The next reporter asked, "Popovich, and Tony Parker to contain the Iron Fist King's defense, this trick really works." What I don't understand is, why did you deprecate Bruce Bowen in the first place?

In fact, even if Bowen couldn't guard against the Iron Fist King, he could have locked up Mike Miller, but just now Mike Miller scored 12 points, and the Spurs only lost by 15 points. ”

Popovich's face sank and said: "At that time, there was a problem with his mentality, and he couldn't adjust his mentality in the face of the old master, so I could only replace him." ”

"Can you elaborate on the situation?" The reporter asked.

"Sorry, but this is a privacy issue." Popovich immediately refused.

"So will you use him in the next series? Or trade him afterward? The reporter asked.

"As long as he corrects his mistakes, I'll use his."

Popovich is not stupid, how can someone who has spent years and so much energy traded in through other teams give up so easily?

On the other side, in the hall a few steps away, the supersonic press conference is also underway.

"Tekken, this is your first time playing a series in the playoffs against Tim Duncan's team, how did it feel?" A reporter asked.

"Well, no matter how big the score is, he's always so calm and terrible steady, and nothing seems to affect his mood and performance." Zhou Quan said while thinking.

"So who do you think is stronger than this Spurs and the current Lakers?" The reporter asked again.

Zhou Quan compared it and said, "It should be the Lakers." The Lakers have a stronger main lineup, but in terms of bench lineups, the Spurs may be slightly stronger. ”

"Iron Fist, Bowen was abandoned tonight, what do you think is the reason?" The next reporter asked.

"I don't know, I didn't talk to him about it just now." Zhou Quan shook his head and said.

At this time, in the visiting team's locker room, a group of Spurs players were also being interviewed in the locker room, which was a necessary part after the game.

A reporter approached Bowen and asked, "Bruce, you're the Spurs' main small forward, why did you only play a few minutes tonight and then be abandoned?" Can you tell us why? ”

Bowen shook his head and said, "It's the manager's problem, I don't know why, maybe he doesn't believe me, right?" ”

Popovich had privately asked him to be bold on defense and use the bad boys' defense as an example, but he certainly wouldn't say it unless he had a complete face-out with Popovich.

Ginobili and the others sitting next to them looked more strange, they heard the conversation between Bowen and Popovich on the bench, although they didn't understand very well, and they didn't know what Popovich specifically wanted Bowen to do in defense, but they also speculated in their hearts that it would definitely not be a good thing, otherwise Bowen's reaction would not be so big.

In another game tonight, the Nets beat the Pistons at home.

Mutombo played in just 24 games due to a serious injury in the regular season, and only played three of the six games in the first-round series, averaging just 10 minutes per game, 1.3 points and 2.7 rebounds.

And the first game of the second round did not play, and it can basically be concluded that the top defensive center, Zhou Quan's annual show, the No. 4 pick in the first round in 91, has entered the late stage of his career.

The next day, on the 6th, the other two sets of games began.

The management of the digital team is still very shrewd, and traded Mutombo, who is not very good, to the Nets, got Van Horn, and barely made it to the second round, which has reached the limit.

And the strength of the Pacers coached by the smiling assassin is also bad, if it weren't for the worse opponent in the first round, there would be no chance to enter the second round.

The two rots met, and in the end, the number team won the G1 battle.

Zhou Quan didn't watch the game between the digital team and the Pacers, but watched the Lakers and Kings compete for each other, from beginning to end.

The Lakers used the base salary to bring in a postman with 20+10 strength, which is almost a means of cheating, but the performance of the regular season can only be said to be average, and the Lakers still have a lot of problems and did not let the team of the big three play better than the superSonics.

This shows one thing, the construction of the lineup is really not something that can be achieved by stacking giants, the attribute matching and internal management of players, the ability of core players on the field to lead the team, the stability of locker room leaders, etc. are also very important.

However, in this game, the Lakers still defeated the Kings at home, and the Big Three combined to score 78 points and win the G1 game.

At this time, the home team locker room in the Staples Center, because of the win, the atmosphere was not bad.

But the team's worries have not been eliminated, and both Phil Jackson and Kupchak are well aware of this.

For example, there is no communication between the OK groups all the time, and this is definitely not normal.

This season, Kobe Bryant's strength has further improved, surpassing O'Neal for the first time in scoring, averaging 30.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 6 assists, 2.2 steals and 0.8 blocks per game, becoming the Lakers' No. 1 scoring point, while the offense and defense have reached the top level.

This is the first time that Kobe Bryant's average points per game have reached 30+, and as his strength enters its peak, the more he demands the ball, shots, tactical position, the team's right to speak, etc., the more contradictions between him and O'Neal become more and more prominent.

To put it simply, who wouldn't want to be the boss? The boss represents the team's right to speak, which means that the team will get the greatest support, whether it is on the court or commercial interests, it will get the biggest piece.

As long as the strength is reached, everyone has the idea of kicking the boss out of the position themselves, let alone a person with a strong personality like Kobe?

O'Neal's strength is still at its peak, and he is unwilling to be pushed aside by his former younger brother, so the contradiction between him and Kobe Bryant is becoming more and more serious.

Of course, the personalities of him and Kobe Bryant also determine that they will not openly fight for the boss, and there is only a cold war between the two.

This made the postman embarrassed, and he was squeezed between the two of them.

This season, Kobe Bryant needs more shots, O'Neal won't let it, he can only let it, he's here to hug his thighs, who will he not let him?

So this season, his stats are only 16 points per game, and more energy is spent on defense and rebounding, 8.6 rebounds last season, this season has increased to 9.5 rebounds, comparable to his peak.

Kupchak spent two minutes in the locker room before calling Phil Jackson outside and talking.

"Phil, it shouldn't be a problem for us to fight the king, right?" He asked.

"Of course, it shouldn't be a problem for us to qualify for the West Finals."

Phil Jackson doesn't pack tickets, not because of the Lakers' strength, but in case Kobe Bryant goes crazy, he will either shoot crazy and play five, or watch the show next to him and let his teammates play fours and fives, which is why he doesn't dare to pack tickets.

"So...... What about hypersonics? ”

Kupchak hesitated, but finally asked.

“……”

Phil Jackson's expression froze, and he was silent for a full ten seconds before he said, "I don't know." ”

Kupchak was obviously dissatisfied with this answer, stared at Phil Jackson and asked, "Phil, the big shark and the postman have teamed up, your answer is that I don't know?" ”

Phil Jackson also stared at Kupchak and said in a deep voice: "Even if the Big Shark and the Postman team up to average 50+ per game, don't forget, our opponent Tekken once hit an average of 50+ and 40+ steals per game triple-doubles in the series, and it was when Kobe Bryant was locked. ”

“……”

Kupchak fell silent.

Yes, once he faces the Iron Fist King, can Kobe's score still be relied on? As the No. 1 scorer in the regular season, Kobe Bryant, who averaged 30 points per game, how many points can he score on the head of the Iron Fist King this time? It's not a problem, it's a big one.

Phil Jackson said: "Once Kobe Bryant is locked by the Iron Fist King again, we will not be able to play coordination inside and outside, we will not be able to form an overall offensive, and the tactical role will be greatly reduced, and we can only fight alone, which is impossible to defeat the SuperSonics."

Or O'Neal and Postman can play a dozen in the low post, but neither of them is the kind of person who cooperates with others, they are both people who need others to cooperate with them, they need others to feed them the ball, and I don't know what kind of performance they can play after losing Kobe's containment on the outside. ”

Kupchak's face was very bad and he asked, "Phil, don't you have any confidence at all?" ”

Phil Jackson was not stimulated by this sentence, he lost to the SuperSonics too many times, lost to the Iron Fist King too many times, and he got used to losing and losing.

But he shook his head and said, "No, I'm just thinking about the worst." By the way, it is the idea of defeat before thinking about victory in the Art of War. We need to calculate the problem from the worst-case perspective in order to be best prepared. ”

Kupchak shook his head and said, "Forget it, Phil, you better focus on the second round first, and then deal with the king." ”

"Of course."

……

On the 7th, G2 match day.

The game started at eight o'clock, and at six o'clock, the Spurs entered the locker room and began to prepare.

"Bruce, you come out for a moment." Popovich called Bowen out.

"Tim, what do you think the coach is looking for Bruce?" Tony Parker asked.

Duncan shrugged his shoulders and said, "That's a coach's thing." ”

David Robinson had a worried look on his face, and he was worried that if Bowen agreed to Popovich, something big might happen.

The Iron Fist King is not a man who can bear it, and the league will not allow the Spurs to deliberately injure the Iron Fist King, and it is not only Bowen who is unlucky at that time, but the entire Spurs, including Popovich, will have to be unlucky.

"Coach, what are you looking for me?" Bowen followed Popovich to a secluded place, but asked first.

Popovich didn't speak, but stared at Bowen with stern eyes, and the atmosphere was very frozen.

He came from the U.S. military, has a tough personality, and has a very tough style, and now he wants to use this attitude to suppress Bowen and make Bowen make compromises.

Bowen was indeed a little frightened, looking at Popovich with stunned eyes, not knowing what the head coach wanted to do, did he want to beat him?

Seeing Bowen's appearance, Popovich felt that his psychological warfare had worked, and then he spoke: "Bruce, you know what I ask, you will do it, right?"

It's just close to him when he's shooting, and even if he's injured, it's part of the game and no one will blame you. ”

Bowen blurted out, "NO, if I do, the Iron Fist King will kill me and you, he doesn't care that you're the head coach." ”

The corner of Popovich's eye twitched, and he wanted to slap the guy in front of him to death.

Bowen's mouth didn't stop, and he continued a little nervously: "The Iron Fist King has everything, even if he doesn't kill us, as long as he retires, how much will the league lose?" You know, by that time there were a lot of people trying to kill us. ”

Popovich's face trembled, he really didn't believe Bowen's words, wasn't it a malicious foul? This damn Bowen still scares him, when he's scared? He was never frightened when he was a spy in the Soviet Union.

But he can be sure that Bowen really won't listen to him.

Looking at Popovich, who shook his hand away, Bowen breathed a sigh of relief.

He'd rather be traded by the Spurs than listen to Popovich, but he did scare the head coach just now.

Popovich returned to the locker room and said to Duncan: "Tim, step up the offense under the basket, I want you to score more points and play more offensive efficiency." ”

"Yes." Duncan nodded.

In the last game, he shot more in the near two points area, in order to avoid being caught by the SuperSonics without the ball, but that game was lost, and this one was not taken care of.

"David, you go to the high post and if they don't have the ball to pick up Thiem, you pass the ball to a teammate who is open." Popovich said.

"Okay."

Popovich then announced his starting lineup, and surprisingly, Bowen was among them.

Bowen himself thought it was strange, and then Popovich said to him, "Bruce, I'm asking you to lock up Mike Miller and not let him get a little space, understand?" ”

"Understood."

As long as he didn't let him hack the Iron Fist King, everything else would be fine, and Bowen breathed a sigh of relief.

(End of chapter)