the rest, only noise

Chapter 1184 The Lakers' career playoff debut
It is surprising that the Lakers can end the regular season with a record of 64 wins.

Although Louie is back, and there is Benjamin Wilson in his prime, but overall, the Lakers are still an "old, weak, sick and disabled" team.

Kevin Garnett is so talented that the sky may not even be his limit, but it's unrealistic to expect him to shine in his rookie season.

However, even if Garnett's first season of his career did not surprise the country, it was enough to make people believe that he has a chance to become a generation of genius in Generation X.

在湖人，加内特的场均数据是12.6分7.4篮板3.2助攻1.2抢断1.9盖帽2.8失误⑴。

He's well-rounded and can fill the stats, but he's not quite ready for the pro game, as you can see from the turnover count.

After four years of absence from the professional arena, he still averaged 15 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists as a substitute after his comeback.

But the Lakers have changed dynasties.

Their leader is Wilson.

This season, Wilson played the best personal performance of his career, 82 full attendance, averaging 34.4 points, 9.2 rebounds, 8.1 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.5 blocks per game, with only 2.2 turnovers per game.

It can be said that he is the main reason why the Lakers can win 64 wins.

Without Wilson, the Lakers' winning percentage is only 50% at most, barely reaching the level of the playoffs.

It is obviously satisfying to welcome Leader Lu's first season after his comeback with such a record.

64 wins is not a record worth mentioning for Louis, but it is meaningful for the accumulation of data in his coaching career.

After this season, the total number of regular season wins in Louie's career has reached 697 games. Next season, he will usher in the milestone of his 700th career win.

In the first round of the playoffs, the Lakers' opponent is the Phoenix Suns.

The Suns have been a powerhouse in the West since the late 80s.

Only now, Brad Doherty has retired, and the Suns have brought in Chinese center Yu Tiancan.

Yu Tiancan also lived up to Yang Guan’s trust. He averaged 18 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks per game in two seasons with the Suns. Compared with Doherty, his offense is one level weaker and his defense is two levels stronger.

However, there was a lack of spark between him and Kevin Johnson.

KJ prefers Doherty's inside line who can pull out to shoot and move to attack, while Yu Tiancan is a very old-fashioned inside line. Although he has excellent athletic ability for his height, his playing habits are too traditional.

Therefore, although Yu Tiancan performed well, the core of the sun is not compatible with each other, and the team's record is also unstable. He has always been the underdog in the playoffs.

Now they challenge the Lakers who are second in the West as the seventh in the West. The outside world expects them to win at least one game, right?

Game1
Louie didn't want to have a bad start, so he attached great importance to the Suns' game.

The Lakers' starters are Derek Harper, Ellis, Wilson, Garnett, Ostertag.

This lineup has both offense and defense, and there are no shortcomings.

For the Suns, they started with KJ, Eddie Jones, Hornacek, Sam Perkins, and Yu Tiancan.

Likewise, the Suns' starters are both offensive and defensive.

Louie's defensive focus on the Suns is mainly three shots from the outside - KJ, Hornacek and Eddie Jones.

The positioning of Yu Tiancan and Perkins in the sun is actually a bit functional.

Against KJ, Louis asked Harper to lead the defense all the way, and to attack decisively, don't be afraid of fouls.

For Hornacek, it is targeted unlimited defense.As long as he calls a screen, he will switch defenses decisively without procrastination.

There is not much defensive design for Jones, just let Benj suppress one-on-one.

As the game progressed, KJ proved his strength, and it was difficult for Harper to guard him, so Louie adjusted his defense again.

Let Garnett come from the left and right sides of the paint to the high position, using his length and athleticism to radiate inside and outside.

As long as KJ rushes in, he will block the opponent's breakthrough line in time.

The defense is mainly to block, let KJ shoot.

The Sun's answer to this was Perkins' shot.

But Louis completely ignored him. Of course Perkins can shoot, but not everyone's shots can kill people.

Even if he voted for 30 points, Louis can accept it, but it is absolutely unacceptable to let KJ penetrate a line of defense alone.

Perkins played pretty well and scored most of the chance goals.

This is not enough.

Because the Lakers are not a team known for their defense, their focus is offense.

Louis hasn't let the team play the "shooting star" tactic, so far, everything is a conventional play.

When Ellis scored a series of three-pointers, Wilson took the ball in singles to establish an advantage in tactics, boosted the morale of the team, suppressed the Suns' counterattack, and the game ended.

113 is better than 99
The Lakers defeated the Suns by 14 points, while defending their home court, they also won Louis' first playoff victory after his comeback.

"Coach Lu, does it feel different to lead the team to the playoffs again after two years?"

Louis replied with a smile: "It feels good, as if nothing has changed."

"Do you think the Lakers have a chance to win this year?"

"We're a 64-win team, and for me, getting to the conference finals is the bottom line."

"Do you think Kevin Garnett's first playoff game was good?"

Louie has always been extremely demanding of Garnett: "Kevin? That's it, nothing to show for it."

Please note that Coach Lu is evaluating Garnett who scored 19 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 blocks in the first game of the playoffs.

Unlike Louie, the Los Angeles media couldn't wait to compare Garnett with Sampson, who made his first playoff appearance 15 years ago.

They were pleasantly surprised to find that, compared to the great one and only Mr., Garnett had a clear advantage, not to mention a complete victory.

"I just play! Really! I don't think about anything, just play!" Garnett said in simple words, "Just do it!"

Later in Game 2, Sun finally realized that it would be suicidal to let Yu Tiancan's advantage and focus on outside lanes instead.

So Yu Tiancan became the core of the attack.

Ostertag's physique and touch height are enough to make him a high-quality tank and a first-class basket protector, but Yu Tiancan is not a tough traditional insider.

It can be said that he is very similar to Wake Forest's junior Duncan on the offensive end, but he does not have the agility of the latter.

After all, he has a height of 2 meters, and his attack speed is average, but his skills are comprehensive.

In front of Ostertag, Yu Tiancan’s first 6 offenses tonight had different finishing methods each time, such as a big hook with his right hand, a small hook with his left hand, a straight hook with a step back, an inside turn to put the basket, a turn around and a shot, and a slam dunk that swayed into the basket.

Ostertag has been blown up, but Louis can't make a substitution.

Because looking at the Lakers' bench, there are very few people who can replace Ostertag, and there is no one who can do better than Ostertag.

Ostertag is already the best meat shield blue-collar fifth position in the Lakers.

To alleviate the offensive pressure brought by Yu Tiancan, the best way is to hit him on the offensive end.

Louis was about to call a timeout for Wilson to name Yu Tiancan during military training, but the Suns somehow stopped passing the ball inside.

KJ has no brain and suddenly a quilt;
Jones missed a shot;
Hornacek has a brain, but he is an off-ball shooter in the Suns. He needs to be fed by others, and he will not feed the inside unless necessary.

Then this happened.

Yu Tiancan, who is currently in a hot state, can't catch the ball, and his outside teammates have turned into blind monks, which not only blinds his good state, but also wastes the score advantage he has built up.

The Lakers played very happily by counterattacking fast breaks. In less than one and a half quarters, the Suns trailed by 9 points.

This annoyed their head coach Paul Westphal. The famous Rushuai called a timeout to replace KJ and Jones, let Hornacek play the first position, and then replaced Brent Barry, the son of the famous general, to increase outside shooting.

The Suns are determined to play inside, but the Lakers' roll call tactics will uproot their inside advantage.

(10.4) In reality, KG’s rookie data is 6.3+1.8+1.1+1.6+[-]. Considering that he played small forward in the Wolves’ first season, he played power forward in the Lakers—sometimes at the top of the center—and considering that there is a significant difference between the Wolves’ chaotic style of play and the Lakers’ “beautiful basketball”.

(End of this chapter)