I just play ball

Chapter 71 New Challenge
On the morning of May [-]nd, Toyota Sports Center in Los Angeles.

After a day of rest, the entire Lakers team practiced together and began preparing for the second round of the Western Conference playoffs.

boom!
Li Yue hit the rebound goal and completed the left elbow shooting training with 20 of 19 shots.He walked slowly to the sidelines, picked up a towel to wipe the sweat from his forehead and neck, and then watched other teammates train with his hips on his hips.

Howard occupies one half of the court alone, practicing free throws hard, and his back is already soaked.Nash stood by the side to guide, using both words and gestures, but Howard's shooting rate was still terrible, with only 6 hits in 2 consecutive attempts.

Looking at the other half, Artest is showing Clark how to use his feet flexibly, Blake and Meeks are competing for three-pointers, Gasol and Jamison are connecting with each other and attacking each other, Kobe jogging around the court, Garivetty all the way Follow up with Inquiry Feelings.

Almost every teammate formed a team, and only Thackeray stood under the basket with a happy face, trying to jump and dunk on the spot.

Just as he was engrossed in watching, assistant coach Phil Weber walked up to him, "Hey, so you are here."

"Huh?" Li Yue raised his head, "What's the matter?"

"Did you pay attention to the Tianwangshan battle between the Spurs and the Warriors last night?" Phil asked.

"of course."

Phil grinned and shook his head, "The Spurs are too defensive, Curry scored 9 points, Thompson scored 4 points, and the three quarters of the game turned into garbage time." Phil grinned.

Li Yue nodded, "It's mainly Green and Kawhi Leonard, both of whom are top defensive players with fast footwork and good physical strength. Death is even more difficult."

Phil put his hands on his shoulders, "So the plan we made before needs to be changed, and we plan to arrange a new task for you."

Li Yue raised his eyebrows, "Oh? Let's hear it."

"We need you to single out Leonard more, and Danny Green leave it to Kobe, how?"

Hearing this, Li Yue began to think.

The coaching staff used the Spurs as their imaginary opponent in the second round. The original plan was to have him switch positions with Kobe during the game, using Kobe's richer offensive skills to directly deal with Leonard, and he used the dislocation opportunities after the screen to play more easily. Shooting, in order to destroy the Spurs' defensive system, but after the Spurs' G5 battle with the Warriors, Leonard's strong defensive performance may make the coaching staff change their minds, but they have no confidence that he will agree or dare to agree.

Because playing against Leonard is bound to be very difficult, and he is facing a new contract and a new endorsement in the summer. Although he has been basically guaranteed by the previous wonderful performances, he will lose a lot of money if he messes up.

In the penultimate game of the key regular season, he has already played against Leonard. If there is no sudden explosion in the second quarter and hits 4 consecutive three-pointers, he will probably have about 15 points in the end, which is a long way behind other games.

If Kobe is allowed to play, his historical status has already been determined, and he can accept it no matter what the result is.

But Kobe had just recovered from his injury at that time, and he was more likely to be restricted. He didn't dare to waste opportunities against the Spurs.

But think about it the other way around, if you play a bright performance against Leonard in the playoffs, the contract and endorsement price will be even higher.

The basic protection is already there, why not give it a try?
Thinking of this, Li Yue patted his chest, "Put it on me! This is a good idea. Our offensive firepower can be maximized. I can work with Kobe to tear apart the Spurs' outer defense and create more three-pointers for the team." Chance."

"I knew you would accept it!" Phil gave a thumbs up and showed approval, "Against the Nuggets in G4, you singled out Iguodala in the first quarter and scored. Let us come up with this idea. Leonard's defensive style and The level is similar, you have the ability to do it!"

Seeing that Phil continued to encourage and seemed worried about changing his mind, Li Yue waved his hand, "I'll ask Kobe for advice later, don't worry."

"Please teach me what?" Kobe's voice sounded, "I seem to hear someone complimenting me!"

Li Yue turned his head and saw Kobe stopped, with his hands on his hips and a smile on his face.

"We're talking about one-on-one Kawhi Leonard, and he's going to ask you to learn some skills," Phil said.

Kobe shrugged, "Didn't you say I would hand it over to me?"

Li Yue spread his hands and smiled, "I plan to make progress through this challenge, I really want to make progress!"

Kobe showed a clear expression on his face, shook his head slightly and walked to the two, "That guy is a bit difficult to deal with. He has long arms and big palms, which is very threatening to basketball. He also has flexible steps and concentrated attention. He rarely eats fake moves. Consider Until he is still a rookie player, his future achievements in defense are unpredictable."

Li Yue nodded frequently, thinking that Kobe's evaluation was pertinent.

As a 11-year rookie, Leonard's defensive efficiency reached a rare 101 in the first season, surpassing the peak period of many players, but when everyone was surprised, Leonard's second season is this season, and his defensive efficiency reached a terrifying 99. , It is close to many players who are famous for their defense in history. If they were not too young, they would have been selected to the best defensive team.

Of course, the data that best reflects Leonard's defensive strength is that his total number of steals in the first two seasons was 182, but his total number of fouls was only 187. This small gap is unique in the league. Even LeBron James It has never been done, and defensive Hall of Famers such as Scottie Pippen and Gary Payton are also far behind.

This data shows that Leonard has a clean defense and few fouls, but is extremely oppressive and persistent.

The reason why assistant coach Phil thinks Iguodala's defensive style is similar to Leonard's is that he should refer to Iguodala's performance in the 76ers last season. That season, Iguodala's defensive efficiency was 98, the number of steals was 107, and the number of fouls was 92. , But only once, the number of fouls far exceeded the number of steals in earlier seasons.

"So I'm going to ask you for advice on playing strong with the ball, and try to minimize the number of long-term and small-scale entanglements with him."

"EM..." Kobe rolled his eyes quickly, "Strike is indeed a good way, then let's do it now, ask Ron to come over to be your training partner, and I will guide you by the side, and try to practice a few more moves in the next few days."

...

With Artest in place, Li Yue began to deliberately practice strong attacks. Kobe suggested that he use his excellent coordination more to finish the offense through difficult movements such as quick turns, emergency stops, pick baskets, and pull bars.

He readily accepts the suggestion. After all, he doesn’t have the height and wingspan of Durant, who can’t cover anyone when he jumps up. He also doesn’t have the terrifying power of LeBron, who can’t stop anyone when he rushes up, and he doesn’t have the super ball like Iverson. Feeling, no one can stand the shaking.

Other teammates came to watch one after another, a total of 20 attempts, Li Yue scored 12 times, the performance is quite impressive.

Time soon came to noon, the whole team finished their joint practice, packed up their belongings one after another, and prepared to go back to their respective homes.

But assistant coach Phil Weber whistled for the team to assemble, general manager Kupchak and logistics director Randy appeared together.

"Everyone, since the Spurs won G5, we are going to temporarily adjust our travel plan and go to San Antonio in advance to adapt to the local climate and time difference. Please gather at the airport at 9:[-] tomorrow morning. If there is any delay, please let me know in advance!" Randy said .

"Others haven't finished the game yet, so it's too contemptuous of the Warriors, isn't it good?"

(End of this chapter)