Jim Bass Ambition

Chapter 183
This is Karl Malone's 19th season.

Even in the star-studded Dream Team with such a peerless player as Magic Bird, Ma Long is also the team's main scorer, second only to Charles Barkley and Michael Jordan in scoring per game.

As it is now, as the team's fourth offensive option, it is the first time in Malone's long career.

Although the scoring average has dropped to the second lowest after his rookie season, his assists have exceeded 5 for the first time. Using the most concise and effective way to dismember the opponent's defense is one of the secrets of Malone's ability to maintain a competitive state for a long time.

When Kobe, Garnett and Wade bombed the Rockets basket in turn and staged a highlight performance, Malone silently provided a solid cover for his teammates, sent assists to the air cut players, or made low-key mid-range shots by himself, The old postman's data quietly came to a quasi-triple-double of 8 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists, and there was still more than one quarter in the game.

After Artest made his first three-pointer, the Lakers, who were behind for almost three quarters, finally overtook the score.

"This time the Rockets are in a bad situation. You have to persevere now. You must persist in playing Yao Ming. If you want the inside line to be in place, pass it quickly. You can't make shots outside...Look at this Mobley, another Mistake, give the Lakers an empty basket, here and there are 4 points." Seeing that the Rockets are about to lose a good game, CCTV's commentary is also a little frustrated.

Kobe scored his 360th point in a single quarter with a 17-degree turn and dunk. The Lakers hit a 29-12 shock wave and led by 4 points. The defense is a little overwhelmed. Yao Ming has to worry about Garnett who is pulled outside, and can't devote himself to protecting the basket.

"A giant insider like Yao is afraid of pick-and-rolls because he can't switch defenses. The Lakers take advantage of this. In addition, Garnett and Malone both have good shooting ability. Yao can't do anything about a roll-off." James. Worthy commented on the Lakers' routine.

Since the training camp in the summer, Jim has discussed this tactic with the coaching staff. In Jim's view, it is only a bad idea to blindly accumulate meat shields against heavy centers. It is king to work hard on the offensive end and force the opponent to change their tactics first. , the team has Kobe Bryant, the offensive ghost, we must make good use of his indiscriminate singles ability, and Garnett's comprehensive skills are the best catalyst. The reason for the center position.

As for Phil Jackson, during the three-game Bulls period after coaching, he often used Kukoc and Rodman to partner inside, plus Jordan, Pippen and Harper, basically an original version of the five-small lineup, when the Spurs played against the Bulls The combination of Duncan, who is known as the top-ranked player, and Robinson, who is still at the top, have been abused to doubt their lives in the face of this lineup.

The Rockets hope that Yao Ming can respond on the offensive end, but Garnett's defense is not blocked, that is, there is nothing he can do against a prehistoric monster like O'Neal. Yao Ming, who has just entered the league for more than a year, wants to eat Garnett alone. The difficulty is not small.

Tomjanovich is really embarrassing, don't replace Yao Ming, now he is being targeted by the Lakers on the court, it consumes a lot of energy; replace it, the bench is below Maurice Taylor, there is no reliable insider, go up Basically, it is to deliver food to the Lakers.They can only bite the bullet and let Yao Ming on the court, at least they can create some threats to the Lakers inside.

Since changing the basket, Mobley's scope has completely lost sight. The old cat, who made 10 of 8 shots in the first half, has missed 6 shots in a row, bringing his shooting percentage back to [-]%. The Rockets rely on Francis The breakthrough kill and Jim Jackson's three-point steal, and Yao Ming's consecutive scoring on Nene after the Lakers replaced Garnett and Malone, barely maintained the situation.

At the end of the third quarter, the Lakers had an 84-78 lead.

Tomjanovich did not replace Francis and Mobley. He has no hope for the defensive ability of Mucci Norris and Piakowski. As long as the Lakers keep either Kobe or Wade on the court, the two Bit is the end of being blown up.

Sure enough, the Lakers left Wade on the court, and Billups, who took a half-quarter break to adjust his state, reappeared and partnered with Wade in the backcourt. The other three players were Raja Bell, David West and Neil. Inside.

The Rockets kept their three starters, replacing only Yao Ming and Jim Jackson, with Maurice Taylor and Padgett coming off the bench.

Cato was moved to the center position. After leaving the team as Dameng, Yao Ming joined the Rockets before he joined the center. His ability to protect the basket is still good. The young and vigorous Nene tried to dunk on his head, but was sent off. Remember the hot pot.

The ball fell near the bottom line, Maurice Taylor lazily went to catch the ball, but David West had already taken the lead, took the ball in his arms with a dive, and threw the ball to the three-point line from the gap Outside, Billups has been ambushing for a long time in the bottom corner.

Billups received the floor ball from West, made a fake move and flew to defend Francis, who dribbled to the right, calmly shot, hit a three-pointer, and finally won the game. The first sports battle score.

After the goal, Billups found West for the first time and celebrated with a passionate chest bump.

Defensive matchup, Wade, who had a good defensive effect in the second half, still played against Francis, and Billups played against Mobley.

Francis used Taylor's pick-and-roll to prepare to cut in, but David West blocked the offensive line for the first time, delaying Francis' breakthrough.

There is no way out, so we had to use plan two. Francis passed the ball to Taylor, and he was going to displace Wade in singles.

But after Taylor pick-and-roll, Wade didn't get stuck at all. Wade got in front of him and directly cut off Francis's pass. He chased after the wind and scored a fast break dunk, widening the point difference to double digits. .

The Rockets called a timeout, ready for a final fight.

After the timeout, the Lakers replaced Wade, who scored 9 points on 8-of-17 shooting, and returned to the starting five, ready to close the game.

Although Mobley regained his touch in the first half and hit consecutive three-pointers, which once gave the Rockets hope of victory, and Yao Ming also scored consecutively in the low post, but in front of Kobe who completely unblocked the killing mode is futile.

113 to 101, with the Lakers trailing by as much as 19 points, they reversed the Rockets and won the Christmas game.

科比在上半场仅得4分的情况下，下半场独得33分，砍下37分4篮板7助攻5抢断的豪华数据，加内特下半场甘做绿叶，全场得到23分20个篮板，马龙拿下12分11篮板9助攻的准三双。

For the Rockets, Yao Mingkong scored 25 points, 14 rebounds and 3 blocks. Francis and Mobley, who each played a good halftime, scored 53 points together.

"What do I think of Kobe's completely different performances in the first and second half? If he can lead the team to win, that's a good performance."

(End of this chapter)