The world's best combo guard

Chapter 158 [The most dangerous one]

The game started, and Li Hao made a shot with his first shot. He helped the Lakers get 2 points first. It seems that he is still in good condition.

Gregg Popovich crossed his arms, he would rather the other Lakers players than Li Hao had just scored the Lakers' first goal.

Even though he specifically instructed Bruce Bowen before this game to focus on Li Hao's defense.

But in fact, he doesn't think it's useful. Li Hao is not Kobe. The biggest difference between him and Kobe is that Li Hao likes to work alone but also can pass the ball at the same time.

Kobe is the kind of guy who goes it alone. For a defensive expert like Bruce Bowen, he is better defensively. Whether he can defend well is one thing, but whether he can defend well is another.

In most cases, the final winner of this offense and defense will be the defensive side.

But it is obviously different for top defenders like Bruce Bowen to face players like Li Hao.

Because for a player like Li Hao, if he can hit you in singles, he will hit you in singles. If he can't play singles, he will pass the ball instead of going alone to the end.

This means that defenders not only have to guard against his shots, but also his passes.

There is no doubt that it is clear at a glance which is more important.

After Li Hao hit the first goal, the entire Staples also burst into loud applause.

The home fans are not because of anything else, just because the shooter is Li Hao.

Everyone understands that the reason why there is still a fifth matchup in the series is largely due to Li Hao's credit. Without Li Hao, the Lakers' season has been completely declared over.

Therefore, Li Hao has completely won their respect, their applause and cheers.

In the basketball world, this is not surprising, the strong is king is the iron law here, Li Hao's recognition with his own efforts is absolutely a matter of course.

Can have the opportunity to compete for the honor of the greatest center in NBA history in a few years. Although Shaquille O'Neal looks tall and thick, in fact, his talent on the court is unmatched by many people.

This series has been continuously targeted by Popovich's tactics. Up to now, when he has completely calmed down, in this game, he finally thought of a "self-help" method.

When the Spurs players try to double-team him as soon as he gets the ball, he will give up sticking the ball very decisively, pass the basketball quickly, and would rather not pass the ball than give the opponent a chance.

On the defensive end, he will not take the initiative to pull outside the penalty area. He only has Tim Duncan in his eyes. As long as he can limit Tim Duncan to the greatest extent, that is enough. In this way, the Spurs players want to foul him It's not that easy anymore.

On the offensive end, the two points he handed over the ball to Kobe and Li Hao are also very reassuring, especially after he decided to ease the conflict with Kobe, in his heart, he still trusts Kobe more than anyone else.

It's like to a certain extent that he won't deny that the Lakers who have been discussing the three consecutive championships were won by the OK combination.

Even though he won three FMVPs, even though many people slandered Kobe for hugging his thighs, in fact, only Shaq O'Neal understands how terrifying Kobe is.

Why were the Lakers always able to make their opponents despair by virtue of their own dominance?

Not only because of Shaquille O'Neal, but also because of Kobe on the outside.

On this point, O'Neill vowed that he would never deny it from beginning to end, because he is not the kind of high-sounding hypocrite in his bones.

Just like O'Neal unreservedly recognized Kobe from his heart, after Kobe received a pass from O'Neal, when the Spurs defensive champion focused his energy on Li Hao, he was always reassuring. Throw the ball in.

So, Gregg Popovich sat on the bench without saying a word, watching the situation get darker and darker as the series looked to be spiraling out of control.

Obviously, the Lakers have changed. They have improved their morale and overall performance. When Shaquille O'Neal would rather not shoot the ball than take the initiative to create opportunities for Kobe and Li Hao on the outside, such a Lakers seem so helpless.

Look at the scores of the Lakers' main players at the end of the halftime game. This may be the best evidence.

Kobe had 17 points, Li Hao had 13 points, Derek Fisher had 10 points, Shaquille O'Neal had only 6 points, but he sent 6 assists.

Phil Jackson's tweaks look to be working.

When Li Hao began to let go of his hands and feet on the offensive end, when Derek Fisher replaced Gary Payton, when Shaq O'Neal turned into a high-post support organizer, when Kobe only focused on singles without too much pressure.

Such a Lakers is the purple and gold team that is moving back to the peak they once reached in the regular season.

58: 56!

Although the team was only two points behind at the end of the half, Popovich knew very well that they would definitely have a harder time in the second half.

Since this series, compared with the Los Angeles Lakers, the San Antonio Spurs have hidden a very fatal shortcoming.

That is the team's tug-of-war ability.

Looking at it, except for the GDP combination, the other main Spurs players are generally older, and each of them is even over 30 years old.

On the contrary, what about the Lakers?

In the case of Karl Malone's reimbursement, except for the 35-year-old Gary Payton and the 32-year-old Shaq O'Neal, none of their other main players are over 30 years old.

what does this mean?
It means that in this high-intensity playoff game, the balance of victory will gradually tilt to the younger side.

The random cutting of the mess only made them 3-0 in the series, not 4:0.

Therefore, since the loss in the last game, Popovich has expected this.

So, strictly speaking, the ones who can't afford to lose this game are more like the San Antonio Spurs.

Once the total score of the series becomes 3:2, Popovich will not hesitate to believe that the Los Angeles people will eventually have the ability to completely drag this series into the tiebreaker.

And at that time, it will only be the younger Lakers as a whole that will have the upper hand.

After all, judging from the Lakers' overall lineup, they don't lose to the Spurs in any point.

Although his own team is known as the Big Three in GDP, Tim Duncan is the only real All-Star so far.

And what about the Lakers?

Kobe, O'Neal, and Li Haoke are all All-Stars.

Especially the point of Li Hao Lakers No. 10.

First-year rookie?

Rookie of the Year?

In Popovich's mind, Li Hao, a 20-year-old guy, seemed to be the most dangerous one, because he was young and because he had little experience, so should he be ignored?
Totally wrong.

The AT&T Center team's disastrous night in the last game confirmed all this. Without this first-year rookie, the team would have already advanced.

Popovich shook his head, Li Hao really lived up to his fear from the beginning to the end!

(End of this chapter)