On the evening of December 3, the Lakers left Los Angeles for Houston for their four-day tour of the Southwest.

In the winter, it starts to rain more in Los Angeles, which is a typical "Mediterranean climate" with rainy winters.

Because of the heavy rain, the flight was delayed for more than five hours and took off in the early hours of the morning.

When I got on the plane, the players were sleepy.

With a three-hour flight, you can get a little sleep.

Li Liang sat in his seat, put on his blindfold, fell asleep for five seconds, and entered the system.

In the system, Li Liang checked his [Defensive Ability] dimension.

The overall evaluation has been upgraded from the initial E to C, but the main contribution comes from the ability to defend from the outside.

Li Liang's interior defensive ability is still in an undeveloped state.

He took a deep breath and decided to take advantage of the time of the plane, three hours, to do exactly one mission.

Enter the mission, [Basic Defensive Ability of the Inside]:

[Mission, to contain Chris Webb's debut, vs.: Houston Rockets vs. Golden State Warriors, Date: November 9, 1993, Location: Armida Arena, Oakland, San Francisco, USA, Mission Requirements: Match Chris Webb and let him score no more than 10 points.] Rewards: +5 for basic defensive ability on the inside, +3 for low top defense, +2 for high post defense, and difficulty for rookies. 】

The first task of the basic defensive ability of the interior line, like the outside line, is to contain the debut of star players.

This glance is really a coincidence, the Lakers are about to play the Rockets, but Li Liang is a player who is a Rockets in the mission.

As soon as I entered the mission, I came to the Oakland Arena, which was later renamed Oracle Arena.

The 1993 Golden State Warriors, with a gold and blue inlaid floor, and a logo in the center of the court is a basketball with a map outline of California.

When the Yankees draw their logos, they have a soft spot for the outlines of their own states, and California, Texas, and Florida can often see the unique outline lines of their states.

Of course, states like Colorado and Wyoming are purely blocks, and Utah has a corner missing, like a gasoline can.

Players from both sides stood on the court, with the Rockets wearing red tomato scrambled egg jerseys and the Warriors playing white and yellow and blue at home.

Rookie-level task, Li Liang sat on the bench as usual as a substitute, and first looked at the performance of the Rocket's "teammates" tonight.

This task is relatively simple, not because of Webb's poor ability, but because Team Rocket is strong.

It was the 1993-1994 season of the Rockets, the year they won the championship and the season began with a 15-game winning streak, and Olajuwon had an unstoppable season.

He won the three most important individual awards for the regular season MVP, the Finals MVP, and the best defensive player of the regular season.

On the inside, his partner, opposite Webb, is a top blue-collar power forward, Otis Thorpe.

With such a combination to help on the inside, what Li Liang has to do is not to play hard, but to sit off the court and study hard.

Learn how the Rockets defend on the inside and how to contain the opponent's offense on the inside.

Throughout the 1993-1994 season, the Rockets had the best backcourt rebounding protection in the league, both in the regular season and in the playoffs.

Not only because they have two excellent interior rebounders, Olajuwon and Thorpe, but also because the entire Rockets have a good sense of rebounding protection.

Their team doesn't have an advantage in terms of height, it's a team with more guards, but they can still get the most rebounds, relying on the position and awareness.

At the beginning of the first half of the game, Li Liang felt the tenacity of the Rockets' defense, and Webb tried to rush to the front court to rebound every time, but the result was unsuccessful.

Olajuwon and Thorpe were like two walls to enclose the basket and then give the defender a chance to grab the rebound.

Excellent backcourt rebounding protection allowed the Rockets to avoid many unnecessary points while taking the offensive power into their own hands.

The Rockets' offense was methodical, with Olajuwon at its core, and every time the ball went through his hands.

Although it was Webb's first game, it wasn't the first game of the '93 season.

Webb missed the first two games due to injury, and this is the third game of the season.

Olajuwon's first two games were high-scoring opponents, and the Warriors had to defend.

So he drew the Warriors' defense and then created opportunities for his teammates.

Li Liang watched from the sidelines, and said in his heart Isn't the Warriors' defense the current Lakers?

The inside line can't be beaten, and the outside line is in a hurry, giving the opponent a more relaxed offensive opportunity on the outside.

Like the last game of magic, let the opponent's outside line open, and you can't prevent it in the back.

As far as the Lakers are still Warcraft, and the twin towers are still used, it's a fart.

Li Liang acted as a buffer in the forward position, and had already blocked a lot of bullets for Warcraft and Gasol.

However, Lao Ke and Lao Na, the two dead on the outside, are really unstoppable, and with the opponent's targeting, Li Liang is really out of line.

The Rockets quickly dominated the court, and Li Liang looked at Rockets head coach Tomjanovic next to the bench — he found himself sitting next to the coach on every mission.

Li Liang asked: "Coach, the defender's defense is a pit, what should I do?" ”

The coaches in the mission are all top NBA coaches, and their level is higher than that of Mike Brown, so Li Liang asked them if he had any questions.

From '94 to '95, the Rockets never had a very defensively capable guard on the lineback.

Kenny Smith, Maxwell, Kassel, and later Drexler, the defense can only be said to be adequate, and it is not a long way from the gate.

The Rockets are not the kind of team that fights to the death defensively and strangles opponents with intensity.

Tomjanovic said: "Protect the backcourt rebounds, control fouls, reduce unnecessary points and then get back on the offensive end. ”

Tomjanovich's answer surprised Li Liang, is it so simple?

Before I finished thinking about it, in the middle of the first quarter, the two sides paused and had to make substitutions.

Tomjanovic assigned Li Liang to come on the field and asked him to replace Thorpe, emphasizing that "control the rebounds and fouls, don't foul easily, it doesn't matter if you lose points, play back." ”

Li Liang said yes, but he thought in his heart, you can win by fighting like this, but I can't complete the task like this!

Chris Webber is still on the field, and Li Liang is going to be one-on-one with Webber.

Chris Webber is different from other stars, everyone has a hairy head in the first few years of the NBA, and the longer he plays, the less hair he has, and finally becomes bald.

Weber was the opposite.

When he first entered the alliance, he had a bare head, a bald head.

Later the trade went to the Wizards, with a layer of hair.

Later, when he went to the king, his hair became thicker and thicker, and he wore a headband.

Sure enough, having more hair is willful, you can light when you want it, and you can grow it when you want to.

Li Liang was still a little apprehensive in the face of Weber.

The anti-outside line is his old job, and the one-to-one top inside line, he can push the top, but people have technology, and the top inside line is not good by brute force alone.

The Warriors seem to see Li Liang's defensive weakness at this point, and Webber, who only scored two points, is ready to find points on Li Liang.

Webb in 1993, his knees were not broken, and his athletic energy was amazing.

At that time, he was a typical representative of a new type of inner line.

Taller than a big center and an average forward, he can dribble, pass, shoot mid-range, block, play singles, and hold the ball to the basket.

He represents the historical development of basketball, which has influenced the NBA in the first decade of the 21st century.

As soon as Li Liang came on the field, he was beaten by Weber.

He received a pass from the little general Johnson, and the baseline received the ball and dunked directly!

Li Liang didn't have anything to do about this ball, this speed and explosiveness, even Olajuwon gave up blocking.

In the second ball, the Warriors missed a shot from the outside, and after Webb grabbed the frontcourt rebound, he turned around and dunked with one arm!

Li Liang didn't react again, Mom, is this Weber so explosive?

Li Liang's impression of Weber stayed in the time of the king, when he was already a flooring technician.

It seems that everyone has a young age, and Webber is a slam dunk in his rookie season, and the level of violence is comparable to that of the little bully Stoudemire.

And after he dunked successfully, he also liked to beep at his opponent and talk trash in his mouth.

This annoyed Olajuwang, and said to Li Liang: "Let him in and hand him over to me." ”

So, Olajuwon then rewarded Webb with two big hats, so that he could understand who was the ruler of the inner line.

After a few rounds, Li Liang somewhat understood what Tomjanovic meant.

Protecting the backcourt rebounds is actually to relieve pressure on Olajuwon.

Otherwise, Olajuwon will have to block and fill the position, and the offensive end will have to pick the beam, once the rebounding protection is not good, the first defense will hurt morale in vain, and the second opponent will score easily.

Think about the Lakers today, Howard's own state has declined, and there are many butts to wipe on the outside, once he loses backcourt rebounds, he wipes his ass for a long time and a fart collapses and shit, and if he doesn't do it, he has to pay for a foul, how frustrating and frustrating it is.

After figuring out this truth, Li Liang desperately grabbed backcourt rebounds on the defensive end, and threw three-pointers on the offensive end to put pressure on Weber.

Aren't you able to dunk, but your dunk is only 2 points, and I have three points for long-range shooting.

Li Liang's three points were a bug in the 90s.

He came on the court to replace Thorpe, the big forward, and no one cared about the first few three-pointers.

When he scored 3 or 4 in a row, the Warriors realized that the momentum was not right, what happened?

The three-point burst out, which blinded the Warriors.

The Warriors had no choice but to replace Webber and replace Andre Spencer to play against Li Liang.

Li Liang saw that he beat Weber alive, which was a good feeling, and Weber scored 6 points in the first quarter.

The task situation was still quite tense, and Li Liang devoted himself to the game.

He learned Thorpe to go to the inside card position, help his teammates grab rebounds, and participate in the interior confrontation.

The '90s were the most intense time for the NBA's interior physical confrontation.

After the NBA experienced the whirlwind of Kombat in the 80s, a group of non-professional basketball players and academy coaches entered the team and began to bring more defensive concepts and strategies to the NBA.

Interior players are getting stronger and taller, and all kinds of defensive traps and collective defensive tactics are here.

The NBA also encourages confrontation and encourages hand-to-hand combat, resulting in various muscle sticks appearing on the court.

Li Liang's game is okay, rookie level difficulty, the opponent is the Warriors who play a quick counterattack in the West, and there is no strong inside line.

Even Weber, with such good physical fitness, has a relatively floating style of play.

So after a game, although I was not used to the blowing penalty and defensive scale at that time, I still persevered.

This time Li Liang successfully completed the task, not because of how well he defended, but after the game, Li Liang's three-point shot was biubiubiu, and even the three points of others with the rocket were also opened.

The Rockets were the NBA's first three-point team, and they averaged 15.7 three-pointers per game in '94, the highest in the league.

This three-pointer crippled the Warriors in the third quarter, and the game went into garbage time.

Webb's scoring stopped at 10 points, and the Warriors head coach replaced him and finished garbage time off the bench.

Li Liang breathed a sigh of relief, and asked Weber to be a garbage king like himself, and the efforts of that game would be in vain.

Finally, the game ended, and the Rockets beat the Warriors 117-93 on the road.

They scored 15 more points than all-time but won as always, striding towards their first championship.

The task was completed, and Li Liang's basic defensive ability on the inside line reached 25 points, 23 points for low-post top defense, and 13 points for high-level defense, which was still very weak and weak.

But he already knows how an interior player can help the team on the defensive end.

Again, if you don't defend well, sometimes it's a matter of ability, sometimes it's a matter of attitude, but more often it's a matter of attitude.