basketball player

Chapter 280 278: A Pot of Stew

"Cough cough." Five minutes before the start of the game, the starting five of the two teams were about to play, and Kobe coughed twice.

"It doesn't matter." Pau Gasol was a little worried about Kobe's condition. Playing with an illness is not a smart choice.

But after thinking about it, the Lakers have such a record now, besides playing sick, does Kobe have any other options?
"It's okay, play the game well. I don't need to elaborate on how strong the Pacers are. We must stay focused for 48 minutes!" Kobe said, stepping onto the court.

D'Antoni believes that Kobe can stay focused for more than 48 minutes, but what's the use of focusing on Kobe alone?
You see, now D'Antoni himself is not very focused,

"The starting lineups of the two teams are exactly the same as before. The Lakers are F4+ with a kindness. And the Pacers, there has not been any personnel changes." Barkley rubbed his hands. Although the Lakers' current record is poor, every game the Lakers play still makes people look forward to it.

After all, those are the four superstars!
In the scrimmage stage, Horford unexpectedly won the basketball from his old opponent "Warcraft".When Howard was still in the East, the two often played against each other.The number of times Horford was able to win the basketball from "Warcraft" was very few.

"It seems that Howard's back injury has had a great impact on him. This guy's bullet speed is not as fast as before." Henson curled his lips, thankful that he has several badges to avoid injuries.

No matter how great an athlete is, it is difficult to resist the ravages of injuries.

The Pacers got the ball, and Paul held the ball to control the first offense.As soon as the Pacers players got the ball, Staples booed again. "Thanks to" Henson, the relationship between the Pacers and Lakers has deteriorated again since the days of Reggie Miller.

The defensive weakness of the Lakers is very obvious, that is, Steve Nash!In the Sun era, D'Antoni's solution to the problem was to use offense instead of defense, and cover up Nash's disadvantages on the defensive end as much as possible through offense.But the current Lakers obviously don't have such ability.

Paul and Horford only hit a screen, and they completely got rid of Nash!At the same time, Howard's supplementary defense is still a little hesitant. "Warcraft" didn't know whether he should continue to protect the frame, or throw himself out to block the shot.But just as he was hesitating, Chris Paul had already scored.

"It's so easy. The Lakers' defense is like nothing." Kenny Smith shook his head. The Lakers' defensive lineup is not bad at all on paper.Kobe, Metta Gasol and Howard, these four are not easy to mess with on the defensive end.

But such a group of people were placed under an uncoordinated system, and they were unable to perform.

Kobe shook his head. He couldn't blame Nash, so he could only shake his head helplessly.

But Henson knew that defense wasn't the biggest problem for the Lakers.The most uncoordinated part of these four guys is just attacking!
The Lakers' first attack, as Henson expected, they couldn't play at all.If you can't play speed, D'Antoni's best set will not be effective.

Howard is very eager to prove himself, so he actively wants to occupy the position and plans to single Horford!

Nash didn't hesitate and hoisted the ball inside.Although it was difficult for Howard to beat the Pacers during the Magic period, his statistics were always better than Horford's.On the offensive end, Howard does have the advantage.

But this time, when "Warcraft" turned around and wiped Horford with a beautiful back to dunk, he bumped into the tough David West!

"Good job!" Henson waved his arm lightly, and the tactic worked!
In the Magic, there are four shooters who can open the floor for Howard.But in the Lakers, Gasol is not a flak turret like Turkoglu and Lewis.The space is too small for Howard to display at all!Therefore, Henson arranged for West to pay attention to helping Howard at all times.As long as "Warcraft" is not allowed to get close to the basket, his offense is not a threat.

The same is the twin towers, why are Bynum and Gasol compatible before?Because Bynum was not the main attacker before, he didn't occupy the ball, and he could open up space for Gasol to enter the main line, while the "little shark" waited for an opportunity to grab the board or insert the offense.But obviously, this style of play cannot be reproduced on Howard and Gasol.You let Howard not hold the ball, so what is the difference between Howard and a blue collar?It is impossible for Gasol, a Spanish tower, to be an anti-aircraft turret.

"Warcraft" was forced to stop, and Horford immediately caught up.In an instant, "Warcraft" fell into a double-team.Handling the ball in a double-team has not been Howard's strong point.

Before Howard could find his teammate, West cut off the basketball.The Lakers' first offense ended with a mistake, and it seems that the Zijin Army's offense is still a mess.

"Henson Joe caught our weakness!" D'Antoni cursed secretly. When he was coaching the New York Knicks, Mustache had seen Henson's methods.

I don't know if it was because the failure of the offense just now made Howard upset. He swooped too hard on the defensive end and sent Paul George to the free throw line.

As soon as George came on line, the boos inside Staples reached top decibels.After all, it is precisely because of this No. 24 that the humiliation of "32 draft picks" appears.

Facing the boos of fans in his hometown, George did not change his face.He caught his breath and hit two free throws.Howard is still complaining to the referee that the "Happy Beast" who used to laugh a lot in the Magic, that sunny boy, seems to have died in Orlando.Compared with the Howard of the Magic before, the current Howard has become a lot darker.

This is Los Angeles, this is heaven, and this is hell.

4 to 0, the Lakers were thrown cold water from the beginning.Then, Kobe held the ball with his back in the low post.But his purpose is not to attack, but to make the ball for Nash.It can be seen that D'Antoni is trying to make the Lakers' offense more routine.

But Nash, the world's greatest court master, has now become an off-ball shooter.Although Nash's shooting skills are superb, it is still a waste of money.

What's more, Chris Paul's defense is not so easy to get rid of.Especially for Nash, who is four years older than Kobe.

In the end, Nash caught and shot the ball without completely getting rid of Paul, and there was only another sound of iron hammering in the Staples Center.

For two consecutive rounds, the Lakers had no results on both offense and defense.But compared to the embarrassing time of not scoring in the next 4 minutes, these two rounds are simply insignificant.

"The starting five of the Lakers are doing nothing on the basketball court. It's time for a timeout. Coach D'Antoni should stop the game." Barkley held his forehead. If this continues, this focus battle will be ruined in just one quarter!

When Horford hit a three-pointer when "Warcraft" couldn't defend and turned the score into 12-0, D'Antoni couldn't stand it anymore.He hurriedly called to stop the game, and Kobe was the first to walk off the basketball court.

Henson stared at Kobe, he estimated that the "Black Mamba" should be irritated!
"I don't want to do anything damn, Mike! Cough!" Kobe yelled at D'Antoni as soon as he got off the court.But the scene of him yelling and coughing made the "sister-in-law" a little heartbroken.

Of course, Kobe didn't intend to challenge D'Antoni's authority, but the Lakers' chaotic style of play made Kobe a little uncomfortable.

Not a coach at the level of a "Zen Master" may not be able to hold down superstars like the Lakers.Nash and Gasol are fine, but Kobe?Not many people can tame him.

"I"

"I want to attack with the ball, I can't procrastinate like this anymore! Dwight, set up a few more screens for me later!" Before D'Antoni could speak, Kobe took over the "pointer".

At the same time, on the bench on the other side of the court, Henson patted his number 24 on the shoulder.

"It's time to prove you in your hometown, George! Let them see why you are not for sale!"

George nodded silently, at the Staples show?He has been looking forward to do not know how long.

(End of this chapter)