Time into October 97, the preseason of the 97-98 season is about to begin, the Lakers' lineup run-in has been going on for a while, but the effect of the run-in is not satisfactory, the tacit understanding between the players is not enough, so there are often mistakes in the fast cooperation, and after all, it is team training, and it is impossible to evaluate the team's tactical effect in the official game.

The preseason is generally a game for each team to practice, and the Lakers attach great importance to this preseason, because this is the best occasion to run in the team's new tactics, although the preseason confrontation is insufficient, but this is just allowing the Lakers to play a smooth match in the game, and when the players are used to this kind of cooperation, the mistakes of the players in the more competitive games will also be reduced.

The Lakers' first preseason game was against the Utah Jazz, and last season's old enemies met early in the preseason.

The lineup sent by the Lakers in this game is point guard Liu Han, shooting guard Ray Allen, small forward Michael Finley, power forward Robert Horry, and center O'Neal.

The Jazz still attach great importance to this game, after all, this is a good opportunity to get to know the new Lakers, compared to the previous Lakers, the current one has changed dramatically, which makes Jazz head coach Jerry Sloan curious about what the Lakers have become now.

At the beginning of the game, the Lakers showed a change, and the quick offensive and defensive transitions made the Jazz very uncomfortable, compared to the speed of the Jazz, the Lakers looked like a team all on motorcycles, and the Jazz looked like old men walking.

The Lakers attacked the Jazz under the control of Liu Han, and the Jazz were beaten a little bit unable to find the north, and the Lakers took a double-digit lead in the first seven minutes of the first quarter.

This is Coach George made a substitution, Steve Nash was replaced, Liu Han was replaced, O'Neal was also replaced, and substituted center Elden Campbell was replaced, so that the Lakers' speed has increased a bit.

However, then the Lakers' mistakes increased suddenly, compared to Liu Han's stable rhythm control, Steve Nash was a little immature, his speed was not fast, but he couldn't find a rhythm suitable for the team, at the end of the first quarter, the score of the two teams was pulled to 31-24, and the Jazz narrowed the gap to 7 points.

In the second quarter, Ray Allen, Robert Horry, and Finley were all substituted, and Nash, Kerry Kittels, Eddie Jones, Brent Barry, and Elden Campbell were on the court. It's a small lineup, and the Lakers are faster, but they also have a lot of turnovers.

The Jazz gradually adapted to the rhythm of the Lakers, and they took advantage of the Lakers' mistakes to frequently counterattack, and the Jazz tied the score with six minutes into the second quarter.

For the rest of the day, George kept Steve Nash in possession of the ball, and Liu Han played the point guard position after coming on the court, but the offensive control was still Nash, and George hoped that Nash could learn how to control the tempo with enough playing time.

At the beginning of the second half, Nash gradually found his rhythm, he no longer blindly accelerated and accelerated, but controlled whether the team was fast or slow according to the change of the situation on the court. With the increase of cooperation with Nash, the other players of the Lakers team gradually adapted to Nash's rhythm, and the situation on the court began to change, and the Lakers played a little confusing to the Jazz, just like playing cards, the Jazz would never guess who the Lakers would be next, because all four of them except for the center had very powerful three-point ability.

In the end, the Lakers defeated the Jazz by 20 points 109-89, although it was a preseason game, and the confrontation between the two sides was not too intense, but it was enough to prove that George's tactics were effective, and the Lakers found some glory from before.

In the second preseason game, the Lakers' opponent was the New York Knicks, but George suddenly changed his tactics in this game.

In this game, George asked Liu Han and Nash to hand over the ball to other players after half time to organize whoever controlled the ball, and Nash and Liu Han were both running to respond, this sudden change made the Lakers players a little confused, and the other party was even more overwhelmed.

George's purpose is actually to let every Lakers player on the court be able to put himself in the shoes of the point guard, he hopes that every player can think of how the point guard will pass the ball when he is running, so that the Lakers will cooperate more efficiently, and the mistakes will be reduced, but unfortunately George's arrangement is a little sudden, and the Lakers players suddenly become like a plate of scattered sand after the absence of Liu Han or Nash.

In the end, the Lakers lost the game, and the New York Knicks won by 13 points to win 89-76, and the Lakers made a whopping 16 turnovers in this game, allowing the Knicks to seize many opportunities.

In the third game, George still used the tactics of the second game, and the Lakers' performance was still terrible, they did not have the smooth coordination in the first game, but looked more like an underdog who had just entered the league.

In the end, the Lakers lost 72-107 to the Indiana Pacers.

In Game 4, George still didn't let Liu Han and Nash keep the ball, but continued to let other players organize the offense, and their opponent in this game was the Houston Rockets.

Ross Barkley and Olajuwon teamed up to destroy the Lakers' interior, and O'Neal was put off the bench after only 22 minutes of play, and the Lakers didn't perform well in one game.

With a 29-point gap, the Lakers suffered three straight losses in the preseason.

The failure of the three preseason games did not make the Lakers' management lose confidence, but it made Lakers fans and the media start to speculate about what happened within the Lakers.

In the fifth preseason game, George suddenly let Nash take full control of the game, and Liu Han only served as the team's defensive core, only hitting catch-and-shoot shots in the offense.

What everyone didn't expect was that the Lakers played an astonishing offensive efficiency in this game, with the team shooting 40 times from beyond the three-point line and hitting 21 three-pointers, while Liu Han only made 4 shots and hit all 4 three-pointers.

The Lakers defeated the Washington Wizards, who officially changed their name at the end of last season, 120-75.

In the sixth preseason, George changed his style of play again, he let Liu Han take the lead and Nash took the bench. Liu Han played a wonderful blocking and dismantling cooperation with O'Neal in this game, and after Li Rui's conditioning, O'Neal was extremely domineering on the offensive end, playing 2 plus 1 many times, and at the end, the opponent Timberwolves had 5 fouls on the inside.

In this game, Liu Han scored only 15 points, but as many as 22 assists, more than half of which were assists to O'Neal.

In the seventh game, the Lakers' lineup was finally officially determined, Nash and Liu Han all played at the beginning, Nash controlled the game, and Liu Han took over the run and played for 7 minutes, which was the next break, and Liu Han controlled the ball.

In the second quarter, Liu Han rested, Nash came on the court to continue the game, which allowed the Lakers to remain as efficient as possible, and after the previous three heavy defeats, the rest of the Lakers players also had an understanding of what kind of movement the point guard players liked, and the Lakers' cooperation began to officially show their power.

In the last two preseason games, the Lakers won by a big score, and although the preseason competition was not fierce, the Lakers' amazing speed and efficiency in the game still shocked the entire league. (To be continued.) )