Coach, I don't want to retire yet

Chapter 615 The trembling Popovich and the magical Coach D!

Thabeet's shot against Kobe is similar to McGrady's pull-up shot.

Thabeet was able to receive the pass, which was definitely a foul, but just like you can't object to TMC's strength in pull-up shots, you can't object to Thabeet's strength in singles.

This is Kobe!

Treat Kobe as a defensive loophole, is this something that everyone can do?
Even though Kobe's pace on defense is slower now, his defensive enthusiasm and skills are still perfect.

But Grant Hill's game after Tabit was truly shocking to watch.

"When a finals comes to an end and even the Goat-level players are called out on the court, you will realize how incredible and great such a game is!"

"Thanks to the Bobcats, thank you to the Lakers, and even more thanks to Coach D, who brought us these two teams and also brought us a visual feast!!!"

"When the finals are played now, the game itself has surpassed victory or defeat, and surpassed the championship!"

Victory and championships are of course the most important, but this game, this finals, really deserves to go beyond victory and finals.

If last year's finals, Coach D and Amazing Monty led the NBA out of darkness and made the significance of the finals extremely huge, beyond victory and the finals themselves, then this year's finals is a true display of basketball that transcends victory and the championship itself.

In the history of the NBA, no championship team dared to act rashly in front of these two teams. The championship can no longer define these two teams.

This is what transcendence means!

On the sidelines, the Bobcats fans were in a trance over Thabeet's one-on-one play, while on the court, the Lakers were preparing to attack once again.

This time, the Lakers chose the pick-and-roll with Yao Ming.

Kobe and Yao Ming set a pick-and-roll, preparing for Yao Ming to single out Grant Hill.

O'Neal was replaced by Grant Hill. There will be a period of time during the transition period between the double-team and Duncan's return when Yao Ming may put Grant Hill on the field.

Before, Yao Ming had to choose between Thabeet and O'Neal, both of whom were very tall.

So Yao Ming is very uncomfortable because he has to wait until Duncan arrives before choosing anyone.

Now choose Grant Hill, who is 2 meters tall. It can be said that as long as Kobe throws the ball into the air when being double-teamed, Yao Ming can catch it and immediately attack Grant Hill. The difficulty of attacking will be reduced by at least two levels.

Yao Ming did not take advantage of this loophole of the Bobcats before because after resting, he also needed to play strong basketball when facing the strong Bobcats.

Now it seems that we cannot suppress the Bobcats, no matter how strong we are, so of course we have to play efficiently.

"Yao and the Lakers chose to withdraw from the company in the face of Duncan's entanglement!!!"

However, the Lakers and Yao Ming's focus on Grant Hill will indeed give many people at the scene a different perspective and feeling.

"Tim Duncan's defense made the Lakers and Yao Ming retreat in this game. Yao Ming was not able to defeat Duncan's defense in a one-on-one situation. Incredible Tim Duncan!!! Coach D's choice was successful again!!!"

Squeezing Yao Ming's teammates and allowing Yao Ming to challenge Duncan one-on-one, this seemingly extremely bold and incredible decision actually succeeded in the end!

As Yao Ming's physical strength declines, he dare not continue to put tough pressure on Duncan to boost morale. Morale may not have increased much, and perhaps the efficiency will become lower and lower due to the decline in physical strength!
“Although it’s hard to believe, this is undoubtedly the right decision!”

Most people are shocked, but most people can also understand.

In this finals, Duncan's defense will always be praised and become a legend. It is too strong. This is Yao, the one who is stronger than the God of Basketball and can defeat the God of Basketball!
Kobe, who was trapped by Duncan and Jordan, could no longer see any of his teammates. He didn't know where Yao Ming was, nor where his teammates were, but Kobe knew that he needed to pass the ball immediately.

In fact, most of the NBA players, even superstars, would find it impossible to protect the ball, let alone pass the ball, when facing the double-teaming of Duncan and Jordan. But Kobe was able to protect the ball, and!

"Oh my god, Kobe is actively sticking to Duncan!!!"

"Kobe wants to keep Tim Duncan by his side and not let Tim Duncan go back!!!"

“Incredible! Unbelievable!!!”

This is something other NBA players wouldn't even dare to think about, but Kobe did it.

And, he can do it!
"Kobe may be the only player in NBA history who can choose who to keep by his side when he is sandwiched between Duncan and Jordan. Although this is difficult for Kobe, he can do it!!!"

Kobe's ball protection ability is so strong!

Seeing Kobe like this, Popovich on the sidelines clenched his fists tightly.

In the past two possessions, Kobe was targeted as a hole on the defensive end.

Kobe held back and didn't try to get back on offense.

But with Kobe's personality, how could he tolerate this?

Popovich hopes that Kobe and McGrady can conserve their strength until Yao Ming is exhausted and then step out to take over the game.

Because when Yao Ming was attacking, even if they stood up to take over the game, they were not as efficient as Yao Ming. In the end, they wasted their own energy and were unable to maximize Yao Ming's effectiveness. It was not worth it.

And now, it is obvious that Kobe has broken Popovich's previous arrangement.

However, Popovich is not angry now, but very happy. Kobe is using his physical strength to support Yao Ming's offense instead of stealing Yao Ming's offense!
If Kobe sacrifices some of his own physical strength to make Yao Ming's offense easier, this is actually what Popovich wants to see!
"Kobe passed the ball!!!"

The moment Kobe threw the ball, Tim Duncan was about to return to defense, just like before, but before Tim Duncan could speed up, he was blocked by Kobe from behind.

Finally, it was Jordan who went back.

Jordan is of course faster than Duncan.

but!

When Yao Ming jumped up and caught the ball from Kobe, he looked at Hill in front of him and Jordan on his side, and Yao Ming was almost unaffected.

Seeing James and Hill double-teaming Yao Ming at this moment is just like what many Lakers fans saw in the finals against the Knicks that year, when James and Wade double-teamed Yao Ming.

The final result was that Yao Ming attacked James and Wade at will!
This time, Yao Ming took advantage of the situation and almost knocked Jordan and Hill away.

Jordan chose to steal the ball from the side, but Yao Ming turned around and passed Jordan cleanly. Finally, at the corner of the free throw line, facing Hill's defense, he leaned back and shot the basketball in his hand.

With such a tall height, he was able to perform such a breakaway move like a guard, and even Jordan was paralyzed when he was passed by him.

There was nothing wrong with his choice of aggressive defense just now. He couldn't really force Yao Ming to adjust his position and lift the ball.

With Hill blocking the way in front, he can steal once, and if he succeeds, he will make a lot of money.

Even if he didn't steal the ball, Hill could block in front and then return to his position to continue the double-teaming, although the double-teaming looked a bit funny.

However, Jordan did not expect that Yao Ming would take advantage of his double-team and pass Hill halfway. It was like the legendary All-Star Game, when Duncan was defending Olajuwon so well, but Howard had to come up and mess around. Not only did he not help, but Olajuwon also used Howard's help to deal with Duncan, staging a one-beating-two show. It looked like Olajuwon beat Duncan and Howard, but in fact, Olajuwon + Howard beat Duncan.

Now Jordan's steal just now is also similar in nature. Jordan had already made his move, and even if he knew it was sloppy, it was useless. In the end, he could only fly up and block Yao Ming from the side like Hill did.

Naturally there is no effect.

A swipe!
35 is better than 29!

The Lakers once again led by 6 points!
And what’s crucial is that after the game entered the second quarter, both teams actually entered a mode of hitting the target every time!
It was obvious that the players of both teams had physical problems in the second quarter, but unexpectedly, the offensive efficiency of the two teams did not decrease, but instead increased!
This is very magical.

The Bobcats continued to attack, and this time Kobe directly defended Grant Hill who was dribbling the ball across half court.

Kobe certainly never thought about whether he could steal the ball from Hill by pressing the whole court.

But Kobe felt that even if full-court pressing defense couldn't really steal the ball, it would be good to slow down the Bobcats' offensive rhythm.

Best case scenario, Grant Hill will be exhausted along the way, his physical strength will be short-circuited, and his offensive efficiency will be greatly reduced.

In the NBA, many people like to attack the opponent's player who just scored a goal when they are on offense, just to periodically consume this offensive player and make him consume his physical strength on the defensive end, which will lead to inaccurate offense due to the periodic high intensity.

In fact, full-court pressing and leading the defense for players with good offensive touch and excellent offensive skills also have this effect.

People are not machines. When you put more energy into passing and controlling the ball, you will have less energy to attack.

However, after Hill reached the three-point line, he had no intention of playing against Kobe alone, but called Thabeet.

Tabit is now being held tightly by Ebanks, and it is not easy for Hill to call him over.

However, since Tabit couldn't get through, Hill could naturally get through.

Hill took the initiative to look for a pick-and-roll at the 45-degree position on the left side, where Tabit was being madly circled and entangled by Ebanks.

Ebanks entangled Thabeet, who then pushed Kobe, while Kobe grabbed Grant Hill's jersey from behind.

The four of them were almost tangled together at the 45-degree three-point line on the left.

Seeing this scene, countless players, experts, celebrities and media at the scene gasped.

"The intensity of this competition is unmatched..."

"Every time the two teams attack, there is really no hardest, only harder!"

"With this level of defensive intensity, both teams didn't miss a shot in the second quarter!!!"

Almost at the same time!

There was a crackling sound!
Kobe has torn Grant Hill's jersey!
But Grant Hill still got through Kobe's close defense. Ebanks had no choice but to let go of Thabeet and immediately go to help Grant Hill.

Grant Hill passed the ball from behind, taking Ebanks away, but the ball ended up in the hands of Tabit.

And now, in front of Thabeet is still Kobe!

And it was Kobe holding Hill's shredded jersey in his hand!
Looking at Kobe who was staring at him blankly, Tabeet smiled again.

Without any hesitation at all, Thabeet said only one word to Kobe: Pull!

At the 45-degree three-point line on the left, Thabeet took a pull-up shot, and the basketball drew a very beautiful arc and fell into the net!
35 is better than 32!

The six-point difference became three points with Tabit's three-pointer!
From leading by two goals to leading by only one goal now, the situation is completely different.

If the Lakers don't play well on offense, they will probably be tied in the next game!
Kobe, who was standing in front of Thabeet, was now numb.

Now Kobe understands why Jordan wants to make a comeback.

Damn it!
If I were still at my peak athletic ability, would I be able to control Lee Grant Hill and Thabeet like this? !

However, although his offense did break through to the Goat level with the help of his coach, his physical and athletic abilities were irreversible. Even his coach could not find a way for him to restore his youthful athletic abilities.

If Kobe Bryant could have his peak athletic ability, he couldn't imagine himself being exploited as a defensive loophole during a game!

This is the regret of the players.

Kobe originally thought that his career was perfect, but in the end he found that he actually did not achieve a perfect sports career because he had not yet completed the project of becoming the strongest version of himself.

He has a lot of championships, good statistics, is respected, and has everything. It seems that he lacks nothing, but in fact, he lacks an opportunity to see the strongest version of himself.

He himself doesn't know what he is like at his strongest.

But Grant Hill, Yao Ming and even Duncan are all proving this madly at this moment.

"If there is a chance, I will definitely ask the coach to restore my athletic ability, even if I become like Jordan, with unstable offense or even no offense at all, I am willing to do it!"

Kobe saw that there were strong opponents ahead.

Kobe also saw the opportunity, goal and method to become stronger.

With these things, he can make himself stronger as long as he is given a chance!
On the court, Kobe once again exhausted his own energy to keep Duncan by his side and passed the ball to Yao Ming.

This time, Yao Ming faced the defense of Jordan and Hill, which was almost equivalent to Jordan + Pippen. Do you think James + Wade had stronger defense or Jordan + Hill had stronger defense?
In fact, the answer came out quickly.

In front of Yao Ming, the effect of James + Wade and Jordan + Pippen is the same.

They are all hits!

An extremely efficient hit!
A swipe!
Yao Ming once again succeeded in a single shot from the free throw line, 37 to 32!

A five-point gap!
The sense of security is back!

but……

"If I were Popovich, I couldn't hold on any longer!"

Indeed, if Popovich saw the current situation of the game clearly, he would definitely tremble in fear.

In fact, Popovich is so nervous now that he keeps yelling and directing the players on the court.

Yes, even with so much consumption of Yao, the Lakers couldn't gain a big advantage in the end!

This is no longer crazy, this is magical!

“Amazing Coach D!!!”

(End of this chapter)