Bishop of the Abyss

Chapter 5 5. Opening match: The horns shine!

On October 10, the 26-04 season NBA opener officially started.

This year's opening game has a total of six games arranged in the league, one of which is the Timberwolves against the Lakers. This game will start at the Lakers' home stadium, Staples Arena.

The reason why the league arranged such a game is because in last year's playoffs, the Timberwolves, who ranked first in the West, were eliminated by the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals, so the league, which always loves to mess around, will naturally not miss this selling point.

In addition, the Los Angeles market is also the main source of income for the league every year. Under normal circumstances, as long as the Lakers' lineup is not too bad, the Lakers can basically be seen in the opening game every year.

However, the Los Angeles Lakers in the new season have become different. Since they were beaten by the civilian team Detroit Pistons in the Finals last year, the Big Four fell apart, and now only Kobe is left in Los Angeles.

The Lakers also officially announced that they have entered the Kobe era. From the original Sharks to the rise of the Mamba, what kind of performance the Lakers can play in the new season is also what everyone is looking forward to.

It is worth mentioning that after O'Neal and Kobe separated, the two often had disputes on social media.

Even during the offseason, O'Neal forced the Lakers management to force the palace, saying that he and Kobe could only keep one.

But in the end the Lakers chose to keep the younger Kobe, traded O'Neal to the Heat, and formed a partner with "The Flash" Wade.

And the champion coach Phil Jackson who led the Lakers to win three consecutive championships is also in conflict with the management, so the Lakers will be coached by the famous coach Tomjanovich in the new season.

From this point of view, the Lakers can be regarded as a real overthrow and rebuild, and it is still unknown whether Kobe alone can bring the Lakers into the playoffs in the new season.

This season, the helpers around Kobe have undergone earth-shaking changes, and in the O'Neal deal, the Lakers sent O'Neal and got Butler, Grant, Odom and a future first-round pick.

Among them, both Butler and Odom can be regarded as plastic materials, especially Odom, who is the soul of this deal.

奥多姆上个赛季在热火场均可以贡献出17.1分9.7篮板4.1助攻1.1抢断以及0.9次封盖。

This data is definitely very comprehensive, so what kind of results the Lakers can achieve in the new season depends on Odom's performance.

Before the start of the game, Luke stood on the sidelines and told Cassell and others something. After all, strictly speaking, this could be regarded as Luke's first official game after entering the NBA.

In a sense, this game is very meaningful to Luke.

"Sam, there is a high probability that the opponent will use Chucky in the first position in this game. For this point, I hope you can play tougher."

"In this way, the Lakers' defense will inevitably shrink to the inside, and our offensive opportunities will also increase." Looking at the extremely ugly Sam Cassell, Luke said with a serious face.

Since the "Old Fish" Fisher switched to the Warriors during the offseason, the Lakers will most likely use Chucky Atkins in the first position.

Atkins has good offensive ability, but he is only 1.7 meters tall and weighs only 73 kilograms. His short stature and thin body limit Atkins' defense.

And when Atkins met the league's favorite post-up point guard "Alien" Cassell, it was destined to be a tragedy.

As head coach Luke said, as long as Cassel plays tough enough in the game, the Timberwolves will get more shots on the offensive end, and the defensive pressure that other players need to face will also be greatly reduced.

As for Garnett, Luke doesn't need to order at all. Even if Odom is very comprehensive, if he is in a matchup with the peak Garnett, then Odom can only pray from the heart.

After the game started, the Lakers got the ball first. The Timberwolves' starting lineup for this game is: Cassel, Madman, Szczerbiak, Garnett, and Divac.

The Lakers are: Atkins, Kobe, Caron Butler, Odom, and Chris Mim.

The reason why Luke chose Divac as the starting center in this game is mainly because the Lakers starting center is Chris Mim.

Although Mim's low-post offensive ability is average, Chris Mim is 120 meters tall and weighs [-] kilograms. This tonnage is not something that Eddie Griffin's small body can withstand.

If Griffin continues to serve as the starter, it is very likely that Mihm will play an explosive performance.

After all, Griffin's strength lies in his mobility. If it comes to confrontation in the penalty area, then Griffin is somewhat horrible.

As soon as the game came up, the Lakers pulled out all the formations. Since the Lakers' new season is basically overthrowing and rebuilding, head coach Tomjanovich is also coaching the Lakers for the first year, so the Lakers are still in a groping stage.

Especially when Kobe insisted on playing the triangle offense last season, Kobe has not adapted to Tomjanovich's coaching style in the new season.

The Lakers mainly play sudden points in the positional battle. On the offensive end, Kobe is naturally the undoubted main point of attack, and then everyone else pulls away to watch Kobe play alone with the ball.

When Kobe encounters a double-team or a bad offensive opportunity, Kobe will choose to distribute the ball to his teammates, and the teammates will complete the second offense.

In most cases, Odom is responsible for supporting Kobe on the periphery, because Odom has excellent passing ability and can fully take on the responsibility of organizing.

This style of play seems very brainless at first glance, but this is the true portrayal of the current Lakers team.

At the same time, the style of play in this era is so simple. On the offensive end, in addition to relying on the personal abilities of the stars, basically two sets of pick-and-rolls can end the offense.

Even this simple and brainless style of play is the most authentic basketball game in the eyes of outsiders. As for the flashy Princeton like Adelman, it is more like a different kind.

Otherwise, the Kings would not quickly sweep the league with their gorgeous style of play and become one of the favorite teams of NBA fans.

Throughout the first quarter, the Timberwolves and the Lakers played relatively simple games. On the Lakers side, Kobe initiated the offense, while the Timberwolves mainly used the "alien" Cassell to initiate the tactics.

Cassel is 1.9 meters tall, and his defense against Atkins with his back is basically one-on-one.

As long as the Lakers don't double-team him, Cassel is the Timberwolves' main offensive player.

As Cassell scored on Atkins's head for three consecutive rounds, Lakers coach Tomjanovich on the sidelines finally couldn't bear it anymore and gestured for Kobe to pinch Cassell.

And when the Lakers start to double-team Kassel, Kassel will immediately transfer the ball to the outside, looking for open teammates.

In this game, Kobe is facing "Madman" Sprewell.

Madman's offensive methods are very rich. Whether it is shooting from inside or outside, he seems to do whatever he wants. Even if the offensive efficiency is a little lower, but facing open opportunities, Madman will not be soft at all.

First, he received a pass from teammate Cassell and hit an open three-pointer. In the second round, the madman pointed to Caron Butler, who came to make up the defense, and broke into the inside to complete a pull-bar dunk.

And relying on the advantage brought by the "alien" Cassel, the Timberwolves took the initiative from the beginning and pulled the lead to double digits.

Looking at Atkins, who was targeted by the Timberwolves on the court, the head coach Tomjanovich was really gnashing his teeth standing off the court.

In the end, with just over four minutes into the game, Tomjanovich had to replace Atkins off the court and replaced him with Terry Brown, who is 1.8 meters tall, to partner with Kobe.

Even Terry Brown's defensive ability is not so strong, and his offensive ability is not as good as Atkins, but at least Brown will not allow Cassel to complete single eating again and again by virtue of his height advantage.

The reason why the Lakers are currently behind by a large score is because Cassel has driven the offensive rhythm of the entire Timberwolves. Tomjanovich still sees this clearly.

However, Tang Shuai obviously underestimated the offensive ability of the Timberwolves. Even after Terry Brown came up, Cassell could not score as easily as Atkins.

But the horn tactics initiated by Kassel are still very unsolvable.

Especially when there are two offensive strengths of Szczerbiak and "Madman" Sprewell at both ends of the flank, the bullhorn tactics of Cassel and Garnett are very threatening.

Garnett's mid-range shooting percentage has remained above 50% all year round, especially at the free throw line, which is Garnett's most comfortable shooting hotspot.

This also caused Garnett to easily complete shots from mid-range once the Lakers' defensive formation began to shrink to the inside.

Although Luke used three-pointers and defensive counterattacks to achieve four championships in five years when he coached the Tawu team in Europe, Luke is not an avid three-point theorist.

Even in the small ball era that Luke was in back then, center players had to pull to the outside to shoot three-pointers, but in this era, it is still a bit difficult to establish a dynasty in the NBA with three-pointers.

Because the physical confrontation in the league is very strong nowadays, some body whistle referees simply ignore it, so Luke can only maximize the overall offense of the Timberwolves by adapting to the trend as much as possible.

The most important thing is that this Timberwolves team is not suitable for playing magic ball. Cassel and Garnett's three-point shooting are very average. Compared with a large number of three-pointers, the horns are the most threatening offense for this Timberwolves team. tactics.

Especially in the case of "Wolf King" Garnett, who knows everything and is good at everything, Luke feels that he has gone through a time in vain if he doesn't play horns.

Relying on the excellent individual performance of the three-headed monster in the first half, the Timberwolves led the Lakers by 11 points at the end of the half, ending the contest between the two sides in the first half.

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(End of this chapter)