be no obvious shortcomings.

And the requirements of this advanced task also made Meng Xu overwhelmed. The condition for completing the task is to require the host to have a positive or negative value of more than 50 in ten consecutive games, or a total of 20 games in a single season. In these games, the offensive efficiency value cannot be lower than 100, the defensive efficiency value cannot exceed 100, and the offensive efficiency value must be higher than the defensive efficiency value by more than 10 to complete the task.

Faced with such completion conditions, Meng Xu naturally had to play more cautiously. As long as he was on the court, he could not slack in the slightest. As for the choice of shooting timing, he could not do whatever he wanted. Under this constraint, it was only a game. During the match, Meng Xu already felt very awkward. Compared to now, Meng Xu still prefers the old style of playing as he pleases.

　Thank you for the monthly pass of Demon Soul Man, thank you.

　　Thanks to Leng Yinyun for the two monthly tickets, thank you

　　Thanks for the two monthly passes to Sparta Booth, thank you.

　　Thank you Swen Ke Nangong Hen for the monthly pass, thank you.

　　Thank you for the two monthly tickets Yuheng met, thank you.

　　Thank you for always having extra monthly tickets, thank you.

　　Thanks for the monthly ticket of book friend 160705083451402, thank you.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)