Jim Bass Ambition

Chapter 3 A Little Bit of Work
As a guest from a parallel world, Jim knows that although the current Lakers are at their peak and are about to embark on a three-peat tour, their interior is by no means monolithic. Coach Jackson and the owner's daughter, his cheap sister Jenny Buss Launched a period of abnormal love, and squeezed away West, who also had a strong desire for control.As for the team, Kobe, who has reached the peak, has a higher heart than the sky, and his edge is in full swing.

Currently, he is only the assistant to the president in charge of the scouting department. If he wants to make achievements and gain more say in team management in the future, he can only start from here. It just so happens that this is where Jim's biggest advantage lies.For a long time, Jim has been disapproving of the team building model that many teams do not pay attention to internal exploration, relying on transactions and patchwork. A team composed of stars and veterans with a basic salary lacks a sense of belonging and cohesion. Losing, all kinds of other problems will follow.

The rookies in 00 were a disaster, but the next few rounds were completely different. Not to mention the masters in the lottery area, even at the end of the first round and even the second round, a large number of talents emerged.If he can get a number of future draft picks through trades, Jim has enough confidence to build the team into a long-lasting king.

It's a pity that the 01 draft pick has been traded away a few years ago, and the players in the current lineup, except O'Neal and Kobe, as well as Jackson's favorite players Harper, Grant, Shaw and Holly, the rest are all Little to no transaction value.

Looking at the lineup list, Jim couldn't help scratching his head, saying that the OK combination is invincible, but two years later, with these cats and dogs, how can the two seemingly incompatible duo beat the mighty Pistons and the united Spurs?

In short, let Mr. KFC take care of the following questions first.As far as the present is concerned, the Lakers in the 00-01 season are definitely one of the strongest teams in history. If the goal is only to win this season, then there is no need to make any changes.

If you want to go from behind the scenes to the front of the stage, you have to go through a long preparation and do some tiny work.

The first game of the new season for the Lakers is to be a guest at the Rose Garden Arena to challenge the Portland Trail Blazers, the formidable enemy of last season's Western Conference Finals.

In the Western Conference finals last season, the Trail Blazers and the Lakers lost seven games in a bitter battle. Paul Allen, the team owner who was only close to touching the floor of the finals, was unwilling to be the background board of the dynasty. He was ambitious and not short of money. Continue to dance the checkbook, adding former Pacers insider Dale Davis to the team's already star-studded lineup; the famous "Rain Man" Sean Kemp; The assist king, Rod Strickland nicknamed "Speed".In addition to the original roaring god Rasheed Wallace, Batman Pi Erye, Little Flying Stoudemire, Steve Smith, Sabonis, Schramf, Bunch Wells, etc. A strong player, gearing up for the championship.

In this game, Sabonis and Strickland were absent due to injuries, and Dale Davis had to relive the nightmare of the finals again. He was clearly arranged by O'Neal, and he was already on his back after playing for a long time. Five fouls, and Kemp, who was signed with high hopes, dragged his body fat and was helpless against the bigger fat man on the opposite side, and his own offense could not find a target at all.

As a last resort, Rasheed Wallace, one of the originators of healthy basketball, put down his thermos and played 47 minutes on the court, scoring 26 points inside and outside. Smith also contributed 22 points, but the overall performance of other players was not good. It is worth mentioning that in the matchup of the second team, Lakers rookie Michael Reid, who made his debut, made 8 of 6 shots and scored 13 points and 5 rebounds. Then he smelted steel and made only 11 of 3 shots and scored 7 points.

In the end, under the leadership of O'Neal, who easily scored 70 points on 36% shooting, the Lakers defeated the Trail Blazers 96:86 in a bloodless away game and got off to a good start.

"To prevent me, the Blazers must sign two more insiders, so that their foul numbers can be used." In the post-match press conference, O'Neal certainly would not be polite to his old opponent.Facing the siege of the Trail Blazers strikers in the playoffs last season, O'Neal played terribly, and now he has a bad breath, so naturally he has to eat his mouth.

But O'Neal's good mood lasted only one day. On the second day, he played against the Utah Jazz led by Malone and Stockton at home. Facing the interference of Polynes and the top defense of Ostertag, O'Neal still scored efficiently. A large double-double with 34 points and 15 rebounds, but at the last minute of the game, he got an offensive foul and left the field with 6 fouls. Except for Kobe Bryant who contributed 31 points, only rookie Reed scored 10 points, and none of the other players scored. pair.

For the Jazz, the 37-year-old Malone scored 26 points and 11 rebounds, and the 38-year-old Stockton scored 21 points and sent 14 assists and scored 3 steals and 2 blocks. The years seemed to leave no trace on the two of them.After more than a dozen seasons, both of them missed very few games, including the game where Ma Long was suspended for an iron elbow injury.

著名背景板拉塞尔9投6中得到18分，爵士5人上双，湖人在主场92：97吞下赛季首败。

Next, the Lakers faced the rookie Vancouver Grizzlies, and the scene where O'Neal faced Bryant Reeves was like sparks hitting the earth. Bryant Reeves, known as the "No. 1 in history" of the Grizzlies, was the first player to join Grizzlies players, with a huge weight close to 140 kilograms, are not particularly disadvantaged in terms of tonnage against O'Neal.

But in terms of flexibility, O'Neal is much stronger. In the game, O'Neal fully demonstrated that he has more than just strength. Levi's only played 20 minutes and graduated with six fouls, scoring only 4 points.

The Grizzlies relied on Bibby's perfect shooting and persisted for 2 quarters, but eventually lost the game. The second pick with high expectations, Swift scored 3 points and picked up 1 rebound, and tried to dunk O'Neal. It appeared as the background of the hot pot in the highlights of the five best balls of the day.

For the Lakers, Reid performed poorly, scoring only 5 points on 1 of 2 shots.The two three-point attempts were all outrageously crooked, and some fans even thought that it was impossible to make a three-pointer with this ugly shooting posture.

The fans' remarks were quickly slapped in the face. In the back-to-back Los Angeles Derby the next day, Reed quickly rebounded, making 12 of 6 shots and 5 of 2 three-pointers. He scored a career-high 22 points and combined with 60. The OK combination of points accounted for 19% of the team's points.For the Clippers, Odom scored 15 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 26 blocks, showing the talent of the left-handed magician to the fullest, while Tanhuaxiu Miles played 4 minutes and scored 6 points, 1 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steal and [-] blocks. Comprehensive data, the performance of the No. [-] pick Swift.

"It seems that we have chosen a good boy, Jim, and he did a good job." In the box, Dr. Bass was obviously satisfied with Reed, who performed well.Compared with the dismal start of the season of several other high-ranking picks, Reid, who came off the bench at the end of the first round, can still contribute double-digit points per game even with the two superstars O'Neal and Kobe in the team, which is even more commendable. .

"Remember, the Los Angeles Lakers will always stand at the pinnacle of the league under the leadership of our Buss family." Dr. Buss left a sentence and walked out of the box.

Jim muses, and Dr. Buss grows dissatisfied with Jackson's increasingly blatant power grabs.If the normal trajectory is followed, after the team's conflicts broke out, Jackson will naturally be swept out, but the team will also enter a period of trough, which is not what Jim wants to see.

Sitting alone in the box, watching the audience in the arena gradually leave, Jim dialed Kupchak's phone.

(End of this chapter)