Legendary star

Chapter 809 Two Old Guys

"Greg, do you want to call a timeout and arrange to double-team Kobe?"

"Wait."

As the game progressed, the Spurs assistant coach who had been standing on the sidelines also discussed with Popovich the changes on the field and the strategies to deal with them. As expected, the Lakers attach great importance to this Christmas game, and the Spurs are no exception. On the day the Spurs arrived in Los Angeles, Popovich sat down with all the assistant coaches in the team to discuss the Lakers today. The configuration of the starting lineup, the tactics that may be used, and the corresponding countermeasures have also been made, so Popovich is not at all concerned about the current changes on the court.

Since D'Antoni is very stubborn and wants to establish his own running and bombing system in the Lakers, the Lakers' tactics have been a mess since the beginning of the new season. The so-called 7-second offense is only in the imagination. For the old guys, it is obviously unrealistic to expect them to run all over the field like young boys, so the new season has played nearly 32 games, and D'Antoni, as the head coach, has been chanting the slogan of speeding up , But the Lakers just can't get up fast.

Today's game is still the same. Throughout the first quarter, the Lakers played very chaotically. Nash wanted to be fast, but Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol were still unable to get up fast. After that, Howard always dawdled in the pick-and-roll. In a word, the Lakers couldn’t get up fast, and couldn’t slow down. Affected by this, at the end of the first quarter, the Lakers fell behind to the Spurs As much as 8 points.

After the game entered the second quarter, D'Antoni replaced Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol in one breath, and replaced them with Antawn Jamison and Earl Clark who could "run up" At the same time, because the Spurs replaced most of the main players after the second quarter, so when the game entered the second quarter, the Lakers finally had some improvement. Under the leadership of Kobe and Nash, the Lakers once Narrowed the point difference to only 3 points.

The point difference between the two teams has gradually narrowed. It seems that D'Antoni's adjustments have played a role. In fact, the Lakers still rely on Kobe's singles. After Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol are off the court, Nash no longer has to struggle with the ball. It's a question of who to pass it to. You only need to hand over the basketball to Kobe when Kobe runs out of opportunities, and let Kobe handle the opponent.

The situation on the court tended to be reversed, so Popovich replaced Meng Xu and Boris Diaw in advance. However, with Meng Xu playing, the Lakers' chasing momentum was successfully contained by the Spurs. Not only did the number of singles not decrease, but there was a tendency to increase. However, Manu Ginobili, who was facing Kobe, always had nothing to do with Kobe. Therefore, the assistant coach of the Spurs asked Popovich if he wanted to strengthen his defense against Kobe. defense.

How to defend Kobe has always been a headache for Popovich. On the one hand, Popovich doesn't like Kobe, a player who likes brainless singles and treats the team's tactics as nothing. But on the other hand, Popovich Qi also appreciates Kobe's courage to take responsibility and his style of being able to stand up and carry the team at critical moments. In addition to the battle between the Spurs and the Lakers, Popovich almost ran through his entire coaching career. It is the invariable trump card of this Lakers team, so Popovich's research on Kobe far exceeds that of other players.

If it were the past, when Kobe had gained momentum, Popovich would immediately call a timeout, and while interrupting his touch, he would also strengthen his defense by the way. Part of the time is very limited, but Popovich will still do it, but today, Popovich is a little indifferent to Kobe's rise, because Popovich knows that he now has A player who can do it all.

"Manu, let's change defense." After assisting Ginobili to score a goal and expanding the score of the two sides to 5 points again, Meng Xu asked Ginobili who passed by him to change defense. Kobe is now Ginobili's defense is in good shape, and there is no way to interfere with Ginobili's defense, so Meng Xu decided to switch positions with Ginobili and defend him by himself. Difficulty scoring is for sure.

"Yes." After hearing Meng Xu's request to change places with him, Ginobili nodded towards Meng Xu, although Ginobili didn't have any expression on his face when he nodded towards Meng Xu , but in Ginobili's heart, he is still a little grateful to Meng Xu. After all, defending Kobe itself is not Meng Xu's business.

"Meng, can you finally bear it?" Kobe, who was trotting all the way through the half court, saw Meng Xu defending himself, his originally cold face instantly showed excitement and excitement. After talking with Meng Xu, Kobe licked his lips with his tongue to hide his inner excitement.

"Yeah, who made you so arrogant? I won't take action to teach you a lesson. It seems that I can't do it." Now there are very few players who dare to bicker with Meng Xu on the court, and there are some players who are not afraid of anything. A rookie who is not afraid, after meeting Meng Xu, he played a provocative role, but after being arranged by Meng Xu, he became honest. Besides, there are only veteran super giants who are the same generation as Meng Xu. It was only when they met Meng Xu that spit was flying around and words starting with F came out of their mouths. Although everyone had a good relationship off the court, on the court, both sides had only one identity, and that was the opponent.

"Old guy, I don't know who will teach whom." After hearing Meng Xu's sarcasm, Kobe curled his lips with an expression of dissatisfaction.

"Then come on, old guy." After hearing Kobe say that he is an old guy, Meng Xu also unceremoniously turned back. Among the players of his generation, Kobe was the one who was most unwilling to be old.

After a slap in the face, Kobe, who was already a bit over the top, didn't run to get rid of Meng Xu. Instead, he reached out to Nash directly for the ball from beyond the left three-point line.

"Is Kobe going to single out Meng Xu?" When Kobe confronted Meng Xu while reaching out to his teammates for the ball, the press seats on the sidelines immediately erupted. This was the scene they had been waiting for for a long time Ah, 5VS8, it's finally going to be staged again, no, it's already 5VS24 now.

Not only the reporters in the press box, but also the audience at the Staples Center are obviously looking forward to the duel between Kobe and Meng Xu. Although both of them are in their 30s, they are no longer in their respective However, the duel between them represents the memory of an era, and it is also the beautiful memory and eternal classic picture that these audiences have witnessed.

Therefore, when Kobe received the basketball, he first took a step inside the three-point line, and then leaned sideways to Meng Xu, the entire Staples Center erupted into a burst of violent cheers, and the cheers were for Kobe. It was also for Meng Xu.

(End of this chapter)