Bishop: since 1998

Chapter 41 Jones, become the brightest star!
On the night of February 2th, in the Western Forum, the Lakers defeated the visiting Hornets at home, expanding the number of victories in the new season to 16 games, making up the Dragon Ball.

In all fairness, the Charlotte Hornets are not weak and have a place in the Eastern Conference.

In the 96-97 season, under the coaching of head coach Dave Cowens, the regular season had a record of 54 wins and 28 losses, setting the best record in team history.

In the 97-98 season, he got the sixth record in the East, advanced to the second round of the playoffs, and lost to the Bulls led by Jordan in the semifinals.

In this era, losing Jordan is not considered a loss!
As a small team, such a record is still very gratifying.

However, not only does the night package require additional money, but the team also needs to add money if they want to maintain their results.

In other words, the value of the players has been revealed. As a small team, the Hornets' disaster has come.

The first catastrophe was on Divac. His contract expired and he was unwilling to renew it.

He originally stayed in the big city of Los Angeles, but he didn't expect that the Lakers would send him, a star center, to Charlotte for an "unknown" Kobe.

Now that the contract is over and the Kings come to invite him, he will naturally not stay here.

The second robbery is Matt Geiger, a fierce player who defends fiercely, and O'Neill also smells changed.

A palm in 95 caused O'Neill to fracture his hand bone, which indirectly led to O'Neill's westward trip to Los Angeles.

After gradually becoming famous, the 76 team signed him with a 6-year 5100 million contract to play the "four guarantees and one" tactic for Iverson.

The third catastrophe happened to the captain Anthony Mason. He had problems with the muscles he trained and was directly reimbursed for the 98-99 season.

In this way, all the insiders of the Hornets 'hang up'.

In Li Mu's previous life, the Hornets would sign Brad Miller. As a result, Li Mu got him to the Lakers, which made the Hornets' already poor insiders even worse.

The Hornets had no choice but to sign Langdrick Coleman, the No. 90 pick in [-].

Coleman was a full-time power forward, but was used to play center forward, playing small ball tactics.

……

In the first quarter of the game, in the first round of offense, O'Neal received a pass from Billups, sat down, slammed into the basket, immediately turned around, got up, and dunked with both hands.

0 to 2! !
In the first round alone, the duel between the No. 90 pick in 92 and the No. [-] pick in [-] ended in O'Neal's victory.

Coleman couldn't resist O'Neill's impact at all, and he was unwilling to fight desperately.

For basketball, Coleman just played it as a job.

He is physically gifted and is regarded as the top three power forwards in history. He originally competed with Barkley and Malone, power forwards of that level.

It's just that this person, after entering the league, is really the player who brought his 'basketball talent' to the NBA.

Entering the league, he has been playing with talent and never trained seriously.

Concentrate on off-site entertainment: beating, fighting, being beaten, drag racing... proficient in everything.

Want him to fight desperately against O'Neill?
It was simply against his faith.

Naturally, he wouldn't do such a stupid thing, whoever gets hurt, he's going to stay in the league for 15 years, until he retires.

Hornets head coach Dave Cowens can only give up fluke.

Putting his only hope of winning on the offense, he wanted to fight against the Lakers, and used his speed to stranded the shark, O'Neal, on the shore.

Not to mention, the Hornets really have this capital.

David Wesley and Bobby Fiers, nicknamed Mickey Mouse, this pair of backcourt combination can be called a death-speed combination. When they rush up, they can ignore life and swish like a whirlwind, making the Lakers' backcourt exhausted. .

Billups faced the 1-meter David Wesley, which was a headache.

Wesley's speed is his job, and Billups' height of 1 meters is simply a natural misalignment.

Unless you find a similarly short point guard like Tyronn Lue, otherwise, it would probably be enough to replace Joe as the leader.

Wesley's breakthroughs made frequent contributions, almost breaking Billups into a sieve.

The Lakers switched inside and Wesley scored the ball, which is an offensive threat.

He is not as good as Iverson, but he can already be regarded as a poor version of Iverson.

The poor version of Iverson, when he breaks through, he is also Iverson.

The Lakers can only find a way to slow down the Hornets.

Fortunately, the Lakers are very mobile. Although they can't drop every time, most of them can still be done.

Dragging the game into position, the Hornets' offensive ability is not weak.

Coleman knew that he couldn't beat O'Neal when he went inside, so he pulled out and played a pick-and-roll tactic with David Wesley.

Coleman's offensive talent is very strong, the peak can hit 22+10 data, good post-up skills, of course, he also has a precise mid-range shot.

After the pick-and-roll, he catches the ball and shoots a jumper. With O'Neal's anti-pick-and-roll skills, it's not easy to score.

David Wesley's offensive firepower is also quite strong, every inch is short and every inch is strong.

After his pick-and-roll, he broke into the paint and faced O'Neal, hitting the basket very sharply.

Even if the Lakers block the inside line, Glen Rice, the three-point star master, is blooming on the outside line.

He is a 5-time All-Star who averaged 97 points per game in the 98/28 season. As the star of the team, his offensive strength is naturally not bad, and he frequently hits three-pointers.

Rush to the basket, layup, mid-range shot, three-pointer...

The Hornets' offensive style is very three-dimensional, making it impossible for the Lakers to defend against each other.

In the first quarter of the game, the Hornets took the start and wanted to drive the rhythm of the game, but they were able to do so. The Lakers, who were underprepared, fell behind in the score.

Fortunately, O'Neal was a pillar of the sky, received the basketball, smashed into the space, and with a bang, it was a goal.

The Hornets were beaten inside, so they could only shrink back and encircle O'Neal.

The Lakers started to shoot three-pointers from the outside.

Boom-!
Boom-!
Boom-!
In the Great Western Forum Arena, there was a symphony of iron strikes.

In other words, blacksmithing is not terrible, but there are also rebounds that are terrible.

In the last game, Ben Wallace, who grabbed 19 rebounds, faced JR Reynolds, grabbing rebounds was as easy as drinking water.

Then, there was no room for a dunk under the basket, and the basketball was thrown out, and there were a few more bangs from the outside line. The Lakers' three-pointer was smashed with a large number of shots.

He has a good blacksmithing feel, and he has been trained to shoot the ball.

Then, the tortoise shell of the Hornets was broken into pieces, and they had no inside advantage. The scene was really miserable.

As the game progressed, the Lakers also figured out the situation of the Hornets players.

Glen Rice, the head of the Hornets, bears the brunt.

His offensive ability with the ball is average, and he is good at catching and shooting from the basket.

With such characteristics, Bowen's existence is simply his nemesis.

Brown Sugar's close defense disrupted his shooting rhythm. Thinking that the opponent was not well-known, he forced a shot. Bowen's big hand slapped his eyes directly, and the weakness of the shooting star began to be exposed.

Glen Rice's shooting touch inevitably declined.

Boom-!
The rebound fell into the hands of the Lakers.

The Hornets couldn't pick up the speed of Duizi, the outside star. The only remaining weapons were pick-and-roll tactics and star individual singles.

Soon, the Hornets' pick-and-roll tactics were also blocked by the defense.

In fact, David Wesley was originally a shooting guard.

The reason why he plays point guard is because his body is too short.

The passing organization ability is much worse.

Then, David Wesley and Coleman, who have only cooperated for less than a month, naturally do not have the invincible power of the Utah Shuangsha.

At the same time, Coleman's pick-and-roll skills are not of good quality, and he does not have Malone's powerful low-post singles ability. He can open his way in the face of flanking attacks.

The scoring efficiency of pick-and-roll tactics has also dropped.

No way, the Hornets can only rely on personal ability to single out.

At this moment, it happened to hit the iron plate of the Lakers.

The starting lineup of the Lakers, Billups, Kobe, Bowen and O'Neal, the worst defense can all enter the second team of the best defense.

The stars of the Hornets are singled out, so naturally there will be no good fruit to eat.

After the first quarter, the score was 28 to 31, and the Lakers had a small lead.

In the second quarter, Li Mu waved his hand and discharged Harper, Dell Curry, Jones, Horry and Campbell.

This rotation lineup is not the strongest rotation lineup, but the card looks like it will definitely not be worse than the Hornets' starting lineup.

Dave Cowens shook his head when he saw the Lakers lineup, and he could only bet his hopes on the former All-Star point guard BJ Armstrong and this year's 21st pick Ricky Davis.

As a result, of course the bet was lost.

Jones broke out, faced Bobby Fiers, broke through for a layup, hit the basket, and scored two points.

Offensive three threats, shake up the defense, and hit a three-pointer.

He lifted the ball with a feint, broke into the inside line, and hit a two-point jumper with a fadeaway.

At this time, All-Star Jones playing as a substitute is simply a dimensionality reduction blow.

Capable of inside and outside, capable of sudden and outside shooting, Jones can also pass the ball, and started a performance of breaking through and scoring the ball. He assisted Campbell and also fired with full offensive firepower.

Especially Curry, who was originally the Hornets' three-pointer and sixth man, is very familiar with the Hornets. He made two consecutive catch-and-shoot three-pointers, which made the Hornets completely unable to lift their heads.

Just when the Hornets' player status came out, the Lakers slowly replaced the main lineup. This is simply not to let people live.

The next situation on the court was one-sided suppression.

After the first half of the game, the Hornets have fallen behind by 13 points.

The game started in the third quarter, and the Lakers' starting main force showed off their power, quickly played a wave, and then clocked out of get off work.

Speaking of it, the Hornets and the Lakers are friends and have a deep relationship.

Kobe trade.

As well as Li Mu's previous life, Jones' trades were all with the Hornets.

So naturally we can't hurt each other's feelings because of a game.

Li Mu can only let Jones and Campbell lead the Lakers' offense.

The Hornets also gradually narrowed the gap in their confrontation with the Lakers.

hum~~
With the sound of the buzzer on the scoreboard, the game time is over.

With a score of 107 to 120, the Lakers defeated the Hornets with an advantage of only 13 points, which gave the Hornets enough face.

O'Neal's scoring dropped sharply, with 28 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists. His scoring average must drop significantly.

Jones scored 31 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds, becoming the brightest star on the court.

Kobe had 13 points, 8 assists, 2 steals and 4 rebounds, and he didn't have much playing time.

Six players from the Hornets scored in double figures, among them, Rice had 6 points, 30 rebounds and 6 assists. Although he was once overwhelmed by Bowen's defense, as long as he didn't target him, he immediately showed his strong offensive firepower in the offense.

After defeating the Hornets, the Lakers' consecutive home games ended and they are about to go on an away trip.

……

(End of this chapter)