NBA: James wants to team up with me

Chapter 209 Finals, the showdown between Wang Chong and Kobe Bryant

The Bulls vs. Lakers in the Finals are also a showdown between the No. 1 team in the East and the No. 1 team in the West.

The Bulls dominated the regular season and became the only team with 60+ wins. They crushed them 4-0 in the playoffs and were extremely strong.

Although the Lakers' record in the regular season is not as good as that of the Bulls, their performance in the playoffs is also remarkable, especially in the Western Conference finals against the defending champion Spurs, where they were able to sweep their opponents 4:1. Needless to say, their strength.

To sum up, the Bulls and Lakers can basically be considered the two strongest teams in the 07-08 season.

However, when the two teams are compared together, the Bulls' lineup is obviously deeper than the Lakers. The Big Three lineup of Wang Chong + Garnett + Billups is indeed better than the Lakers. Stronger.

Although the Lakers acquired an All-Star player like Pau Gasol through a wave of moves last summer.

However, although Gasol and Garnett are both of the same generation, there is a huge gap in strength and league status.

Garnett is an MVP-level superstar. He was previously a player at the same level as Wang Chong, Kobe, Duncan and others.

On the other hand, Gasol, although he was also a star in the Grizzlies before, the honors he received in his career were only an All-Star substitute and the Best Rookie, and he was not even elected to the Best Team once.

So it has always been said that Kobe's teammates during his last two consecutive championships were indeed not weak, but they were definitely not strong. The two championships were very valuable.

The gap in the lineup means that the majority of people are optimistic that the Bulls can win the championship.

Not to mention comparing the strength of other players, the Lakers may not be able to win just by comparing the first cores of the two teams.

The battle between Kobe Bryant and Wang Chong for No. 24 is no longer a day or two.

Since Wang Chong's first season after leaving the Lakers, the two have been fiercely competing over who has the better scoring ability.

In the 05-06 and 06-07 seasons, Wang Chong was the one with the last laugh. He defeated Kobe Bryant twice in a row to win the scoring crown, becoming the strongest scorer in the league, and continued to win the scoring title this season. His ability has been recognized as the strongest among active players.

Especially this season, Kobe can only rank third in the scoring list and has no way to compete with Wang Chong. Although he won the highest personal honor, regular season MVP, most fans know very well that Kobe can win this. The reason why he won the MVP award is definitely not because his personal performance is better than Wang Chong.

If two people really compete on the same stage to compete in scoring ability, if it is a decisive game, Kobe may still win, but the game is a best-of-seven game, and Wang Chong's stable and efficient performance in the past has a high probability of being able to win. The one who has the upper hand in the competition.

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June 6, Chicago United Center.

The first game of the finals officially started.

The Bulls' starting lineup is as usual, Billups, James Jones, Wang Chong, Garnett, and Gasol.

The Lakers' starting lineup is Fisher, Kobe, Odom, Gasol and Bynum.

This has been slightly different from the original historical process. Originally, Bynum missed the playoffs of the 07-08 season due to injuries.

But in this time and space, perhaps because Gasol joined the Lakers more than half a season in advance, which greatly reduced the pressure on the Lakers' inside line in the early stage, Bynum was not injured and still secured his position as the team's starting center.

However, Bynum is not something to be afraid of at this stage. His position on the court is very similar to that of the Bulls' Gasol. His playing time is limited to just over 30 minutes. During the regular season, he averaged 13 points per game for the team. With 10 points, 2 rebounds and blocks, his performance is quite remarkable.

But in the playoffs, Bynum's role on the court has obviously weakened, and his average data has shrunk to 8 points and 7 rebounds per game. In terms of performance, he really looks like Gasol.

It's just that Bynum, as a high pick in the first round, is as effective as Gasol, a second-round pick. Lakers fans feel uncomfortable no matter what they think, and they can only comfort themselves.

"If we don't compare with them, the advantage of our little Shark lies in his unlimited potential. He is still very young and has excellent future development prospects. His future achievements are not comparable to those of Marc Gasol, a second-round pick that no one cares about. of."

This is true. Bynum, who entered the league as a high school student in 2005, is now only in his early 20s and his career has just begun.

As for Gasol, although he participated in the 2007 draft and called Bynum a senior, he is actually 23 years old, about two years and ten months older than Bynum.

It's just that development potential cannot be entirely determined by age.

In terms of talent, Bynum can outshine Gasol. The nickname "Baby Shark" is really not just a boast. Bynum was really a bit like O'Neal during his peak period.

But that's just a vague shadow. As a professional basketball player, Bynum has very poor competitive spirit and professional attitude.

When he was with the Lakers, there was Kobe by his side and he didn't show enough. Later, he was used as a trading chip by the Lakers and sent to the 76ers in a multi-team trade in exchange for Howard from the Magic. Bynum completely let himself go. Missing training, playing big, and going bowling during the injury aggravated the injury.

After that, Bynum failed to recover. Even after signing with the Cavaliers, Pacers and other teams, he failed to perform well. At the age of only 26, he had no ball to play.

Based on this, why should he compare with Gasol?

Although Marc Gasol's achievements in the NBA are slightly inferior to those of his brother Pau Gasol, he was selected to the All-NBA First Team and the Best Defensive Player, and he also won the NBA title as a starting player with the Raptors. won an NBA championship.

Whether it is comprehensive ability on the court, career length or even dominance on the court at his peak, Gasol is obviously much better than Bynum.

However, only Wang Chong himself knows these things, and it is not enough for outsiders to know.

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Before the game, both sides were getting ready. Wang Chong was a little surprised to find that his head coach Thibodeau was actually more nervous than the players. When he was standing on the sidelines watching the players warm up, he kept wiping sweat with a towel, thinking of changing clothes. The indoor coach's speech may have really frightened him a little bit due to the atmosphere of the finals.

Logically speaking, it shouldn't be. Thibodeau has been in the NBA as an assistant coach for more than ten years. What kind of storms have he not seen? Are you so nervous because of the finals?

But if you think about it carefully, it’s really hard to say.

After all, assistant coaches and head coaches are different. When you sit in the position of head coach and face a game like the NBA Finals that directly determines the championship, nervousness is inevitable.

On the contrary, the Bulls players behaved quite calmly.

Wang Chong and Billups are both players who have experienced many finals, and this stage is too familiar to them.

Although Garnett has never played in the finals before, the Wolf King has always been full of enthusiasm and passion. He had already roared excitedly in the tunnel to boost the morale of his teammates.

Under the leadership of Garnett, young players including Gasol and Millsap were all excited. It seemed that the O'Brien Cup was just around the corner and the Bulls were about to win the championship. , as if they want to create a miracle.

"Tom, don't be nervous. Just execute the tactics and substitutions according to the previous plan. Our strength has the upper hand and we have the home court advantage. We can easily win the game."

<divclass="contentadv">Wang Chong came to Thibodeau and said softly.

Thibodeau was stunned for a moment, looking at Wang Chong with a strange look.

Since when have players been able to come to appease the head coach?

But Wang Chong said, where is this? You have never seen the famous scene of grabbing the head coach's tactical board and explaining the tactics to his teammates, and then leaving the coach stunned for a moment.

The game starts soon.

Bynum won the jump ball and the Lakers had the ball.

After Fisher dribbled the ball past half court, he passed the ball to Kobe immediately.

The current Bulls actually don't have a particularly good defensive strategy when facing a player with Kobe's characteristics, because Laga Bell has been sent to the Timberwolves as a bargaining chip in the Garnett trade, and the team's current starting shooting guard James Jones Obviously not a good scorer.

Therefore, before the finals, the Bulls' defensive tactics were very clear.

Jones's main policy in defending Kobe is to prevent shots and not breakouts, allowing Kobe to break into the penalty area with the ball, because the Bulls have two lines of defense inside Gasol and Garnett, plus King who can support defense at any time. Chong, the defense line is quite solid.

Doesn't Kobe always like to shoot against the defense of three or four people? Just arrange for him three big men who are 2 meters tall to play with him.

Of course, Kobe is not that reckless. Usually, he will only take crazy shots regardless of the situation when he is on top. Although the frequency of being on top is a little more, at least not when the game just started.

Therefore, after Kobe stood at a 45-degree angle on the right side and received the pass from Fisher, he immediately hit the ball and passed it to Gasol who had just taken his position inside.

"coming!"

Seeing this scene, Wang Chong was slightly shocked.

What is the Lakers' mainstream strategy? Of course, it's the triangle tactic. Phil Jackson was famous all over the world. He won 11 championship rings with the triangle tactic.

Although Gasol is not a historical superstar, as the central axis of Phil Jackson's triangle tactical system, his effect is quite great, especially the stronger the personal ability of the team's scorer responsible for finishing, his The effect will be correspondingly greater.

After receiving the ball, Gasol raised the ball high above his head and faced Garnett's defense head-on.

At the same time, Kobe began to accelerate after passing the ball, accelerating from the right corner into the penalty area.

Jones was half a beat slower and couldn't keep up with Kobe in the first place. Gasol's pass was immediately in place.

After receiving the ball, Kobe took off and made his iconic pull-up layup. He dodged Gasol's cover and blocked the shot and successfully scored, giving the Lakers the lead.

The triangle offense is indeed difficult to deal with, especially Gasol's high-flying support method and Kobe's offensive firepower of running without the ball. Even if the defense is as strong as the Bulls, it is extremely difficult to defend.

However, Wang Chong had no intention of competing defensively with the Lakers.

The Bulls attacked, Billups held the ball past half-court, and Wang Chong raised his hand to ask for the ball.

Wang Chong, who received the pass from Billups, held the ball and looked at Odom standing in front of him.

The Lakers letting Lamar Odom guard Wang Chong is essentially the same as the Bulls letting James Jones guard Kobe. They know they can't guard him, but what else can they do?

As one of the most maneuverable forward players on the inside, Odom's speed is not slow, but he still has to compete with others.

In front of Wang Chong, Odom's speed was too slow.

It didn't even require Iverson's trick, the butterfly step. Wang Chong only needed to use Durant's best technique of changing hands in front of the body to easily get past Odom.

After successfully breaking through, Wang Chong did not choose to rush into the penalty area and compete with big men such as Gasol and Bynum. Instead, he chose to shoot a mid-range pull-up jumper.

Although the Lakers' lineup is slightly inferior to that of the Bulls, only the height inside is actually high enough.

Bynum and Pau Gasol are 2 meters tall, plus Odom is 13 meters tall. Anyone with this height will feel pressure when facing each other.

The same situation actually applies to the Bulls. Wang Chong, Garnett and Gasol are all over 2 meters tall. Strictly speaking, the Bulls can actually be considered the top three inside players, despite Wang Chong's playing style. He prefers to play on the outside, but he can still make an occasional guest appearance on the inside.

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At the beginning of the game, the offensive efficiency of both teams was quite high. The Lakers mainly relied on the triangle tactics to score points.

The Bulls' offensive tactics are relatively simple, mainly focusing on Wang Chong's singles with the ball, occasionally interspersed with Billups and Garnett's pick-and-roll cooperation.

Both sides have no good way to use the other side's offense. They can only compete with each other's offensive firepower.

At the beginning, the two sides were indeed inseparable. Kobe, who played reasonably, was positioned on the court as the end point of scoring. He found the open space through movement and then caught the ball and shot. The process was easy and simple, so his scoring efficiency was no worse than Wang Chong.

However, as the game progressed, Wang Chong's firepower from the outside gradually opened up, and the Lakers began to lose strength.

At 7 minutes and 27 seconds into the first quarter, Wang Chong made a three-pointer from the top arc of the three-point line against Odom's defense. A minute later, he made a three-pointer in the corner and got an open ball opportunity to activate the bottom line. Corner three-point shooter badge and another three-pointer.

Two consecutive three-pointers instantly widened the gap between the originally rising scores.

Three-pointers, although this is not a shortcoming of Kobe. This season, Kobe's 36% three-point shooting rate per game is definitely above average among defenders, but he certainly cannot achieve 41% of his three-point shooting rate. Like Wang Chong, it is frequently used as a conventional offensive method.

The sudden wave of offensive rhythm caused Lakers head coach Phil Jackson to immediately call a timeout to stabilize the situation. However, after the timeout, the Lakers' situation became even more unfavorable.