Coach, I don't want to retire yet

Chapter 626: Collapse?!
Kobe did not attack himself, but continued to assist. Even when the game reached the most critical moment, even when Duncan had already started to attack himself, Kobe still did not attack, but continued to assist his teammates. He not only assisted Yao Ming and McGrady, but now he can even assist Jokic and Antetokounmpo.

This kind of Kobe is unfamiliar to people, not only ordinary audiences, but also many Lakers fans and Kobe fans in front of the TV.

Because after McGrady and Yao Ming have been almost exhausted, the Lakers' stage now belongs to Kobe. Such a stage can be said to be full of temptation. Kobe is not James, but Kobe is still Kobe!
In the end, Kobe made such a choice, which undoubtedly shocked the whole world.

Even James, who was watching the game in front of the TV at this moment, felt so strange and incredible when looking at Kobe on TV.

The game continues.

Now both the Bobcats and the Lakers have been focusing on inside offense, because at this moment, although both teams have maintained a very high level of confrontation and game intensity, after such a high-consumption game, the players of both teams have basically failed to maintain the highest level of offense and defense at the same time at this stage.

It's either defense or offense. It's hard to maintain both offense and defense at the highest level at the same time.

Even McGrady's offense has become unstable and he has missed shots continuously, let alone others.

In the end, both teams chose to focus more on defense, but that doesn't mean they can't attack.

However, using a sub-optimal offense to attack the opponent's best defense is definitely a disadvantage, which is reflected in the lack of offensive stability.

Especially at this moment, anyone who dares to attack randomly from the outside is very likely to collapse. If an attack fails, it may cause a chain reaction. If it fails once, there will be pressure the second time. At that time, such a chain reaction may affect the final outcome of the game.

Therefore, at this point in time, no one dared to start attacking the outside. Even the Bobcats, who were six points behind, continued to play inside patiently.

On the other hand, both teams are also trying to stifle each other’s outside attack on the defensive end, and absolutely cannot give up any outside chances!

The Lakers have done a pretty standard job on this point.

The Bobcats continued to attack, and Duncan once again singled out Jokic. This time, the Lakers still did not double-team him, and still let Jokic defend alone. For the Lakers, they trust Jokic's one-on-one defense ability, especially his one-on-one defense ability under the basket.

However, at this moment, Duncan, who had been holding back for the entire game, was so determined to attack!!!
A low step, a turn, a hook shot, all in one go!
From receiving the pass from his teammate to completing this series of attacks, Duncan did it without any delay. His basic skills were shockingly solid and there were no unnecessary movements, but the defensive players just couldn't stop him.

No, it should not be said that Jokic cannot be defended. Jokic has kept up with all the steps and has not lost his defensive position. It is difficult to say that Jokic's defense is bad.

A swipe!
Another hit!

It’s not that Jokic’s defense is bad, but Duncan’s condition at this time is amazing!
Looking at Duncan roaring again after scoring this crucial goal on the court, Al-Farouq Aminu on the sidelines recalled many things.

When he was with the Lakers, he and Howard fought against Duncan. Howard was already recognized as the NBA's top center, even the top inside player, and even the real MVP of the Lakers. Howard was at the peak of his career at that time.

However, in the playoffs, facing Duncan, Howard couldn't even score a single point on offense, and on the defensive end, Howard's defense had no problems, but Duncan scored as he pleased, hitting the ball continuously and almost making Howard collapse.

Duncan is not a player known for his offense in the league. Duncan's strongest points have always been defense and improving his teammates. He rarely does personal offense.

However, doing it rarely does not mean never doing it.

Back then, Duncan was about to reach the top. He was able to compete with O'Neal under the basket, and even defeated O'Neal one-on-one.

No one could imagine what a horrific scene it would be like if Duncan really reached his peak.

Unfortunately, no one saw Duncan’s peak before he fell.

Many people say that O'Neal should thank God and luck for being able to dominate the NBA. Originally, Duncan could have become another nemesis of O'Neal like Malone.

Therefore, seeing Duncan already starting to attack on the court, not only was Al-Farouq Aminu in the stands sighing a lot, but he was also sighing for Duncan's strength and his good friend Howard who had passed away.

In front of the Bobcats' bench, O'Neal had already stood up.

The Duncan on the court may be unfamiliar to others, but familiar to him.

"At this moment, Tim has never let his teammates down, never let their team down. Jokic is very strong, but how can Jokic stop someone who even the great Shaq couldn't stop on the defensive end!"

Duncan's one-on-one explosion of Jokic on the offensive end was very shocking.

This is more than just two points.

In the Lakers' attack just now, the cooperation between Jokic and Antetokounmpo was wonderful, but it can be seen that they were dodging and attacking. They could attack once or twice, but could they attack three or four times?
There is a limit to dodging and fighting.

But Duncan's hard solution looks really menacing and intimidating.

106 to 102, although the Lakers were still leading by 4 points, the pressure on the Lakers' offense on the court was visibly increasing.

Because Jokic and Antetokounmpo clearly felt that the defensive intensity they encountered was even greater in this round.

"Now, Kobe, why don't you attack?!"

The pressure brought by Duncan was getting greater and greater, and the Bobcats began to use their defensive strength to pinch Jokic and Antetokounmpo.

At this time, McGrady was walking and resting on the court, and Ebanks' personal ball-holding offense was still not sharp enough to be the protagonist.

This time, it seems that Kobe needs to step up no matter what.

However, this time, facing Jordan's one-on-one defense, Kobe still did not stand up to attack by himself. Kobe still chose to trust his teammates. Since Jokic and Antetokounmpo were tightly guarded, he passed the ball to McGrady.

After passing the ball to McGrady, Kobe immediately ran away without the ball with Jordan.

At this time, Beasley was in front of McGrady.

When McGrady got the ball, almost all the defensive players of the Bobcats were shocked.

McGrady's deterrent power is still very strong. Even if he does not have enough physical strength, he is still a huge threat when standing on the court.

McGrady got the ball, Antetokounmpo broke free from Thabeet's defense and ran over again to screen for his teammates.

Antetokounmpo's pick-and-roll is very active.

Because no one can stop Antetokounmpo from moving across the court.

As the biggest beneficiary of the forward-pressing tactics, Antetokounmpo is extremely strong in confrontation, especially one-on-one confrontation.

There is no way for Thabeet to limit Antetokounmpo's running direction.

So he can be regarded as the most energetic player on the Lakers' court, and he is also a free agent. Whenever help is needed, he can run over.

If it were an ordinary team, Antetokounmpo's pick-and-roll with his teammates throughout the court could use the mismatch to defeat all opponents.

However, this team is the Bobcats, and the situation is a little different.

The Bobcats don't have that many mismatches for the Lakers.

Antetokounmpo covered for McGrady and moved Thabeet in front of McGrady. Beasley's defense is not necessarily better than Thabeet's.

Thabeet is taller and appears to have less athletic ability. At the same time, with such a tall height, his center of gravity when defending should also be a problem.

However, after McGrady moved a few times and tried to hit Thabeet, he soon realized that he had oversimplified the problem.

This 2-meter big guy has a very low center of gravity. He can actually lower it like a defender!
Moreover, his defense is very good, especially the defense on the guard, which is very good! Jokic just beat Thabeet easily, making McGrady mistakenly think that Thabeet's defense should be a bit bad.

Is Thabeet's defense bad?
It depends on the situation.

His inside defense is indeed poor, especially when defending those big centers, he doesn't quite know how to defend.

But when it comes to defending a forward as tall as McGrady, or a guard as tall as Kobe, Thabeet is very good.

McGrady wanted to use Thabeet to create a defensive loophole for the Bobcats, but ultimately failed. However, both Kobe and McGrady passed the ball very quickly.

So not much time was wasted. After failing to single out Tabit, McGrady passed the ball with his back to Kobe who came out to receive the ball.

As soon as Kobe came out, Jordan stuck to him like a dog-skin plaster.

In this game, Jordan and Kobe were inseparable.

Kobe was very upset.

That's Kobe. If it were any other guard, it would even be difficult to connect the ball.

Even most ordinary defenders don’t dare to catch the ball.

But Kobe is different after all. Jordan's defense is getting more and more aggressive, but Kobe still dares to hold the ball and dares to make moves!

After Kobe made a fake breakthrough and turned his back to move sideways to deceive Jordan slightly, he immediately switched positions with Ebanks who was running over.

Ebanks blocked Jordan and Ding Yanyuhang switched to Kobe.

"Is Kobe going to play Chinese Ding?!"

This is not easy to fight!!!

"The Bobcats' defense is so strong. Everyone on the court is strong on defense. Super strong on defense!!!"

Seeing how difficult it was for the Lakers to attack in this round, many people can now increasingly understand why Popovich used Yao Ming so crazily in the first half.

Because, with normal offense, the Lakers may not be able to break the Bobcats' defense. If they cannot establish a score advantage and save Yao Ming and McGrady, the game may be over by the second half or the fourth quarter.

"Is Kobe finally going to attack this time?!!"

No matter how strong Ding Yanyuhang's defense is, if there is not enough time, Kobe can only attack.

However, Kobe, who was jumping in the air, faced Ding Yanyuhang's defense and actually... passed the ball again!!!
"Kobe passed the ball again!!!"

This time, the target of the pass was Ebanks!

When Ebanks received the ball at the free throw line, the defender in front of him was Jordan.

Jordan pressed himself forward.

But at 2 meters, Ebanks is still much taller.

In this attack, he was the only one who had a small misalignment.

If he were to hold the ball and play one-on-one against Jordan, he would definitely not be able to do it.

But if you just let him act as a turret and shoot, there will be no problem.

Ebanks caught the ball and shot without any pause, showing great confidence.

Popovich was very excited on the sidelines because he knew Ebanks.

In the playoffs against the Lakers that year, the team was eliminated in the first quarter by the Lakers because Ebanks hit two buzzer-beaters in four games!

Ebanks is considered the strongest 3D player in NBA history, relying on his superb defensive ability and shooting ability at critical moments. His shooting skills are quite amazing. Jordan's defense was already very good, and he immediately stuck to him, but still gave Ebanks the opportunity to shoot.

For a player like Ebanks, once you give him a chance to shoot, whether he makes the shot or not is not up to you.

108 is better than 106!

Ebanks' buzzer-beating goal allowed the Lakers to once again extend the lead to 6 points, and at this time, there were only 4 minutes and 30 seconds left in the game.

It can be said that the time left for the Bobcats is slowly decreasing.

The Lakers' offense was very slow. Although the Lakers did not play the full game on purpose, this kind of buzzer-beating goal without any mistakes was still very demoralizing.

It felt really bad to be able to defend and then be scored upon.

The Bobcats played fast, and Duncan played very fast.

After receiving the ball in the paint, Duncan took two consecutive low steps, pushing Jokic back half a step. Then he turned around and made a one-handed slam dunk under the basket!

powerful!
At this moment, Duncan was invincible, like a giant beast under the basket!

108 is better than 104!

Jokic frowned as he looked at Duncan waving his fist.

After Yao Ming, he saw another inside player who exceeded the standards!
As a power forward, he not only has strong athletic ability, but also has strong confrontation ability. His basic skills are already overflowing.

He is totally undefensible. He is just like Yao Ming, but in a different way.

"Tim Duncan made three consecutive hits, and the pressure on the Lakers is increasing!!!"

In the next round, the Lakers' offense ended. After 24 seconds, the Lakers did not find an offensive opportunity. Facing Jordan's defense, Kobe did not shoot after 24 seconds. Instead, he put the basketball in his hand on the ground.

Seeing this scene, the scene was in an uproar again.

Kobe, didn't he throw one at the last moment?

"What is Kobe going to do in this game?"

There was a loud bang!!!
"Tim Duncan!!! It's Tim Duncan again!!!!"

Another one-handed slam dunk!!!

108 is better than 106!

"I'm not going to become a sinner!!!"

Many Comeys are going crazy!
(End of this chapter)