lakers championship

Chapter 149
What Barkley said is true. With the league's major reforms in the game rules, such as canceling Handcheck, increasing the standard of blocking fouls, reducing the rate of penalty calls for inside melee combat, and even reducing the number of timeouts, etc., they all aim to speed up the pace of the game. , The big center in the traditional sense is no longer popular.

Coupled with the Warriors' five-small lineup winning the championship and the popularity of three-pointers, this tactical style that can get results and sell tickets quickly set off a wave of imitation in the league.

So the center shot 3 points into the standard, like Jahlil Okafor, a rookie who has skilled back-up skills and is known as the poor man's version of Duncan, has been unable to perform as he should.

Cousins, on the other hand, was lucky enough to keep up with the rhythm of the times. As early as 15, in the must-have game between the Kings and the Pistons, he had 5 of 4 three-pointers in the first half.

Similar to Cousins, there are Towns, Speights, Marc Gasol, Brook Lopez, Frye and several other centers. Five of them made more than 5 three-pointers last season. Frye even made 100 three-pointers with a 40% shooting rate, which can be said to be terrifying.

Now, Cousins' 2 3-pointers and 1 super long mid-range shot completely disrupted the Lakers' defensive system, so Walton called a timeout and replaced Nance Jr. to contain it.

After this arrangement, Walton added: "Tianyang, you should pay more attention to Cousins' passing route on defense. As long as Nance Jr. restrains him, not many people in the Kings can catch and shoot. In addition, you don't have to be obsessed with Attack the inside, let go of the shot, even if the hand feels bad, it’s okay, as a super shooter, you must maintain confidence, you should have heard the story of Kobe Bryant’s 47-for-17?”

Tianyang shook his head quickly, "I attacked the inside to cause more fouls by Cousins. If I get him into foul trouble, the king will collapse quickly, and then we can completely ignore the king's high elbow support."

Wharton was taken aback when he heard the words, "It's a good idea, but it's not easy to execute. If the penalty is tightened, wouldn't it be a big loss?"

Tianyang pointed to the floor, implying: This is Staples, our home stadium. "

While the two were discussing, on the king's side, Cousins ​​was explaining to David Joerger.

"Coach, I shot three-pointers to keep the Lakers' best defense, Tianyang, on the outside, so that Costa, Gay, and Lawson can hit the inside more easily."

"You have some reason to think so, but it's better to shoot less, and the basketball will be circulated in more hands, so as to maintain the vitality of the offense, understand?"

Cousins ​​felt that Joerger was wrong, but he didn't know where to refute, so he nodded habitually.

The timeout ended in a blink of an eye, and the game continued between the two teams.

Nance Jr. served from the bottom line in the backcourt, and Clarkson dribbled the ball to the frontcourt and stopped at the top of the arc.

After the Lakers ran, Tianyang received the ball from the right wing position. He changed direction twice in a row, easily swayed past Matt Barnes and rushed to the free throw line. basket.

His indomitable appearance is tantamount to declaring to everyone - never pass the ball!
Cousins, who was under the basket on the right, immediately gave up on Nance and took a step forward. At the same time, he raised his right arm high, as if he wanted to give Tianyang a head-on hat.

This move was in Tianyang's arms, and before Cousins ​​rushed up, he greeted him instead.

But Cousins ​​​​is not stupid, he twisted his body in a daze, and reached out to block the cap from the side.

The two made contact in the air, the basketball wiped the board and went into the net, the block was unsuccessful, and the foul was useless.

Turning back, the Kings attacked again, 100% of the old routine, Cousins ​​received the ball from the left elbow to support, and waited for his teammates to move.

But the Lakers just called a timeout, and Walton's arrangement is vivid in his mind. The entire team did a very good rotation defense. Until the last 10 seconds of the offensive clock, the Kings failed to run out of a position where they could receive the ball.

Cousins ​​thought for a while and decided to raise his hand to shoot, but halfway through the execution, he remembered what Joerger said during the timeout, and quickly stopped his shot, becoming hesitant.

Seeing this situation, Nance Jr. immediately started to shoot the ball.

"Crack", the basketball landed on the ground, and Nance Jr. picked it up and rushed to the frontcourt. After stumbling, he brought the ball across the center line and quickly passed it to Tianyang who was also going down.

Tianyang took the ball to the right wing. Facing the harassment of Barnes like a mad dog, he did not choose to play hard, but passed the ball to assist Clarkson who was cutting the basket.

Unexpectedly, the impatient Clarkson dribbled the ball and the basketball rolled to the right side of the court.

Tianyang and Barnes rushed up together, and they both fell to the ground to grab the ball at the same time. Fortunately, Tianyang was faster and got the basketball first, then quickly got up, turned his back and passed to Nance Jr. who was following up on the center line.

BOOM!The sound of the dunk sounded like a bomb exploding, accompanied by painful groans and high-decibel shouts from the fans at the scene.

Nance Jr. dunks Cousins!And cause a foul to win an additional penalty!
In the TNT commentary booth, the quartet was shouting except for Ernie.

O'Neill: "The annual 10-year slam dunk schedule is too brutal."

Kenny: "Cousins ​​knocked down on the tee, looking a bit ugly, don't get hurt."

Barkley: "The pass was so fast and weird that Cousins ​​didn't react, otherwise it wouldn't have happened."

Nance Jr. made a free throw and the Lakers led 40 to 35.

The Kings attacked again, and Cousins ​​took the ball from the right elbow and forced Nance Jr. sideways. After getting the space, he immediately turned and rushed to the basket.But as soon as he took a step, the referee's whistle sounded.

Walking violation!

Cousins ​​refused to accept and rushed to the referee to argue, but the referee turned a blind eye.

The Lakers attacked, and Tianyang easily broke through Barnes at the top of the arc. After reaching the inside, he wanted to face Cousins ​​for a layup and make a foul.

But before the two had physical contact, the referee's whistle sounded.

Judging from the gestures, Cousins ​​was punished for pushing and fouled. Judging from the defense, Cousins ​​was very angry.

No one would have thought that Cousins ​​received two consecutive fouls in such a short period of time, and they were all committed on Nance Jr., plus the foul made by Tianyang before and the foul in the first quarter, he has been backed four times foul.

Ordinarily this was Tianyang's plan, but these two fouls were beyond his expectation.

What about making a foul by breaking inside?

The Lakers attacked again, Clarkson passed the ball inside, Cousins ​​didn't dare to defend hard at all, Nance Jr. easily scored 2 points, Joerger called a timeout,
In the TNT commentary seat, Barkley looked up to the sky and sighed, while O'Neill and Kenny laughed.

Ernie said in a comforting tone: "The game is not over yet. Although Cousins ​​has four fouls on his back, as long as the Kings make tactical adjustments and protect Cousins ​​from foul trouble, there will be more fights. He and God Yang’s score difference is not necessarily higher than 7 points.”

Buckley rolled his eyes, "Do you believe it yourself?"

"Uh..." Ernie was stunned, O'Neal and Kenny continued to laugh loudly
On the court, the timeout ended, and Cousins ​​sat off the court to rest.

Tianyang was extremely excited, and he thought to himself: If we play a little bit harder, the next game will be turned into garbage time, and then we can sit on the bench and recharge our batteries without any worries, and go home at night, hehehe.

The more he thought about it, the happier he was, but he didn't notice that the King hit two mid-range shots in a row and also stole one from Clarkson.

When he reacted, Barnes actually hit a three-pointer above his head.

The Kings went 7-0 in a wave, and the score of the two teams instantly became a 45-45 tie.

Tianyang finally realized that something was wrong, and quickly ordered his teammates to strengthen their defense.

Unexpectedly, the Kings actually played Princeton tactics. No one on the team stuck to the ball and kept cutting and running. The Lakers were exhausted defensively.

Although the Kings couldn't guard the Lakers, the Kings had a high shooting percentage. After the second quarter, the Kings without Cousins ​​unexpectedly led the Lakers by 8 points.

　The update time is unstable these days, please forgive me.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)