Chapter 112: The Biggest Opponent

The most embarrassing thing for the Lakers now is Glen Rice, after coming to the Lakers last season, under Cortlambis, Glen Les played very happily, but after Phil Jackson became the Lakers this season, everything has changed, first of all, his tactical position has declined, under Lambis, Glen Les and Kobe's tactical status is equal, both of them are playing around O'Neal, this season under Phil Jackson, Glen Les is very uncomfortable, With Glen Les' ability, he can't be a finisher in a triangle attack at all, and Glen Les's running ability is also average, and he is 108,000 miles away from Pippen. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 Info For the complex running position in the triangle attack, Glen Les has a big head as soon as he sees the dense black lines on the tactical board, and although he has worked very hard, he still can't meet Phil Jackson's requirements.

Now on the court, the Lakers without Glen Les are playing more smoothly, although Robert Holly and Rick Fox are not as capable as Glen Les, but their understanding of the triangle offense is far better than that of Glen Les, and their running ability is also stronger. As long as O'Neal holds the ball, Hawley will run to the bottom corner, Duncan goes to wrap O'Neal, then Hawley is empty, although Hawley's athleticism is average, but the shooting is still quite good, or a big man who can shoot three-pointers, if it is not covered, it is O'Neal's chance to single David Robinson, and the cross running between Rick Fox and Kobe Bryant is also very good, and Rick Fox's off-ball cover ability is also first-class. In the case of Kobe and Rick Fox covering each other, Meng Xu and Sean Etellio had to change their defensive targets frequently, but with Sean Etellio's ability, not to mention guarding Kobe, it was barely enough to keep up with Kobe. Seeing the situation on the court, Glen Rice also understood that his career with the Lakers was coming to an end, and a player who could not adapt to the team's tactics, but still had trade value, did not need to think about what the outcome would be.

After 4 minutes in the third quarter, Popovich called a timeout again, the Spurs' tactics against the Lakers in the past have now failed, when Kobe Bryant is the planner in the Lakers' triangle offense, the Spurs will not wrap him up at all, as long as O'Neal and Glen Rice are restricted, and the planner Kobe Bryant can play casually, then the Lakers' triangle offense can't really rotate. But now when O'Neal is the answerer, the Spurs have to wrap up O'Neal, unlike Kobe, no one in the current league can defend O'Neal one-on-one, and O'Neal's offensive efficiency and lethality under the basket are much better than Kobe.

After the timeout, Popovich made changes to the Spurs' lineup, replacing Sean Etello with Jaren Jackson, using Jackson to defend Fox and Duncan to defend Robert Holly.

O'Neal once again held the ball and rushed into the inside, Kobe Bryant and Fox crossed the run as usual, and at the same time covered for the other party, when Kobe and Fox staggered the moment, Meng Xu, who followed Kobe, was blocked by Fox, and Jackson, who followed Fox, was also blocked by Kobe, after a short delay, the defense of Kobe became Jackson, Jackson's height is not as good as Sean Ettrio, but his movement speed and defensive awareness are much stronger than Sean Etellio, when Meng Xu followed Fox to the strong side, Meng Xu suddenly dropped Fox and ran towards the bottom corner.

"What's wrong with Meng?" Just when Bill Wharton was still puzzled by Meng Xu's defensive choice, a scene on the field directly made Bill Wharton speechless in shock.

At the moment when Meng Xu pounced on the bottom corner, Duncan gave up Robert Hawley to wrap up O'Neal, who had already put David Robinson out of position, and O'Neal, who was sandwiched by David Robinson and Duncan, did not hesitate to pass the ball to Hawley, who had just run to the bottom corner and was unguarded.

Just when Hawley received O'Neal's pass and was about to adjust and shoot, Meng Xu had already appeared in front of Hawley, and Duncan also left the basket at this time, running towards the area on the right side of the free throw line, to intercept Fox there, and at the same time block Hawley's upward passing route.

"The combination between Meng and Thiem is so tacit that in this series of defensive combinations, the two have not communicated at all, and it is really hard to imagine that the two of them have only played together for one season."

After being blocked by Meng Xu's passing route, Holly hesitated for a moment, but still jumped directly against Meng Xu, Holly's height is 2.06 meters, and the speed of the shot is very fast, so Holly is not afraid of Meng Xu, a defensive player who is shorter than himself, and at the same time, Holly is also a natural player with a big heart, who has hit key balls many times in his 8-year career, and is also the hero of the Rocket's two consecutive championships.

Holly has such self-confidence, although Meng Xu is the best defensive player this season, but Holly does not think that Meng Xu can do the same.

"What?" When Holly jumped, Meng Xu also jumped close to Holly, but Meng Xu's jumping height really surprised Holly.

Hawley's bounce is also very good, but because Hawley is fast and in order to get the best shooting touch, Hawley doesn't wait until the jump height is at its highest to shoot. But this time, when Holly reached the height where he felt the best in shooting, he found that he had no chance to shoot at all, and his shooting trajectory was completely covered by Meng Xu, even if he shot, it was just a block for Meng Xu.

In desperation, Holly had to reluctantly shoot when his jumping height rose to the highest, and Holly, who had completely lost his shooting touch, actually shot an unprecedented three-stick under the interference of Meng Xu.

"Fox, watch your defense." In order to save Kobe Bryant's physical strength and spend more energy on the offensive end, Phil Jackson asked Kobe and Fox to switch defenses, using Fox to defend Meng Xu, and Kobe to defend Jackson, who was relatively easy, but Fox actually let Meng Xu take a step when facing Meng Xu, and was hit by Meng Xu very easily.

"Phil, it seems that our biggest opponent in the future will be this Spurs." Lakers assistant coach Jim Clemens stood behind Phil Jackson and said, compared with the rookie challenge, the current Meng Xu has made great progress, although the vision of the players is not very good, but since the rookie challenge, Jim Clemens believes that Meng Xu's future achievements will not be too low, and he has Duncan and David Robinson, two supergiants and former supergiants, the Spurs, which are already a very difficult opponent, if Meng Xu can continue to grow, as long as he has the offensive ability comparable to Kobe Bryant this season, Then the Spurs will be an opponent that the Lakers will never be able to surpass.

"Well, so we're going to have to make some changes next season." Phil Jackson nodded, agreeing with Jim Clemens, while glancing at Glen Les, who was sitting on the bench, out of the corner of his eye.