basketball player

Chapter 149 147: 2 Minutes Attempt

In the last 2 minutes of the second quarter, the Pacers trailed by 4 points.Although behind by 4 points, the Pacers and the Lakers played back and forth today, without losing the wind at all.The reason why he is slightly behind is entirely because Kobe's personal performance today is really terrible.

Henson still remembers the game where Kobe scored 40+ points against the Lakers last season.The performance of other Lakers players in that game was actually not outstanding, but it was precisely because of the terrifying performance of Kobe, a superstar, that he almost controlled the game by himself.

Fortunately, this season Henson got his wish and has his own superstar.Chris Paul made Kobe have to spend more time on the defensive end, which somewhat reduced Kobe's offensive firepower.

But at this time, when both Paul and Matthews were off the court and Stephenson had to go to the No. [-] position, Kobe knew that it was time for him to make a big kill!
Although it is only 2 minutes, combined with the 4-point advantage he now has, as long as Kobe seizes the opportunity, it is enough for the Lakers to open up a little score before the end of the halftime game!Therefore, for these 2 minutes, Kobe is gearing up!
"Coach Henson called a timeout in the last two minutes of the half, and obviously, he needed to make some personnel adjustments for Kobe. It seems that the Lakers will have to use Stephenson to match Kobe."

As soon as Jaylen Rose finished speaking, a young black guard with a cropped cut came onto the court.Hinrich, who was wearing goggles, was still sitting on the bench leisurely.

Rose pouted, his face was almost swollen from this game.

"Coach Henson replaced him." Mike Breen didn't call out the player's name, so he quickly flipped through the materials at hand, "Replaced with Jimmy Butler, the No. 30 rookie in the first round last year. He was originally selected by the Bulls, but the Pacers traded him to Indianapolis with veteran Dengtai Jones."

After Mike Brin finished speaking, Jaylen Rose also had a preliminary understanding of Jimmy Butler.

"In the previous games, Jimmy Butler only played a total of 10 minutes, averaging 3 minutes per game, and basically didn't play much. I don't know what effect Coach Henson sent him today." Mike Breen is looking forward to it, because every time Henson makes a seemingly unreasonable substitution choice, it can achieve miraculous results!
"Why didn't you replace Hinrich? He played pretty well today! What does Coach Henson want to do? Now is not the time to train new players!" Jaylen Rose expected the exact opposite of Brin. He was expecting Henson to make a fool of himself.

In fact, Henson's plan to try Jimmy Butler was not a whim.Hinrich's performance this season is indeed quite satisfactory, but to be honest, this white guard, a member of the 03 Super Platinum Generation, a tough point guard selected for the Dream Team in 06, was once called the "Wade Terminator" guy.The current state is actually much worse than before.

He is not good at physical fitness, mainly because of his outstanding defensive awareness.But as he grew older, his already mediocre body, his speed and lateral movement became slower.Therefore, Hinrich's defense can only be said to be quite satisfactory, far from being excellent.

If Kobe deliberately finds a wrong position to beat Hinrich, he will really only be slaughtered.

So Henson needed to try something different.In the last 2 minutes, even if Butler was blown away by Kobe, the Lakers would not be able to widen the point difference too far due to the short time limit.But what if Butler could show something different?No matter how good a newcomer is, they always need a chance to show off.

Kobe couldn't help being stunned when he saw the unnamed guy come on the field.For some reason, he felt that the guy looked a bit like Jordan when he was young.

For Jimmy Butler, the Lakers did not prepare or study.What this guy can and cannot do is completely unknown.

After all, not all coaches know everything about a late first-round pick.Not all coaches think of Henson, and they can roughly know what this player can do at a glance.

On the first attack after returning from a timeout, Henson arranged for Butler to intersperse and run outside the three-point line.Bryant had to stick close to Butler, which naturally relieved Stephenson's defensive pressure.

In fact, Butler can't shoot three-pointers at all, but at this moment, Kobe didn't dare to bet on the unknown.Henson's trick of pretending to be a pig and eating a tiger took advantage of Butler's ignorance of the Lakers.Let a player without three-point ability keep looking for opportunities outside the three-point line. It is estimated that only Henson can do it.

Butler pulled away Kobe, Stephenson's creative breakthrough with the ball attracted the defense, and then used a very deliberate back pass to assist Horford to score with a dunk with both hands. Although Stephenson's back pass was a bit too much, but since the assist was completed, Henson did not criticize him.

There has to be a balance between individuality and discipline, a rule Henson has always followed.Too much emphasis on discipline is killing talent.But if you show your personality and style too much, it will undoubtedly mess up the team system.

Therefore, when Henson adds a little bit of personal style while the players follow his own tactics, Henson generally does not object.

At 1 minute and 36 seconds, the Lakers led by 2 points and Kobe attacked.

Stephenson is Kobe's first point of defense. Although this guy is only in the second grade, his psychological quality is already strong enough to defend Kobe alone without being nervous.

"Stephenson's defense is very tough, and he has a good attitude." Mike Breen just realized that this seemed to be nonsense.Because you can use this sentence to describe almost all the perimeter players of the Pacers.

Kobe didn't play singles with Stephenson. He called Fisher's substitute, and Darius Morris made a cover for himself, with the purpose of switching positions to play the little-known rookie.

Kobe was just about to break through at a high speed, but found that he was oppressed and the pressure was huge!This rookie's defense doesn't just fall apart, it's rock solid!

But soon, Kobe adjusted his offensive style.His back-up attack made Butler at a loss, and finally he easily tricked Butler with a simple shoulder shake, and then scored a jumper.

"What did I say!? Coach Henson is slowly committing suicide!" Seeing Kobe score, Jaylen Rose immediately complained.

As if using Hinrich, Kobe couldn't score that goal just now.

"It's okay, it's okay, hold on, Stephenson, hold on!" Henson immediately clapped his hands to let the players focus on himself.

Although Kobe scored the goal, Butler's defense still satisfied Henson.The most important thing now is not to be impatient and not let the Lakers fight back.

Stephenson also put away the previous funny comparisons and took the game seriously.This time, Kobe personally defended Stephenson. Finson did not hesitate and lobbed the ball to Horford. He would not be so stupid as to single out Kobe.

Horford turned sideways to the basket, and under Gasol's clinging, he made an understatement pass.The "three-point shooter" suddenly cut in, threw away Darius Morris, and immediately took off and attacked the basket after receiving the basketball!

Fortunately, Murphy blocked it in time, which prevented Butler from scoring directly.But of course, it inevitably sent him to the free throw line.

"What's going on!?" Kobe spread his hand at Darius Morris, obviously dissatisfied with his defense.Why did I just leave, and that guy created a scoring opportunity!
Morris looked helpless, who would have thought that Horford would make such a beautiful pass.In fact, he underestimated Butler's starting speed.

At the free throw line, Jimmy Butler made 2 of 1 free throws.The Lakers only lead by 3 points, and both sides still have a chance to attack.

Afterwards, Kobe personally dribbled the ball across half court and directed his teammates to open up space for himself.In fact, Kobe is a star who doesn't need possession of the ball, all he needs is the right to shoot.

But Fisher wasn't around, so he was really worried about letting Darius Morris, a rookie in the first year, control the ball.

This time, the Pacers' defensive strategy changed again.Stephenson moved to Ci Shiping's side, and Leonard switched to Kobe.

Wheel fights, Henson's favourite.

Kobe was already sweating profusely at this time, and the continuous fighting in the second quarter made him no longer energetic.And Leonard, who came off the bench, is full of energy today.

Kobe is going to continue playing back-to-back singles, which is the most energy-saving way.But this time, just as Kobe was about to turn over and shoot a jump shot after shaking his shoulders, a black shadow rushed forward, raised his arms high and defended in front of Kobe!
Faced with the interference of two pairs of long arms, even Kobe couldn't hit the shot.The key offense hit the iron, and the Pacers got a chance to tie the score!
And it was none other than Jimmy Butler who completed the supplementary defense in time!In fact, Butler's arms are not long, and his arm span is only 1 cm longer than his height.It's just that his active supplementary defense and smart positioning gave Kobe great pressure, which created the illusion of "this guy's hands are really long".

At this point, there are 23 seconds left in the halftime game.On the court, neither Butler nor Leonard could shoot, so Stephenson had an addiction to being a star.

Under Kobe's entanglement, Stephenson changed hands continuously, as if he wanted to make this last attack!
In the last 5 seconds, Yi Jianlian and Horford put up a double pick-and-roll, and Stephenson broke through immediately, leaving Kobe behind.Facing Darius Morris's hesitant supplementary defense, Stephenson directly shot a jumper one step away from the three-point line, leaning forward, making Morris dare not take off at all!

This kind of forward-leaning shot is a foul when you touch it!
The buzzer sounds, the red light turns on, the basketball hits the net, and the buzzer makes a three-pointer!

"Bang! Three points at the buzzer! Lance Stephenson, his superstar-like final shot helped the Pacers tie the score! In the last 2 minutes, Coach Henson used the second team to successfully pull the two sides to the same starting line! Hahahaha, the amazing Henson, he seems to always know what his players can do when they are on the court!"

Mike Breen's excited shout added a lot of color to the buzzer, and Stephenson flexed his arm muscles on the court, and then exaggeratedly stuck out his tongue.There are not many people who dare to be so arrogant in front of Kobe, and Stephenson is one of them.

At the end of the halftime game, Henson was also interviewed by reporters on the sidelines.

"Jaylen Rose thought it was very risky for you to send Jimmy Butler in the last 2 minutes. How do you think about this substitution?"

"Jaylen Rose? Oh, I remember who he is. My substitution is not risky at all, because not everyone will let Kobe score 81 points."

Henson's "critical strike" almost knocked out Jaylen Rose on the commentary stand.

(End of this chapter)