NBA: James wants to team up with me

In early October, the Lakers welcomed the NBA 10-2015 preseason.

The whole of Los Angeles is looking forward to the Lakers' new lineup's first show of the new season.

However, in the Lakers' first preseason game, they fielded a lineup that left everyone a little confused.

Point guard Kobe, shooting guard Thompson, small forward Wang Chong, power forward Green, center Jokic.

This lineup is indeed quite odd.

Kobe, who has played shooting guard all his life, actually moved to the point guard position, while Green, who is 2 meters tall, played power forward, and Wang Chong, who is 01 meters tall, played small forward.

The whole lineup gives people a feeling of chaos, and it is impossible to tell who the main point guard of this lineup is.

In fact, after entering the game, it was indeed such a feeling on the court, because Lakers fans found that it was not only Kobe at the point guard position who controlled the ball in the game, but also Wang Chong and Green at the forward position would have ball-holding segments, and even center Jokic could perform in a similar manner.

On the contrary, shooting guard Thompson spent very little time dribbling the basketball, and most of the time he focused on a lot of off-ball running and passing and cutting.

The result was that the Lakers played poorly in the first game and were defeated by their opponents.

Although they lost the game, Wang Chong was not panicked at all. The purpose of the preseason game was to test the lineup and playing style.

The Lakers have not yet figured out a more suitable tactical approach before Jokic fully grows up, so they can just figure it out slowly.

So in the second game, the same starting lineup was used, but this time the number of players in charge of the ball was reduced to only two, that is, Kobe and Wang Chong would hold the ball for a long time.

This move had an immediate effect, especially when Wang Chong had the ball. After exchanging for the ten-cent badge and strengthening his passing ability, his organizational and supporting abilities were no longer bad. He could even imitate Gasol's position during the Lakers' triangle offense, standing in a high position with the ball to support his teammates.

However, compared to assisting his teammates, a more efficient way of playing is for Wang Chong to directly pull up for a jump shot after getting the ball in a high position, and he basically makes the shot.

In comparison, Kobe's play is much simpler and more low-key.

After returning from injury, Kobe himself knew that his mobility and explosiveness were not as good as before, so when he had the ball in his hands, there were two main moves he used the most. One was his signature inside back-to-back jump shot, and the other was a quick stop jump shot after holding the ball from the outside with the help of his teammates' pick-and-roll.

How to say it... It is undeniable that Kobe's shooting posture is indeed beautiful and few people in the NBA can match it. Every shot can be described as beautiful as a painting.

The movements are standard and the postures are picturesque. If we have to point out a flaw, it would be the small flaw that the shot cannot be made.

There's nothing I can do, I really can't make the shot.

15-16赛季科比巡回演出的场面真不是闹着玩的，场均16.9次出手全队最高，35.8%的命中率却是队内出手超过10次以上的球员中最低的。

Kobe's role on the court during this period was definitely negative.

Wang Chong was very clear about this and had no intention of blaming Kobe.

Because for his arrival, Kobe has made great sacrifices, giving up the No. 24 jersey and his position as the team leader. If he is directly asked to play as a substitute, it would be a bit of an insult to Kobe.

Therefore, when Wang Chong decided to join the Lakers, he had already made sufficient mental preparations. With Kobe averaging 15+ shots per game and a hit rate of about 35%, leading the team to finish the season was like accompanying Kobe on an early retirement tour.

As for whether Kobe will choose to retire after the end of this season or want to win another championship with Wang Chong, it depends on his own thoughts, but at that time, he must accept the arrangement of being a substitute.

After all, no matter how strong Wang Chong is, he is not capable of leading the team to win the championship with a burden.

However, Wang Chong did think about whether there were other ways to help Kobe play a little better this season.

There is definitely no chance on the offensive end. Kobe's offensive ability is there and there is no way to improve it.

But if it is other aspects, there are opportunities, such as passing and assisting.

Although Kobe has been dubbed the "Love" throughout his career, it must be said that his career average of 4.7 assists per game is not low among shooting guards. As long as he is willing, he can still make some good assists.

Therefore, before the third preseason game, Wang Chong had an in-depth discussion with Kobe. Then in the third preseason game, the Lakers' playing style changed again. Kobe held the ball longer than Wang Chong in this game, and spent a large part of the time standing at the top of the three-point line.

Whenever this happens, other Lakers players will run more frequently, especially Wang Chong and Thompson. Under the off-ball screen of the Lakers' inside players, usually at least one of them can run to the outside to get a brief open opportunity.

Every time this happened, Kobe would pass the ball to him immediately, and the latter would shoot the ball immediately after receiving it.

Does this tactic look familiar?

That’s right, this is exactly how the Warriors’ Green plays with the ball at the top of the arc.

Using a lot of pick-and-roll screens, Curry and Thompson got open shooting opportunities, and Green passed the ball to them to assist them in scoring.

During the Warriors' peak period, Green was able to average as many as 7.4 assists per game with this trick.

It is true that Green himself does have good basic passing and controlling skills, but his ability in organization and coordination is definitely not as good as that of point forward Lamar Odom, who is also good at this.

However, Odom, nicknamed the Left-Handed Magician, only averaged 5.9 assists per game in a season, and he only averaged more than 5 assists per game in three seasons. In contrast, Green averaged 3+ assists per game five times.

This is the importance of system and tactics.

In this preseason game, Kobe fully experienced the excitement of Green's online dealing from the top of the arc.

Basically, you don't have to do anything. Just stand at the top of the three-point line with the ball, wait for your teammates to run into open space, pass the ball to them, and then wait for the assist +1 to come.

It was the first time for him to experience such an easy and simple way of playing, which completely overturned his three views.

In this game, Kobe had a double-double of 12 points and 11 assists, and the Lakers won the game smoothly.

In the following games, the Lakers made various changes in their playing style in every game, which led to the team's extremely unstable record and ultimately ended the preseason journey with only 4 wins and 6 losses.

The Lakers' weird lineup and disorganized style of play really confused the reporters. They couldn't even judge the strength of this Lakers team.

Logically speaking, with Wang Chong around, the Lakers shouldn't be too bad no matter how bad the team is.

But the problem is that the Lakers don’t seem to have a complete set of tactical play yet, and there will be big problems in the new season’s lineup adjustment.

Therefore, after the preseason, the Lakers were ranked only sixth on ESPN's team strength list.

The Bulls, who signed James through free agency in the summer and formed the explosive combination of Curry + James + Gasol Jr., unsurprisingly topped the strength list.

Following closely behind are the Spurs, who returned empty-handed in last year's Western Conference Finals. They successfully signed All-Star power forward Aldridge at no cost this summer, and their strength has been further improved, making a qualitative leap.

Ranked third are the Boston Celtics, who have been mediocre in performance in the past two years but still have Rondo, Durant, Millsap and Al Jefferson.

Ranked fourth are the Los Angeles Clippers with the Big Three of Paul, Harden and Jordan.

The fifth place is the Miami Heat, who, despite losing James, immediately signed Bulls free agent Jimmy Butler, thus retaining the Big Three lineup of Wade + Howard + Butler.

In sixth place, it was finally the turn of the Los Angeles Lakers, which formed the Big Three of Wang Chong, Kobe and Thompson.

Although the Lakers also have a Big Three configuration, Kobe is obviously no longer worthy of the title of a giant in terms of age or strength. In addition, the rest of the Lakers' main lineup is considered seriously unqualified by the outside world.

Apart from anything else, the Lakers didn't even have a decent main point guard for the entire summer. It seems that they are really planning to let Kobe play point guard in the new season.

Letting the NBA's all-time leading scorer play point guard, isn't this a joke?

Even with such an evaluation, the Lakers can be ranked sixth in the strength list. This really shows the value of Wang Chong, the first eight-time champion in history.

On October 2015, 10, the Lakers faced off against their city rivals, the Clippers, at home in the opening game of the new season.

The league's schedule has given the Lakers an opponent that is neither too big nor too small.

The Clippers made it to the finals last season, but were badly beaten by the Cavaliers led by Wang Chong, and even had a tragic scene of losing by 50 points in a single game.

During the offseason, the Clippers have been trying hard to keep Jordan, who wanted to leave the team after his contract expired. They even mobilized everyone on the team, including Harden and Paul, to change Jordan's mind about leaving and choose to renew his contract with the team.

In this way, the Clippers have managed to retain their main lineup for the finals, and their strength has not declined significantly, but it has not improved at all either.

When they meet the Lakers in the opening game of the new season, it will naturally be a focus battle that seems to be evenly matched and full of highlights.

But the first match of this competition ended in a result that no one expected.

The Lakers defeated the Clippers 114:110 and got off to a good start in the new season.

The competition process was exciting.

Originally, the Clippers took the initiative throughout the game and at one point led by more than 16 points.

But what they didn't expect was that Wang Chong scored 29 points in the fourth quarter alone, leading the Lakers to a score of 41:21 in the quarter, completing a stunning reversal.

Wang Chong scored 34 points in the first three quarters and 29 points in the final quarter, scoring 63 points in a single game. With 11 rebounds and 9 assists, he had an exaggerated triple-double in his Lakers debut.

The Lakers home fans went crazy.

This is Wang Chong, the strongest super scorer in NBA history. Even if his teammates are not strong, he can lead the team to win on his own.

The Lakers played really averagely in this game.

There is no need to mention Kobe. Although he continued to use the top-arc serving style from the preseason, Thompson had a poor touch in his debut, scoring only 14 points with 4 of 11 shots.

The scoring ability of power forward Draymond Green can be ignored, while Jokic, who plays center, was making his official NBA debut, and was misjudged by DeAndre Jordan, who had already been selected for the All-Defensive Team.

If it weren't for Wang Chong's 63 points in a single game, the Lakers would really not be a match for the Clippers.

The Lakers are indeed not ready for the new season at all.

Two days later, on October 2, in the second game of the regular season, the Lakers challenged the Sacramento Kings away and won again 10:30, achieving two consecutive victories.

但这场比赛湖人打得同样不轻松，王崇砍下48分10篮板6助攻，克莱.汤普森状态复苏，20投9中拿下22分。

But during the game, the Lakers had no way to deal with Kings center DeMarcus Cousins, who wreaked havoc in the penalty area and scored 37 points, 15 rebounds and 4 blocks.

Poor Jokic was suppressed again, only scoring 9 points and 7 rebounds in the whole game.

On November 11, the Lakers defeated the Dallas Mavericks 1:103 at home, winning three consecutive games to start the new season.

The regular season started with three games, and the Lakers won all of them without exception.

But even after winning three games, Lakers fans still felt very awkward.

The reason is very simple. In three games, they did not see the Lakers show any tactics. At most, there were some pick-and-rolls and passes and cuts. The team's operation was very unnatural.

Among the starting five, Wang Chong averaged an exaggerated 44 points, 10.3 rebounds and 7.4 assists. After Thompson's daily poor performance in the first game, he regained his touch in the next two games, with his statistics returning to 19.4 points and a shooting percentage of 42%.

The performances of these two players were pretty good, but the other three Lakers players were a bit disappointing.

Green and Jokic had 9 points and 7 rebounds respectively, but considering their salaries, it doesn't make sense.

But Kobe's performance was really disappointing.

第一场17投6中得到15分5篮板8助攻。

第二场12投5中得到13分4篮板5助攻。

第三场15投4中得到12分3篮板7助攻。

After three games, Kobe averaged 13.3 points, 4 rebounds and 6.6 assists per game, and his shooting percentage was an outrageous 34.1%.

Is this still the Kobe they know? Such a poor and lame performance, it turns out that no star can escape the curse of age and injury.

Compared with the surprise and regret of the Lakers fans, Wang Chong was a little angry.

Although the Lakers won all three games, it was not only different from what the Lakers fans had imagined, but it was even far from what he had imagined.

Everything was arranged very well during the preseason, but during the regular season, Kobe would always unconsciously hold the ball and go solo after having it, and then miss a shot.

According to Kobe himself, he saw that his opponent was slacking off in defense and thought it was a perfect opportunity.

Wang Chong finally understood that it was impossible for Kobe to assist by passing the ball from the top of the arc like Green did. Even though he had the passing technique, in his subconscious mind, his offensive tendency was far greater than his passing tendency.

After so many years of professional career, this has almost been deeply engraved in Kobe's consciousness and has become an almost instinctive behavior.

On November 11, the Lakers lost 3:109 to the Denver Nuggets on the road, suffering their first defeat of the new season.

Wang Chong realized that the attempts in the preseason were a bit too hasty and blind. If the Lakers wanted to perform stably in subsequent games, they had to re-formulate their tactical system.

"It seems that my past successes with the Bulls and Cavaliers have made me a little too arrogant. I think that as long as I put together a strong lineup, I will be able to perform well. But that's not the case. Even if I'm as strong as I am now, I still have to maintain a certain respect for the game..."