unfinished glory

Chapter 267 11
Although the Grizzlies won this round of the series, there were too many problems in the game. Taking advantage of the gap between the next game, the team's head coach and core players communicated many times, and finally unified their thinking. Don't bring emotions to the court, especially when the team is in a very critical period.

For a player, the fundamental point is still on the court.Whether it is asking for a high salary or a team status, it is based on personal ability and performance on the court.

If you play well, there will naturally be a truck loaded with US dollars to deliver to your door. If you play poorly, even the CBA will not ask for it.

In the past four seasons, the Grizzlies and Lakers have each won two championships.This is the fourth time they have met in the Western Conference Finals, and the series will determine who is eligible to compete for the third championship.

The Lakers got off to a regular start, with Yao Ming taking the lead in attacking inside.Even with Paul joining this season, the team has not changed this tactic.

In the NBA arena, useful tactics will continue to be used, such as pick-and-rolls, such as star singles.

As an old opponent, the Grizzlies can handle this situation with ease.The Lakers' power forwards have not been very good, and Gasol can help defend at the right time.

This defensive method can't completely restrain Yao Ming, but it can consume his physical strength before, preventing two superstars from being able to output in the fourth quarter.

But today's game situation has changed. Perhaps it was the Grizzlies' pre-match meeting that had an impact. Gasol Jr. played very tough. Coupled with Gasol's help defense, Yao Ming's shooting percentage in the first quarter was not high. , Only 8 of 3 shots.

Relying on their defensive performance, the Grizzlies took a 9-point lead in more than 7 minutes of the first quarter.

As usual, the Grizzlies are led by Conley and rookie Thompson, and the Lakers are led by Paul.

After touching the floor of the Western Conference Finals, Paul was very emotional, but as a mature point guard, he suppressed his excitement and played the game step by step.

Now that the team is behind and it is his own time, he has long been unable to hold back and began to release his energy on the offensive end.

Facing Conley, he used his ball-handling skills to pass Conley and made two consecutive shots to close the score.After attracting the Grizzlies' defense, Paul began to exert his top organizational skills, assisting his teammates to score one after another.

In 3 minutes, not only the 7-point difference was evened out, but also overtook by 2 points.

In the second quarter, Li Chongxiao and Kobe played at the beginning of the game. The two led the team through the beginning of the bench time, and then they faced off with all the main players.

Today, Yao Ming did not perform very well under the defense of the Grizzlies Twin Towers. In the previous season, the Lakers had only Kobe Bryant as their backup, and they might have lost.

But now the Lakers are the Big Three, and they don't need Kobe to play, Paul can fill this gap.

And when Paul was very efficient, Yao Ming simply focused on defense.Although he didn't take the initiative to ask for the ball, his strong offensive ability still restrained the Grizzlies' inside defense.

Paul became more and more excited as he played on the court, with both goals and assists blooming. From the third quarter of the game, the situation slowly fell to the Lakers.

The final struggle of the Grizzlies was in the fourth quarter, and Li Chongxiao scored consecutive points to give the home fans some hope.But Kobe, who had enough energy, stood up and confronted Li Chongxiao, protecting the advantage of the Lakers.

At the end of the game, the Lakers won the Grizzlies away by 15 points.In this game, Paul was the biggest contributor to their victory, with 31 points and 13 assists, making Li Chongxiao's 48 points useless.

……

The loss of the first game made many players on the Grizzlies very frustrated. They felt that the team had tried their best, but still did not win the game.

After returning from the press conference, Li Chongxiao found that the locker room was quiet, so he knew it was time for him to stand up and say something.

Under normal circumstances, Li Chongxiao seldom speaks in the locker room.In his mind, every player in the NBA is an adult with a mind of his own.

He is not a character like Jordan and Kobe, who will urge his teammates to improve.His attitude is that you are willing to learn from me, and I will try my best to teach, but I am not willing or forced.As a professional player, you should have the ability to control yourself. What you learn is your own, and what you don’t want to learn to lose is also your own.

But he also understands very well that in competitive sports, especially ball games, handling team relations and mobilizing teammates' emotions is also what a team leader should do.

Simply put, Li Chongxiao is a very smart person, and he has done well in these four seasons. When it is his turn to speak, everyone is willing to listen.

This time he clapped his hands, and everyone quieted down, looking at him expectantly. At this time, someone must come to give everyone confidence.In the Grizzlies, this person can only be Li Chongxiao.

"I know everyone is frustrated. It's normal. I have a little bit of it. Frankly speaking, this is the strongest opponent I have ever faced in my career, even more than when I first entered the league and met Ben (Wallace). Even stronger.

But we need not be afraid.The opponent is strong, but we are not weak.I believe the Lakers also regarded us as the biggest opponent and used 120% of their strength.

The series is seven games, not one. We only lost one game, and we can recover it later.In my opinion, we are not at the mercy of others, we did a good job inside, defending Yao Ming.Being able to guard against Yao Ming also shows that we can also guard against Kobe and Paul.

Losing is not a bad thing, at least let us know the strength of the opponent.That's all they have at most, and we still have room for improvement.Paul (Gasol) and Marc (Gasol) take care of Yao Ming, I will deal with Kobe, leave Paul to you, next game, we will definitely win back. "

Li Chongxiao's words were very clichéd, without any bright spots.But as a team leader, only when he shows composure and confidence can he bring stability and confidence to everyone.

There are more teams losing, not necessarily a problem of strength, but a problem with the team culture.Many players suddenly exploded after changing teams, not because their strength has improved, but because their mentality has changed from a poor team to a team with a winning culture.

It is also difficult to lead teammates.Even a water dispenser player in the league is a millionaire, that is, a person who is inconspicuous on the NBA field and properly placed in the focus of life.If such a person is not really convinced, how could he follow along sincerely.

The trust of the Grizzlies stems from Li Chongxiao's prestige on the court. He is more used to setting an example and motivating his teammates on the court than giving lectures.

Said he would defend Kobe, Li Chongxiao took action in the second game.When Kobe was on the court, he would definitely defend on the sidelines, even if the opponent didn't catch the ball.

Yao Ming returned to normal in this game, but it was Kobe's turn to be in trouble, receiving pestering from Li Chongxiao and assistance from Barnes and others.

In Carlisle's tactics, add the part against Paul, let the opponent return to normal from the explosive transformation.

19 points and 9 assists are basic operations for Paul, Yao Ming's 27 points are also quite satisfactory, and Kobe's 22 points are not enough.

Li Chongxiao scored 45 points in 54 minutes of playing, coupled with the performance of his teammates, led the team to win the Lakers 94:86 and evened the big score.

(End of this chapter)