Guoshu basketball

Chapter 55
Zen Master's formation today is very interesting. It stands to reason that the Utah Jazz's outside core is Deron Williams.Li Du, who is a defensive vanguard and known for defending perimeter players, should defend Deron.But Zen Master arranged for Fisher to defend Deron, and Li Du was mentioned as a small forward to defend "AK47" Kirilenko.

And in the center matchup, Zen Master replaced Bynum, who had been the starting center recently, and let Kwame Brown play the starting lineup against Okur.At power forward, let Odom play against Carlos Boozer.

In this way, the Lakers' starting lineup becomes:
Point guard, Derek Fisher.

Shooting guard, Kobe Bryant.

Small forward, Li Du.

Power forward, Lamar Odom.

Center, Kwame Brown.

This lineup has appeared many times before, but in the past, Li Du was always placed in the guard position.This time, he was asked to play small forward.

According to Zen Master, Kirilenko, like Li Du, is a player who focuses on defense and open shots.If Li Du continues to stay on the back line, it means that Kobe will face Kirilenko directly. Although with Kobe's strength, he will not be afraid of anyone, but Kirilenko's defense will consume a lot of energy for Kobe. Conserving energy is especially important when racing on plateaus!
On the Jazz side, coach Sloan, who has fought with Zen Master for a lifetime, sent out such a lineup:
Point guard, Deron Williams.

Shooting guard, Ronnie Brewer.

Small forward, Andrei Kirilenko.

Power forward, Carlos Boozer.

Center, Mehmet Okur.

Sloan has tried his best to arrange such a lineup.On offense, Deron can play pick-and-rolls with Boozer or Okur. Of course, Deron and Boozer have more pick-and-rolls, but Okur can pull the outside shot after the pick-and-roll to attract the Lakers' center.The Lakers have only one center for the inside barrier, either Kwame Brown or Bynum, no matter which one of them is facing Okur, as long as Okur is pulled to the outside, the Lakers' inside protection will be useless!

Both Kirilenko and Brewer are extremely athletic and defensively smart players. On the offensive end, they use more air cuts and open shots to score.The two of them are the strongest, and the most critical role is the perimeter defense!

Whether Kobe plays shooting guard or small forward, he has to face the intrusion of defensive giants, which consumes a lot of Kobe's physical strength!At the same time, Sloan also noticed that Li Du's shooting percentage was terribly high!Brewer and Kirilenko, just to deal with Kobe and Li Du!

The two famous NBA coaches have already started to compete in the formation of troops!

During the warm-up, facing the tsunami of boos from the audience at the energy center, even Li Du couldn't stop it!Li Du tried to exert force again with Paoquan, shaking the wooden floor and making a loud noise like thunder.But even such a shocking voice and momentum was overwhelmed by the momentum of nearly 2 people in the entire energy center!

After practicing a set of Xingyiquan, Li Du looked at Kobe and the others, shook his head helplessly, and said, "This is the first time I've seen such crazy fans!"

"What did you say?" Kobe Bryant asked loudly. The boos and shouts of the audience in the Energy Center had overwhelmed all the voices. It was difficult for the players to hear each other's speech on the court!
Li Du shook his head, saying it was nothing.Looking at Odom and Kwame Brown again, they seemed to be overwhelmed by the momentum of the "devil's home court". One stared blankly at the ceiling, and the other lowered his head, showing no expression at all.

Zen master had expected that such a situation where it would be difficult for players to communicate with each other, so he had already arranged tactics with everyone in the locker room, and if there was a need to temporarily adjust tactics on the court, Zen master would use gestures , or whistle to remind everyone.This can be regarded as his unique tactical skill!

Before the game even started, everyone knew that it must be a battle between dragons and tigers!Therefore, this time TNT broadcast the game live across the United States. In addition to Barkley and his old partner Smith, the commentary also invited "Magic" Johnson, and one of the symbols of the Utah Jazz, "Postman" Karl Malone.

"Utah's home court is still the same as before, super noise maker!" Barkley complained dissatisfied. Among all the home courts in the NBA, he hates the Utah Jazz's home court the most. When he was a player, he was tortured by this devil's home court. Later, when he became a commentator, he also hated this place, because the audience here is too loud. Big, he could barely hear what he said, let alone cooperating with Smith in explaining!
Smith smiled helplessly. Why doesn't he hate this extremely noisy home stadium, but as a commentator, he still needs to complete his commentary tasks, so he asked the two guests: "Erwin, Carl, do you all want to play the game?" He is one of the most powerful players in NBA history. What do you think, the Lakers came with the prestige of winning 11 games in this game, can the Utah Jazz withstand it? What is the key to the victory of both sides?"

Malone and the magician looked at each other, and the magician motioned for Malone to speak first, so Malone replied: "I have played in Utah for nearly 20 years. From an emotional point of view, of course I want the Jazz to win. Moreover, although the Lakers have Kobe Bryant's strong return, and the wonderful performance of the amazing rookie Li Du who can attack and defend, but the Jazz is not hopeless! The Lakers have remained undefeated this season, largely because of Kobe and Li Du. They have shown great strength, but facing the Jazz, their offensive and defensive efficiency will drop sharply! As long as the kids of the Jazz can play their strengths, they will have a great chance to win this game!"

Smith nodded, and then asked "Magic" Johnson: "Irvin, what do you think? How likely is the Jazz to stop the Lakers tonight?"

"Magic" Johnson replied with a smile: "Actually, I think the Jazz have little chance! Carl is right. The Lakers' unbeaten record this season is largely due to Kobe and Li-Du. Don't forget , They have won many strong teams before! Kobe averaged 32.6 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 5.4 assists this season! And his shooting percentage reached 48.6%, which is extremely efficient!"

Looking at Ma Long with a gloomy face, "Magic" Johnson continued: "Besides, Li Du, he has now firmly secured the first place in the best rookie list. His statistics may not be very good. 9.6 points per game, 0.6 blocks, 0.3 steals. But everyone knows that the role of Li Du cannot be measured by his own data, but should be measured by the data of the players facing him!"

Then, "Magic" Johnson unscrupulously read out a large list of data of the players who played against Li Du when they were defended by Li Du.This includes Nash's 4 points, 3 assists, and 3 turnovers; the bearded Davis, who is physically fit and can hit all guards from the three-point line, only scored two points under Li Du's defense!In the second match against the Sonics, Li Du alone kept Ray Allen and Lewis scoreless for the entire game!
After reading this string of statistics, "Magic" Johnson said with a smile: "Li Du is known as a magical rookie, but everyone, don't forget, some people call him a 'nightmare for opposing players'! Tonight's game, as long as With Kobe and Li Du playing normally, the possibility of the Lakers losing is very small!"

(End of this chapter)