Bishop: since 1998

Chapter 26 Playing against the Spurs with learning!

"Om~~"

A buzzer sounds on the scoring counter, and the full game time is over.

The generals of the Jazz breathed a sigh of relief, their faces were as if they had lost their souls, and they left the Great Western Forum in despair.

The Lakers, and finally the Jazz, let out a bad breath.

With a score of 81 to 119, the Lakers beat the Jazz by 38 points and gave the Jazz a fiasco without being a 'gentleman'.

Billups has 11 points, 7 assists and 2 rebounds. The statistics are not dazzling, but the fans and audience are sharp-eyed. They know that Fisher or Harper will not be able to achieve the tactical effect of the Lakers tonight. He received a wave of applause welcoming him here.

O'Neal scored 35 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocks. His performance was average.

Compared with the explosive performance of 46 points and 15 rebounds in the last game, this game against the Jazz is really 'hip pulling'.

Kobe had 27 points, 10 assists, 8 rebounds, 2 steals and 1 block. It was almost like a sewer, otherwise, it was a solid triple-double performance.

However, Kobe's off-ball almost made Hornacek vomit in this game, and the launch of the Almighty Division surprised everyone's attention.

Utah Shuangsha teamed up to score 47 points, still unable to stop the disastrous ending.

After the game, the reporters surrounded Kobe with long guns and short cannons to ask questions.

Sporadic gunfire also fired at Lao Li. Regarding the two big victories, they wanted to know how Li Mu was feeling at this time, "The first year of coaching, the first two games, facing two teams with the ability to compete for the championship , the Lakers all win by big scores, may I ask, Coach Li Mu, what do you think?"

"I don't think it was an accident!" Li Mu's face was calm, feeling very calm.

Isn't this what it should be?
In other words, the Rockets have won two consecutive championships in the past few years, and the Jazz have also won the "runner-up" for two years in the past two years. Rounding off, they are all a little bit short, and they have established a team ruled by a dynasty.

In all fairness, they have reached the point of invincibility and loneliness, and there is really no way out but death.

The Lakers in 04, the Lakers in 14, and the Lakers in 2021 are all like this.

There is one thing to say, winning the championship year after year, the core lineup is old, the future has changed its immediate combat power, and the potential is exhausted. The only way is to use the reputation of the past to fool one or two legendary superstars who are not yet in their careers to vote, forming the so-called 'three Giants', 'Big Four', continue to charge again.

This kind of "grouping", without exception, has mostly failed, except for God.

Their fame sounds great, but their real strength cannot be calculated according to their peak period.

A team like the Jazz, in fact, should enter a rebuilding period, and the core players are too old to move and are about to retire.

The reason why is not willing to quit.

Don't ask, it's money.

In the past, Utah Shuangsha had the title of a superstar, but had an annual salary of three to four million yuan. After the age of 400, they saw the hope of earning an annual salary of tens of millions. Who wouldn't want to play for a few more years?No one would think about retiring!

After all, they have been playing pick-and-roll tactics for almost 15 years, and they have always maintained the lower limit of their record.

In addition to facing weak teams, the Jazz can use experience to defeat opponents, face strong teams, drag them to the home court, and use the advantage of location to defeat opponents. It seems that they are really strong in the regular season.

However, facing the Lakers who have been improving all the time, this game will end in a disastrous defeat, which is nothing more than revealing the essence of a pseudo-strong team.

Coupled with the crushing of the Lakers' bench strength, it is not surprising that the Jazz will lose this point.

At this time, Li Mu's mentality is probably the same as that of McGrady in 2002.

The series leads 3 to 1. Seeing that the black seven is about to be achieved, I can't help but say: I don't think about the opponent Pistons, but I have already considered the next opponent.

That's right, Li Mu has already considered his next opponent, the away game against the Spurs.

The Spurs are very strong, with twin towers on the inside, Tim Duncan, who has been a rookie, and David Robinson, the general of the sea.

The strength of the inside line can be said to be one of the best in the league.

Even if it is one, no one will refute it.

In addition to being strong inside, at the small forward position, there is also the titan Sean Elliott.

Just looking at the name, it feels like a walk-on, with no strength, just a role player that I can't remember.

Judging from the data, Li Mu knows that this person's strength is not weak. He is a two-time All-Star. Breaking through the unpredictable, very sharp.

In the future, he will also have the nickname "Superman". He is a "kidney fighter". One year later, he will undergo kidney replacement surgery and still be able to return to play NBA games.

"He is back!"

When he made his comeback, the fans cheered and even gave him the title of 'Superman'.

Speaking of which, it was precisely because of kidney disease that his breakthrough state dropped a lot.

However, he didn't sink down there. Instead, like Hill, when his knee was broken and his breakthrough was no longer sharp, he immediately practiced a precise "mid-range shot".

This person has developed the ability to shoot three-point shots from the outside, with a hit rate as high as 40%, which is very rare in this era of "CIC".

What makes Li Mu even more troublesome is that his three-pointers are invisibly very suitable for the Spurs' tactical system.

Duncan's unsolvable singles, after attracting double-teams, split the ball out of the perimeter, and the powerful low-post singles ability of the Admiral of the Sea also needs the outside line to open up the offensive space.

Sean Elliott, plus Duncan and Admiral, to put it bluntly, the Spurs are not the two-tower combination that the outside world says, as simple as that, but the Big Three combination.

For example, in Li Mu's previous life, the Lakers created a dynasty, and everyone knew about the "OK combination", but no one mentioned Glen Rice.

He's also an All-Star.

The lineups of the Spurs and the Rockets are very similar. They are both strong on the inside and average on the outside, with many "flaws".

The only difference is that the Rockets bet on the growth of a group of rookies, while the Spurs believe in perimeter players who have worked hard in the league.

There are no real star-level players on the outside of the Spurs, but they are a group of screws with different skills.

In Li Mu's view, the Spurs are an enhanced version of the Rockets.

In Li Mu's previous life, the Spurs eliminated the Lakers in the Western Conference semifinals and easily won the championship along the way.

Therefore, Li Mu's most important thing is the Spurs. To play against the Spurs, he has no idea at all, and just plays with a learning mentality.

……

San Antonio in 3 days.

July 2, night.

Alamo Dome.

In the third game of the regular season in the 98-99 season, the Lakers challenged the Spurs away.

After a simple appearance and warm-up exercise, the starting lineups of both sides are as follows.

The Lakers started with five players, point guard Billups, shooting guard Kobe Bryant, small forward Bowen, power forward Ben Wallace, and center O'Neal.

The Spurs started with the Five Tigers, point guard Avery Johnson, shooting guard Mario Alley, small forward Sean Elliott, power forward Duncan, and center David Robinson.

"beep~~"

Then, the referee's whistle sounded, and the basketball flew into the sky.

O'Neal and David Robinson looked up at the basketball and jumped almost simultaneously.

Snapped! !

The more experienced David Robinson defeated O'Neal and won the offensive ball for the Spurs.

"First round, Spurs attack, look how they go!!"

……

(End of this chapter)