"Jeff, it's a great pleasure for you to join us in commenting on this year's Grand Final. After being away from the NBA for so long, do you feel like you're here? ”

"Al, I've only been away from the Knicks for a season, and for someone who's been busy for more than a decade, I haven't had enough rest, so I don't miss it at all, and if it weren't for the salary that ABC offered me that I couldn't refuse, I'd still be on vacation in Miami."

On June 11, 2003, at 7 o'clock in the evening, at the Bankers Life Arena in Indianapolis, the 2002-2003 NBA Finals season was about to kick off. Lakers vs. Pacers, for Magic Johnson, it's time to choose a difficult one, on the one hand, he has played for more than ten years, the Lakers he loves the most, and on the other hand, he likes the most, and he is a player who identifies him as his successor in his heart.

Although the Pacers' opponent Lakers have four superstars, and are touted by various media as the strongest in history, the Pacers fans don't care, we are the first in the league, the defending champion, we have already won the Lakers once last year, and we don't mind winning them once this year.

"Jeff, you're a head coach with a lot of coaching experience, so from your point of view, what are the advantages and disadvantages of the starting lineups of the Lakers and Pacers in this game?" After the players of both sides started playing, Michaels, who got the starting lineup for this game, did not immediately start introducing the starting lineups of both sides, but handed the list to Jeff Van Gundy.

"The Lakers and Pacers are very strong inside, O'Neal, Malone, Mutombo, Jermaine, all four of them are super-first-class interior players, but the Lakers still have a slight advantage, after all, O'Neal is almost an inexplicable existence on the offensive end, but Larry has made it clear that he will not contain O'Neal in the Finals, so I'm really looking forward to what kind of way Larry will use to defend O'Neal, I think the head coaches of the entire league are looking forward to it as much as I do, if you really don't need to limit O'Neal, then the head coaches of the entire league would be very grateful to Larry. Speaking of this, Jeff Van Gundy also stopped and smiled, how to deal with O'Neal has always been a big problem in the entire league, so after Larry Bird said that he would not contain O'Neal, there were really many people waiting in front of the TV, wanting to see what kind of means Larry Bird has, without wrapping, he can deal with O'Neal, after a pause, Van Gundy continued: "At the same time, due to the existence of four strong interior lines, this game is whether it is the Pacers or the Lakers, Their breakthrough will be greatly limited, at this point, it will be very unfavorable to the Pacers, we all know that the most commonly used tactic of the Pacers now is the ball after Meng Xu's breakthrough, after Meng Xu's breakthrough is limited, the Pacers' breakthrough tactics are impossible to talk about. ”

"That's true." After hearing Jeff Van Gundy's introduction, Michaels on the side also nodded, a strong interior line with strong frame protection ability will cause a great obstacle to the breakthrough of outside players, not to mention that now both the Pacers and the Lakers have two such inside lines, the four big guys are crowded under the basket, how can there be room for outside players to break through, but compared with the Pacers who mainly play breakthrough tactics, the Lakers are much less dependent on breakthroughs, and at this point, it is indeed very unfavorable for the Pacers.

"As for the outside line of the two teams, they have their own advantages, since Glen Les left, the small forward position, has always been the Lakers' shortcoming, the Lakers' current two small forwards, whether it is Brian Shaw, or Devin George, can provide little help to the team, maybe let Robert play small forward, it will be a very good choice, but in this case, the Lakers' rotation lineup will have a big problem. In the playoffs this season, whether it is facing Billups of the Pistons or Payton of the Nets, Jamal Tinsley's performance on the defensive end is very struggling, and perhaps the Lakers can use Jamal Tinsley here as a good breakthrough. The last is the position of scoring guard, Kobe's ability naturally goes without saying, I want to talk about the Pacers' Hamilton, Richard is an obviously underrated player, although he is only averaging about 14 points per game this season, but Richard is a player who can get 20 or even 30 points at any time as long as the team needs it, and his defense is also very good, plus the Pacers and Reggie Miller, therefore, the Lakers actually have no advantage in this position. ”

"What does Jeff mean is that in this game, the Pacers will still play Meng Xu, and the Lakers may play Payton?"

"Of course, it's the best option for both sides, but the specifics will depend on Larry and Phil's arrangement。。。。。。" Jeff Van Gundy's words are obviously not finished, but the reason for this is that Michaels and Magic Johnson both know that Meng Xu is the boss and tactical core of the Pacers, so there is no problem for the Pacers to play Meng Xu. On the Lakers' side, the boss of the team is O'Neal, and the tactical core is O'Neal, even without O'Neal, there is Kobe, obviously not Payton's turn, not to mention whether Phil Jackson will choose to arrange it this way, even if Phil Jackson arranges it this way, it is still a question whether O'Neal and Kobe will agree.

"It doesn't look like it's going to be easy to run a team full of superstars!" After Jeff Van Gundy's analysis, Michaels also had a little more sympathy when he looked at Phil Jackson, who looked extremely beautiful, and he didn't know how difficult it was behind the scenes.

Looking at the Lakers' several starters who have entered the court, Michaels is more and more sympathetic to Phil Jackson, the two core players of the Lakers, Kobe and O'Neal have no communication at all, and there is no interaction even in the warm-up on the court, O'Neal and Payton are talking and laughing and practicing free throws there, while Kobe is doing the pre-game warm-up by himself, and the other two starters Karl Malone and Devin George are obviously also very embarrassed, and it is not good to stand on O'Neal's side, and it is not good to stand on Kobe's side, The seemingly powerful Lakers have long been undercurrent.

"Come on, Kobe." When the warm-up of the players of the two teams was over, and the players who jumped the ball on behalf of both sides had walked into the middle circle, Meng Xu, who was standing behind Jermaine O'Neal, also noticed Kobe Bryant opposite, looking at the blazing flames burning in Kobe's eyes, Meng Xu smiled slightly, and said softly to Kobe, although on the noisy court, Kobe may not be able to hear what Meng Xu is saying, but Kobe can definitely understand what Meng Xu means, this is a tacit understanding between people who belong to the same category.

。。。。。。

"In that case, let you see my CIC!" Jermaine O'Neal won O'Neal in the jump ball very smoothly, winning the first offensive opportunity for the Pacers, but after the game started, Meng Xu found that the Lakers' defensive strategy seemed to be a little different, Phil Jackson neither let Kobe Bryant defend himself, nor did he have any intention of covering himself, that is, let Devin George stick to him. The moment Meng Xu received Jamal Tinsley's pass sideways, Devin George immediately put a hand on Meng Xu's waist, and at the same time stuck Meng Xu's calf from behind, so as to prevent Meng Xu's strength, and at the same time, Devin George obviously left a gap on the right side of Meng Xu's body when he was close to Meng Xu. Devin George's defensive intent is very obvious, that is, the defensive shooting is not the same, similar to what Jeff Van Gundy said, with O'Neal and Malone sitting on the inside, the Lakers are really not afraid of the Pacers' breakthrough. Maybe when Meng Xu's mid-range shooting is not good, Devin George's defensive strategy will be somewhat useful, but now? In order to surprise the Lakers in the finals, Meng Xu did not use it once in the game after obtaining the skill of the king of mid-range shots.

Because Devin George's holes in defense are very obvious, Meng Xu didn't even make a feint, he turned directly to the right side of his body, forcibly got rid of Devin George's defense, and took two steps, Meng Xu rushed to the edge of the paint area, and at the same time, Karl Malone, who had long been ready to help defend, immediately gave up Jermaine O'Neal and pounced towards Meng Xu with open arms.

Just when the distance between Meng Xu and Ma Long was less than one meter, Meng Xu quickly stopped his steps and jumped up. At this moment, those reporters who are squatting or lying under the basketball hoop have raised their cameras, although the 2.06-meter Carl Malone is a little short in the position of the big forward, but it is also a cut higher than Meng Xulai, so when Ma Long has made up the defense in place, Meng Xu still chooses to shoot in front of Ma Long, which is definitely not a wise thing, and even those reporters who are a little dark in psychology are already looking forward to the picture of Meng Xu being blocked by Ma Long. And those reporters who support Meng Xu are looking forward to Meng Xu using his super ability to stay in the air to get rid of Ma Long's block, or to stage a pull-up shot that jumps on the spot again.

"How is this possible?" Ma Long, who jumped against Meng Xu, just made a blocking action, and found that the basketball in Meng Xu's hand had disappeared, this is not Meng Xu's style at all, in the past, Meng Xu, every time he shot a basketball, he had to show off his super ability to stay in the air, even if he had done all the shooting actions, he would hold the basketball in the air and wait for a while, and wait until the defender landed, and then shoot calmly. But Meng Xu's emergency stop jump shot this time was diametrically opposed to the previous shooting style, the starting height did not reach the highest, and there was no adjustment, almost throwing the basketball in his hand at the same time as the jump, and the shooting speed was so fast that Karl Malone did not have time to react during the ascent.

Ma Long, who had not yet landed, looked back and found that the basketball thrown by Meng Xu had been hollowed into the net, not only Meng Xu's shooting speed was extremely fast, but even the flying speed of the basketball thrown by Meng Xu was also very amazing.

"This, this, this, this is Meng Xu's pull-up jump shot?" After Meng Xu's emergency stop jump shot hit, everyone on the sidelines was a little incredulous, especially the reporters who were waiting for Meng Xu to make a fool of themselves, and they forgot to press the shutter in their hands for a while.