Jim Bass Ambition

Chapter 129 Desire to Win

In the second game of the Western Conference semifinals, the Lakers played against the Spurs at home.

Compared with the strangulation in the first positional battle, the pace of this game is much faster.

Especially when the Lakers' inside barrier Ben Wallace received two fouls in just 5 minutes of playing, the Lakers replaced Brad Miller, the first inside substitute.

Brad Miller's top defense ability is good, but the deterrence of assist defense is weaker than that of Ben Wallace by Rasheed Wallace.

In the Spurs' traditional twin-tower tactic, the center and power forward never overlap. Usually Duncan is on the left and the general is on the right, or Duncan is in the low post and the general is in the high post.This can ensure the unimpeded space in the three-second zone, allowing Parker and Ginobili, who are good at breakthroughs, to maximize their strengths.

A few years ago, when David Robinson was still at the tail end of the peak, the Spurs relied on two super insiders who had both strong possession and range at the basket to empty the opponent's basket and form a dislocation. Usually in the period when a team is built with an inside star and a blue-collar player, it is always unfavorable, and it has won the championship in the post-Bulls era of shrinking seasons all the way.

Not counting the ancient times, and not counting the Rockets as twin towers, the Magic once had the opportunity to form a similar configuration of super center and super power forward. It's a pity that Webber, as a stabbing genius at that time, hadn't changed his ways. The Magic didn't dare to bet on the chemistry between him and O'Neal, and instead chose Penny, who has a more restrained personality.

Although there is no O'Neal, the Lakers' inside reserves are still among the top in the league. When Ben Wallace was troubled by fouls, Brad Miller played the role of a meat shield on the defensive end. Mainly responsible for defending Duncan, while Garnett wandered on the line, taking care of the general, while preparing to double-team Duncan at any time.

Generally speaking, this defensive arrangement maximizes the defensive characteristics of the Lakers. Even if Duncan cannot be completely locked, it can limit the lethality of the Spurs twin towers as much as possible.

But David Robinson, who is on the line, has a very wide range of activities in this game. He often wanders near the three-point line, and after the defender hands the ball to Duncan, he will give them an off-ball screen, allowing Parker and Ginobili Has a chance to cut to the basket.Both of them are dexterous guards, which made the Lakers' pursuit and defense encounter no small problem.Garnett was very busy, fighting fires around the basket.

Once Garnett recovers, the general will return to the free throw line. In this position, he still has a certain shooting percentage. The Lakers dare not completely let him go. Artest often serves as a rotation defender. appeared in front of the general.

So the Spurs got the most open shots, and it became small forward Tayshaun Prince.

Different from the downturn in the previous game, Prince made all 3 three-pointers in the first quarter, which caused huge trouble for the Lakers.

In contrast, the feel of the Lakers is icy cold. The team made 6 of 0 three-pointers, from Kobe to Billups to Artest, and even Garnett tried the feel on the outside. Obviously not as expected.In the second half of the first quarter, the Spurs obviously noticed that the Lakers didn't feel good, and the overall defense line was withdrawn, making the Lakers' attack more difficult.

After the first quarter, the Lakers entered the difficult difficulty with a score of 18 to 31.

Jack Nicholson on the sidelines sighed, Prince's touch is really amazing, the first two three-pointers can be said to be because of Artest's defense, he seized the open opportunity, but the third hit The halftime three-pointer at the whistle felt a little unstoppable.

Phil Jackson was also a little helpless, and there were two bottles of poison in front of him. One, lock the outside line and let Duncan play singles;If you want to avoid the fate of being poisoned, you can only hope that the team's touch will recover.

It wasn't until 4 minutes and 15 seconds left in the second quarter that Billups hit the Lakers' first three-pointer of the game. At this time, the point difference had come to 29 to 47, and the Lakers rarely collectively lost. Accurate, the overall hit rate has been hovering around 35%.

In contrast to the Spurs, Prince continued his fiery touch, making five of six three-pointers and scoring a team-high 17 points.

When Popovich saw Billups hit a three-pointer, he immediately called a timeout to make adjustments to the team's slightly lax defense.

It seems that the Spurs' desire to win an away game is extremely strong.

Victory usually goes to the side with the stronger desire to win.

The whole process of the game made the audience who came to Staples to cheer extremely depressed. From the beginning to the end of the whole game, the team was pressed to the ground and rubbed. 88 to 112, the Lakers swallowed a disastrous defeat and gave away the home court advantage. To the Spurs.

"A 38-year-old veteran, a second-year French kid, two rookies who just entered the league this year. Except for Duncan, they have no reason to be able to suppress us. So, gentlemen, please tell me, why are you acting more like a rookie? It’s us instead?” Throughout the game, the team’s sleepwalking performance made Jim so angry that he wished he could play.After the game, he came to the locker room himself, determined to figure out what happened to the team.

Without saying a word, Bryant sat in front of his locker, unlacing his shoes and applying ice packs to his knees.

"No matter how we attack the basket, those dog X referees will not blow the whistle, but if the opponent attacks, as long as we have a little physical contact, we will be called a foul. This game cannot be played." Fisher as the locker room glue agent, made a concluding statement.

"This is just one of the reasons, but I don't think this is the reason for you to be timid when defending. I will leave it to me to scold the referee. What you have to do is to maintain normal defensive standards. They dare to send our entire team off the field. Even if he's stern! But I don't want to see you complaining about the refs and clouding your judgment. What's up with those open 19s? The refs blow them all out? 2 of [-] shots Shooting percentage, if we continue to perform like this, it will be difficult for us to win. Ron, how many three-pointers did that Prince boy on the opposite side score today?" Jim turned to Artest who was on the side.

"Five or six, it's a lot anyway, I won't let him score so easily in the next game." Artest muttered.

"Seven out of nine shots, Ron, I also hope that you can do what you say, and I don't doubt that you have this ability." Jim nodded, turned to Phil Jackson, and said: "Coach, sorry to disturb you again your job."

"It's okay, I'll boo the referee more in the next game, this time it's my fault." Jackson whispered.

　Thanks @oilcake for the reward~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)