"Doon, Kobe Bryant is going to miss a week in the future, you shouldn't disappoint Shaq, right?"

The Lakers are 22 games away from the end of the regular season.

Coincidentally, due to off-court factors, Kobe Bryant will miss another week.

O'Neal is worried that the departure of Payton and Kobe Bryant will have an impact on the Lakers' record.

In particular, the Lakers have a busy schedule for the next week, with five games to play, including two back-to-back on the road and a four-game road trip in the East and West.

Such a devilish schedule is undoubtedly a kind of torture for O'Neill, who is more than 300 pounds.

"Shaq, this kind of thing is not something you should worry about!

Didn't you say it a long time ago? I'm the boss of the Los Angeles Lakers!

Don't worry, as the boss of the team, I will lead you to victory. ”

Seeing that Doon looked like he was underbeaten, O'Neill subconsciously clenched his fists, but quickly released them and pinched Doon's shoulders in a massage way.

"You're right! We are brothers, and Shaq will assist you! Let's keep winning! ”

O'Neal doesn't care if Doon can win the game, after all, no matter how bad Doon's performance is next, Kobe Bryant will come back eventually.

When the time comes, the Lakers will be fully assembled, and it will be difficult to lose.

Now that Doon has said a big word, he just waits and waits for good news.

As Doon told him in the summer, it doesn't matter who leads the team with the Lakers or who can't help the Lakers win.

As long as the time comes, when he comes back, when he contributes, when he leads the team to win, he can confidently say: "You need me so much!" ”

And at this time, Doon didn't care what O'Neill thought.

What Doon cares about is that some time ago, because of the ball problem, he was basically playing healthy basketball, usually seventeen or eighteen points.

This season's average points per game have dropped to 23.3 points, almost falling out of the top 10 on the scoring list.

Although Doon is willing to sacrifice some ball rights to play team basketball in order to win the championship, he is also ambitious!

Being named to the All-Star team in his rookie season is exactly what Doon is looking for next!

Doon's regular season stats this season are quite good, and in addition to not accumulating enough impression points in front of the judges, Doon still has a lot of hope of hitting the All-Star team in his rookie season.

Los Angeles is a big city, and Lakers players are inherently easy to make the All-Star team.

Doon is backed by Nike again, as long as Nike mobilizes energy to help Doon in public relations, Doon is not hopeless to get a three-line or something.

Of course, it is better to ask for others than for yourself.

This time, Doon decided to take advantage of Kobe's absence from the team to make up for his personal data.

By the way, let's also test the benefits of the Kidd template.

After half a month of digestion, Doon has almost digested the templates of Eddie Jones, Brent Barry, and Kidd.

What is lacking now is the practical experience of leading the team to participate in the game as a core player and letting go of the high score to lead the team to win.

One thing to say, Doon was lucky, and the first game he led the team was the Western Weak Brigade SuperSonics.

However, due to the absence of Payton and Kobe, Doon can't play as easily as he used to.

There are people on the wing to attract the defense, and Doon can directly play one-on-one with the ball in the high post, and then feed O'Neal under the basket.

Now without Kobe, Doon can only rely on his personal strength to solve defensive problems, and even face high-intensity bag defense.

Getting back to the point, after the game started, O'Neal helped the Lakers jump to the ball, and then Fisher dribbled across the half court and immediately handed the ball to Doane.

Doon noticed that the SuperSonics were putting on a joint defense and seemed intent on trapping him.

So, he stopped at the top arc and dribbled the ball for a while, and at the same time gestured to O'Neal in the low post.

O'Neal immediately put on a back-to-back stance and reached for the ball.

Ray Allen and Reggie Evans kept an eye on Doon and didn't know what was going on in the low post.

I saw Doon suddenly break through with the ball, and as soon as they hit Doon, Doon quickly hoisted the ball to O'Neal.

With the Kidd template in hand, Doon's passing is even more subtle!

O'Neal felt comfortable with the ball, so he immediately turned around and dunked, and the shark splashed.

The full set of movements went smoothly and only took about a second.

Needless to say, O'Neill's low-level dominance! And at this time, O'Neal also has an outside star next to him who can pass the ball and pass the ball well, which is even more terrifying.

In Zen's triangular offensive system, role players are also given a few balls at the beginning.

However, at the moment, this Lakers team is under the control of Doon, and the first three offenses were initiated by Doane, and then O'Neal came to finish.

As soon as he came up, he scored 6 points after playing for more than a minute, and O'Neal was also cool.

Doon asked him to ask for the ball in the low post, and O'Neal immediately did so.

It's also because O'Neal's basket deterrence is too strong!

Lewis, who was defending Malone, had to break through at the top of the Doon arc, and when O'Neal was ready to play in the low post, he subconsciously walked into the penalty area and leaned towards O'Neal's side.

However, Doon pointed to the east and west and passed the ball to Ma Long, who also began to eat cakes and score efficiently.

This made the Zen master, who originally wanted to say something, return to the character of the Zen master, and Gujing stood on the sidelines without a word.

Just over two minutes into the opening game, SuperSonics head coach Nate McMillan had to call a timeout to adjust his tactics.

Originally, the supersonic swing joint defense was to effectively limit Doon's breakthrough and O'Neal's low-post attack.

However, the SuperSonics lack a defensive master like Kirilenko or Marion.

Supersonic small forward Reggie Evans is often attracted by Doon, who breaks through with the ball in the top arc.

Wait for O'Neal to get the ball and then retract inside, which of course will be too late.

And in the case of one-on-one under the basket, O'Neal simply didn't play too easily.

What is a triangle offense? It's called a triangle attack!

With his shooting threat, Doon attracted the supersonic outside pack, and then created one-on-one and even 1-0 opportunities for O'Neal and Malone.

Even if the pace of the Lakers' game is not fast, the speed of scoring is not slower than those teams that play fast break!

Seeing this, Macmillan was naturally unacceptable.

In order to limit the Lakers' triangle offense and reduce the Lakers' interior scoring efficiency, McMillan could only keep Reggie Evans still and prepare to help defend O'Neal on the wing.

Then Ray Allen led Doon until Doon was inside the three-point line, and then Antonio Daniels waited for the opportunity.

It is said that Ray Allen's defense is not bad, and the yellow-green vs. Celtics used Ray Allen to lead Kobe Bryant, but Kobe Bryant did not break out, which shows Ray Allen's ability.

It's just that Ray Allen's defense is too clean, and leading Doon doesn't have much effect.

When Doon breaks through, he swings his arm to support Ray Allen, and he doesn't need to change direction or turn around to accelerate past Ray Allen.

Waiting for Doon to kill the basket, the supersonic interior line is not good at defense, but he still has to play two or three, how can this be prevented?

Originally, Doon was still thinking about trying to improve his projection ability in actual combat.

However, Doon only used two tricks, passing and breaking, and easily broke down the Supersonic defense.

It was also thanks to Doon's passing and breakthrough points that made O'Neal and Malone's job easier, and the Lakers opened up the difference early in the first half.

In the third quarter, Doon also sweated a little and made up some points.

In the end, relying on the double-double data of 24 points, 4 rebounds and 12 assists, he left work early.

There is no doubt that Doane's answer in the first game is quite good, and the Lakers are very satisfied with it.

The Zen master couldn't find fault with Doon, and O'Neill preferred to do this kind of simple, crude but easy work.

The Lakers' role players were also more than happy to play in garbage time in the fourth quarter.

Of course, is there anyone who has a problem with Doon? That's still there.

It can only be said that no one is perfect!

At this time, Peyton, who was in a villa in Los Angeles at this time, was unable to attend the game because of his groin, so he turned off the TV in advance without waiting for the game to end.

If Doon had been leading the Lakers to win until the end of the regular season, Payton would have to lick his face and announce in advance that his groin injury had healed and returned to the Lakers to prepare for the playoffs.

However, it is still too difficult for the rookie to lead the team to continue winning streaks at the end of the season.

Even if it's the peak Jordan, you can't win all the time.

On March 7, the Lakers restarted the Devil's four-game journey after defeating the Nets at home to the second-largest team in the East.

Early the next morning, the Lakers arrived in Salt Lake City.

Because of the highland climate, Salt Lake City is one of the toughest away games in back-to-back schedules.

In addition, the Lakers just defeated the Nets, who are good at playing defensive counterattacks, last night, and O'Neal's physical consumption has taken a lot.

Therefore, this time against Jazz, O'Neal, who was physically exhausted, took a break from cooking again.

The Zen master was also worried that O'Neill would overwork and have an injury, and that Malone would have another accident.

So only O'Neill and Malone played the first half.

Doon was on fire in the second half, but the climate in Salt Lake City did play a role in Doon.

Doon scored a quasi-triple-double of 37 points, 8 rebounds and 10 assists, but found that he was surrounded by CBA and was not worthy of his passing.

The poor quality of role players, and the Lakers have no one to score in the restricted area after O'Neal and Malone are gone, which is also a headache.

89-94, after leading the team to two consecutive wins, Doon immediately suffered a lesson in defeat.

However, the next day, the Lakers flew to the East Coast and enjoyed the Eastern Conference bonus from their sworn enemies, the Celtics.

O'Neal, who was fully resurrected, punched hard and directly stretched Celtic center Mark Blunt on a stretcher.

The Celtics had no one available inside, and the starting centers were all beaten to the hospital by O'Neal, and the substitutes couldn't stop O'Neal who was getting braver and braver.

109-98, the Lakers beat the Celtics by 11 points and continued to rush to the next court.

The Lakers faced the Timberwolves, who overtook the Kings and promoted to second place in the West, and Doane's ability to lead the team undoubtedly encountered a serious test.

It's very helpless, on the choice question of whether to choose to defend Kassel or choose a madman, Doon is wrong.

Fisher tried his best, but was beaten by Kassel and his nose was swollen.

Doon went to lead the defense of Kassel, and the madman knocked Karim Rush up again.

Even if Doon effectively connected the team, O'Neal on the inside played a good offensive efficiency.

However, O'Neill still wanted to rest a little more because of physical problems.

Doon isn't Kobe, so he won't push O'Neal to death.

At most, Doon is a few words from PUA O'Neal, vigorously advocating that O'Neal is the No. 1 center in history.

However, there are still several championships and a gap in the regular season MVP from Abdul-Jabbar.

Doon hopes O'Neal can play a little more passionately.

It's a pity that a person who pretends to be asleep can never be woken up, and O'Neill is not fooled at all!

With 10 of 17 shots and 6 of 10 free throws, O'Neal only scored 26 points, 11 rebounds and 1 block in the game.

If you play as another center, you can occasionally play this kind of stats, thank goodness.

But Doon knows very well that with O'Neal's strength, there will be no problem at all if he scores 10 more points in this game.

It can only be said that O'Neill is limited by his own weight and mentality.

Otherwise, with O'Neal's strength, he would not be just one of the top ten goalkeepers in history.

In this game, Malone has also been entangled by Garnett and failed to play at a better level.

He shot 7-of-16 from the field and 3-of-6 from the free-throw line, contributing 17 points, 8 rebounds and 2 assists.

One thing to say, the Lakers' two big interior lines combined for 43 points, which is really quite good.

However, if the Lakers want to win, they need at least 43 points from the outside to be scored by Doane.

Without Kobby to take on the offensive pressure, Doon was bitten by the madman and guarded by Garnett, scoring only 35 points on 27 shots.

98-106, the Lakers lost to the Timberwolves by 8 points, and the gap between the two teams narrowed to one win.

There is no way, it is difficult for a good woman to cook without rice!

Although Doon got Kidd's template and had Kidd's passing talent, he couldn't really tie the team together like Kidd and play around Doon alone.

What's more, the quality of the Lakers' role players is indeed average.

Kidd was able to lead the team to the Finals, on the one hand, his teammates only had technical deficiencies, and most of their physical talents were still fine.

On the other hand, there are indeed dividends to eat in the east.

Doon is in the west, fighting to the death with a strong team like the Timberwolves three-headed monster.

On March 13, the Lakers arrived in Chicago, and at the same time, Kobe Bryant also returned to the team.

In the week that Kobe Bryant was absent, Doon handed over a 3-2 record to lead the team.

Most of the games lost were because of back-to-back away games, and in the games they won, there were still Eastern powerhouses like the Nets.

Any team is missing a top-paid player, and the record will show more or less signs of decline.

Therefore, Doon's performance in leading the team cannot be said to be bad, but it did not meet expectations.

In other words, Kobe's return has added another barrel of oil to the Lakers, the No. 1 super battleship in the West.

The Lakers, who were about to run out of power, soared again! From mid-March, he won 11 straight wins until early April.

Among them, the teams won by the Lakers also include the Kings, who are third in the West, and the Rockets, who are seventh in the West.

It's a pity that in April, the Lakers met a counterattack on the Kings and hit the defending champion Spurs, who are third in the West.

The Spurs lineup is not as good as the Lakers, but the Lakers have won so many games, and it is inevitable that they are also a little tired.

The Spurs, however, are good at waiting for work at the end of the season, relying on the rotation of the players to keep the main team full of power.

After the Lakers lost, Payton finally found an excuse, saying that the team was in difficulty, and he had to come back early to win the championship for the Lakers and continue to play on the court.

It's been a month, and the Zen master is not a person with a small belly, and in order to win the championship, the Zen master also held a return ceremony for Peyton in the locker room.

Next, there are 5 games left in the regular season, and because the Timberwolves cannot threaten the Lakers' position as the first in the West.

Therefore, the Zen master also began to take turns for the veterans of the Lakers.

In the last five games of the regular season, the Lakers ended with 3 wins and 2 losses.

But that didn't affect the Lakers' 60-22 record and the first place in the West to advance to this year's playoffs.

It is worth mentioning that the team that is eighth in the West is the Lakers' regular season sufferer - the Utah Jazz.

During the regular season, the Lakers and Jazz each had two wins and losses.

No one expected that Mr. Sloan would be able to take the Jazz's crooked melon and crack dates, play a 42-40 record in the West, and rush to the eighth place in the West at the end of the season......

(End of chapter)