basketball never sleeps

Chapter 30 The Lakers, Barkley, the Bet

"RIP (Hamilton), are you sure your nose is okay?" Mo Wen looked at the bull warrior wearing a new mask... Oh no, it was Hamilton who asked with concern.

The suggestion given by the team doctor was that it would be safer for Hamilton to continue the game, but Hamilton did not allow himself to be absent.

"It's impossible for me to miss the game with that guy, or that bastard will taunt me for a whole year." Hamilton adjusted the pure black mask in front of him. He originally wanted to customize a Batman mask, but The rules of the alliance do not allow it, so it can only be done.

There are only two chances to play against Kobe in head-to-head games a year. Even if the needs of the team are not considered, he must have it.

Hamilton and Kobe’s friendship began in high school. The two have been competing with each other since they met in a high school game. In the dormitory, they competed for a summer vacation, and the two have formed an entangled "bad relationship" since then.

Hamilton, who entered the NBA three years later than Kobe, suffered a loss in his rookie period. In the previous 8 matches between the two, the team won [-]-[-], but in terms of statistics, Hamilton has been firmly suppressed by Kobe.

Although Hamilton usually looks like a good old man, he is also a man with a desire to win in his blood. Every time he meets Kobe, Hamilton's desire to shoot becomes very strong.

Of course, the same is true for Kobe. Every time he meets Hamilton, he first throws 20 balls to warm up.

"By the way, Mo, you are showing me how to use your so-called "Yiyang Finger" a few times, and teach me again. Later, I will try it on that dog. I have an elbow and I haven't settled the score with him yet."

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"Since Malone sprained his knee in December, the Lakers have been in a swamp of injuries, starting with Karl (Malone), then Shaq, then Kobe, Shaq came back for two games and rested again, Kobe would have Come back but hurt your hand because of moving, do you feel like God doesn’t want to see the four Lakers stars get together.” In the Lakers’ studio, Barkley talked eloquently in front of the camera.

"No, no, I think this is expected. Malone is now 40 years old. Many people at his age are grandpas. O'Neal is not young anymore. It's like the insiders in the league have to face him. Just like the rule of the restricted area, O'Neal has to start to face the injury problem caused by his weight." Kenny Smith refuted Barkley's "destiny theory".

"As for Kobe, I can only say that there are things that are more worthy of his headache than injuries."

Speaking of this, Kenny Smith shrugged, and several people in the studio also laughed heartily.

"Oh, let me go back to this game, the Pistons and the Lakers, the two top teams in the Eastern and Western Conferences meet for the last time this season, what do you two think?" Ernie sitting in the middle of the studio Earl Johnson brought the attention of the chat back to the two teams that had already warmed up on the field.

"I don't have any opinion. The Lakers were plagued by injuries for a while and their performance was unstable, but today's Lakers are the Lakers of the entire lineup. Although the Pistons have performed very well after acquiring Rasheed Wallace from the trade, they are still in line with the Western Conference. There is some distance."

Buck said objectively that this is also the opinion of most people. A healthy Laker (unless Kobe is on top) is invincible.

"I'm also not optimistic about the Pistons. They have also started to suffer from injuries recently. The starting small forward is injured, and the top is just a first-year... rookie. Hamilton also suffered injuries two days ago. Although this game Can play, but how much can be played is not known."

Kenny Smith rarely contradicted Barkley's words.

"Hey, by the way, Charles (Barkley), do you want to make a bet?" Kenny Smith suddenly thought of something, and said indifferently.

"Bet? Bet on what?"

If you want to bet on Barkley, you won’t be sleepy. His gambling addiction is no less than that of Boss Joe. After retiring, he often went to Las Vegas with Jordan to have fun. Later, he blew up that he probably lost more than 1000 million dollars there. (But there are also some wins).

"Just bet on whether the Pistons' starter at position 15 can score more than... [-] points today." Kenny Smith raised his eyebrows, but the application still pretended to be calm and calm.

"Yes, I bet... he can." Barkley responded simply, but Kenny Smith's face froze when he heard the words.

It shouldn't be, that's not how the script was written.

"Hahaha, Kenny, do you really think I don't know who the Pistons' starting small forward is now?"

"Mo Wen, the first Chinese swingman to land in the NBA, the No. 58 pick in this year's draft, he had a good performance as a substitute before, and recently he has averaged more than 16 points per game in the few games since he became the starter. points, already the third scoring point for the Pistons, and miraculously scored 24 points in the first two days of the game, becoming the ninth rookie to score 20 points this year."

"Use the players who have already played against me, Kenny, you have regressed."

Looking at Kenny Smith with a stiff face, the familiar Barkley proudly made a tactical fallback.

After Mo Wenti made his debut, he conquered domestic fans who could only see statistics and highlights with his performance in just a few games. Stern also saw the opportunity and began to continuously tilt his media resources towards Mo Wen.

Although Mo Wen is still just a pseudo-starter with ordinary data, there has been a lot of publicity in the official NBA media in the recent period, such as "China's No. [-] guard", "the most inspirational last show", and "the counterattack of ordinary talented players" Stick all kinds of labels on Mo Wen's face
Barkley watched the live broadcast of the game between the Pistons and the Nuggets two days ago. He was deeply impressed by Mo Wen on the field. His silky offensive skills and elastic and sticky posture on the defensive end made him feel a lot better. Master Baron looked at it and his chrysanthemum tightened. This is too familiar, and Aunt Susan next door doesn't have such good skills.

"Ha, now that you know, why don't you bet on whether Yao can get 19 points like you did a year ago?" Kenny Smith also has a thick skin, and it's not embarrassing if his small thoughts are exposed, so he naturally talked about the topic. Moved to the gambling game again.

19 points. This is not an easy score. Mo Wen’s defensive players against the Nuggets were very average in that game. The overall defensive level of the Nuggets is also in the middle and lower reaches of the league. That’s why he broke out in that game .

In the rest of the games, Mo Wen's scoring is also highly related to the opponent's defense level. It seems that he is not an offensive player. Kenny Smith is betting that Mo Wen's scoring will definitely decrease under the Lakers' first-class defense.

Barkley stroked his chin.

Last year, before Yao Ming played against the Lakers, his scoring average was only single digits, so Kenny bet on it. Mo Wen scored more than 15 points per game, so there is nothing to bet on.

"Bet! What is the bet this time, or the donkey?"

"No, no, no, let's change it to a new trick, how about whoever loses will be taken off his pants and spanked ten times in front of the camera?"

"Kenny, do you have any special fetish for ass, if you say it, people won't laugh at you."

"Just tell me whether you want to bet or not!"

"bet!"

Different time, same place, a new bet was born.

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The referee whistled, and the basketball flying into the sky was easily photographed by Rasheed, and O'Neal didn't even think of jumping up.

After the ball was passed to Billups, Payton defended it head-on.

After Payton cut his salary and joined the Lakers, his possession of the ball decreased a lot, and he mainly focused on the defensive end. However, as he got older, at the age of 35, he was somewhat powerless when facing Billups.

While observing his teammates' running positions, Billups was also looking for Payton's flaws.

Hamilton and Mo Wen made a two-person staggered screen, and then made another screen request with Da Ben standing on his waist, successfully throwing the distance away from Kobe who was defending.

Billups, who had been watching, didn't need Hamilton to wave, a just right through ball, so that Hamilton didn't need to adjust, and after receiving the ball, he pulled up and shot smoothly.

Kobe, who was late, had no time to interfere, so he could only wave his arm symbolically.

"Cut~"

Hamilton let out a defiant chuckle as he made the shot.

Hamilton's off-the-ball running position is a real historical level. His grasp of the running space, the choice of pick-and-roll path, and the ability to catch and shoot the ball, in this era, only Miller can compete with him. .

Kobe gritted his teeth and started to ask for the ball after halftime, but Payton didn't give it. He was the only point guard in Kobe's career who dared to talk hard, and Payton also had this capital.

Payton leaned against Billups and used a seasoned back movement to pull out the space, squeezed Billups and broke through to the inside. After being re-entangled by Billups in the three-second zone, he did not panic. After hitting the posture, cooperate with the 5 times speed of "left and right wild horses split their manes, split their manes, and then divide their manes" so that Billups couldn't judge the direction of his attack, and he turned over and smashed the ball before Mo Wen could help defend When it reached the neck of the basket, the backboard was hugged by Big Ben nearby.

Peyton frowned and shook his hands. It was a little cold at first.

Looking back, Billups also responded to Payton, using Rashid's cover to break into the inside line, in order to avoid Payton's interference, a backhand layup successfully sent the basketball to Payton's hands.

Because of the large number of veterans, the Lakers don't like to play fast breaks like the regular Western Conference teams. Instead, they played a turn-based game with the Pistons.

Both teams showed a very high level of defense in the first half of the first quarter.The cheers of the Lakers fans on the sidelines were very lively, but the combined scores of the two teams on the field in 8 minutes did not reach 20 points.

"Ha, Charles, I think your plan is going to fail. This game is destined to become a defensive battle. It's not certain whether Kobe can score 19 points, let alone Mo."

Kenny looked excited. This game really turned into a defensive battle as he expected.

"When will I be able to watch the whole game in the first quarter, watch it slowly." Barkley also murmured in his heart, but he was all bets.

Zen Master frowned on the sidelines. Although the Lakers looked not behind, they had actually fallen into the rhythm of the Pistons.

This kind of defensive battle consumes no less energy than the fast break. The Lakers are both veterans and fat, so if they don't start in the fourth quarter, their physical strength will collapse.

The most important thing is that the efficiency is not high, and there is not even a time for the starters to rest if they can't open the gap.

He called a timeout and replaced Payton with the old fish.

Payton has been unable to adapt to the triangle offense since he came to the Lakers. The main reason is that his three-pointers are not accurate. Asking him to be a pitcher on the triangle wing often hits the iron.

When Payton was on the court, he either played pick-and-rolls with Malone, or several stars relied on their personal abilities to take turns playing singles, but the five starting shots were not stable enough. The so-called extended singles often encountered double-teams.

After Lao Yu came on the court, the Lakers who started the triangle offense really became much smoother.

Billups' single-defense pressure became less, but he didn't dare to help defense easily. Fisher relied on three-pointers and long-range shots to make two points.

Mo Wen can help defend, but the defensive range can only take care of one side. Kobe is looked down upon by Hamilton, but the big shark at the basket is cool.

Although O'Neill has a tendency to decline from the peak, but now his strength, weight, height, and even skills are not what Daben alone can bear.

Daben is a top defense player, but his innate disadvantage in single defense cannot be concealed.

But Daben is not without advantages. He has a strong and tenacious mentality. No matter whether he succeeds or not, he will first use his defensive attitude and efforts to the fullest.

Although after the first quarter, O'Neal forced two big Bens and caused a foul, but O'Neal did not play easily.

Rasheed, who failed to make up the defense in time, cheered up Larry Brown after yelling a few times. O'Neal tried to attack twice but missed under Rasheed's interference.

Mo Wen didn't have much sense of presence in the first quarter. Zen Master didn't let his guard down on Mo Wen because he was a rookie. Devin George, who could barely become a 3D player, got Zen Master's order and put all his energy into it. Trade one with him.

Because his teammates are all starters, Mo Wen didn't even think about grabbing the ball when he came up. Later, Larry Brown considered Devin George's lack of offensive ability and replaced Mo Wen with Collis, who had a better offense after the first quarter. After that, the team's offense did not improve much.

After the first quarter, the Lakers 25:20 Pistons, the Lakers led by 5 points.

Just when Barkley felt that the bet was a bit mysterious, Mo Wen broke out in the second quarter.

Devin George is serious on the defensive end and has fast feet, but his explosive power and confrontation can be said to be ordinary.

With a player like Mo Wen whose body couldn't crush him, based on his experience, he couldn't be said to be easy to beat, but he could also be said to be able to do so with ease.

Mo Wen made 10 of 7 shots while several other starters of the Pistons were replaced and rested one after another, directly pulling up Kobe who was resting on the bench.

(End of this chapter)