Jim Bass Ambition

Chapter 231
Gregg Popovich and his Spurs have been kept out of the Finals by the Lakers for several seasons in a row, and this season, as Manu Ginobili, Parker, and Prince mature, Rasheed Wallace With the addition of the Warriors and Turkoglu, Duncan still maintains his peak form. The Spurs have an unprecedentedly strong lineup. Although the series against the Kings has been played in seven games, the games won are relatively easy, and the losses are all within a few points. .

The Lakers rested for a long time after defeating the Timberwolves. In the NBA world, there is a perception that resting too long in the playoffs is not good for the team, because the team spends too much time in a slack state, and it is difficult to take a break. Increase intensity.

"Many people will say that a long rest is not conducive to maintaining the state, but we have enough experience to deal with all situations. Before the finals in 01, we swept all the way in the Western Conference playoffs and had a full rest before the finals. After 10 days, we finally won the championship easily, strength is the ultimate guarantee of victory, I never believe in any metaphysics." Jim made a bold statement before the game.

Pay attention to the opponent tactically, despise the opponent strategically, there are enough lessons learned from the past, and people who fall twice in the same place are idiots.

The Lakers put on the 1960 version of the retro jersey, with a white background and a lake-blue color scheme plus the full name of Los Angeles. Elgin Baylor and Jerry West wore this jersey to fight the Celtics year after year.Perhaps the predecessors have accumulated too much character, and the Lakers have maintained a complete victory in the games played in this jersey this season.

Although Jim has a tough mouth, his body is still very honest. I hope this jersey can bring good luck to the Lakers and take the lead in the crucial Western Conference Finals.

After the entrance ceremony, the game officially began.

The Lakers had the ball, Kobe Bryant dribbled across half court, handed the ball to Billups on the wing, and suddenly he went straight to the basket.

Ginobili was about to chase back, and Garnett sent a solid screen behind him.

Billups sent the ball to Bryant with the ground-hitting pass he never missed in the skills contest.

Duncan was in position immediately, guarding the basket, preventing Kobe from attacking the basket for the first time, and Prince had already withdrawn, preparing to defend Malone. Under Popovich's strict management, the Spurs players Executes extremely well on the defensive end.

The big taboo when defending is unclear communication, overlapping or missing people after hesitation, but Popovich’s team never has this problem. Every player knows that his teammates will support him behind.

After Kobe broke through, he distributed the ball to Artest who was emptied, and at this time, Ginobili had already rotated in the past.

On the Spurs' list, Bryant is extremely dangerous, while Artest's order is relatively low.

But the Lakers need this matchup. Prince has long hands and long legs. After a season of training, his strength has improved significantly. He is no longer the bean sprouts that were tortured in his rookie season. Both are much smaller than Artest.

Artest turned around and hit back, forced inward, and attacked the basket. Ginobili had no choice but to pay for a foul.

Popovich frowned, realizing that the problem was not simple.

He immediately got up and called Ginobili loudly to let him control his movements. Artest's breakthrough was not so fatal and he didn't need to use fouls to stop it.

The Lakers made a sideline ball, and Kobe used double screens to go to the flanks. After attracting Rasheed Wallace's help defense, he distributed the ball to Garnett, who made a mid-range shot and opened the scoring.

The Spurs attacked, Parker held the ball, and Billups' position was always biased to Parker's right side, forcing him to use his not-so-good left hand to break through from the left.

Rasheed Wallace pulls out the pick-and-roll, which is a common tactic used by the Spurs during the season. Compared with Duncan, Tianzun has a longer range and more varied routines.

Garnett took a step back. He was tall enough to cover Parker, and now he only needed to break through the defense.

Rasheed Wallace took a step back and retreated beyond the three-point line. Seeing that there was no good chance for a layup, Parker came out after making a circle under the basket and passed the ball back to Tianzun.

Facing Billups, Tianzun opened his hand and scored a three-pointer with a high arc and hit the heart.

Garnett pulled Billups and explained a few words.

The Lakers attacked, Garnett held the ball in the high position to support, Billups and Kobe borrowed the cover of Artest and Malone to cut in, and made a cross screen near the baseline, Parker was blocked by Kobe, Billups After receiving the ball, Puth made a mid-range shot.

Rasheed Wallace tried the hand feeling and it felt good. The Spurs' second wave of offense was still initiated by him and Parker's pick-and-roll. After the pick-and-roll, they still changed players, but Billups didn't close too much this time. Instead, pay attention to the position of Rasheed Wallace, always keep between Parker and Tianzun, blocking the passing line.

Parker was about to challenge Garnett, but his left-handed layup was a bit awkward, and Garnett directly blocked the baseline.

With 8 seconds left on the offensive clock, the baseline ball was sent directly to Duncan.

Malone put his big elbows on Duncan's waist and stopped Shifo from advancing to the basket.

In the 90s, elbow support was a must-have skill for every inside player. All the moves were designed to make the opponent as uncomfortable as possible and thus miss.

But Duncan had his own way to deal with it. After turning his left foot into a face basket, he took a sigma step to open up a little space, and directly threw a small hook with his left hand. It was simple and smooth, and easily scored 2 points.

The Lakers attacked, and Ginobili with his back fouled obviously became a breakthrough point. Kobe, who had been making wedding dresses for his teammates for several consecutive rounds, decided to do it himself this time. After receiving the ball in the low post, he took Ginobili with his back. Turn over and hit the jumper easily.

Duncan continued to play Malone in the low post. This time, as soon as he dribbled, Artest's double-team arrived immediately.

After being caught by Artest, Duncan almost lost the ball and hurriedly controlled the ball. At this time, Prince, who was emptied, cut to the basket along the baseline, and Duncan distributed the ball from the gap.

Prince took off after receiving the ball, ready to dunk.

But No. 21 Shirokage had already arrived and covered Prince's dunk on the backboard with one hand.

Malone turned his head, grabbed the rebound, and passed directly to Kobe who stole away with a long quarterback pass.

Ginobili desperately returned to the defense, flew the ball out of bounds, and prevented a fast break.

A series of wonderful offense and defense is suffocating, but Popovich has already smelled a hint of danger.

Except that Billups was a bit distracted on the first attack and missed a three-pointer from Rasheed Wallace, the Lakers' defense is obviously very targeted. Parker is left-handed and Prince is not good at handling the ball. Strong, both offenses fell into the Lakers' defensive trap.

Parker's ability to control the field is still immature, Ginobili is a half-god, and the Spurs' engine is still the weakest part of the team.

The Lakers sent the baseline ball to Garnett. Facing the defense of fellow student Rasheed Wallace, Garnett faced the basket and made a jump hook shot. Practicing a new trick, hit the board.

Popovich directly called a timeout. Although the point difference was not big, the Lakers' offensive success rate was too high.

(End of this chapter)