I just play ball

Chapter 175

At 2000:[-] pm on the [-]th, more than [-] spectators waited excitedly in the Thomas & Mack Arena.

Li Yue stood in the player tunnel, looked at the high-spirited players in front of him, and nodded involuntarily.

The game between the Lakers and the Rockets is about to start, and a series of things that happened after the finals made this game more meaningful than itself. Both sides want to try their best to win, and it will definitely be a fierce battle.

"Everyone, today's game has more than one million viewers watching it live online. This is an excellent opportunity for you to express yourself. I hope you can grasp it well."

After Li Yue finished speaking, he raised his right hand, and the whole team formed a circle, counted down to 321 in unison, and shouted 'Lets Go LA' loudly.

Covington then took the lead and ran out, and cheers erupted in the arena.Li Yue was at the end of the team. When he stepped onto the court, he saw Howard sitting on the Rockets' bench, chatting happily with Harden. Parsons and Rockets general manager Daryl Morey were sitting beside him.

Li Yue was about to sit down when Howard happened to turn his head to look at the Lakers, and the two looked at each other across the air.

Seeing Howard smiled and waved, Li Yue nodded with a smile, then sat down and closed his eyes to rest.

...

Behind the technical stage, Reggie Miller and Isiah Thomas sat opposite each other, with the guest Barkley in the middle. The three of them wore big headphones. There were a few pages of paper and two computers on the table in front of them. TNT live broadcast ongoing.

"Charles, what do you think of the extra attention this game brings?" Miller said.

"It's crazy, you know, it's the off season and the NBA is still talking about it, football and baseball have never been like this, basketball is going to be more popular and we're all going to benefit from it."

"So what do you think about Howard joining the Rockets?" Thomas said.

"The Rockets will definitely be more competitive in the regular season, but Howard and Harden's styles of play are not compatible. It will be difficult for them to maintain that kind of competitiveness in the playoffs, unless Howard is willing to give up a lot of low-post singles and focus on high-post pick-and-rolls. , or Harden abandons long dribble singles and adds more off-ball running and pick-and-roll coordination."

"What effect do you think the Lakers will have after losing Howard?" Miller said.

"The impact will not be great. The Lakers did not rely on Howard to win the championship last season. Even if the average loss per game increases, it can be supplemented by a more flexible style of play. Signing Iguodala can be said to be the best operation in the off-season. "

"Let's see what the Lakers' new center will do," Thomas said.

...

In the arena, the whistle sounded.

The starters of the two teams enter the court, point guard Selby V Beverley, shooting guard Rodney V Greg Smith, small forward Covington V James Anderson, power forward Elias V Taylor Honeycart, center Gobert To Terrence Jones.

Seeing the Rockets' lineup, Li Yue frowned slightly, wondering if he wanted to play tricks?

"The Rockets intend to pursue speed, and it is estimated that they want to target Gobert." Wharton said.

"Then they must be deflated." Li Yue shrugged, "In the small area of ​​the three-second zone, the speed has little effect."

Walton nodded silently, and the two turned their eyes to the court.

The referee walked to the middle circle with the basketball in his arms, stood still, raised his hands, and gently threw it upwards.

Jones took the lead and slapped the ball towards the Rockets half court. Gobert was stunned for a moment, and then cast a questioning look at the referee.

The referee ignored it, Beverly picked up the basketball, the Rockets launched an offense, and the audience applauded and cheered.

Beverly slowly brought the ball to the top of the arc, and with the help of Jones' wall cover, he broke through from the right to the inside.Standing at the free throw line, Gobert adjusted his body orientation again and again. Seeing Beverly suddenly stop to take off and throw a throw, he immediately jumped up and stretched out his hand.

Snapped!The time is just right, head on the big hat!

There were exclamations at the scene. Selby, who was chasing behind Beverly, picked up the basketball, turned around and rushed to the frontcourt. Rodney and Covington followed up from the left and right, and the Lakers launched a third-line fast break.

Selby changed direction in front of the continuum and forced Greg Smith away, but he didn't know whether he didn't see it or deliberately ignored Rodney's wide open. After rushing to the three-point line, he directly received the ball and started a three-step layup.

Greg chased after him closely, always raising his right hand to interfere. Selby took too many steps and was not fully prepared.

Greg picked up the basketball, stopped in place and looked up. Harden and Howard stood up and shouted, reminding them to make a long pass.

Hearing this, Greg turned slightly sideways, swung his arms, and the basketball bounced out like a cannonball, heading straight to the frontcourt.

At this time, Jones had just caught up to the center line, just in time to catch the basketball, turned around and rushed forward.

The Lakers basket was unguarded, and the audience wearing Rockets jerseys raised their hands and cheered in advance, but Gobert followed Jones closely, only one and a half behind, Harden and Howard shouted loudly: slow down.

As soon as the words fell, Jones collected the ball and started three steps, and picked the basket with his left hand smartly.

boom!Gobert fluttered his wings like a big roc, nailing his big hat!
Covington, who followed up, picked up the rebound and handed it to Selby to start a counterattack.

With the Lakers in position in the frontcourt, Selby passed the ball to Rodney on the right wing and strode to the right corner.Rodney took the ball and rushed to the top of the arc. The speed was fast, and he forcibly threw Greg a body away, like a bayonet straight into the basket.

Jones, who was standing on the left baseline, bent his knees and was about to step forward to defend, when Gobert turned around and cut to the basket.

Seeing this, Rodney threw the ball up, and Gobert jumped high, and with a bang, he dunked in the air.

The Lakers scored two points first, Li Yue stood up and applauded, "Good job, keep it up!"

The Rockets attacked, Beverly took the ball to the left wing, raised his hand and called for a screen.

James Anderson stepped forward to block Selby with a wall, Covington immediately switched defenses and was about to team up to double-team, Jones moved across from the free throw line to set up a wall as a screen, Beverly easily got rid of it, lowered his shoulders and went straight to the hoop .

Gobert raised his hands to intercept and chased all the way to the basket on the right, but Beverly stopped and passed the ball with a low hand. Jones, who made an air cut, caught the ball in a reasonable collision zone, slammed his hands vigorously, and took off on the spot.

Between the lightning and the flint, Gobert took off head-on and continued to raise his hands to intercept.

boom!The two collided in the air.

The basketball smashed the basket and hit the iron, Jones flew upside down and sat on the ground, Gobert picked up the basketball and made a long pass directly.

Selby caught the ball on the left side of the center line and ran wildly, other Lakers players followed up, and the Rockets rushed to catch up.

In the blink of an eye, Selby took the ball to the right wing and stopped to observe the players' positions. At this time, the Rockets player responsible for defending him was James Johnson, who could take advantage of his speed.

Beverly, who was chasing, ran over quickly, trying to return to his defensive position.Seeing this, Gobert resolutely gave up the opportunity to rush to the basket to get stuck, and ran over to do a side screen, deliberately standing between James Johnson and Beverly.

Selby understood his intention in an instant, and immediately dribbled the ball to the top of the arc, singled out Jones.

Meanwhile, Gobert cuts to the basket, facing left.

Selby hit the ground and passed the ball. Gobert caught the ball and started three steps. Finally, he picked up the basket with his left hand and hit the board. With his long wingspan, he ignored James Johnson's interference and caused his thug to foul.

Beep!The referee blows his whistle, and the basketball hits the net.

2+1!

Cheers erupted at the scene, and all members of the Lakers stood up and applauded.

...

TNT commentary seats.

"I boldly predict that Gobert will be the best defensive player in three years." Barkley said, "He has super defensive awareness and skills, speed is not at a disadvantage among players at the same position, and he can perfectly use his height. Armspan."

"So, after Howard leaves, the Lakers will not have any loss?" Miller said.

Thomas smirked: "Yes, maybe even stronger in some ways."

　Gobert actually performed very well in his rookie year, especially in the rookie All-Star Game, but the Jazz's coach at the time was Tyrone Corbin, who didn't pay much attention to him.In the second year, Snyder took the position and paid more attention to defense to increase his playing time. The number of rebounds directly ranked first in the team, and then he almost won the best defensive player.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)