"Kobe, that kid doesn't seem to be convinced of you?" When Dwyane Howard and Tim Duncan, who represented the Lakers and Spurs in the jump ball, both walked into the center circle, Meng Xu, who was standing near the center line, smiled and said to Kobe Bryant, who was slightly bent not far away.

The kid in Meng Xu's mouth is Dwyane Howard, who has entered the middle circle, as the Lakers' biggest reinforcement this season, the Lakers have high hopes for Howard, originally they also expected that after having Dwight Howard, the Lakers could regain the glory of winning two championships in previous years, but Dwight Howard did not play the role they imagined, one is because of Howard's intermittent injuries, and the other is the contradiction between Howard and Kobe, as the boss of the Magic, the league's first center, Dwight Howard is not willing to be the second and third oldest.

"That's much better than you going back to the Spurs as a junior brother!" Originally, Kobe Bryant wanted to say that I would definitely subdue this kid, but after thinking about it, I would definitely fall into Meng Xu's trap, so Kobe Bryant started to ridicule Meng Xu very directly.

"I didn't expect to see you for a few years, but your level is good!" Kobe's irony almost choked Meng Xu, although the Spurs do not have a nominal boss now, the leader of the locker room is Duncan, and the core of the court is Meng Xu, but Meng Xu gave up his position in Indiana and chose to return to San Antonio, which is still not understood and recognized by many people.

The current Pacers have a reasonable lineup, plenty of salary space, and in the absence of a superstar, they were able to fight seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals and the final champion Heat last season, such a team is definitely the best choice for Meng Xu's comeback, as long as Meng Xu comes back in the Pacers, then the Pacers are very likely to end this troubled era and continue to dominate the NBA for a few years, but Meng Xu was shocked to choose the Spurs, who have stumbled in recent seasons and have a seriously aging lineup, Not to mention the media and bricks in the outside world, even Kobe Bryant and others, who have a very good relationship with Meng Xu, do not understand Meng Xu's choice very much, there are shortcuts not to take, there are simple and spacious roads not to go, but they choose the most difficult and rugged mountain road.

As the referee's whistle sounded, Kobe Bryant didn't pay attention to Meng Xu anymore, but focused all his attention on the game, according to the basic prediction, Tim Duncan will definitely not be able to beat Howard when he jumps the ball, so the first offense after the opening basically belongs to the Lakers, and as the Lakers' boss and top scorer, Kobe Bryant has to think about how to complete the first offense after the opening.

Sure enough, as Kobe Bryant expected, Howard defeated Tim Duncan in the jump ball very easily, and turned the basketball to the Lakers' half, after Steve Nash got the ball, Kobe Bryant quickly advanced to the frontcourt, but Kobe Bryant was slightly regrettable after the opening and he was not Meng Xu, but Kawhi Leonard, although the sophomore rookie's defense is worse than Meng Xu, and his offensive rate efficiency will be higher, but Kobe still hopes to be in the opposite position with Meng Xu, and beat him in a dignified manner.

With Phil Jackson choosing to retire after the Lakers' three-game losing streak, the replacement Mike Brown was fired after a failed season, and the Lakers' triangle offense came to an abrupt end again in the Lakers, replacing Mike Brown, Mike D'Antoni was ready to transplant his own run-and-gun tactics to the Lakers at the beginning of his tenure, but 38-year-old Nash, 34-year-old Kobe, 32-year-old Gasol, 33-year-old Artest, can these old guys complete D'Antoni's 7-second offense?

The 38-year-old Nash is no longer the peak Nash of the Suns, but D'Antoni still gave Nash the responsibility of controlling the ball, although Kobe Bryant also has certain organizational skills, but he is better at scoring, so the run-and-bomb tactics of the guard as the tactical initiation point, after coming to the Lakers, there was an obvious lack of adaptation.

And the Lakers have Howard and Gasol in the case of the two big inside lines, to play small-ball tactics, simply cut the foot, Howard does not like to block and dismantle, like low-post singles, but D'Antoni does not give him the ball, let him also go to Nash to block and dismantle, and then wait to eat cake, Gasol moves slowly, low footwork is his specialty, but D'Antoni let him pull to the outside to shoot three points, D'Antoni does not teach according to his aptitude, but does the opposite, not only makes the Lakers complain, It has also caused the Lakers' tactical system to be a mess this season, especially Dwight Howard, who has publicly stated many times that he is very dissatisfied with his positioning and role in the Lakers.

The first offense after the opening had just begun, D'Antoni on the sidelines frowned, a look of dissatisfaction, Howard, who was already standing in the low post, was originally reaching out to Nash to ask for the ball, but Howard saw Nash make a blocking gesture towards him, and after a few words of low swearing, he slowly ran towards the top of the arc.

However, in the face of Howard who pulled out to block the pick-and-roll, Tim Duncan still pretended not to see it, I don't care where you pull it to, I just don't follow it, anyway, Howard doesn't have a mid-range, if it was Pau Gasol who blocked Nash, Tim Duncan would dare to do it anyway.

After completing the block with Howard very logically, looking at Tim Duncan, who was already standing on the edge of the paint area, even though Nash was already empty, Nash still did not cut to the basket, but after hesitating for a moment, he chose to shoot from mid-range.

"Bang!" A sound came, after Steve Nash's mid-range shot hit the iron, D'Antoni on the sidelines, Kobe Bryant, and Howard on the court all frowned and looked at the basketball that was taken into Tim Duncan's arms.

Pau Gasol was arranged by D'Antoni to shoot three points outside, and Howard was arranged to mention the top of the arc and near the free throw line to block and dismantle, in this case, once the shot is missed, it is difficult for the Lakers to grab rebounds, so Howard, Gasol, and Kobe Bryant on the court have a lot of complaints about D'Antoni's tactics and strategies, and the Lakers, who have Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol, can only rank in the top ten in the league in terms of average rebounds per game this season, and the frontcourt rebounds are the bottom of the league. This is not without reason, although the team that plays small-ball tactics has always been a shortcoming in terms of rebounding, but the Lakers' interior configuration can't grab rebounds, which is somewhat too much to say.

As for D'Antoni on the sidelines, he is lamenting the rapid decline in Nash's state, if it were before, Nash would definitely go straight to the basket, even if it was Tim Duncan who was guarding there, Nash would have no hesitation to impact him, but now, Nash's body and mentality no longer allow Nash to do this, and at the same time, D'Antoni arranged for the Spurs to arrange Tim Duncan to stay under the basket all the time, which is also a bit tricky for the Lakers and D'Antoni, Duncan does not pull out to prevent the pick-and-roll, Nash has no room to break through, The point is that Howard doesn't have the middle distance yet, which is very embarrassing.