Pick Westbrook

Chapter 390 He's Kobe

The Pelicans and Rockets ended their preseason trip to China.

They will be rushed to the United States for the rest of the competition.

During this trip to China, the NBA undoubtedly attracted the attention of countless people. Whether it is the quality and experience of watching the game, as well as the groundbreaking preseason game held in China, it has achieved very meaningful value.

Especially the public opinion after the game, because the Pelicans almost slaughtered the Rockets, their suffocating defense has become a topic that countless fans talk about.

But in the U.S., there is one piece of news that stands out even more than the Pelicans-Rockets preseason game in China.

On the way, Stevens told Li Lai the latest news from ESPN.

"The Lakers lost again!"

"They have already suffered a two-game losing streak in the preseason. In this game, Warcraft Howard has played and scored 28 points and 24 rebounds in 12 minutes."

"But it's very strange that the Lakers allowed the Kings to score 128 points!"

Stevens remembered that during the training camp, Li Lai had always emphasized that the Spurs and Warriors were the biggest enemies of the Pelicans this season.

On the contrary, the Lakers, the most popular championship team, were ranked second by Li Lai.

At the very beginning, Stevens thought that Li Lai's views underestimated Kobe, Gasol, Howard and Nash, and even Chris Paul also believed that the coach did underestimate these four players who must enter the Hall of Fame Strength.

But now it seems that the situation is really moving in the direction Li Lai predicted.

Du Feng said: "Howard is a DPOY, the guardian of the inside penalty area."

"His defensive strength and ability to protect the frame inside, it is impossible for the Kings to score such a high score in a preseason game."

"Could it be that Howard doesn't defend?"

Stevens shook his head and said, "Howard is not only defending, but also very focused on the court. It's not like he's just playing this game as a preseason game."

"This is Howard's first game for the Lakers. There's no reason why he shouldn't show his full strength."

"It's just that no one in the entire Lakers team is defending except Howard. Even if he is a DPOY, it is impossible for one person to defend five people on the court."

Li Lai couldn't help heaving a long sigh at this moment. He remembered the Lakers in his previous life, which also had a lot of problems at the beginning of the preseason.

But in fact, for the Lakers in the previous life, the preseason has been their best situation of the whole season.

Stevens continued: "In the next preseason game, Coach Mike Brown has confirmed that Nash will play."

"With Nash on the court, Howard's threat on the offensive end will definitely be fully fired, and the Pacers are estimated to lose."

Du Feng reminded: "The slow start of the Lakers is a good thing for us. After all, our opponent in the opening game is the Lakers."

"After all, they are the biggest favorites to win the championship. If we can beat them, it will be of great significance to us this season."

Li Lai nodded. After all, that game was also the first game since the Pelicans officially changed their name.

10 month 11 day.

The preseason games continue.

Li Lai has seen the state of the players in the first two games, and successfully practiced the newly arranged tactics, so he will gradually adjust the starting lineup in the next games.

Chris Paul, who played in the London Olympics, was the first to enter the truce, and then Lewis rested for the next game.

Vince Carter rested Game [-] and DeAndre Jordan rested Game [-].

In these four games, Leonard and Jimmy Butler, who have been playing chicken blood since the beginning of the training camp, played without a break and played well.

在第三场对战山猫队的比赛上，两人分别砍下了31分6篮板3助攻1抢断和32分7篮板2抢断1盖帽的数据。

The mid-range performance of the two in these two games attracted the attention of countless commentators and commentators.

"Leonard has a lot of footwork in the mid-range, and watching him attack the court is like watching Kobe play."

"Jimmy Butler's mid-range singles will have a lot of pick-and-roll and tactical cooperation. I think the coaching staff of the Pelicans also noticed that Butler's physical talent is not outstanding, and his forced singles are easily restricted, so he will play before the opponent's mid-range singles. Arranging so many tactical coordination."

"Both of them seem to have trained very hard in this off-season, and their mid-range threats have been greatly improved."

In the last preseason game against the Bucks, Li Lai rested all the team's main players, even rookie Anthony Davis.

Li Lai is very satisfied with Davis' performance. Although his personal offense is not particularly good due to physical constraints, he has almost completed everything Li Lai explained on the defensive end.

"The Pelicans will be aggressively preparing for their next opener."

In front of the technical stage, Li Lai and Tai Lunlu hugged and exchanged a few words.

I haven't seen him in just two years, and Tyronnlue already has a lot of gray hair on his forehead. It can be seen that the current situation of the Bucks has put him under a lot of pressure.

Yi Jianlian is gone, Jeremy Lin is gone, Danny Green is gone, Artest has not renewed his contract with the team, but the Bucks management has announced that they will retire Artest's jersey, in order to In recognition of his contribution to the Bucks.

But Artest has not expressed his position on this matter for the time being.

The most important thing is that Curry is gone too.

Tyronn Lue is very clear that the reason why the Bucks were able to complete two consecutive championships and create a wave of small balls in the league is because of Curry's existence.

Now that the Bucks do not have Curry, it will no longer be difficult to play the smooth offense in the past.

So Tyronn Lue had no choice but to overthrow all the tactics left by Li Lai before. From now on, the Bucks will play Westbrook + Cousins' internal and external dual-core tactics.

"Coach, I don't know how to help this team move forward."

Tylen Lu said suddenly.

Li Lai patted Tai Lunlu on the shoulder, took a long breath and did not speak.

Because this team has already had big problems in the lineup.

Westbrook happily jumped on Li Lai, and the two of them tacitly did not talk about the team. Westbrook just kept congratulating Li Lai for leading the Chinese men's basketball team to win the Olympic medal.

At the same time, Westbrook said with certainty: "I will lead this Bucks team forward."

10 month 22 day.

The NBA preseason is all over.

The Pelicans showed their good competitive state with 6 wins and 1 loss, but the Lakers on the other side were not so happy.

科比出战了最后一场季前赛，全场上场36分钟，21投9中，罚球线上7罚7中，砍下了25分5篮板3助攻的数据。

But Bryant's appearance still failed to win a preseason game for the Lakers.

The Lakers lost 7 games in a row in the preseason!

在这场比赛上，魔兽霍华德全场只出手了8次，命中了其中的6个投篮，罚球7罚3中，打出了15分15篮板2盖帽1抢断的数据。

The Barkley Show.

Big Mouth Barkley couldn't help laughing and said, "Is this the most favorite Lakers team in the league this season?"

"Seven games in a row in the preseason, I really don't understand how the Lakers lost so many games."

"They made it to the NBA Finals last season, no matter how bad their strength is, they shouldn't have dropped so much."

Magic Johnson on the side looked extremely ugly. He strongly denied and said: "The strength of the Lakers has not declined at all."

"We got Nash and Howard this season. We need to run in so that the two can integrate into the team as soon as possible."

"For the sake of running in, it doesn't matter if we lose some games in the preseason. The playoffs are our stage."

Reggie Miller frowned slightly and said, "But Coach Li Lai once said a very reasonable thing."

"No team will try their best to play the game in the preseason. Observe the rookie ability and the players' state and tactical integration. This is the focus and theme of all teams in the preseason."

"So the outcome of the preseason is not important or meaningful?"

"No, you can see a lot of things in the preseason."

"Especially the victory or defeat in the preseason can largely reflect a team's tacit understanding and desire to win."

"If you can't even win a game in the preseason, what game can you win?"

O'Neal nodded, looked at Magic Johnson and said, "Although I'm also a legend of the Lakers, at this point I'm coaching Reggie Miller and Li Lai."

"The preseason really says a lot."

Magic Johnson shook his head and said, "Tomorrow is the opening game between the Lakers and Pelicans."

"The two teams were opponents in the Western Conference finals last season. This season, they are scheduled to face off in the opening game. There is also a taste of a repeat of last season's Western Conference finals."

"I believe that when it comes to the opening game, the Lakers will definitely get back to their state with full firepower."

"That game will fully demonstrate the strength of the Lakers' four-star lineup."

Staples Arena.

Because of the poor performance of the Lakers in the preseason, tonight's regular season opener game attracted more fans than usual.

The reporter media area gathered many media reporters outside of Los Angeles and New Orleans.

Interview before the game.

Mike Brown looked at the media reporters surrounded by three floors inside and three floors outside. Even though he was used to the countless spotlights in Los Angeles, he was a little uncomfortable at the moment.

"Coach Mike Brown, tonight you will face your opponent in the Western Conference Finals last season, the New Orleans Pelicans."

"In the Western Conference Finals, you defeated the Pelicans very easily. This season you have also ushered in helpers like Nash and Howard. Will it be easier tonight?"

Mike Brown was very embarrassed to hear this, because he watched the Pelicans' preseason game this season in pre-game preparation.

Mike Brown, who was a defensive coach, is very sure that this Pelicans team has fully evolved into one of the best defensive teams in the league.

As early as last season, the Pelicans were the league's No. [-] team in steals and the No. [-] team in the league in overall defensive efficiency. They will definitely go further this season.

Mike Brown thought of the current group of old men in the Lakers team, one by one, two to five to eighty thousand, and Mike Brown's defensive tactics were not implemented by anyone at all.

Howard is very willing to defend, but after 7 games in the preseason, Howard's average shots per game has dropped, and now even he is unwilling to make more contributions on the defensive end.

Such a team environment exhausted Mike Brown.

"Even if my on-the-spot adaptability is insufficient, my defensive arrangement and ability to build a defensive system have been praised by countless famous coaches."

"The Spurs are still using my defensive system even now, so how can I be considered a parallel coach."

After regaining his senses, Mike Brown looked at the reporters waiting for his answer, and said straightly.

"Of course! The Lakers will definitely win tonight's game."

"The Lakers will get back their form from this game tonight, and they will get back the feeling of winning from the Pelicans."

"we are doing well."

on the field.

The big screen at the scene showed the starting lineups of the two teams.

Lakers starting lineup: point guard Nash, shooting guard Kobe Bryant, small forward Trevor Ariza, power forward Gasol and center Howard.

Pelicans starting lineup: point guard Paul, shooting guard Leonard, small forward Jimmy Butler, power forward Anthony Davis and center DeAndre Jordan.

"Welcome to the NBA regular season opener of the 2012-13 NBA season, the game between the Lakers and the Pelicans."

"The game begins! Midfield jump ball."

Howard jumped high and took the offensive ball from Jordan in the first round.

Lakers offense.

Nash pushed forward with the ball, licked his fingers with his lips, and signaled his teammates to drop down. After halftime, Nash passed the ball to Kobe.

The first goal of the Lakers' opening game should naturally be played by Kobe. Over the years, the Lakers' first offense in the opening game has also been dominated by Kobe.

This is human, accident.

Nash clearly grasped this point very well.

But Howard didn't understand that.

He had already moved to the free throw line to play a pick-and-roll with Nash, because Howard knew very well that if he wanted to get easy offensive opportunities, he needed more passes from Nash.

But, it was Kobe with the ball again.

Kobe raised his hand and made a gesture after holding the ball.

Stevens has long been familiar with such gestures and said: "One finger, open the heads-up. Two fingers, I want one to two. Three fingers, I want one to three. Four fingers, I want to open the black mamba mode." , the rest will be all my balls!"

Du Feng was startled, and found that Stevens seemed to dislike Kobe's playing style, and his words were a little extreme.

Du Feng remembered what Li Lai said when he commented on Leonard and Jimmy Butler, and now it seems that they fit very well.

Leonard is like Kobe, Jimmy Butler is like James.

Kobe was born rich and his father was an NBA player. Although the other party failed to gain a foothold in the NBA and went to Europe, he also accumulated a lot of wealth. Even in the United States, he was at least a middle-income family.

Most of the children who grow up in such a family do not lack self-confidence and dare to meet any challenges.

And players like Jimmy Butler, who were born in a slum, are even lucky to survive. They know how to use the help of others and know how to generate greater strength through unity.

Children who grow up in such a family will more or less talk about brotherhood, know how to help each other and achieve each other, and are more tactful in human relationships.

Of course, most people like to be close to the latter, because the former is a bit too noble and distant.

Li Lai saw the emotions and thoughts of the two, and said: "Both types of people have their own distinct characteristics and abilities. Leonard is not talkative in the team, but it doesn't mean he is not a good person."

"Jimmy Butler is like a chatterbox. His favorite thing to do in the locker room every day is to play the thick eyebrows of the veteran bullying the rookie. This does not mean that Jimmy Butler is a bad person."

"In fact, Thick Eyebrow and Jimmy Butler have the best relationship."

"In short, different types of people should find their own position in the team and do what they are good at."

"But with the Lakers, this time I think Kobe was wrong."

"In any case, he is about to turn 35 years old. For the sake of his career and health, he should give up some offensive possessions at this time."

"Just like O'Neal was willing to give up part of the ball to Kobe back then, now he should also learn from his former boss and gradually delegate power to Howard."

"Unfortunately, he is Kobe."

(End of this chapter)