Just now, Kobe looked at him with his nostrils, so Jordan wanted to throw another three-pointer, but the ball hit the basket due to Kobe's hard defense.
Lao Wang protected the backcourt rebound and the Lakers attacked.
"O'Neal has now successfully lost weight and his physical fitness should be stronger, but he seems unwilling to invest more energy in fighting for offensive rebounds." Su Qun said.
"If O'Neal's physical fitness is strong enough to put in a lot of energy and fight for offensive rebounds, then he will be really scary and can really compete with the Tiejun." Zhang Lili said seriously.
At this time, Lao Wang came to the low post on the left wing and started to get the ball.
Kobe held the ball to the top of the arc, saw Wang asking for the ball, and quickly passed it to Mullin on the left three-point line.
After Mullin's transfer, the ball flew towards Lao Wang.
Before Mullin could pass the ball, Oakley on the weak side had already entered the paint area. As soon as the ball was released, he immediately accelerated towards the low post on the left wing. The direction was to block the bottom line and prevent Lao Wang from slipping. In two steps, he would
Complete weak side double teaming.
Similarly, Jordan, who was guarding Kobe Bryant from a high position, immediately moved downwards, intending to block the direction of Wang's upward turn and rush into the paint area, and perform a three-and-one.
It's not that he doesn't implement Phil Jackson's defensive tactics, but it emphasizes flank double-teaming. Now he is at the free throw line, very close to Old K. As long as Old K turns upward, he can complete the double-team in one step, so
A double-team was decisively implemented.
"Crack!"
Lao Wang's left elbow was stuck against O'Neal. As soon as he received the ball with his right hand, Jordan rushed to his side and hit his ball with his big hand.
His right hand moved backwards to avoid Jordan's action of stealing the ball. At this time, Oakley arrived behind him and he was already trapped in a three-man double-team.
Facing upward, his front, rear, and left sides were all blocked, leaving only the space on his right side.
"Be careful!" Su Qun shouted urgently.
"Quickly pass!" Zhang Lili shouted urgently.
"What a fast double-teaming speed!" Luo Lin exclaimed in the ESPN live broadcast booth.
On the field, at this moment, Wang Tiejun suddenly made a retreat, retreated to the right, and escaped from the three-man double-team.
This step back not only allowed him to get rid of the three-man double team, but also changed his face from upward to facing the basket. It also made him further away from the basket, more than four meters.
The next moment, the step started, and while dribbling, there was a "squeak" under his feet, and like a steel gun, he hit the paint area along the baseline.
At the same time, he also made a blocking movement, with his right elbow pointing outside to prevent Oakley from destroying his breakthrough with the ball.
Oakley wanted to take a step down, but was half a beat too late. Wang Tiejun's stride was so fierce and fast that when he wanted to move, he was already at his side. Old K's right elbow just brushed him, and he was gone.
He staggered and was almost knocked over.
"Come in!" Su Qun opened his eyes and shouted excitedly.
"Bang!"
The next moment, Wang Tiejun jumped up and dunked hard with one hand. The Knicks basket was exploded and the huge basket was shaken.
"yeah!"
The Great Western Forum Arena was like an erupting volcano, with cheers soaring into the sky and thousands of people jumping for joy.
“KKKKKKK…”
The on-site commentator kept shouting excitedly and roared: "This is Old K, our King of the Lakers. He is unstoppable, unstoppable! He will definitely lead us back to the top!"
"Tell me, can they stop me? Can they stop me?"
On the field, Lao Wang was so excited that he succeeded that he fell to the ground, turned around and roared towards the media box behind the baseline and the fans.
"Can't stop it! Can't stop it! Can't stop it..."
The fans on this side immediately shouted in unison, and then the whole stadium sounded a unified shout.
"ah!"
A group of cheerleaders behind the baseline screamed with excitement. Their hormones were bursting and they wanted to go up and knock down Lao Wang.
"Kachakacha..."
In the media gallery, dozens of reporters clicked their shutters excitedly, with only one target in mind: Wang Tiejun.
"Why can old K become so powerful?"
O'Neal's heart was filled with disappointment and shock. Three people double-teamed him, forcing Old K to retreat outwards. He still couldn't stop Old K's attack, and it wasn't a jump shot, but a direct attack on the basket. The blow to him was too much.
It was so intense that his morale was rapidly collapsing.
"..."
Jordan stared at Lao Wang, the shock in his heart was beyond words. He never expected that Lao K would become so strong in just one offseason.
An invincible behemoth who can play in the low post unexpectedly has powerful face-to-basket skills. The current old K is not a combination of Dameng and O'Neal, but a combination of these two and David Robinson.
He is invincible with his back and unstoppable with his face facing the basket. How can he defeat this beast?
Before he knew it, the psychological shadow on Old K had become bigger and stronger.
But Jordan is Jordan after all, the person with the strongest will in the league. After a brief period of weakness, his infinite fighting spirit rekindled, and he shouted to O'Neal and other teammates on the court: "Cheer up, everyone, this is
A battle, a battle we cannot lose, if we beat him, we will be the champions."
Astonishingly, he has regarded this game as the future finals. If he cannot beat the Lakers in the regular season, how will he beat the Lakers in the finals in the future?
"Championship?"
O'Neal's scalp went numb, thinking that Old K already had three championships in hand and he still had nothing to gain, and he felt huge unwillingness and anger in his heart. With Jordan's encouragement, his morale began to return.
At this time, the Knicks served and then called a timeout. Phil Jackson needed to interrupt the Lakers' momentum and restore the morale of his players.
"This Knicks is indeed Jordan's team, and his leadership skills are saving his team at critical moments. It is not easy for Old K to win this game."
On the sidelines, Lakers legend and current Clippers general manager Elgin Baylor, who was watching the game, said to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar next to him.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar said solemnly: "You are right, Elgin, our offensive and defensive system has not been established yet. Richmond's performance is a bit struggling. The only internal and external dual-core is the old K. This allows the Knicks to arbitrarily package
Clamp old K.
And the tacit cooperation between O'Neal and Jordan, coupled with the role of the triangle tactic, makes it difficult for us to double-team either of them."
Baylor said: "Now we only need to see whether Old K's single defense ability can really suppress O'Neal's offense. I don't think O'Neal can guard Old K, so if Old K can suppress O'Neal's offense, the Lakers will beat the Knicks."
hope."
"He can do it," Jabbar said.
On the Knicks bench, Jordan said seriously to O'Neal next to him: "Shaq, for your dignity and your professional achievements, give everything you have to fight with Old K.
If you can't defeat him, you are not even qualified to be his stepping stone. You will be just a foil to his era of giant beasts, a wave that disappears in an instant and no one cares about.
Remember, if you don’t work hard, you will be just a foil for him. The era of giant beasts will belong to him alone. Without you, you will be nothing but a sidekick."
This sentence is not to scare O'Neal, because it is him who became the stepping stone. Old K has stepped on him to win three championships and became the first active player.
"Hang on?"
O'Neal was sweating profusely, panting like an ox, eyes wide open, staring fixedly at a certain point on the floor in front of him.
He absolutely cannot accept the result that he is just a foil in the era of giant beasts, because he has always been proud of being a part of the era of giant beasts. He is one of the two giant beasts, and this era also belongs to him, not Old K alone.
of.
But now Jordan's words make him realize that he is just a sidekick in this era of behemoths.
Reluctance and anger arose in my heart, growing stronger and stronger. With the violent rise and fall of my chest, I could no longer suppress it.
"I won't let him do it. This is my era too. He can't take away what belongs to me." In grief and anger, he suddenly twisted and screamed at Jordan.
"That's exactly what I hope." Jordan gritted his teeth and said.
"Fight!"
When the timeout ended, Jordan suddenly stood up, threw down the towel in his hand, and shouted at all his teammates.
Phil Jackson laughed. Michael Jordan's willpower and leadership have never let him down. This game has just begun.
He lost three times with the Bulls, but with the Knicks, he believes he won't lose.
"The momentum is very strong!"
Next door, Lao Wang turned his head and stared at Knicks.
The game was indeed as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Kim Baylor said. Even though Wang Tiejun was unstoppable, he still couldn't fight one against five, and the Lakers still gradually fell into a tough battle.
Jordan and O'Neal were on the same wing, attracting each other's defense, preventing the Lakers from double-teaming on the wings, and they gained a lot of singles opportunities.
Neither Richmond, nor Kobe, nor Rick Fox could guard against Jordan's singles.
At the same time, Jordan also spared no effort in physical strength. On the defensive end, with his strong one-on-one defense ability, he prevented Richmond and Kobe from becoming two blacksmiths.
In the low post, O'Neal also exploded with all his strength on both offense and defense. With one hundred percent strength, he exploded with one hundred and twenty strength.
Although he couldn't guard against Lao Wang's offense, Lao Wang had to do his best every time he attacked, which consumed a huge amount of physical energy. Coupled with the Knicks' full double-teaming, his offensive efficiency was suppressed.
At the same time, on the offensive end, O'Neal also spared no effort to get into the basket frequently, compressing Lao Wang's defense under the basket, creating more space for Jordan to play singles, and at the same time, he also made strong plays under the basket from time to time.
At 135 kilograms, his physical fitness has begun to reach its peak. Even if Lao Wang's current physical fitness catches up, he will still be stronger.
In addition, he has excellent skills at the basket, including hook shots and half-shot baskets. His pace at the basket is flexible. He also set off an offensive frenzy under the basket, which made Lao Wang very uncomfortable to defend.
Jordan's knife-wielding guard Oakley also had an outburst, and he would have the upper hand whether he faced Te Yinlong Hill or Danny Fordson.
Among the five positions, except for Lao Wang, the third position has some advantages. Mullin and his substitute Rick Fox took turns, while Ellis and his substitute were at a slight disadvantage.
The Lakers couldn't guard against the two super giants O'Neal and Jordan, and other positions couldn't help much. Wang could only stand up on his own and explode at both ends of the offense and defense. Even if his efficiency was suppressed, he took frequent shots.
In the end, the game ended, 111:105, and the Lakers lost the game at home.
Lao Wang made a total of 20 of 32 shots, a shooting percentage of 62.5%, and 9 of 13 free throws. He scored 49 points, but the team actually lost by 6 points.
O'Neal made 11 of 21 shots. Under his defense, he was not as efficient as him, shooting 52.4%. In addition, he made 3 of 8 free throws and scored 25 points.
Jordan, on the other hand, went completely crazy. In an efficient singles game, he made 18 of 29 shots, with a shooting percentage of 62%, including 3 of 8 three-pointers, with a shooting percentage of 37.5%. In addition, he made 5 of 6 free throws.
44 points.
He also sent 6 steals. Under his extreme defense, Richmond and Kobe scored 13 points and 12 points respectively, but their efficiency was far less than his.
It was his efficient singles and strong defense that allowed the Knicks to win this game when Wang scored 49 points.
After the game, Jordan returned to the bench, still full of energy and with frighteningly bright eyes.
He was very excited. Because of O'Neal, he was double-teamed only 5 times today and not even triple-teamed once. Now he feels as free as if he has thrown away his shackles. He can attack as much as he wants and no one can restrict him.
he.
Next to him, O'Neal was panting like a broken bellows, and sweat was flowing down like countless streams. The explosion on both ends of the offense and defense had exhausted all his physical energy.
In addition to scoring, he also grabbed 11 rebounds from Old K, allowing only 14 rebounds to Old K. He also blocked Old K twice, suppressing Old K's offensive efficiency.
"Well done, Shaq, we won, and you will become Old K's most powerful opponent that cannot be ignored." Jordan encouraged.
"Um."
O'Neill just snorted, panting heavily and unable to speak.
Next door, Lao Wang is also panting. He consumes more energy than O'Neal because he doesn't have Jordan next to him, so he takes more shots and has heavier offensive tasks.
Although he was frequently double-teamed, he also achieved an offensive efficiency of more than 60%, which is not unpowerful. If O'Neal hadn't strengthened his defense, he was even confident that he could achieve higher efficiency. Unfortunately, O'Neal's explosive performance failed to stop him.
As wished.
O'Neal not only exploded on both ends of the offense and defense, but also invested a lot of energy in rebounding, which also had a great impact on him. If he could grab two more rebounds, O'Neal would grab two less, and he would score one goal and one goal.
If you win, you may not lose today.
This made him lament that even if he becomes stronger now, he still needs the strong support of his teammates, otherwise it will be difficult to defeat a combination like O'Neal and Jordan.
Regarding the performance of his teammates, Danny Fordson, a rebounding monster, still had his old problems today. He committed too many fouls too quickly and only played 19 minutes. If he could play longer and with his toughness, he could compete with Oakley.
Te Yinlong Hill is still not good. Under the same defense as Oakley's fight, he can't score and rebound.
Kobe also needs to practice. He can occasionally explode against Jordan, but most of the time he can be suppressed severely.
But this did not disappoint him. Kobe was only in his second year. Even if he grew up in the future, it would be difficult to gain the upper hand against Jordan, who was still at his peak at this time.
What disappointed him was that Richmond did not provide him with enough help from the Rock. Under the pressure of Jordan, his performance struggled.
He cannot have lower expectations for teammates like Richmond just because his opponent is Jordan.
Because the Lakers' most powerful opponent is still the Knicks, which is Jordan. If his teammates cannot effectively support him when facing Jordan, then even if his teammates perform brilliantly against weak opponents, what's the point?
significance?
The greatest significance of strong teammates is to be able to perform effectively and give him the greatest support when facing the strongest opponent, even the opponent in the finals in the future.
But it's still too late. The season has just begun. As long as the Lakers get through the grind, their overall strength will definitely improve.
"Let's go."
Seeing Jordan and O'Neal being interviewed live, he stood up and asked his teammates to leave.
An hour later, the post-match press conference was held.
Richmond did not go. He participated in the first two games with Lao Wang, but failed in three consecutive games. He wanted to avoid the media.
"Old K, how do you feel about scoring 49 points today?" After several local reporters in Los Angeles asked questions, a reporter from New York Sports asked proudly.
"I will win the next away game at Madison Square Garden. I can beat Jordan and O'Neal. I have the confidence and the experience to beat them."
"Ha ha……"
The local reporter laughed, and the New York reporter looked bad, but could not refute.
"Old K, are you sure of reaching the finals? Do you think the Jazz and Trail Blazers can't stop you?" The next question was from a New York Times reporter.
"Why do they stop me?" Lao Wang asked.
The reporter was obviously a very professional sports reporter and immediately asked: "Although the Jazz lost to the Lakers, it was the first game. Your new changes this season caught them off guard. I believe that next time we meet,
They should come up with ways to restrict you.
The Lakers have nothing to do against the Jazz's offense. You can't guard against their pick-and-roll offense. One of Sabonis and the Postman will definitely defeat the Lakers. Apart from you, there is no other person among you who can guard the other one of them.
The Trail Blazers have now won all four games. Duncan averaged 22.5 points, 12.5 rebounds, 2.75 assists, 0.75 steals and 2.5 blocks per game. The Dream also had a 20+10 performance. Their twin tower tactics and top performance on both offense and defense.
After averaging 20+ per game last season, Stoudemire has averaged 18 points, 3 rebounds and 10.5 assists this season.
At the same time, last season's team's leading scoring shooting guard Ryder also averaged 19 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists per game.
With a lineup of four 20+ star players, I would like to ask Old K, how do your Lakers resist the Trail Blazers? How do you break out of the Western Conference?"
Lao Wang also felt the pressure. Whether it was the Jazz or the Trail Blazers, their strength reached the ceiling.
Especially for the Trail Blazers, rookie Duncan was at his peak when he debuted. He played a top-notch offensive and defensive performance of 20+10. The lineup is really strong, even stronger than the Knicks.
However, the momentum cannot be lost. He stared at the reporter and said: "You only said that the Jazz were caught off guard, but you did not mention that our lineup has not been tempered. The strength of our Lakers can still be improved.
The Jazz's pick-and-roll tactics are not invincible. Otherwise, they have been fighting for so many years without seeing them reach the finals. We, the Lakers, will definitely be able to defend against their pick-and-roll tactics.
You only talk about how powerful the Trail Blazers are, how top-notch offensively and defensively they are inside, and how powerful their offensive firepower is on the outside, but you don’t mention the weakness of their outside defense. Can they stop our outside attack?
And I think their points lost from the outside are likely to be greater than their points scored, which will be a big weakness for the Trail Blazers.
Furthermore, no matter how strong Duncan and Dameng's defense is, can they stop my attack?
Mr. Reporter, victory or defeat does not depend on words. I defeated Jordan three times to win the championship. I relied on strength, not words and calculation of paper strength. I am not good at that. I am only good at defeating my opponents on the court."
At the critical moment, he could only bring Jordan out to step in.
Under Lao Wang's counterattack, the reporter from the New York Times also twitched his face, but who made Jordan lose one, two, and three?
"Ah owe! Ah owe! Ah owe!"
During the Knicks' press conference, Jordan, who was in high spirits, suddenly sneezed three times in a row.