Versatile Point Forward

Chapter 249 One person against the whole world

Since the loss in the 2004 Finals and the disbandment of the Lakers F4, the Lakers have become Kobe's team alone.In the few seasons that O'Neal just left, Kobe fell into a trough in his career. This is not about his personal performance, but the team record that disappointed everyone.If Kobe, who teamed up with O'Neal to win the championship before, is a god, then he has become a monster when he led the team alone. Miraculous scoring feasts such as 62 points in three quarters and 81 points in a single game all occurred during this period.It wasn't until Gasol was acquired through a trade in 2008 that the Lakers played the peak performance after the "OK combination" was disbanded.

Even now, Bryant is the Laker's go-to guy, and there are times when Phil can't talk as much as he does.But relatively, as long as the team is in trouble in the game, Kobe will always stand up immediately, even if his shooting touch is not good before, he will still persistently take over the team's offense, just like now.The other players of the Lakers have been under tremendous pressure. In fact, it is not only the insiders. Fisher in the first position and Artest in the third position also feel the pressure when facing Bayless and Ye Feng. It is not surprising that they are out of normal standards, so the only thing the Lakers can rely on is Kobe.

In order to encourage the number one star in Los Angeles, the Lakers fans who came to the Staples Center to watch the game stood up and started their usual "performance".Of course, this is not unique to Kobe. The local fans in Los Angeles have always been very picky, but in this game, Kobe's single-handed scoring performance conquered every Lakers fan. The deafening "MVP! MVP!" sounded from the stands almost Every Lakers fan seems to have exhausted all his strength, just want to use his own voice to inject more power into the Lakers' No. 24.

The fourth quarter was still the same story. The small lineup of the Trail Blazers was running crazily. Even Aldridge hit consecutive straight-arm jumpers from the high post. It can be said that everyone on the team played their own. level; while the Lakers were completely suppressed, except for Kobe, as for their luxurious interior, only the function of grabbing rebounds remained.In fact, everyone thinks that there is a reason why Gasol's style of play is relatively soft. You can tell by watching them fight for rebounds. Although they play for the same team, Gasol can't even grab Odom, which is a bit unreasonable.

In fact, Kobe's shooting percentage is not very high, but although Odom didn't score high in this game, he grabbed quite a lot of rebounds, and the offensive rebounds also made the Blazers players overwhelmed.His offensive rebounds undoubtedly provided Kobe with more offensive rounds and shots, which did not make the Lakers' offense look too ugly.Originally, Phil wanted to use Bynum to replace Gasol, but he saw Bynum's resentment on the bench, and he thought that he already had five personal fouls plus one technical foul , and can only continue to let Gasol serve as the center of the lineup on the field.

Kobe's focus on the offensive end led to another result, that is, Roy was liberated, and he was finally able to break through with the ball unscrupulously.However, in order to prevent Kobe from being distracted to help defend his teammates, he still let Batum become the third ball-holding point after Ye Feng and Bayless most of the time. After all, although Odom can defend, but in terms of speed It's still not as good as Batum's, so that Roy, as an empty-handed shooter who runs, catches and shoots, can get enough room for movement on the outside, and also keeps Kobe on the outside.

All teams that think Kobe's defense is mediocre will be punished. With his stubborn attitude and unfathomable physical fitness, coupled with his strong desire to win, Kobe has always been a very important perimeter defensive player for the Lakers.In addition to this season, he has entered the best defensive team eight times and the second team of the best defense twice, and he has been selected to the best defensive team in the last seven seasons, which is already a historical honor.Facing such a top perimeter defender, Roy made the right choice. He would rather let Kobe entangle himself than let him cause trouble to other teammates.

But Roy obviously worried too much. Kobe has been trying his best to support the offense and defense. Although it is impossible to completely give up defense with his character, the decline in intensity is an indisputable fact.Coupled with the fact that Aldridge pulled up to the high position from time to time to make room for others to break through, Roy got a lot of easy shots with his cover.At this time of excessive physical exertion, whether it is squeezing or bypassing the screener is a very frustrating thing, Kobe still gritted his teeth and followed Roy, but he was half a beat slower when he wanted to bypass the screener. Roy was given a chance.Everyone knows that Roy's long-range shooting ability is very strong. Although he suffered injuries this season, it only affected his impact, and there is no problem with shooting.

Looking at the numbers on the scoreboard, Kobe was a little desperate. The point difference has been opened up by the opponent to 10 points. This is a very terrible thing when there are 5 minutes before the end of the game. It does not mean how big the point difference is, but It has an immeasurable negative impact on the morale of the team.But Kobe quickly got rid of the weakness in his heart, his eyes became firm again, and he continued to reach out to his teammates for the ball.Even the Blazers players who are opponents have sincere respect for Kobe. Everyone doesn't want to experience this feeling of one person against the whole world, but as long as someone can do it, they will be pushed to the altar by everyone, even if in the end He will lose the game.

Kobe's persistence failed to pay off in the end, because he alone could not close the point difference at all, and other players were also working hard to contribute to the team, but most importantly, they could not contribute points. Let Kobe have been in a situation of fighting alone.Although Bryant scored 42 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists, but apart from him, only Gasol and Odom scored in double figures, and neither scored more than 15 points.On the other hand, the Trail Blazers, under the leadership of Ye Feng and Miller, the team has seven players in double figures, and three of them scored 20+. The dispersion of firepower is rare. This also allowed them to successfully win an away game and get a good start in the Western Conference Finals .

So basketball is a sport of five people after all. If one person can save the world in a low-level game, then such a thing will become rare in a high-level game, because everyone needs to fight side by side with themselves Teammates, one person can never be used as five people.

(End of this chapter)