Chapter 544 Kobe: Old K, we have no shortage of shooting guards
"For the Lakers, this game is very critical. If they lose and fall behind 1-2, there will be two away games. The Knicks are fully capable of winning another home game and winning 3-1 or 3-2.
With a big score, we got the match point for the finals, so this game is a game the Lakers can't lose."
In the TNT live broadcast, Bill Walton analyzed seriously.
Kenny Smith said: "I don't know how Old K will play. His performance in the last game can't be said to be bad."
Bill Walton nodded and said: "Old K's statistics in last game are also extremely outstanding when compared to any other player, including the three super centers and Jordan.
There are actually many reasons why the Lakers lost the game, but they only lost by five points, so the disadvantage is not big. If they can overcome the Knicks' home court factor today, the hope of winning the game is not small."
Barkley said: "The bench lineup of the two teams is still stronger than the Lakers. The first two games proved this. The Lakers' substitutes played more minutes and scored more points.
But in terms of the main lineup, I think the Knicks are better. O'Neal and Jordan cooperate very well. Jordan's breakout tactics and inside tactics are very good, and he passed a lot of good balls to O'Neal. In the two games, they
Their performance is very stable, which is the key to the Knicks' victory.
As for the Lakers, Richmond was not efficient enough and his performance was not stable enough in the last game. Jordan defended him very tightly, making it impossible for him and Old K to cooperate like Jordan and O'Neal. This is a problem that the Lakers need to solve.
"
Bill Walton nodded and said: "Yes, the Lakers' internal and external dual-core cooperation is not as good as the Knicks' internal and external dual-core. The key is that Jordan's defense can restrict Richmond, but Richmond does not restrict Jordan enough.
"
In the CCTV live broadcast, Su Qun asked: "Director Zhang, who do you think has a greater chance of winning the championship among the two teams?"
Zhang Lijia didn't need to think about it, he had been studying these issues. Hearing this, he immediately said: "The media now believes that the Knicks have a greater chance. There are two main reasons.
First, Jordan and O'Neal have better internal and external cooperation. Jordan is more powerful and can attract double-teams and create open opportunities for his teammates.
However, Richmond was limited by Jordan's defense, and its cooperation with the Tiejun was worse, and there was no way to attract double teams.
Second, the Knicks will have three home games next, so they have a greater chance of winning the match point first.
But I have a different view. As long as the Lakers persist, they will, like the first two rounds of the series, rely on a stronger rotation to gain a physical advantage in five positions and wear down the Knicks."
At a quarter to eight o'clock, both sides started the game.
As a visiting team, the Lakers received boos at Madison Square Garden.
Many people who watch games at Madison Square Garden are social elites. They are not even Knicks fans. Because of the high pressure in the workplace, they come here to watch games mainly to vent their pressure and boo when their home team does not play well.
, not to mention the visiting team.
When Lao Wang came on stage, he received the loudest boos.
"If we win the championship here, will they cheer for us?" Looking at the fans who were booing him, this question suddenly came to his mind.
"Hey, Alan."
"Hey, Kobe."
Kobe saw Iverson sitting in the front row and went over to say hello.
Iverson was in a bad mood. It had been two seasons and he had yet to taste the playoffs, but Kobe Bryant reached the finals in a row and won a championship.
Indeed, as his agent said, he became the boss of the team, played superstar statistics, and his personal performance far surpassed Kobe, but in terms of team record, he was completely unable to compare with Kobe.
Fortunately, Kobe is not the boss of the team, he is just riding on Old K's coattails, so his sense of loss is not too great. He still has plenty of opportunities to catch up. Sooner or later, he will win the championship as the leader of the team.
"Hey, old K."
At this time, he saw Old K coming over and greeted him quickly.
"Alan, when are you coming to help me?" Lao Wang said casually.
"..."
Iverson was startled. He had to admit that he was really moved by the prospect of recruiting the number one player in the league.
"Old K, we have no shortage of shooting guards, can you please stop being inconsistent?" Kobe said, staring hard at Lao Wang.
"Ha ha……"
Lao Wang laughed twice and motioned for Kobe to follow him to warm up.
"Old K, don't recruit people randomly. Why don't you recruit Michael Jordan? I tell you, sooner or later I will become one of the four shooting guards..."
Kobe followed behind, cooing, and had his habit of talking too much.
Iverson watched the two of them take the field, feeling a little envious in his heart. When will he be able to touch the floor of the finals? Old K's recruitment just now didn't seem serious, it should just be polite, right?
"Victory! Victory! Victory..."
The game is about to start, and before the players take the field, the Knicks, led by Jordan, are doing their final mobilization.
"Grand champion! Grand champion! Grand champion..."
The Lakers are more direct. Just like Wang Tiejun's character, he led the team to directly shout out their goals for this season, which are also the biggest goals and aspirations of several veterans in their careers.
At eight o'clock, the game officially begins.
"Crack!"
O'Neal moved the ball away first, and the Knicks attacked.
O'Neal moved toward the basket, but Wang Tiejun immediately blocked it.
The former turns left and right, but the latter's plum blossom step is more subtle, blocking it out every time, and the hard top is not possible, so it can only go to the left wing and low position.
On the left three-point line, Jordan passed the ball down and then ran to the left corner.
According to the triangle tactic, if O'Neal fails to play alone, he can run to the bottom corner to receive the pass, or directly stick to the baseline and cooperate with O'Neal.
At the top of the arc, Charlie Ward immediately moved to the left. While preparing to catch the ball, he took Kobe away from the high position and extended the distance between him and the basket. Otherwise, Kobe would go down from the high position and complete the double-team defense faster.
quick.
O'Neal caught the ball and immediately started to single out Lao Wang. He arched twice but it had no effect. He couldn't get in. He immediately turned around and swayed left and right. His butt felt that Lao K, who was defending behind him, retreated. He immediately made a quick half move.
Turn around and take off, preparing for a front hook.
But just when O'Neal took off to take action, Lao Wang, who had just taken a step back, made a quick step and pounced on him.
"not good!"
O'Neal's shot was ready, and he bit the bullet and hit a front hook.
"mine."
As soon as the ball was released, Lao Wang relaxed his right arm and grabbed the ball with his big hand.
"Oh, Old K confiscated O'Neal's ball." Backer shouted excitedly in the TNT live broadcast booth.
"squeak!"
Immediately after the block, Kobe took a step inside the three-point line on the left wing. Kobe reacted too quickly and kicked his foot hard. Amidst the friction of his sneakers, he immediately started to step forward and ran forward. Charlie Ward turned around to pursue him.
, already a step slower.
"Whoosh!"
Lao Wang blocked O'Neal with his right elbow, threw with his left hand, and the ball flew straight towards Kobe.
"Bang!"
Holding the ball from his own right wing and reaching the three-point line, Kobe cut diagonally into the paint, pressed his left elbow against Charlie Ward who was chasing him on the left, held the ball in his right hand, took off in one step from his right waist, and made a one-handed tomahawk slam.
, blowing over the Knicks' basket.
"Shark, you passed the ball well. You can change your nickname to Big Passer. You are our sixth man on the field." The old man started talking trash to O'Neal.
"You can also change your nickname to Big Trash Can." O'Neal said angrily.
"You can call me a big shot blocker. I specialize in blocking big passers." Lao Wang laughed.
A fatal blow, O'Neal said that he had lost the trash talk, turned his head angrily, and ignored the hateful old K.
Knicks offense.
Jordan broke through from the left wing with the ball, Kobe came down from the high post to cover, Fox on the right quickly covered the top of the arc, and Fordson in the low post on the right ran up, preparing to cover Ellis.
"Whoosh!"
Jordan saw the opportunity. Fordson's defense was not fast enough. He immediately distributed the ball and passed it to Dale Ellis outside the right wing three-point line.
At this time, both Fordson, who was defending, and Rick Fox, who was returning to defense, were a step slower.
"brush!"
Ellis got an open shot and very calmly shot a three-pointer. The water splashed and the sword pierced the heart.
"The Knicks are still the same, based on the triangle tactic. O'Neal restrains K's defense in the low post, cooperates with Jordan's breakout tactic, and distributes the ball in a timely manner." Kenny Smith said.
Bill Walton said: "But it is very effective. Michael Jordan rushes in to attract double-teams, and O'Neal restrains Old K. There will definitely be openings in other positions.
In contrast, Richmond's breakthrough ability has degraded a lot. Under Jordan's defense, his breakthrough tactics are not very good, so he cannot play the kind of internal and external cooperation between O'Neal and Jordan with old K.
Tactics.”
Barkley said: "Michael's vision is pretty good and he saw the space where Ellis paused. He is the starting point of the Knicks' offense, a moving offensive axis. He can form a triangle with the other four people.
Just now, he could not only pass to Ellis, but also to Oakley, who was released by Fordson. He, Ellis, and Oakley formed a triangle, and the ball could be quickly transferred in this triangle."
2:3, Lakers attack.
Lao Wang encountered the same problem as O'Neal, that is, under O'Neal's defense, it was difficult to get into position at the basket.
After trying it, his pace was better, but O'Neal was also very flexible. After barely getting rid of O'Neal, he stood close to the basket, but at this time O'Neal adopted a forward defense, and there was nothing he could do from behind.
O'Neal has size, strength, and flexibility, but he can't push him away like other defenders. He can't get the space to catch the ball under the basket, and he faces Oakley's double-team, so he has to be honest.
On the ground, he takes a low position on the left wing.
"Crack!"
Facing up to catch the ball, he saw Oakley on the weak side coming from the corner of his left eye. Lao Wang suddenly made a leap, and after shaking away O'Neal, he caught the ball again, dribbling, and scored with the ball.
Paint area.
O'Neal's retreat was not to the baseline, because Oakley's defense route was along the baseline. He could not steal his teammates' position. He was retreating directly behind. At this time, he saw Old K breaking through from the outside.
He immediately moved sideways and stood in front of old K.
A second ago, when Oakley was assisting on the weak side, Rick Fox, who was moving on the right wing, suddenly bypassed Ellis and cut inside the paint. Fordson, who was released by Oakley, immediately blocked him.
Ellis, who was chasing after him.
"Bang!"
The moment the ball was pulled up, Lao Wang pushed it casually, and the ball hit the ground between O'Neal's legs. On the rebound, Fox was caught by Fox who cut inside.
"Oops!"
O'Neal only felt the wind blowing under his crotch. He squeezed his legs and caught an empty space. He turned around and saw that Fordson had successfully made a layup.
Zhang Lili said: "Beautiful! When Oakley is helping to defend on the weak side, the Lakers can use more weak-side cutting tactics. Instead of waiting for the pass outside, it is more efficient to cut in.
In the last game, the weak side cut too little inside, and stood outside waiting for the Tiejun's ball, but missed the shot, wasting a lot of opportunities."
Su Qun nodded and said: "Old K was double-teamed from the beginning of the G2 game. He did score a lot of goals, but he only received four assists in the game. I hope things will change this time."
On the sidelines, Phil Jackson made a gesture, which meant sticking to the original tactics, telling the court to continue to double-team Wang Tiejun firmly.
At this time, Oakley passed by, and he quickly ran to the frontcourt, shouting: "Charles, when old K is passing the ball, you must be quick to return to the basket."
"OK."
Oakley nodded.
4:3, the Lakers lead away from home, the Knicks attack.
Jordan held the ball without breaking through. After passing it to O'Neal, he ran to the left corner.
He is no longer a young man. He is fully committed to both offense and defense, and he is also good at rebounding and organization. In terms of physical consumption, he even exceeds when he was in the Bulls with the Knicks, so he cannot blindly play breakout tactics. He needs to
Time to rest and rotate the main attack with O'Neal.
O'Neal caught the ball, and Lao Wang, who was on defense, immediately started trash-talking: "Don't pass the ball. Just hit me alone. I won't call for a double-team. That's something only a guy named Big Flush Can do."
"It's the big sewer." O'Neill corrected angrily.
Lao Wang is speechless, Shark, have you misunderstood the point?
"Crack!"
In anger, the big shark made a fierce back arch. Unexpectedly, Lao Wang, who was on top of the defense, immediately retreated. His feet were in a mess, the ball lost control, and Lao Wang took the opportunity to steal it.
"Haha, Shark made a mistake." Barkley laughed.
"Defensively, Old K is obviously better than the Sharks." Bill Walton laughed.
"The same goes for the offense. The Sharks should be a weakened version of the old K." Kenny Smith said.
"Kenny, if you say that, Shark won't be happy. Shark is still the super center in the league who can compete head-on with Old K, and he is the only one." Bill Walton reminded.
"But I think this is a fact. Even if the Sharks can compete, they are just competing. In the matchup between the two, Old K obviously has the upper hand." Kenny Smith insisted.
"I agree with what Kenny said." As an old teammate in Houston, Barkley immediately expressed his support for Smith.
Bill Walton thought for a while and said: "In terms of physical fitness, although Shark has made progress, Old K is obviously stronger. Old K should be the most physically powerful person in the league, and should be no worse than Chamberlain. This is why Shark is not as good as Old K.
Where he can't provide all-round contributions at all times like old K."
"In terms of technology, Old K is also better. In terms of rebounding, hook shot, defense and other skills, Old K is stronger. Old K's assist ability is several levels better than O'Neal. He has certain organizational skills, whether in
Both the Suns and the Lakers are the starting point of the team's offense, but O'Neal is not," Barkley said.
In the 5th minute of the first quarter, the Knicks attacked and Phil Jackson called a timeout. At this time, the score was 13:10, and the Knicks were 3 points behind at home.
O'Neal made 1 of 3 shots, took a shot from Wang, made 1 of 2 free throws, and had 3 points, 1 rebound and 1 turnover.
Jordan made 2 of 4 shots, no free throws, and scored 4 points, 1 rebound and 1 assist.
In addition, Ellis hit a three-pointer, and the other two did not score.
For the Lakers, Kobe Bryant made two fast breaks and made all 2 shots, scoring 4 points. Fox successfully cut inside twice and scored 4 points. Richmond made 1 of 2 shots and hit a three-pointer. Wang
He scored a second offense and scored 2 points.
Although the Knicks were 3 points behind, they still had the ball and were not really behind. Why did Phil Jackson call a timeout? It was because there was something wrong with the tactics.
Within 5 minutes, after Wang attracted Oakley's double-team, the Lakers continued to play inside tactics, assisting Fox twice, and then launched a fast break after switching offense and defense in the backcourt, assisting Kobe twice.
Phil Jackson stood in front of the bench and said with a very serious expression: "In 5 minutes, although Old K only took one shot and only scored 2 points, he sent 4 assists, a block, a steal, and grabbed 3
rebounds, one of which was an offensive rebound, and caused a turnover by O'Neal. Although our own offense played well, it did not limit the Lakers' offense. This is absolutely not possible, and we must make changes."
Jordan looked serious and said: "We limited Old K's offense very well in the last game. Although he still hit 60% of the field goal percentage, he was limited by our success in shooting, and he obviously did not focus on it today.
Attack above."
Phil Jackson nodded and said to Oakley: "Charles, I just told you that when assisting in defense, you should pay attention to the opponent's back cut. Fox has already made two back cuts."
"I know." Oakley said with a dark face.
Phil Jackson said: "In addition, we didn't do a good job of defending against fast breaks. Kobe was going down quickly and Charlie couldn't guard him. Michael, don't sink into the corner after you pass the ball. How about switching positions with Charlie?"
At this point, he stopped and waited for Jordan's response.
Because if Jordan is left outside to defend against the Lakers' fast break, Jordan's physical exertion will be greater. He knows that this approach is actually wrong.
Jordan has obviously thought of this. Although he wants to say that he can do it, he knows that he can't. His physical ability has its limits. Now his work on the court has reached the limit of his physical ability. If he adds to the burden, his physical ability will be reduced.
I was facing a collapse, so I didn't answer the call.
When Phil Jackson saw that Jordan didn't answer, he understood what the other party meant, and changed his words to Charlie Ward: "Charlie, I believe in your defensive ability and attitude. You can guard against Kobe's fast break, right? In transition between offense and defense.
At that moment, you need to react faster. At that time, Kobe is in a defensive position, and you have a chance to block him from the outside."
"Coach, you can trust me."
What else can Charlie Ward say? Should he say, "Coach, I can't do it, please replace me."
Phil Jackson then told O'Neal and Oakley that when transitioning between offense and defense, they must stop Old K's fast pass and not allow him to launch a fast break.
He thought for a while and said to Oakley: "Charles, Old K is not very aggressive today. You should pay attention to your weak side defense and leave room to return to the basket.
You can try to set up a trap for the Lakers, and when Old K distributes the ball to the back-cut player, you can reach the defensive position immediately."
