Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Third Point Guard (Ask for Recommendation)
"Harris, the Suns have switched to the starting lineup. Do we need to get our starters on the line-up? Rambis saw the Suns adjust their lineup after being overtaken, and suggested to Harris.
"No rush, let's see how Kobe performs." Harris wants to see how the Lakers' bench performs against other starters.
The Suns' starting lineup is led by Kevin Johnson, who has just turned 30 and is in the prime of a point guard. Three-time All-Star. A four-time All-Star Second Team and a three-time All-Star selection, he is one of the best point guards of his era.
At 1.85 meters tall, extremely fast and accurate projection, his style of play. In the third year of his career, he played 20+12 super point guard data.
Kobe Bryant is still the ball-handler, that is, Kevin Johnson.
Bryant didn't have many opportunities to face the great point guard in his previous life, and by the time Bryant reached his peak, the player was no longer the hero he once was. Kobe Bryant wanted to learn a good lesson, the point guard who is known as second only to Magic and Stockton.
Kevin Johnson was in possession of the ball, and he saw the operation of Kobe Bryant leading the bench to overtake the score just now, and he admired this energetic kid. But they're rivals now, and Kevin Johnson wants to teach Kobe a lesson.
Left hand makes a gesture and Danny Manning and A.C. Grimm are on the same page.
"Damn, double pick-and-roll." The double-block tactic is very useful for situations where the opponent has a tall center and it is difficult to defend it, especially when the team has a stable mid-range shooter.
Tyrese Knight, the defensive hole of the Lakers' bench group, was found by Kevin Johnson at a glance, although he is tall, but he is extremely lacking in speed and strength. With his slow feet, he couldn't pull out of the penalty area at all.
Bryant quickly squeezed through the pick-and-roll and barely kept up with Kevin Johnson. But Kevin Johnson jumped up and threw the ball at the unguarded mid-range Danny Manning, who hit the shot with ease.
Kobe frowned, AC Green and Danny Manning both had a good mid-range shot, and Tyrese Knight couldn't defend it, so he was in trouble.
"Hi boy. Welcome to MLS. Kevin Johnson shouted to Kobe Bryant that he hadn't forgotten the scene where Kobe had just taught his little brother Steve Nash.
Bryant was a little irritated, and after halftime, it was Sam Kassel who defended him. The alien Cassel is only 1.91 meters tall, and Kobe Bryant intends to eat him strongly.
After going around the baseline in a circle, Bryant was in place in the shaft area. After receiving the ball, there was not too much entanglement, and he turned over and made a jumper. Cassel was completely unable to interfere with the soaring Kobe Bryant, and the ball went into the basket.
"This kid ... And back skills? Harris felt that Kobe Bryant was giving him more and more surprises, and this turnaround jumper was exactly like Jordan's.
Kevin Johnson dribbled past half the court, only to find that it was Fisher who appeared in front of him.
"Oh? That high school student of yours doesn't want to guard me? Leaving this errand to you? It's not a good job. ”
Fisher's eyes were resolute, his hands slapped the ground, and he shouted, "Here you are!" ”
Kevin Johnson was amused by Fisher, and suddenly an acceleration broke through Fisher's defense.
Ben Wallace stepped forward to make up for the defense, Kevin Johnson repeated the trick, passed the ball to Danny Manning, and a figure came out from the flank and almost broke the ball.
Danny Manning, with Bryant's defense, couldn't find much in the mid-range. When he over-fed the ball to Cassel, the Lakers' rotation defense was already in place, Bowen covered him, and the time was up, and Cassel missed the shot under Bowen's interference.
In the last round, Bryant called his teammates to change their defensive strategy. is still a defense and does not let go, forcing people to Ben Wallace to make up for the defense, and the outside players quickly rotate after being broken through. The flaw of this defensive strategy is that it is easy to create open outside shots, and it requires a lot of physical energy to run back and forth to make up for the defense.
The rotational pinch defensive strategy led by Kobe Bryant was slightly effective. Although from time to time due to lack of skill, there were big gaps, but it did not allow the Suns to play too many offensive climaxes. The Suns, who have five players with good offensive ability, are simply difficult to lock down on the current Lakers bench.
On the offensive end, Bryant didn't feel much pressure. So he continued to use his back foot to beat Kassel in the middle distance, and Kassel, who was too short, had no way to take Kobe. After back-to-back hits, the Suns even started to wrap up the rookie.
Bryant calmly linked up the team's offense under the bag, and split the ball to Fisher Bowen, who was open on the outside, and hit a series of shots. The scene became back and forth, and both sides maintained a good offensive efficiency, while strictly guarding the opponent to play a fast attack.
"They don't fall behind." O'Neal opened his mouth wide on the sidelines, and they had just been beaten by the Suns as a starter. And the benches led by Kobe, a group of rookies have played back and forth with the Suns.
Harris compared Kobe Bryant's performance to that of the starters, and he began to have some thoughts in his heart.
The Suns coach called a timeout, and he figured out that Cassel was acting as Kobe's ATM. He quickly brought on Wesley Person, a tall and athletic shooting guard who had been very effective in defending Kobe Bryant.
The Lakers, on their side, replaced the bench and replaced the starter, allowing Cotton Fitzsimmons to punch the air.
Bryant went off the court, and O'Neal stepped forward to give him a warm high-five.
"Man, awesome play. Let's look at mine. O'Neill winked his eyebrows, and this little brother would be his right-hand man in the future.
"We'll see." Bryant grinned similarly.
The starters who played again finally got on the right track under the stimulation of Kobe Bryant and his party. Continuous high-hanging passes, straight under the basket, O'Neal holds the ball, and when he encounters a bag, he splits the ball into an outside shooter, and the bag is not enough to eat it in time, playing a very high offensive efficiency.
Defensively, with less firepower from the alien Cassel, the Suns pose a much less threat. At halftime, the Lakers led 57-49.
Yibian fights again, the Lakers still firmly control the rhythm on the court, a top center is the best rhythm regulator, when the ball is in O'Neal's hands, the Suns can't bring the rhythm of the game.
Kobe's bench bench still slaughtered the opponent in the second half, and seeing that victory was hopeless, the Suns did not struggle too much in the preseason.
At the end of the game, the Lakers won again at 91:77. Kevin Johnson was powerless, while O'Neal's 22 points and 12 rebounds and Bryant's 18 points and 6 assists shone brightly.
"Hi Steve, seriously, free time to play football together." After the game, Bryant found Nash, who was targeted by him in this game.
Nash's face darkened, he really didn't want to deal with Kobe Bryant who targeted him for the whole time, but his good upbringing still made Nash and Kobe exchange communication numbers.