God of NBA point guards

Chapter 623 Coach, he will beat you to death

The next reporter asked: "Popovich, and Tony Parker restrained the Iron Fist King's defense, which is really effective. What I don't understand is, why did you abandon Bruce Bowen?
In fact, even if Bowen can't guard the Iron Fist King, he can also lock down Mike Miller, but Mike Miller just scored 12 points, and the Spurs only lost by 15 points. "

Popovich's face darkened and he said: "He had a mental problem at that time. He couldn't adjust his mentality when facing the old owner, so I had no choice but to replace him."

"Can you tell me more about the situation?" the reporter asked.

"Sorry, this involves personal privacy issues." Popovich immediately refused.

"Then will you use him in the next series? Or trade him later?" the reporter asked.

"As long as he corrects his mistakes, I will use him."

Popovich is not stupid. He spent several years, spent so much energy, and was traded through other teams. How could he give up so easily?

On the other side, in the hall a few steps away, the Supersonics press conference was also in progress.

"Tekken King, this is your first time playing a series with Tim Duncan's team in the playoffs. How does it feel?" a reporter asked.

"Well, no matter what the score is, he is always so calm and frighteningly stable. Nothing seems to affect his mood or performance." Zhou Quan said as he thought.

"So who do you think is better between this Spurs and the current Lakers?" the reporter asked again.

Zhou Quan compared it and said: "It should be the Lakers. The Lakers' main lineup is stronger, but in terms of the bench lineup, the Spurs may be slightly stronger."

"Tekken King, Bowen was abandoned tonight. What do you think is the reason?" the next reporter asked.

"I don't know about that. I didn't talk to him about this just now." Zhou Quan shook his head.

At this time, in the visiting team's locker room, a group of Spurs players were also being interviewed in the locker room. This is a must-have after the game.

A reporter came to Bowen and asked: "Bruce, you are the main small forward of the Spurs. Why were you abandoned after only playing a few minutes tonight? Can you reveal the reason?"

Bowen shook his head and said: "This is the head coach's problem. I don't know why. Maybe he doesn't believe me?"

Popovich had vaguely told him privately to be bolder on defense and used the Bad Boys' defense as an example, but he certainly wouldn't say it out loud unless he completely fell out with Popovich.

Ginobili and others sitting next to him looked weird. They heard the conversation between Bowen and Popovich on the bench. Although they didn't understand it very well, they didn't know exactly what Popovich wanted Bowen to do on defense. He wanted to do something, but he also had some speculation in his mind that it would definitely not be a good thing, otherwise Bowen's reaction would not be so big.

In another set of games tonight, the Nets defeated the Pistons at home.

Mutombo was seriously injured in the regular season and played only 24 games. He only played three of the six games in the first-round series, averaging only 10 minutes, 1.3 points and 2.7 rebounds per game.

Since he did not play in the first game of the second round, it can be basically concluded that this top defensive center, Zhou Quan's draft pick in the same year and the No. 91 pick in the first round of 4, has entered the late stage of his career.

The next day, on the 6th, the other two groups of games started.

The management of the Digital Team was still very smart. They traded Mutombo, who was no longer good, to the Nets, brought in Van Horn, and barely made it to the second round. They had reached their limit.

The Pacers coached by the Smiling Assassin are also terrible. If their first-round opponents weren't even worse, they would have no chance of advancing to the second round.

The two bad guys met, and in the end the digital team won the G1 battle.

Zhou Quan did not watch the game between the Digital Team and the Pacers, but watched the battle between the Lakers and the Kings from beginning to end.

The Lakers used the basic salary to introduce a mailman who still has 20+10 strength. This is almost a cheating method. However, the performance in the regular season can only be said to be average. The Lakers still have many problems and did not allow this team of the three giants to compete. Better performance from Sonics.

This shows one thing that lineup construction is really not accomplished by just stacking giants. Player attribute matching and internal management, the leadership ability of core players on the field, and the stabilizing role of locker room leaders are also very important.

However, in this game, the Lakers defeated the Kings at home. The Big Three scored 78 points together and won the G1 game.

At this time, the atmosphere in the home team's locker room at Staples Center was pretty good because they had won the game.

But the team's hidden worries have not been eliminated. Both Phil Jackson and Kupchak are very clear about this.

For example, there is always no communication between the OK group, and this is definitely abnormal.

This season, Kobe's strength has further improved, surpassing O'Neal in scoring for the first time, averaging 30.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 6 assists, 2.2 steals and 0.8 blocks per game, becoming the Lakers' first scoring point, while both offense and defense have reached top levels.

This is the first time that Kobe's scoring average has reached 30+. As his strength reaches its peak, he has more and more demands for ball rights, shots, tactical status, the team's voice, etc. The relationship between him and O'Neal Contradictions have become increasingly prominent.

Simply put, who doesn’t want to be the boss?The boss represents the team's voice, which means that he will get the greatest support from the team, whether it is on the court or in business interests, he will get the biggest piece.

As long as the strength is there, everyone has the idea of ​​​​kicking away the boss and taking the position, let alone a person with a strong personality like Kobe?

O'Neal's strength was still at its peak, and he was unwilling to be pushed aside by his former younger brother, so the conflict between him and Kobe became more and more serious.

Of course, his and Kobe's personalities also determined that they would not openly compete for the top spot. There was only a cold war between the two.

This put the postman in a dilemma. He was squeezed between the two of them.

This season, Kobe needs more shots. O'Neal won't let him, he can only let him. He is here to hold his thigh. Who will he not let?

So this season his data is only 16 points per game, and he spends more energy on defense and rebounding. Last season, he averaged 8.6 rebounds, but this season he averaged 9.5 rebounds, which is comparable to his peak period.

After Kupchak stayed in the locker room for 2 minutes, he called Phil Jackson outside and started chatting.

"Phil, it shouldn't be a problem for us to beat the king, right?" he asked.

"Of course, it shouldn't be a problem for us to advance to the Western Conference Finals."

Phil Jackson can't guarantee it. It's not a matter of the strength of the Lakers, but if Kobe goes crazy, he will either shoot like crazy, one on five, or watch the show from the side and let his teammates play four on five. This is the reason why he doesn't dare to guarantee it.

"So... what about the SuperSonics?" Kupchak hesitated and finally asked.

"..."

Phil Jackson's expression condensed and he was silent for ten seconds before saying: "I don't know."

Kupchak was obviously dissatisfied with this answer. He stared at Phil Jackson and asked: "Phil, the Sharks and the Postman teamed up. Your answer is that you don't know?"

Phil Jackson also stared at Kupchak and said in a deep voice: "Even if the Sharks and the Postman team up to average 50+ per game, don't forget that our opponent, the Iron Fist King, once averaged 50 per game in a row in the series. + and a 40+ steal triple-double, and that was while locking down Kobe."

"..."

Kupchak fell silent.

Yes, once against the Iron Fist King, can Kobe's score still be relied upon?As the leading scorer in the regular season, averaging 30 points per game, how many points can Kobe get against the Iron Fist King this time?This is not a problem, this is a big problem.

Phil Jackson added: "Once Kobe is locked up by the King of Iron Fist again, our inside and outside lines will not be able to cooperate, and we will not be able to form an overall offensive. The tactical effect will be greatly reduced. We can only fight alone. It is impossible to defeat the SuperSonics." .

Or O'Neal and Postman can play together in the low post, but neither of them is the kind of person who cooperates with others. They are both people who need others to cooperate with them and need others to feed them the ball. I don't know that they are losing Kobe on the outside. After the containment power, what kind of performance can be achieved. "

Kupchak looked very unhappy and asked, "Phil, don't you have any confidence at all?"

Phil Jackson was not stimulated by this sentence. He had lost to the SuperSonics too many times and to the King of Iron Fist too many times. He got used to losing after losing.

But he still shook his head and said: "No, I just consider the problem from the worst angle. By the way, it is the thought of thinking about defeat before thinking about victory in Sun Tzu's Art of War. We have to calculate the problem from the worst angle before we can do anything Make the most adequate preparations.”

Kupchak shook his head and said: "Forget it, Phil, you should focus on the second round first, and then deal with the king."

"of course."

……

On the 7th, the G2 match day.

The game started at eight o'clock, and at six o'clock, the Spurs entered the locker room and began preparations.

"Bruce, come out." Popovich called Bowen out.

"Tim, what do you think the coach wants from Bruce?" Tony Parker asked.

Duncan shrugged and said, "That's the coach's business."

David Robinson had a worried look on his face. He was worried that once Bowen agreed to Popovich, something big might happen.

The Iron Fist King is not someone who can tolerate it, and the league will not allow the Spurs to intentionally injure the Iron Fist King. Bowen was not the only one who was unlucky at that time, but the entire Spurs, including Popovich, were also unlucky.

"Coach, what do you want from me?" Bowen followed Popovich to a secluded area, but he took the initiative to ask first.

Popovich did not speak, but stared at Bowen with stern eyes, and the atmosphere was very solid.

He was born in the US military, has a resolute character and a very tough style. Now he hopes to use this attitude to suppress Bowen and make Bowen compromise.

Bowen was indeed a little frightened. He looked at Popovich blankly, wondering what the head coach wanted to do. Did he want to beat him?

Seeing Bowen's look, Popovich felt that his psychological warfare was effective, so he said: "Bruce, you know what I want, and you will do it, right?
Just be close to him when he's shooting. Even if he gets hurt, it's part of the game and no one can blame you. "

Bowen blurted out: "NO, if I do it, the Iron Fist King will beat me to death, and he will beat you to death. He doesn't care that you are the head coach."

The corners of Popovich's eyes twitched, and he wanted to slap the guy in front of him to death.

Bowen's mouth did not stop, and he continued nervously: "The Iron Fist King has everything. Even if he doesn't kill us, as long as he retires, how much money will the league lose? You know, by then Most of the time, people want to kill us."

Popovich's face trembled. He really didn't believe Bowen's words. Wasn't it just a flagrant foul?This damn Bowen still scares him, does he think he is scared?He was not even scared when he was a spy in the Soviet Union.

But he can be sure that Bowen really won't listen to him.

Looking at Popovich walking away, Bowen breathed a sigh of relief.

He would rather be traded by the Spurs than listen to Popovich, but he did scare the head coach just now.

Popovich returned to the locker room and said to Duncan: "Tim, strengthen your offense at the basket. I want you to score more points and achieve higher offensive efficiency."

"Yes." Duncan nodded.

In the last game, he took more shots near the two-point area in order to avoid being double-teamed by the SuperSonics without the ball. But after losing that game, he didn't care about this one.

"David, you go to the high post to support Tim. If they double-team Tim without the ball, pass the ball to an open teammate," Popovich said.

"Ok."

Next, Popovich announced the starting lineup, and surprisingly, Bowen was among them.

Bowen himself felt strange, and then Popovich said to him: "Bruce, I ask you to lock down Mike Miller and don't let him get any space, do you understand?"

"clear."

As long as he was not allowed to attack the Iron Fist King, everything else would be fine. Bowen breathed a sigh of relief.

(End of this chapter)