NBA: James wants to team up with me

Chapter 125: O'Neal is extremely depressed. What the hell is the Lakers' lineup?

In the NBA, there has always been an unwritten rule, that is, if a player is traded by a team and then goes to another team and meets his old club, usually the new team will find a way to give him a ball to make him play better. Good performance and play, proud and proud, slapping his old club in the face.

This is especially true for top stars in the league like O'Neal.

He still can't believe that the Lakers would actually choose to give up Kobe for him. In interviews with the media, O'Neal publicly stated more than once that he would make the Lakers management pay the price for their actions, and said that he would assist Wade to win the championship.

This shows how angry O'Neal is. In order to prove his worth to people, he is even willing to assist a fledgling kid.

In the new season, the Heat, led by O'Neal and Wade, did perform very well.

As of the Christmas game, the Heat had a record of 21 wins and 7 losses, which is similar to the Lakers' record, which has fluctuated recently.

Wade has not lived up to the expectations of O'Neal and the Heat management. In the new season, he has shown super personal abilities and is extremely lethal when holding the ball. He averaged 24 points, 5 rebounds and 7.4 assists per game for the team. His performance Among the 03 rookies, he is second only to Wang Chong and James, and has surpassed Carmelo Anthony in all aspects.

O'Neal also played very well in the Heat, averaging 23.4 points and 10.8 rebounds per game. His shooting percentage at the basket reached a terrifying 60%, a career high. Although his free throw shooting percentage of 46.1% was also the lowest in his career, it was not at all. It does not affect his super dominance at the basket.

The Lakers' biggest problem this season is their lack of inside strength. How should they deal with O'Neal, who is still at the end of his career?

-

On the night of December 12th, the Staples Center was brightly lit, and the entire arena was surrounded by Christmas red.

As the biggest holiday in the United States, Christmas is equivalent to their Spring Festival, and the festive atmosphere is also quite strong.

Fans arrived at the stadium early and excitedly discussed this potentially fierce Christmas game.

There were also many fans who walked back and forth on the sidelines to observe after arriving at the stadium.

As the City of Angels and the entertainment center of the world, Staples has never lacked celebrity audiences. Whenever the Christmas game and the annual finals are held, there will be an especially large number of stars sitting on the sidelines of Staples games. Often You can see some big-name movie stars and singers come in person to cheer for the Lakers.

This is the face of the Lakers, a wealthy team.

This Christmas war is no exception.

Before the game started, the big screen in the center of the field frequently showed the camera to some celebrities on the sidelines, causing the fans in the stadium to let out bursts of surprise.

Of course, this is a basketball game after all, and the fans who spend money to come to the Staples Center to watch the game care more about the stars of the game.

Soon the lights in the arena dimmed, and the DJ began to introduce the team's starting players with a passionate voice.

But when DJ read out the first player's name, the Lakers' home fans felt something was wrong.

"Height 2 meters, weight 01 kilograms, the No. 98 player who plays small forward, Caron Butler!"

Butler actually started this game? He plays small forward, what position will Wang Chong play?

DJ then introduced that the second player to appear was starting point guard Chucky Atkins.

Odom is the third player on the court, and his current position on the Lakers is the third in the team behind Kobe Bryant and Wang Chong.

Wang Chong appeared on the penultimate stage, causing cheers from the fans in the audience.

And Kobe, who took the final shot, naturally received the most cheers and applause.

O'Neill was listening to the cheers like a tsunami on the other side, with no expression on his face, but feeling quite uncomfortable in his heart.

You know, just a few months ago, the most enthusiastic cheers from the fans here were for him.

This feeling is indeed not very pleasant.

But it also strengthened O'Neal's determination to defeat the Lakers on the court.

But at this time, O'Neill was stunned, and the expression on his face began to become richer.

Only then did he realize that among the five players the DJ had just called out, there seemed to be no center.

What about the center? Where is the Lakers center?

Although Chris Mihm is not an outstanding center with outstanding strength, he can still support the starting inside players. With a height of 2 meters and a weight of 13 kilograms, he can still barely carry O'Neal.

But among the five starting players of the Lakers, only Wang Chong and O'Neal are suitable to serve as inside players. Both of them are less than 110 kilograms. With those thin arms and legs, O'Neal can break them with just a little force. What's against him?

Lakers What does this mean? Could it be that this game has been surrendered in advance?

Not only O'Neal was confused, but Heat coach Stan Van Gundy also frowned.

The home fans were murmuring, and the warm-up had already begun.

The Lakers players were shooting on the field as if no one was watching, and Wang Chong took advantage of the warm-up opportunity to take the initiative to say hello to O'Neal and Wade.

Although O'Neal's relationship with the Lakers and Kobe Bryant is at a freezing point, he is still very friendly to his younger brother Wang Chong. The two have always been in contact through text messages. When Wang Chong won the gold medal in the Olympics and won the MVP, O'Neal even made a special phone call. Congratulations to him.

"Boy, what are you doing? Are you not ready to play the game well?"

O'Neill frowned and asked Wang Chong, who was walking over.

Wang Chong smiled and did not intend to explain too much to O'Neal. He just said: "Even if the Lakers give up, do you think it is possible for Kobe to give up the victory? Don't worry, you will understand why we sent such a set after the game starts. The lineup is up.”

While speaking, Wang Chong nodded slightly to Wade beside him, who also nodded in greeting.

The relationship between Wang Chong and Wade can be regarded as the best buddies among the 03 rookies. They are good brothers and do not need too many polite words at all.

After a brief greeting, the game officially started.

O'Neal came to the center line and looked at Odom, who was one size smaller than him, and didn't know how to complain for a moment.

The starting lineup of the Lakers is the same as when the DJ introduced it, point guard Atkins, shooting guard Kobe Bryant, small forward Caron Butler, power forward Wang Chong, and center Odom.

Compared with the Lakers' bizarre starting lineup, the Heat's starting lineup is much more scientific and reasonable.

Starting point guard Damon Jones, shooting guard Wade, small forward Eddie Jones, power forward Udonis Haslem, and center O'Neal.

As the referee blew his whistle, the basketball was thrown into the sky.

What surprised the Heat players was that it was Odom who won the jump ball.

Although Odom, who is 2 meters tall, is much shorter than O'Neal, who is 08 meters tall, Shaq's physical condition during the Heat period has declined significantly compared to that of the Lakers. The bounce and explosive power are slightly better.

But O'Neal didn't take it to heart. The jump ball was not an important part.

Lakers offense.

Atkins held the ball past halftime, and the Lakers players began to get into position.

O'Neal, who was standing in the penalty area, was stunned because he found that Odom, who should be facing him, was standing swaggeringly at the three-point line in the corner.

Odom has the ability to shoot three-pointers, although his three-pointers are not very accurate. Last season with the Heat, his three-point shooting percentage was only 29.8%, but he still averaged 2.6 three-pointers per game.

This season, Odom's three-point shooting percentage has improved. He is currently shooting 31.6%. It is not appropriate to leave it completely open.

But let O'Neal guard the perimeter...

<divclass="contentadv"> After a slight hesitation, O'Neal chose to lean in the direction of Odom, but did not leave the penalty area.

Seeing this, Atkins didn't hesitate and passed the ball directly to Odom, who was standing at the three-point line in the corner.

After receiving the basketball, Odom did not rush to shoot. Instead, he took a shooting posture and started aiming.

Seeing this situation, O'Neal could not stay still. He could only come out of the penalty area and block Odom's shot.

But seeing O'Neal come out of the penalty area, Odom was no longer in a hurry to shoot, and passed the basketball again. On the other side, Kobe ran without the ball, shook off Wade, and rushed into the penalty area, just in time to receive a pass from his teammate. Backhand layup.

O'Neal frowned, the other party was obviously targeting him.

But so what? When you attack, you can make some noise, but when it comes to defense, let's see how you defend me!

The ball is exchanged and the Heat attack.

Wade held the ball past half-court, and he immediately saw O'Neal taking heavy steps, rushing into the paint and then raising his hand to get the ball.

Odom was stuck behind O'Neal, and his body was almost invisible.

Upon seeing this, Wade immediately lobbed the basketball into the hands of O'Neal inside.

After receiving the ball in the most comfortable position, O'Neal immediately turned around and took a deep step to perform a signature two-handed dunk.

But just as he took action, a hand hit him hard on the arm.

"Snapped!"

There was an extremely clear sound, and it was obvious that the owner of this hand had exerted enough strength to even suck milk.

"squeak--!"

The referee's whistle sounded immediately. O'Neal rubbed his sore arm and looked angrily. He saw Odom raising his hands to indicate that he was defending the foul and winking at him mischievously.

O'Neill: "..."

I suspect someone is targeting me, but I won’t say who.

Phil Jackson sat on the sidelines and couldn't help but curl up the corner of his mouth.

He had long wanted to try the shark-killing tactic.

In the past eight years when O'Neal was with the Lakers, only others had to kill the Lakers. How could the Lakers have the opportunity to use slashing tactics against other teams?

O'Neal, who stepped to the free throw line, was obviously very angry with the Lakers. He simply missed both free throws and failed to score a point.

It was the Lakers' turn to attack again.

As in the first round, Odom continues to stay on the outside. It depends on whether O'Neal comes to defend on the outside.

Having learned the lesson from the last time, O'Neal chose to stay in the penalty area this time and did not go outside without saying anything.

"If you can, just shoot me with a three-pointer. Even if you are empty, I don't believe you can hit a few three-pointers."

Yes, Odom really can't guarantee that his three-pointers will have a sufficient shooting percentage.

But it doesn't matter, his three-pointer is not accurate enough, someone is accurate.

After holding the ball and making two gestures outside the three-point line, O'Neal really didn't give in to him, Odom simply took back his shooting action, passed the ball to Wang Chong, who was standing at a 45-degree angle, and then jogged all the way to Wang Chong's side provided him with a pick-and-roll screen.

Haslem was blocked by Odom. Although he reacted quickly, he still missed the best opportunity to defend Wang Chong.

Haslem, who is only 2 meters tall, suffered a lot when defending Wang Chong.

Wang Chong fired directly from outside the three-point line. The basketball drew a beautiful parabola in the air and then hit the net.

So far this season, Wang Chong's three-point shooting percentage is as high as 38.4%, second only to the Lakers' three-point shooter Jumaine Jones on the bench.

And like the shot after the pick-and-roll screen just now, it happened to activate and trigger Wang Chong's gold-level badge-the pick-and-roll shooter.

That's right, not only will the pick-and-roll shooter Wang Chong receive a bonus to his shooting percentage if he picks and rolls for his teammates, but his teammates' pick-and-rolls for him can also be effective.

Without defense, the three-point shooting rate is as high as 90% and with the blessing of the gold-level shooting badge, the shooting rate is quite high.

The Lakers started the game with a 5-0 score. The small-ball lineup without a center had an unexpected effect against the inside overlord O'Neal.

The Heat attacked, and O'Neal continued to dig deep inside. He didn't believe that Odom dared to foul him. The game was not without a foul limit. The game had only started for less than 1 minute. If Odom committed six fouls early, the Lakers would There's no drama left.

Indeed, Odom didn't foul O'Neal this time, and he didn't even resist much. O'Neal easily crushed all the way to the basket and violently dunked with both hands, tearing the basket almost out of shape.

This signature two-handed dunk violently vented O'Neal's unhappiness, and the excited Shark immediately made his favorite celebration move, the King Step.

But he just had time to take two steps, and a figure had already flashed past him, speeding towards the Heat's frontcourt. Who else could it be if it wasn't Odom?

The first time O'Neal succeeded in dunking, Wang Chong immediately withdrew from the baseline and passed the basketball to Odom, who immediately advanced towards the frontcourt with the ball.

Don't forget, Odom's nickname is the left-handed magician. Although he mainly plays inside for the Lakers, his dribbling skills are not inferior to those of outside players such as Kobe and Wang Chong. He can also master the basic skills of dribbling from the backcourt through the frontcourt. .

O'Neal was stunned for a moment, and then he realized what he was doing. He didn't care that he hadn't finished his Overlord Step yet, and hurriedly chased after him with a grunt.

But how can his speed be compared with Odom, Wang Chong and others.

In the blink of an eye, all five Lakers players had already passed half court, and only four of the Heat's players had time to return to defense. It was a five-on-four frontcourt.

Odom took the lead, rushing to the top arc three-point line with the ball, and continued to attack the inside.

Seeing this, Heat small forward Eddie Jones had no choice but to step forward to defend.

But this is exactly what Odom meant.

Looking to the right, the basketball in Odom's hand passed directly to the left.

Caron Butler, who was standing next to him, was so fast that he received a pass from Odom and scored a layup.

7: 2!

It wasn't until the basketball fell into the basket that O'Neal was able to catch up to the three-point line.