I'm teammates with Kobe

Chapter 133
At the beginning of the game, the Lakers were still able to implement tactics as they had trained before the game. Du Hong, who replaced Chu Xiao as the starter, dribbled the ball beyond the three-point line. Gasol immediately ran out to catch the ball and made a high post. Look for opportunities to attack.

Gasol stood tall and looked far away, flicking his wrist to the basket, Kobe ran back to catch the ball and layup easily, giving the team the lead.

When it was the Jazz's turn to attack, Mo Williams, nicknamed Mo Jr., played a pick-and-roll with Millsap.

It has to be said that the style of the NBA game in the 2012-13 season has quietly changed. The rhythm of the rules is changing, and the style of play is also changing. The opportunity to score quickly, some teams even rained three-pointers.

The Jazz in the post-Deron era is one of the typical pick-and-roll and three-point rain teams.

Under the cover of Millsap, Xiao Mo made a decisive three-pointer and also hit.

Looking back, Gasol countered Artest with a three-pointer from the bottom corner and returned the favor.In the Jazz's second attack, after Mo broke into the penalty area, he faced Gasol, who had stood still in advance, and directly knocked the opponent to the ground, and was called an offensive foul.

The Lakers continued to flourish under Gasol's support. First, Kobe hit a jumper next to the penalty area, and then Duhon ran back and caught the ball for a layup. The Lakers made a 9-2 fantasy start.

In the opening 4 minutes, except for Warcraft Howard, who returned from injury and made his debut, had no statistics for the time being, the other four Lakers all scored or assisted.

Now World of Warcraft is a little restless. After returning from injury, he hopes that he can reproduce the state he was in during the Magic period. In addition, many stars came to watch the game, and he must not lose his standard. He began to get stuck in the penalty area. After living in Jefferson, he frequently asked for the ball.

Gasol saw the longing in his eyes, and passed the ball without hesitation, and Warcraft was overjoyed after receiving the ball.He first leaned against Jazz center Al Jefferson with his back, and used his arms and body to block the opponent in the penalty area. Stop the opponent's low singles.

I never wanted to dribble the ball twice but couldn't stand Al Jefferson behind him.

Instead, the latter suddenly withdrew and retreated. The monster lost its center of gravity due to inertia. It sat down on the ground and the ball fell out of its hands. The Jazz took the opportunity to steal and play a fast break, scoring 2 points and chasing the score to 4-9. .

In the next round, the unwilling Warcraft continued to ask for the ball in the low post, and Gasol gave it to him out of kindness, hoping that he could get back the field.

However, World of Warcraft still can't stand Al Jefferson. In fact, this can't be blamed on him, because Al Jefferson is 2.08 meters tall and weighs 289 pounds, which is equivalent to 131 kilograms. Outstanding strength and wingspan help him not suffer in the penalty area.

So he let Warcraft fight alone, relying on his strength and rich experience is enough to disrupt the rhythm of Warcraft.

At 7 minutes and 32 seconds of the first quarter, Warcraft, while guarding against Jefferson's sudden retreat, continued to push the opponent's singles with his back. When the offensive time of this round was about to end, he finally found that he could not push the opponent, so he turned around and shot a jumper. , and failed to make a shot under Jefferson's interference;

At 6 minutes and 56 seconds of the first quarter, World of Warcraft asked for the ball again. This time he faced Jefferson with a hook, and the ball flew over the basket...

And his next attack was to turn around on the right side of the basket and cut the basket, but was cut off by Jefferson at the moment of lifting the ball...

In turn, Jefferson made a layup, and then added 2 points with a jumper, chasing the score to 12-13.

During this process, Kobe did not make rash shots. He was more of running without the ball, allowing Gasol to support him in the high position, and then passing all the balls to Warcraft singles, constantly feeding him the ball, just hoping that the league's No. Centers can get back to form early on.

However, Warcraft's low-post efficiency is too low, and it only made 6 of 0 shots!
Even O'Neill and Barkley, who are commentating the game on TNT, expressed their willingness to recommend themselves to train Howard's low-post skills.

Of course, the Lakers are also aware of the predicament of Warcraft. It is rare for Zen master to ask for a timeout, and is ready to help Warcraft get out of trouble with all his strength.

The Zen master said, "Howard, you just came back from injury, don't rush to indulge in low-post singles, first switch positions with Gasol, let you come out to pick and roll, and Gasol pulls to the wing to attract defense, you can finish the pick and roll. Sometimes, you can quickly rush to the basket to catch the ball for a layup or dunk. It is easier to score in this way, and you can quickly find your state."

Assistant coach Shaw also suggested that Warcraft give up the low-post attack. He even referred to the data of last season. Warcraft is the player with the highest turnover rate in the low post.

Comparing Howard during the Magic period, it is not difficult to find that he did lose his former dominance in the low post in his last season with the Magic.At the peak of the Magic, Howard could always rely on his body to squeeze away defensive players when performing low-post singles, staged forced dunks, or dribbled to the baseline for dunks.

However, after Howard succeeded in securing a position in the last season, it was difficult to squeeze the defensive players away. There have been few backs to squeeze out the opponent's dunks, or slipping the bottom line for dunks.At that time, his low singles were more hooks or layups to end the offense.

Even Howard's coach Stan Van Gundy during the Magic period believed that "injuries and age have reduced the dominance of Warcraft. He is getting older and older, and the waist injury is still there." Big Van Gundy said, "This will make him lose. Some agility and mobility."

Knowing that Zen Master and Xiao asked him to give up the low-post offense at this time, Warcraft must have remembered his poor performance in the Magic last season, so he didn't care, and even explained out of kindness to comfort them, "Coach, It’s okay, no need to adjust the tactics, let Gasol continue to support the high post, and I will stay in the low post. Now that I am healthy, I can make many moves that I didn’t dare to do last season.”

"But you seem to have nothing to do with Jefferson's defense." Zen Master expressed his concerns.

"I did miss 6 shots in a row, but it didn't have much to do with his defense. The main reason was that I didn't adapt to the rhythm of the game. I feel better now, and I feel that my hand is slowly recovering. I believe I can score more. The ball is gone." Warcraft said very confidently.

"Okay." Zen master thought for a while and could only agree, and he also instructed, "You should also control the ball well while asking for the ball in the low post. The latter scores in the low post, or distributes the ball after attracting defense. We can combine the inside and the outside very well."

"Understood!" Warcraft waved his fists and couldn't wait to return to the field.

During the timeout, Kobe just watched calmly. After all, this was Warcraft's first show after recovering from injury. He was willing to give him more offensive opportunities first, and let him play low singles, hoping that he could prove that he was right.

After the timeout, Warcraft continued to go deep into the penalty area to ask for the ball, but the Jazz also made adjustments and began to shrink the inside line, preparing to wait for an opportunity to steal when he received the ball or held the ball.

Gasol understood the opponent's intentions by reading the defense, and instead of passing the ball to Warcraft immediately, he dribbled the ball toward the basket for two steps and reached the best mid-range shooting position, forcing the opponent to jump out to defend. , and then passed the ball to Warcraft under the basket. To everyone's surprise, he had a buttery hand, and the basketball bounced out when it touched the palm of his hand.

The Jazz had the ball, and Xiao Mo scored another 2 points on the fast break, taking advantage of the trend to overtake the score.

For this conceded goal, World of Warcraft just smiled awkwardly, Gasol and Kobe looked very helpless, but the Zen master sitting on the sidelines couldn't help but shook his head and sighed softly, "This guy thought he was O'Neal Well, after recovering from injury, he was obsessed with low-post singles, and the result was either cut or unable to hit. To put it bluntly, it's not that he is weak, but that his brain is too stupid, and he doesn't think about where his strengths are. Defense, rebounding, and off-ball control!"

Xiao Wenyan also sighed, "It's helpless, he just doesn't want to pick and roll, and feels that he is an inside superstar and he has to eat the opponent's center alone. It's not that this scoring method is not good, but why he chooses one out of tens of thousands of methods. The hardest and most tiring? It can only be said that he really only wants to be happy."

At 4 minutes and 29 seconds, Duhon made a defensive foul on Xiao Mo. The latter made two free throws, and then assisted Jefferson to dunk successfully. Millsap and Hayward also made shots successively. The Jazz set off a wave of 8-0 Little orgasm.

Gasol looked helplessly at Kobe, hoping that the latter would give him an idea, but Kobe signaled him to continue passing the ball to Warcraft, while he continued to run without the ball.

At 2 minutes and 11 seconds of the first quarter, the effort was effortless. After Warcraft stuck Jefferson in the penalty area again, he caught the ball and turned around to hook, and finally opened the pot and made a hit!

After this goal, Warcraft's morale was high, he asked for the ball more frequently inside, and played more resolutely. His body leaned over, the referee's whistle sounded, and he made two free throws.

"Swept over" the team's last 4 points.

At the end of the first quarter, the Lakers trailed the Jazz by 17 points 25-8.

In the second quarter, Kobe led a group of substitute players to fight on the court for the Lakers.Zen master saw that Kobe deliberately didn't shoot in the first quarter, because he didn't want to steal the limelight of Warcraft's debut, so he hoped that he would play early to catch up with the score.

After holding back for a quarter, Kobe finally stopped being polite. He first robbed and shot himself, and then assisted McGrady to hit a three-pointer from the outside. The Lakers 22-25 Jazz.

The audience applauded and cheered endlessly, mainly because they were excited that Kobe and Tracy McGrady finally made their debut together and scored.

After that, the Jazz scored 4 points in a row, Kobe also hit a three-pointer for the Lakers, Jamison also opened up subsequently, and the Lakers insisted on chasing the score to 27-29.

After the timeout, the main players of both sides re-appeared. I thought Warcraft could finally get up, but I didn't expect him to trick Jefferson into fouling with a fake hook before.

At 7 minutes and 40 seconds, his shot was blocked by Jefferson.

At 6 minutes and 45 seconds, Warcraft suffocated to attack on the left side, but was called an offensive foul by Jefferson's "stained clothes and eighteen falls".

It can be said that he did not score freely in front of Jefferson throughout the first half, and at the same time dragged down the team's offensive rhythm. It took a long time to score a goal slowly, while the opponent quickly scored one easily.

Under the ebb and flow, the Jazz once again overtook the score, leading by 56 points 41-15 at the end of the first half.

At this time, the monster who is obsessed with low-post singles and can't extricate himself is like a "trapped beast".

(End of this chapter)