"Greg, do you want to call a timeout and arrange for Kobe Bryant to be trapped?"

"Wait."

As the game progressed, the assistant coach of the Spurs, who had been standing on the sidelines, also discussed with Popovich the changes on the court, as well as the strategy to deal with it, although the situation on the court is a little unexpected, but in general it is still expected by the Spurs, the Lakers attach great importance to this Christmas war, and the Spurs are no exception, on the day the Spurs arrived in Los Angeles, Popovich sat down with all the assistant coaches in the team to discuss the Lakers' starting lineup configuration today, and the tactics that may be used, And also made corresponding coping strategies, so Popovich didn't pay attention to the changes on the field at all.

Because D'Antoni is very stubborn and wants to establish his own run-and-bomb system in the Lakers, so since the beginning of the new season, the Lakers' tactics are a mess, and the so-called 7-second offense is only in the imagination, for a group of old guys who are over 32 years old, it is obviously unrealistic to expect them to run all over the court like young boys, so the new season has played almost 30 games, as the head coach D'Antoni has been shouting the slogan of speeding up, but the Lakers just can't get up.

Today's game is still the same, throughout the first quarter of the game, the Lakers played very chaotic, Nash wanted to be fast, but Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol were never fast, and after falling into the positional battle, Howard was always grinding when blocking and dismantling, in short, the Lakers were not fast or fast, slow and slow, affected by the end of the first quarter of the game, the Lakers fell behind the Spurs by as many as 8 points.

After the game entered the second quarter, D'Antoni replaced Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol all in one go, replacing them with Antoine Jamison and Earl Clarke, two interior lines who could "run", and because the Spurs replaced most of the main players after the start of the second quarter, so when the game entered the second quarter, the Lakers finally improved, and under the leadership of Kobe and Nash, the Lakers once narrowed the gap to only 3 points.

The difference between the two teams has been gradually narrowed, and it seems that D'Antoni's adjustment has played a role, but in fact, the Lakers still rely on Kobe's singles, and after Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol are off the court, Nash no longer has to worry about who to pass the ball to, and only needs to hand over the basketball to Kobe when Kobe Bryant has a chance, and let Kobe Bryant handle the opponent.

The situation on the court has a tendency to be reversed, so Popovich replaced Meng Xu and Burrese Dior in advance, but with Meng Xu's play, after the Lakers' chasing momentum was successfully curbed by the Spurs, Kobe's singles not only did not decrease, but also increased, and Manu Ginobili, who was opposite Kobe, was always unable to take Kobe, so the assistant coach of the Spurs asked Popovich if he wanted to strengthen Kobe's defense.

On the one hand, Popovich very much dislikes Kobe Bryant, a player who likes brainless singles and regards the team's tactics as nothing, but on the other hand, Popovich appreciates Kobe's courage to take responsibility and be able to stand up and carry the team's style at critical moments, far more than the other players.

If it was changed to before, when Kobe Bryant had the momentum, Popovich would call a timeout as soon as possible, interrupting his feeling at the same time, but also by the way to strengthen his defense, although these defenses played a very limited role most of the time, but Popovich will still do this, but today, Popovich is a little indifferent to Kobe's momentum, because Popovich knows that he now has a player who can handle everything.

"Manu, let's change the guard." After assisting Ginobili to score a goal and expanding the score of the two sides to 5 points again, Meng Xu put forward a request to change the defense to Ginobili who passed by him, Kobe Bryant is in good shape now, and Ginobili's defense can't interfere with him at all, so Meng Xu decided to switch positions with Ginobili and defend him by himself, limiting the momentum of Kobe Bryant's momentum is not easy to say, and it is certain to increase Kobe's scoring difficulty.

"Hmm." After hearing Meng Xu's request to switch positions with himself, Ginobili nodded at Meng Xu, although Ginobili did not have any expression on his face when he nodded at Meng Xu, but in Ginobili's heart, he still had a little gratitude to Meng Xu, after all, defending Kobe Bryant itself is not Meng Xu's business.

"Meng, you finally can't help it?" Kobe Bryant, who trotted all the way through the halfcourt, saw that Meng Xu had become the defender, and the original cold face instantly appeared excited and excited, and after talking to Meng Xu, Kobe Bryant also licked his lips with his tongue to hide the excitement in his heart.

"Yes, who made you so arrogant, I don't teach you a lesson, it seems that it won't work." There are very few players who dare to talk trash with Meng Xu on the court, and there are also some rookies who are not afraid of heaven and earth, and they acted as provocations after meeting Meng Xu, but they became honest after being arranged by Meng Xu, in addition to this, there are only the old supergiants of the same era as Meng Xu, when they meet Meng Xu, it is possible to spit on the stars and fly around, and various words starting with F come out of their mouths, although everyone has a good relationship off the field, but on the field, both sides have only one identity, that is, opponents.

"Old fellow, I don't know who will teach whom." After hearing Meng Xu's sarcasm, Kobe Bryant pursed his lips with an unconvinced expression.

"Come on, old fellow." After hearing Kobe Bryant say that he was an old guy, Meng Xu also unceremoniously scolded back, among the players of their generation, Kobe Bryant was the most unwilling to serve the old one.

After a mutual spray, Kobe, who was already a little upset, did not use the running position to get rid of Meng Xu, but outside the left three-point line, he directly reached out to Nash to ask for the ball.

"Is Kobe Bryant going to fight Meng Xu alone?" When Kobe Bryant stretched out his hand to his teammates to ask for the ball, and confronted Meng Xu at the same time, the press box on the sidelines immediately boiled, this is the scene they have been looking forward to for a long time, 5VS8, it is finally going to be staged again, no, it is 5VS24 now.

Not only the reporters in the press box, but also the audience at the Staples Center are obviously looking forward to the showdown between Kobe Bryant and Meng Xu, although they are both in their 30s and are no longer at their peaks, but the showdown between them represents the memory of an era, and it is also the good memories that these audiences have witnessed, and the eternal classic picture.

Therefore, when Kobe Bryant, who received the basketball, first took a step into the three-point line, and then leaned sideways against Meng Xu, the entire Staples Center instantly erupted into a burst of violent cheers, which were not only for Kobe, but also for Meng Xu.