Pick Westbrook

Chapter 209 I'm Sorry, I Put You Together

The players on the Lakers team looked away tacitly at this time.

Gasol raised his hand and said, "No problem!"

On the coaching bench of the Lakers, Phil Jackson, the Zen master, chewed gum and was very calm.

In his opinion, Gasol is the most neglected player in the Lakers. Everyone's impression of him is still the softness and lack of leadership of the Grizzlies.

In Zen Master's view, Gasol is a star-level player with excellent offense and defense, but he plays too low-key and docile and is unwilling to fight for anything.

At this point, it is the complete opposite of Kobe.

Kobe is extremely strong and will fight for everything.

So the two complement each other, and all the spotlights are completely gathered under Kobe alone.

As for Gasol, who has been hiding in obscurity, few people care about it.

"But being low-key and docile doesn't mean that Gasol's strength is not good. On the contrary, it is precisely because he is too low-key that people ignore his role on both offensive and defensive ends of the Lakers."

"Behind a successful star, there is always an unknown star."

"Pippen is, Gasol is too."

Seeing the matchup on the court, Zen master was extremely relieved.

He believes that it is difficult for the No. 15 rookie of the Bucks to take advantage of Gasol, who is tall and long.

Cousins ​​received the ball with his back, and Gasol raised his right hand and completely covered the opponent's head.

Back a library!
Cousins ​​failed to push Gasol away, and the opponent was not weaker than him in terms of strength.

Cousins, who found it impossible to play hard, chose to dribble with his back and move laterally.

After deceiving Gasol's footsteps and changing the center of gravity, Cousins ​​​​suddenly used the forward and backward turning action.

"This back-up technique is extremely beautiful!"

This turn also completely deceived Gasol, but when Cousins ​​turned around to prepare for a frontal dunk, he found that Gasol's hand was still on top of his head.

"What kind of long arms are these? They are all swaying and still covering me!"

Kobe on the side has already started to retreat and prepare for a fast break.

Fisher also moved to the right waist ready to pick up the upcoming rebound.

All the Lakers players on the field believed that Gasol would be able to defend the ball.

But at this moment, Cousins ​​switched his right hand to his left, made a beautiful shooting fake, and then pulled his left hand to complete the attack.

Swish!
Go in!

"Is this the footsteps of a defender?"

Kenny Smith was already dumbfounded.

The inside footwork just now is the hand-changing feint that most defenders are used to when facing a big inside defender.

In this feint, Rajon Rondo of the Celtics is the leader in this area.

But who would have thought that a center player of the Bucks would make such a deft guard move.

Not to mention that Gasol was cheated, who was not cheated by the players on the court, the coaching staff off the court, and the fans at the scene?
"It seems that this guy is not only good at O'Neal's inside skills, he should be very good at the technical movements of a guard."

Barkley still remembers Cousins' cleverness and strength in the paint during the preseason.

At that time, he still thought that this center had all the true biography of O'Neal, and this is the rhythm of another super center in the future.

But now it seems that Cousins ​​​​is Cousins ​​​​and he is different from all inside centers in NBA history.

"He's the tallest defender on the pitch."

Barkley gave Cousins ​​a very high evaluation, and he believes that the latter will definitely become the league's top center in the future.

Will never be weaker than Yao Ming and Howard.

The Zen master off the court kept his face dark all the time.

Last season's Bucks only had Westbrook and Curry enough for all teams in the league to drink a pot, and now there is another talented Cousins.

Why is the Bucks trying to select talents in the draft!
The first quarter is over.

32:31, the Bucks lead by 1 point.

The Lakers and Bucks continued the drama of last season's Finals.

Neither team could defend the other in the first quarter.

加内特在新球队的第一场比赛发挥出色，单节6投4中轰下了8分4篮板1盖帽的数据。

The defensive pressure of other players on the team with Kobe will inevitably drop significantly, and Garnett has the most comfortable offensive environment in his entire career.

"It's the crucial second quarter again."

"During the playoffs last season, the Bucks' second team was extremely arrogant. They were not afraid of any team in the league."

"Except for the Spurs' second unit led by Manu Ginobili, no other team has the offensive firepower of the Bucks' second unit."

"But now, both Iverson and O'Neal of the Bucks can't play, and the strength of their second team has obviously dropped significantly."

Kenny Smith is worried about the Bucks.

Because the Bucks were able to defeat the Lakers in the Finals last season, Iverson and O'Neal played a vital role.

But now that neither of them can play, it is difficult for the Bucks to suppress the Lakers during this time period.

Then their only advantage against the Lakers is gone.

Bucks bench lineup: Dragic, George Hill, McGrady, Villanueva and O'Neal.

Lakers bench lineup: point guard Steve Blake, shooting guard Shannon Brown, small forward Matt Barnes, power forward Lamar Odom and center Derek Carecott.

The game continues.

As soon as Dragic came up, he took the initiative to play a pick-and-roll with O'Neal, and then went straight to the basket.

Odom is already very familiar with the player Dragic, so he quickly rushed over the moment the opponent hit the pick-and-roll.

Lakers center Derek Carecott is a short center with a height of 206cm, which is more flexible than traditional centers.

Obviously, in order to limit the Bucks' flexible offense and pass-and-cut style of play, the Lakers' operations this offseason are completely against the Bucks.

Carecott moved to the corner and quickly caught up with the open Villanueva.

But what the Lakers didn't expect was that George Hill played a double screen with McGrady on the weak side.

After the screen, McGrady went to the left, George Hill went to the right to cut into the penalty area, and at the same time fully released the space on the weak side of the court.

Dragic, who failed to make the first wave of offensive tactics, chose to pass the ball to the weak side McGrady.

McGrady singles Shannon Brown with the ball.

Bucks coaching bench.

Tyronn Lue is looking forward to it very much at this time.

He already knew Li Lai's offensive tactics for the Bucks' rotation.

Dragic is the main point of attack and at the same time the engine of the court.

George Hill is the setter, ready to respond.

O'Neal is the pick-and-roll executive player on the court, always paying attention to cutting to the basket or mid-range shots, as for McGrady at the end.

"He is the singles terminator after the failure of the second team's tactical execution."

Tyronn Lu didn't know if Li Lai's arrangement was a little too trusting of McGrady.

Even if the opponent is the top four in the league, known as the most talented man of heaven, but after all, he has been plagued by injuries for a long time.

Moreover, McGrady, who was exiled to the New York Knicks last season, also got unlimited shooting rights, but the opponent's shooting percentage was a bit horrible and reached the lowest in his career.

More importantly, McGrady is still suffering from back pain. Even if Li Lai doesn't average much playing time for the opponent, what if the injury is aggravated by allowing the opponent to play so frequently in singles?
Lakers bench.

Kobe covered his neck with a towel, and looked at the court with the same curiosity at this time.

He knew what happened to McGrady in the past two years, and he was a little embarrassed.

Although Kobe is not worried that he will encounter the same predicament as McGrady in his later years, this does not affect his blessing to this friend.

McGrady was his most respected opponent.

on the field.

The Bucks players all pulled away.

The Lakers players on the field also know McGrady's situation in the past two years, so they don't believe how good the opponent's state can be.

The Lakers did not choose to double-team.

McGrady singles Shannon Brown.

Grab the ball with one hand, lower the center of gravity, dribble, and pull!
"This shot is very high!"

"When Tracy McGrady is playing against players who are obviously shorter, his dribbling is always looking for a shooting rhythm."

"As long as he finds the rhythm, he will pull you out without hesitation."

Shannon Brown was already very alert to McGrady's pull-up shot, so he immediately rushed over when the opponent made a shot.

But the disparity in height and wingspan between the two is too great, so Shannon Brown, who raised his hand, just covered McGrady's hazy eyes, and there was at least 15cm away from his shot point.

That's almost as good as no distractions.

In other words, whether this offensive basketball can be scored or not depends entirely on McGrady's own shooting touch.

On the coaching bench of the Lakers, Master Zen raised his head curiously at this time.

On the coaching bench of the Bucks, Li Lai looked at McGrady's shot with great confidence.

"The good news is that in another 10 years, the league can still see this pull-up technique that belongs to Tracy."

"It's just that when that player also retires, this skill will be lost forever in the sport of basketball."

"There's no one going to play like those two anymore, just like there's no one going to play like Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar right now."

"This is the memory of an era, and this is their unique court technology."

Swish!
Go in!

McGrady's hazy eyes seemed to never be opened, but after the goal, he still clapped Dragic who passed the ball for himself.

McGrady has not played like this for several years, and now he will be very excited even if he scores a goal that he could score casually back then.

"It's McGrady's first goal of the new season for the Bucks."

"Honestly, he's looking pretty good."

"In fact, McGrady is only 31 years old this year, one year younger than Kobe."

"How bad can he be at this age?"

"If it weren't for the damn injury, McGrady would still be a superstar in the league. He is at the same level as Kobe."

Kenny Smith complained for McGrady on the sidelines.

He really wanted to ask, where did the fans of the Rockets go at this time, for whom did McGrady play the closed playoffs, and ended up like this?
Barkley didn't see it so one-sidedly like Kenny Smith, he saw it farther than the other side.

Originally, after the Bucks lost Yi Jianlian and Iverson and O'Neal were unable to play one after another, everyone was skeptical about the strength of their lineup.

Even the joining of McGrady and O'Neal is not considered a deal that can change the status quo of the Bucks.

But judging from the first game of the regular season, it seems that everyone in the world has misunderstood a little bit.

That is, the Bucks have never won games by relying on dead fuck stars.

They have a mature offensive system, a united team atmosphere, and more importantly, the Bucks have great experience in the use of player abilities.

This is why the Bucks can become a championship team.

"So, even if Iverson and O'Neal are lost, the strength of the Bucks' bench lineup will not drop too much."

"On the contrary, if they still have good combat effectiveness under this lineup, then after Yi Jianlian returns from injury, this team will become as terrifying as the Miami Big Three Heat team."

The second quarter is over.

McGrady and Dragic showed their prowess in this quarter, and the two teamed up to score 16 points, helping the Bucks expand their lead.

65: 60.

In the second half of the game, Kobe finally changed from a passing role to an offensive role.

He began to exert force on the court, and Artest succeeded in consecutive mid-range singles.

After the Lakers traded away Bynum, the interior space became larger. Kobe's combination of mid-range singles and sudden shots completely made Artest unable to defend in any way.

Coupled with Garnett's iron-blooded jumper at the long two points, the Bucks dare not send more people to double-team Kobe.

So the Lakers played a wave of 12:0 offensive highs in the third quarter.

Li Lai's expression was extremely ugly.

Bryant seems to have found a way to restrain the Bucks from the matchup in the finals last season.

That is to try to put more energy in the second half of the game.

Because the Bucks' offense is endless, it is impossible for him to compete with it alone.

Only in the first half of the game, let the teammates complete the offense more, and then Kobe suddenly increased his firepower in the second half of the game, it is possible to end the game at a critical moment.

Li Lai didn't know whether this was a tactical strategy deliberately designed by Zen Master, or Kobe himself.

If it was proposed by Zen Master, it must be very difficult for the opponent to hold down Kobe, who is extremely obsessed with offense.

But if it was Kobe's own decision, then this black Mamba is too scary this season.

Game four.

Westbrook, who only scored 10 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in the first three quarters, also made a sudden effort at this time.

He first hit the outside singles with Fisher's strong rush to the basket with the tortoise and the tomahawk, and then singled out Kobe with a mid-range side kick that boosted morale.

Then there was another alley-oop dunk after receiving Curry to attract the defense.

In just a few minutes, Westbrook wiped out all Kobe's efforts in the third quarter.

Barkley couldn't help but said: "After all, Westbrook was the regular season MVP last season, the second player in the league to average a triple-double."

"He has proven his ability to snatch the MVP trophy from James."

Watching Westbrook rushing into the Lakers penalty area over and over again like carrying a dynamite bag on the court, he either caused a foul or succeeded in a domineering dunk.

Kenny Smith finally plucked up the courage to say at this time: "Who said that the Bucks will fail this season? Ah!"

"Quickly stand up for me and line up to apologize."

With Westbrook and Curry in such a state, the Bucks are one of the league's top teams and one of the championship contenders no matter what.

The end of the fourth quarter.

The situation on the field has reached a fever pitch.

At this time, Li Lai sent a combination of Westbrook, Curry, Artest, O'Neal and Cousins.

Originally, Marshall wanted to remind Li Lai that Jermaine O'Neal is a player who does not shoot three-pointers. Pairing him with Cousins ​​will inevitably make the team very crowded inside.

In this way, the Bucks' offensive firepower will be greatly reduced.

It's just that Tai Lue quickly stopped Marshall who wanted to stand up, because he knew the reason for Li Lai's arrangement very well.

"In terms of starting players, the coach made Villanueva and Cousins ​​a pair of insiders."

"This is of course because Villanueva has a 39% three-point shooting percentage, so no one dares to let go of his three-pointers."

"Cousins ​​can also launch offenses in the interior very freely during this time period."

"In the rotation stage, the coach let Villanueva and O'Neal play together. Of course, this is the same consideration."

"After all, Jermaine O'Neal doesn't have three-pointers."

"It's just the most critical fourth quarter, especially when the Lakers are still clinging to the score. At this time, we have to need O'Neal's defensive ability."

"His defense is no worse than Rasheed Wallace, and he is even better than the opponent in terms of defense ability. Jermaine O'Neal is a weakened version of Garnett."

"As for offense, what's wrong with offense?"

Hearing Tai Lue's explanation, Marshall frowned, and he wanted to repeat his point of view.

Both O'Neal and Cousins ​​are on the inside at the same time. The pass-and-cut tactics that the Bucks are very good at, and Curry's habit of slipping the bottom line without the ball, these will be difficult to play.

But before Marshall could repeat, he had already been told the answer on the court.

Cousins ​​supports the ball at the top of the arc!
"This was the Bucks' favorite tactic when Yi Jianlian was here last season. Deal high!"

Barkley was full of doubts about the tactic that the Bucks suddenly put on.

Because Yi Jianlian is such a unique big player who can shoot super long, pass the ball, hold the ball, break through, and cooperate with Westbrook and Curry tacitly in the pick-and-roll.

"Cousins?"

"Is it possible that he also has such ability?"

Faced with the sudden play of the Bucks, Gasol was at a loss and didn't know how to defend.

Do you follow Cousins ​​to save the outside line or continue to stay inside?
Judging from the past style of play of the Bucks, they have been mobilizing the opponent's center players to evacuate the penalty area, and then Westbrook can bombard the inside.

And Curry can run around the baseline at will, and when he finds an opportunity, he makes a three-pointer.

So at this time, Gasol chose to empty Cousins ​​two meters away from the free throw line, just to prevent the Bucks from playing comfortably.

Bucks coaching bench.

Marshall opened his notebook and said: "During the team training in the preseason, Curry invited Cousins ​​to compete in three-point shooting, and the latter naturally accepted the challenge stupidly."

"It turned out that Curry was 200 of 199 and Cousins ​​was 200 of 150."

"Cousins ​​may not be a stable three-point shooter yet, but he has a certain outside shooting ability. We may try to let him make a small amount of three-point shooting in a game to try his hand."

Of course, it was precisely because of that competition that Cousins ​​joined the lineup of the Milwaukee Dance King and the Bucks Sao Bao, becoming the last of the three idiots.

The relationship between the three is very good.

Li Lai said decisively at this time: "Tell Reggie that in the future Cousins' training will include three-point shooting."

"Maybe he is still rarely used now, but I have a hunch that in the future, the three-point shooting of inside players in the league will be very popular."

"Cousins ​​must not be behind them."

Swish!
A crisp sound appeared on the field.

Cousins ​​opened his hand and hit a three-pointer.

Cousins, who scored the goal, stretched out three fingers and poked his head, and the picture was extremely arrogant.

But Curry quickly rushed over, turned his back to Cousins, raised his butt slightly, and shook his shoulders arrogantly.

"Dude, you gotta celebrate like me, you're not cool at all with that poke in the head."

next round.

The same tactics for the Bucks.

This time Gasol chose to pounce to defend Cousins, but the latter made a big frontal change and directly passed the Spanish giant Gasol.

One-handed dunk and scored!

After the dunk, Cousins ​​was extremely excited, clenching his hands tightly to reveal his muscles.

Su Qun from the CCTV commentary station couldn't help but exclaimed: "The big man selected by the Bucks is also very talented. He is versatile! He can do everything."

Subsequently, Cousins ​​held the ball outside to attract the attention of the defense and then made a wonderful pass to Curry.

The latter shot from outside the three-point line.

Enter!
119:112, the Bucks won their first regular season victory!

Zen master stood up from the coach's bench, his face darkened the whole time.

Cousins' outside ball-handling style brought up by the Bucks in the last period was completely beyond his expectations.

The Lakers also lost at this juncture.

Zen master did not expect that the Bucks would have a player who could play like Yi Jianlian.

They lost a little bit.

科比30分4篮板7助攻，加内特16分8篮板2盖帽，加索尔17分9篮板。

The three played such good data, but the Lakers still lost.

Li Lai offered to shake hands with the Zen master at the technology stage.

"I'm sorry, Coach Mayfair, I'm posing with you again."

The face of the Zen master who heard this sentence became even darker. He had never seen such a brazen person.

If you put it on, you put it on, why do you say it, it seems that you are excellent?

Post-match interview.

Li Lai did not bring Westbrook, who scored a triple-double of 22 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists, to the press conference.

也没有带砍下了雄鹿队内最高分28分3篮板3助攻的库里，16分11篮板的考辛斯同样没有参加。

(End of this chapter)