Legend of Tomorrow

On November 14, the Lakers faced the Denver Nuggets at home.

The Nuggets are not strong, and winning mainly depends on the personal abilities of the two core players inside and outside.

Star power forward McDyess has a mid-range shot, and center LaFrentz is a big man who likes to float outside and shoot. The two of them can clear the inside and create breakthrough space for defenders and opportunities for outside shots.

The 29-year-old Madman Van Exel is the core of the Nuggets' perimeter and owns the ball. He performed poorly against his old club this time, making 7 of 22 shots, 2 of 8 three-pointers, 1 of 2 free throws, 17 points, 4 rebounds and 11 assists.

Van Exel was double-teamed every time he broke through the pick-and-roll. The Lakers power forward switched aggressively, trying to push him outside the penalty area and force him to pass the ball. His one-on-one efficiency is also very low. Guo Xu will constantly disrupt the offensive rhythm with personal confrontations. Many of his shots are forced to face people, so the hit rate is naturally not high.

Guo Xu played 28 minutes, making 5 of 10 shots, 3 of 6 three-pointers, 2 of 2 free throws, and scored 15 points and 3 assists. Although his statistics were inferior to Van Exel, his efficiency was much higher.

This is the advantage of having superstar teammates. The opponent rarely arranges defense against Guo Xu, and he can easily get a chance to make a move.

O'Neal scored 34 points, 19 rebounds and 2 assists, shooting 76.2% from the field; Kobe Bryant 31 points, 4 rebounds, 9 assists and 2 steals, shooting 52.2% from the field. They are unstoppable.

Five Lakers scored in double figures, beating the Nuggets 123 to 103, winning two consecutive victories.

One day later, the Lakers defeated the Kings 117-105 away, and the core of the Kings, Chris Webber, was absent due to injury.

The OK combination continued to show off. O'Neal scored 33 points, 16 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 blocks; Kobe scored 31 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists.

Guo Xu played 30 minutes, made 7 of 8 shots, 2 of 2 three-pointers, 6 of 6 free throws, scored 22 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists with a super high shooting percentage, without turnovers.

In the third quarter, when the Lakers were playing a pick-and-roll offense, Guo Xu jumped Divac several times. Divac was so anxious that he pushed him to the ground from behind and was called a first-level flagrant foul.

Guo Xu unexpectedly defeated White Chocolate Jason Williams, the seventh overall pick in the 1998 draft. The latter made 3 of 10 shots and 1 of 4 three-pointers. He only scored 7 points and 5 assists. There were 3 turnovers.

Williams, who is 185cm tall and weighs 86kg, has a great reputation. Last season, he averaged 12.3 points, 7.3 assists and 3.7 turnovers per game, shooting 37.3% from the field and 28.7% from the three-point range. His poor data ranked fourth among Western Conference guards in the All-Star voting, and he was almost voted as an All-Star starter by the fans. NBA officials probably helped swipe the votes, allowing Kidd and Payton to complete the counterattack in the second half. , otherwise it would be embarrassing.

All-Star game backups were voted on by the coaches, not a single one for Williams, because the pass was as good as the turnovers, as flashy as it was clumsy. When he can pass the ball behind his back, he never passes it head-on. He often not only deceives his opponents, but also deceives his teammates.

The coaches don't think there is anything to brag about the point guard's fancy passing and frequent turnovers, especially when he shoots poorly and has average breakthrough ability. Driven by Williams, the Kings were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs for two consecutive years. He averaged 10 points and 4 assists in the 1999 playoffs, and 10.4 points and 2.4 assists in the 2000 playoffs, both of which had lower shooting percentages than the regular season.

Many fans like Williams. If all point guard players learn the white chocolate style of play, then the game will become very beautiful, with more turnovers, more fast breaks, more fancy passes, and more dunks.

But Kings coach Adelman is going crazy. All he can think about is how to send Williams away as soon as possible. If he finds a point guard with a normal style of play, maybe the team will rise.

At the post-match press conference, when the reporter asked Adelman to comment on Guo Xu, he did not hesitate to praise him and vaguely expressed his dissatisfaction with Williams.

Jason is the kind of player I like. He plays great, is not afraid of physical contact, and has many tough performances on defense. He can shoot suddenly, play very determinedly, and has a certain speed, which is good for It’s good for other players. That’s what I want from the Kings’ perimeter players, and it’s a pity that he’s the opponent.”

After the game, many Kings fans were dissatisfied with the team's rookies. Forward Turkoglu, the 16th pick in the first round, only played 7 minutes and failed to score a point on 0-for-2 shooting. Center Jabari Smith, the 16th pick in the second round, did not play. Being on the 12-man roster is far worse than Guo Xu.

On the 18th, the Lakers defeated the Nuggets 103-87 in an away game and won their fourth consecutive victory. Guo Xu's performance was average with 11 points and 3 assists.

On the 19th, the Lakers returned to their home court to face the Bulls back-to-back, and Guo Xu was going to play against his good buddies.

At noon, Guo Xu made an appointment with Austin Nichols and Jason Williams to have dinner and reminisce.

Looking at the data, Richardson is also a strong contender for the Rookie of the Season, averaging 14.2 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game, shooting 42.3% from the field and 34.6% from the three-point range. But in the latest rookie rankings, he is only ranked third behind Guo Xu and the Magic's Mike Miller because the Bulls can't win.

The Bulls have Elton Brand, a power forward who has consistently scored 20+10 points, Artest, a defensive warrior, and two super-qualified rookies in Richardson and Fizer, but they have a record of 1 win. 8 negative league bottom,

Food couldn’t stop Richardson’s big mouth. After meeting him, he kept complaining: “Guo, I now know why you must join the Lakers. The draft and rookie contract are not important. Going to a strong team is the key.” It's so uncomfortable to play on a weak team. I've never been this miserable. I don't see any hope in the Bulls.

Think about it, Chicago is a big city, how happy you are in summer, isn't the Bulls your favorite team? You still want to be Jordan's successor. Austin teased.

What kind of successor am I? The head coach is a big SB. Compared with Tom (Izzo), I can't believe that the Bulls will find such a waste as a coach. He can't even play the most basic pick-and-roll tactics. It's not fun. Richardson's voice raised a bit unconsciously, and the honest man's anger could no longer be suppressed.

There are many cases in the NBA where players drive away coaches. People call those stars coach killers, which is derogatory. In fact, some coaches really drive players crazy.

Richardson complained that not only the Bulls were bad, but the city of Chicago was also bad.

He witnessed a shooting on the second day after he moved to Chicago. A group of gangsters shot at each other on the street. Some were killed and some were injured. He hid in the store for a long time and dared not go out until the police came to control the scene.

One night after dinner, he stopped to tie his shoelaces in front of the red light on Halsted Street, but the police lights behind him came on, and the policeman drove up next to him and shouted: Do you dare to stop here? Hurry up! I'm leaving. It would be dangerous to stay there for even half a minute.

Last week in Chicago, a guy who looked like a catfish led thousands of black people to march in protest, unwilling to demolish more than a dozen dilapidated and dilapidated buildings in the black district, causing panic among the people.

Chicago is a city that many people love and fear. It has a bright side and a dark side. In addition to eating, drinking and having fun, you also have to know how to save your life.

Hearing what Richardson said, Guo Xu couldn't help complaining: Is this really Chicago? Why do I feel like you went to Gotham to play basketball? Have you seen Batman?

I wish there was Batman there. Richardson smiled bitterly: Guo, what do you think I should do now?