stadium ambition

Chapter 382 Response and Commitment

Although the general situation is gone, the Lakers did not choose to give up directly.

Phil Jackson sent Blake and other players with relatively high three-point shooting efficiency to implement three-point grabbing and foul tactics in an attempt to make a final effort, but the Clippers resolutely implemented the full-court press and strictly guarded against three-pointers. Rhythm.

With Odom and Blake hitting consecutive three-pointers, and Su Yang hit consecutive free throws, the Clippers lead more and more.

In the end, the Clippers defeated the Lakers 108-92, taking a 1-0 lead in the Western Conference Finals series.

The sound of the whistle at the end of the game followed, and the big screen in the center splits into two. On the right, there are Clippers fans, players, and coaches celebrating happily. On the left, Kobe walks to the player tunnel wearing a towel, and many Lakers fans leave the arena. .

In the TNT commentary booth, O'Neal had a surprised expression on his face, as if he hadn't accepted the sudden loss of the Lakers.

After Ernie yelled twice, O'Neal raised his hand and slapped his forehead, and said sadly: "It's a pity, my brother Kobe scored 38 points in this game, and the efficiency is very high, but the Lakers lost the game. The reason is that they lost what they were best at, and they became not like themselves when facing the Clippers, which caused CP3 to fail to play at a normal level."

"I completely agree with Shaq..." Kenny said, "At the beginning, the Lakers trailed 4-11. They panicked. Even Phil, who has always been calm, chose to ask for a timeout to make adjustments. Then Kobe took the ball in a row. pick,
That disrupted their usual rhythm of offense organized by Paul first, and it also caused Kobe to consume too much energy, which eventually caused Kobe to make a low-level error when he dribbled the ball halfway through the court. Like an avalanche, it instantly became an irreparable situation. "

"I also agree with Shaq..." Barkley said, "In addition to the Lakers failing to make CP3 play at a normal level, Pau Gasol also failed to be the axis of the high-low connection as usual, and was simply responsible for the ball. over."

"So, I sum up three points of view..." Ernie said, "The core reason for the Lakers' loss is that they lost their best rhythm in the face of the Clippers' offensive pressure, and the sudden collapse at the last moment was an accidental necessity. "

On the court, the Clippers celebrated the end.

According to the plan, the staff took Su Yang to the center of the venue to accept the post-match interview with TNT reporters.

"Congratulations on winning the first game..." The reporter raised the microphone, "First of all, what we want to ask is, you sent 18 assists alone tonight, which is 1 more than the entire Lakers team. Can you tell us who you are? How did you do it?"

Su Yang nodded again and again: "I am very lucky to be able to do this. We always arrange our tactics patiently. Everyone is running, everyone is doing screens. We are always trying to find a way to get out of the open space. , Try to make the goal easier.

The pre-match analysis of the coaching staff also helped us a lot. We foresee some opponents’ defensive strategies in advance and use the strategies that have been formulated to deal with them. Jeff’s timely adjustments during the game also benefited us many times. "

"OK, the Lakers started the second quarter with an 11-0 attack wave..." The reporter said, "That made your lead quickly down to 2 points. You requested a timeout and stabilized the situation after that. What adjustments have you made?"

"We didn't make special adjustments..." Su Yang put his hands on his hips, "Any player, any team will have a time when they are in a particularly good state, just like I suddenly hit a three-pointer with the ball in the first quarter, so we just play according to the normal rhythm .”

"The last question..." the reporter said, "There are many comments on social media, thinking that Kobe's last mistake, one foul, and two strikes directly caused the Lakers to lose. What's your comment?"

"I don't agree with that point of view..." Su Yang shook his head, "The result of the game is the result of the joint efforts of the two teams and a total of ten players. Don't forget that in the second quarter, Kobe scored 16 points alone, helping the Lakers stabilize. Hold the situation."

After the words fell, Su Yang nodded, turned around and walked to the sidelines, and walked to the player tunnel with Gordon and others who were waiting for him.

There are still many Clippers fans who have not yet left. They chanted MVP in unison, as if celebrating winning the championship.

Su Yang led the team to bow slightly, waved all the way into the player tunnel, and thanked the fans for their support to the camera.

Back in the locker room, Van Gundy made a brief speech, emphasizing not to get carried away, because the next game will be held 48 hours later. Although the training is cancelled, it is also recommended not to engage in excessive energy-consuming entertainment.

Jordan and others readily assured that the whole team took a shower and changed clothes, waiting for the reporters to enter the locker room.

Su Yang did not attend the post-match press conference and chose to give the opportunity to Foye and Tucker.

It was already 11:30 in the middle of the night when I left the Staples Center after finishing all the miscellaneous things.

Su Yang drove back to the villa and heard Zheng Xiang exclaiming as soon as he entered the door, saying that on social media, various fans, commentators, media, and NBA players were discussing Kobe's performance in this game a lot, and he was about to go crazy.

"That's normal... After all, as much as you love, you can hate as much. Kobe and the Lakers are also easy to attract the attention of non-Lakers fans, especially those who want the Clippers to lose, or I am deflated. They hate Kobe for not being able to help them. .”

After speaking, Su Yang took the laptop and found that the keyword 'Kobe' topped the list of trending topics on Twitter.

[Famous Celtics fan Bill Simmons wrote: Thank God, Kobe’s final mistake is a good thing for the Lakers, because the Lakers used to rely on the superstar mode to force the score and did not play a tactical system. I hope they can find it as soon as possible. The solution, after all, after the Celtics are out, I am willing to support the old opponent, the Clippers are not that strong. 】

[The famous James Gap Beasley wrote: I don’t think Kobe’s final mistakes have much impact. He used the courage to shoulder the heavy responsibility of chasing points for the team, not afraid of failure, unlike LeBron James, who always Want to pass the ball to a teammate.

You must have never seen LeBron carry a three-person double-team and force a layup at the last moment of the game, because he will choose the highest shooting percentage to make his statistics look very good; you must have never seen it, LeBron Brown dribbles without any screens, dribbles past defenders, and takes mid-range shots from the free throw line, which he tries to avoid because he shoots poorly. 】

[Mavericks owner Mark Cuban wrote: I object to everyone accusing Kobe, I think he should continue to play like that, I know he is a fighter, he is never afraid of failure, but this time the luck is poor, come on, you can . 】

[The famous Kehei Henry Abbott wrote: You are all saying that Kobe made a mistake at the last moment, but I must remind you that Kobe’s defense is very stretched tonight. Several misplaced defenses counted as Su Yang, which also allowed Su Yang to easily complete the breakthrough, which caused losses to the Lakers, which was much greater than continuous strikes. 】

"These people are really bad. They either hope that Kobe will continue to make strong shots, or Kobe will use it as a gun to criticize other players. No one really cares about how Kobe feels, and no one really wants to help Kobe and the Lakers..." Zheng Xiang repeatedly Make complaints.

Su Yang nodded in response, and continued to scroll down by sliding the mouse, and some familiar names began to appear in front of him.

[John Wall wrote: As a player, I especially understand Kobe’s choice at the last moment. It is a complex emotion that includes anger and worry. He wants to make up for his mistakes so much that he loses patience and becomes a little impatient. 】

[Jamal Crawford: Based on what I know about Kobe, he definitely only wants to help the team win the game, and definitely does not want to stage a hero-advent plot. I hope everyone can give him some understanding, especially the Lakers fans. 】

[Larry Nance Jr. wrote: Kom Ang, why are so many people talking for Kobe? Are you ignoring those games just because he is the core of the Lakers and has won many championships?Please be fair. 】

After scanning his personal Twitter, Su Yang clicked on ESPN and other media groups to browse and check at will.

ESPN launched a voting statistics, in nearly two hours, more than 88.41 votes, accounting for 5% of the votes that Kobe should bear the main responsibility for the loss of the Lakers, and [-]% think that the Clippers played too well .

TNT released O’Neal’s post-match analysis. Based on what Su Yang mentioned in the interview, he concluded that the reason for the Lakers’ loss was that the Clippers played too well, which caused the Lakers to lose their original rhythm. Kobe’s abnormal performance in the end, It is a performance of that kind of result. If the Lakers want to solve the problem, they must go back to the way they played against the Spurs before.

B/R focuses on analyzing several key moments of the game. The first is that the Clippers lead 11-4 at the start, the second is that the Lakers scored 11 points in a row, and the third is that Kobe Bryant made consecutive hits and made mistakes. He believes that the main reason for the Lakers' loss is theirs. It is easy to stagnate on the offensive end, and when they stagnate, they can only use Kobe's personal offense to break the situation, which will inevitably lead to Kobe making more than the average number of mistakes, and will inevitably lead to Kobe's continuous strikes. If there were a few more minutes at that time, the situation would be worse completely different.

Seeing what B/R and TNT said, Su Yang liked it and reposted it. After all, Kobe has always been like that, and there is no need to prove anything. Many people just use criticizing the star's abnormality as a way to vent, and they really want to blame others.

Moreover, Su Yang knew that Kobe played the game with a knee injury, and Kobe himself and the Lakers officials did not announce the matter to the public, so after physical decline and mental exhaustion, it is easy to make mistakes.

But with Kobe's personality and achievements, he will definitely not slack off because of criticism, and will only find a way to come back strongly.

Thinking of this, Su Yang took out his mobile phone, edited a text message and sent it to his teammates. He also followed Van Gundy's example and reminded not to be careless. After all, in the Lakers' past games, there were quite a few cases where Kobe turned the tide after losing the first game.

...

Early the next morning, Su Yang got up for morning exercises, and turned on the TV to watch ESPN morning analysis.

As usual, the host and the two guests were discussing the game between the Lakers and the Clippers. It may have been after a night of public opinion fermentation, or it may no longer need heat. They also pointed out that the main reason for the Lakers' loss was not Kobe's mistakes.

At the end of the show, the two guests gave advice to the Lakers, suggesting that the Lakers play team basketball, especially Kobe should focus on off the ball, try to create singles or shooting opportunities by running as much as possible, thus pulling the Clippers' defensive formation.

But such a suggestion, in essence, still believes that there is a problem with Kobe's style of play, and changes should be made.

After watching the show and having breakfast, Su Yang drove to the Clippers training base as usual.

The coaching staff did not arrange joint training, but Baron Davis and others were there, but there was no high-intensity activity.

Everyone was chatting while shooting, and the veteran Kaman suddenly sighed: "In this era, the rapid development of social media and the Internet has caused players to suffer more and greater pressure than before. It is terrifying."

Butler laughed and asked why he suddenly sighed. Kaman put down the basketball and said solemnly: "Because I saw a lot of people criticizing Kobe last night. I thought they should stop yelling after waking up today. After all, they slept. The number of critics has increased a lot, and it has even developed to dig out the previous game video, make it into a dynamic picture, and spread it around on Twitter, wanting others to think that Kobe is a garbage player who will only drag the team back. The public should apologize .”

Raschel Butler nodded: "When we used to play games, we mostly saw criticism in newspapers or heard criticism on the radio, and those criticisms quickly disappeared because of the new newspapers, forming a stereotyped image, but In this day and age, where those criticisms stay in your account forever and even spread around the world, it’s easy to be misunderstood.”

"Why didn't Kobe refute?"

"He will only use actions to slap doubters in the face..."

The whole team analyzed and discussed various things, and when the shooting was over, they still lamented that Kobe had suffered too many groundless accusations.

Afternoon training was also shooting. After finishing, Su Yang led the team to Malibu Beach for a regular dinner.

It just so happened that the first game between the Heat and the Bulls in the Eastern Conference finals started, and the whole team watched and commented on the game at the same time.

I once thought that the Heat and the Bulls played inseparable in the first half, but after the second half started, the Heat seemed to suddenly not know how to play basketball. They only scored 15 points in the third quarter and 19 points in the fourth quarter. Cut 55 points in quarters.

Just like that, the Heat lost 82 to 103 to the Bulls. Bosh scored 30 points and 9 rebounds.

勒布朗只拿到15分6助攻，个人失误高达4次，投篮15中5。

Coincidentally, there were a few LeBron fans in the restaurant. They shouted angrily, thinking that LeBron wasted Bosh's efforts, occupied the ball and refused to let it go, and dared not carry the offense like Kobe did. It will only be boring to brush assists.

When Su Yang returned to the villa, he logged into Twitter with his computer and found that netizens also criticized LeBron in various ways.

For a while, no one continued to criticize Kobe, but Kobe suddenly updated his tweet and wrote: To all Lakers fans, I promise you that we will win the second game, please be ready to enjoy the moment of victory.

The official Twitter of the Lakers was subsequently updated to show a photo of Kobe's back when he tweeted.

The photo shows that Kobe is in the Lakers training base, his shirt is completely soaked in sweat, and the time is 11 o'clock in the evening.

Near Bryant, Paul and Brown are practicing three-pointers.

(End of this chapter)