lakers championship

Chapter 125 Wharton's Thoughts

During the timeout, the extraordinary performance of the Lakers aroused heated discussions in the TNT commentary.

O'Neal said that Tianyang is a perfect leader. He first improves his morale in singles, and then leads his teammates to efficiently implement Coach Wharton's tactics. No matter what the result of this game is, the future of this Lakers team is full of expectations.

Barkley has a different opinion. He thinks that the reason why the Lakers have an oppressive advantage is mainly due to the Rockets' paper-like defense. Beverly is injured and cannot play. It is absolutely not enough to rely on Ariza to limit Tianyang.

Kenny pointed out from the data analysis that the Lakers' current shooting rate is 100%, and it is normal for the Rockets to lag behind. Tianyang and Calderon hit 3 points one after another, which is rare.The key to this game depends on the contest between Rockets substitutes Nene and Brewer and Lakers substitutes Clarkson and Nick Young.

...

After returning from the timeout, the Rockets attacked, Harden dribbled the ball across half court, and cooperated with Capela in a pick-and-roll at the top of the arc.

Calderon was delayed early, but Harden accelerated directly from the left and rushed into the paint.

Randall stepped forward to defend, Harden scored Anderson, and the latter made a direct mid-range shot.

Hit, 20 to 15.

The Lakers attacked, Calderon dribbled the ball across half court, landed on the right wing, and directed his teammates to run.

Tianyang ran towards the sideline at a short corner on the right, and Ariza was hot on his heels.

Seeing that Tianyang couldn't get rid of it, Calderon immediately crossed the ball to Randall at the top of the arc.

The moment Randall received the ball, Calderon and Tianyang ran to the right elbow at the same time, providing a second screen for Ingram who came around from the baseline.

Ingram caught the ball and shot, but unfortunately missed.

McGee and Capela took off to grab the rebound at the same time, the basketball flew out of bounds, the referee blew his whistle, and the ball went up the court.

Generally speaking, this kind of frontcourt free throw attack requires a tactical arrangement, but Wharton didn't make a special arrangement, and Tianyang directed his teammates to line up.

Ingram squats in the left corner, McGee sits in the short corner on the left, Randall stands in the short corner on the right, and Tianyang squats in the right corner. The four of them form a straight line, and Calderon serves from the left baseline.

With such an arrangement, Tianyang wanted to completely empty Ariza, who was the strongest defender on the Rockets field, and not give the opponent any chance to help defend his teammates.

The referee whistled, and Calderon passed the ball to Randall in the short corner on the right, and rushed into the field to make a lateral screen for Ingram in the left corner.

At the same time, Randall retreated to the right free throw line with the ball, and McGee, who was on the short corner on the right, quickly rushed to the right free throw line.

Randle passes the ball to McGee, and McGee passes the ball to Ingram who comes out of the left corner.

With both Calderon and Randall covering at the same time, Ingram has a completely open shot.

The shot was made, but unfortunately, stepping on the line only counted as 2 points.

Seeing Tianyang directing the team to play a wonderful tactical cooperation, the Lakers' bench was full of joy, and the applause of the fans was endless.

But no one was happier than Wharton, who had a bold idea in his mind.

...

In a blink of an eye, the game entered the last 2 minutes of the first quarter.

Taking advantage of the timeout, Wharton replaced Tianyang, Calderon, and Ingram, and sent Louis-Williams, Clarkson, and Nick Young.On the Rockets side, D'Antoni replaced Harden and Capela with Brewer and Nene.

Both teams played the second team, and the Lakers still maintained a 6-point lead.

Clarkson came to the court to control the ball. Instead of taking the ball and doing it like in the past, he actively cooperated with Randall to move and attack. Although it was not as smooth as Calderon's sorting out the offense, fortunately, the Rockets' defense was not good. , The two robbed and scored several times in a row.

The most important thing is that Nick Young is very active on the court, actively driving the Lakers to move, and using high mobility to supplement defense to cover up the Lakers' lack of single-defense capabilities.

After the last 2 minutes of the first quarter, the Lakers' bench lineup did not give the Rockets a chance to chase points.

After the start of the second quarter, the Lakers' bench lineup remained strong, maintaining a 6-point lead until the official timeout.

During the timeout, Walton decided to test his bold idea. He replaced Clarkson and Nick Young with Tianyang and Ci Shiping, and left Lu Wei (Louis Williams) on the court to play shooting guard.

The purpose is obvious, let Tianyang play Curry's role in the Warriors.

Both of them are very good at three-pointers, Curry is better at dribbling, and Tianyang has a better understanding of tactics.

The referee whistled, McGee served the ball from the left sideline, Tianyang received the ball and walked to the right half.

At the top of the arc, Tianyang used Randall's pick-and-roll to get rid of Ariza and sprint to the right.

Ryan Anderson, who switched defenses, was too slow to follow and couldn't keep up with the rhythm at all.

Tianyang rushed to the right wing and was about to jump up and make a shot when Capela came up to meet him.

At this time, McGee under the basket was unguarded, and Tianyang immediately lobbed the ball over.

As soon as McGee got the ball, the entire Rockets stopped to watch.

Unexpectedly, McGee distributed the ball to Lu Wei, who had been squatting on the left wing.

According to the statistics of the shooting heat map, Lu Wei's shooting percentage is as high as 58% when the left wing is undefended.

With a 'shua' sound, the basketball went into the net hollow, and the Lakers added 3 points.

In the next few rounds, the Lakers have been using the same offensive method, but not every time it can be effective.

Near the end of the second quarter, Harden, who turned on the assist mode, led the Rockets to narrow the point difference to 1 point.

Pause time, TNT comment box.

O'Neal shook his head and said: "The Lakers have played the role of Curry in these few attacks, and Lu Wei has been squatting on the right wing to play the role of Klay Thompson. Doesn't Walton want to form a new team for the Lakers? 'Splash Brothers'?"

Barkley also shook his head and said: "This kind of thinking is not good. Tianyang and Curry are both very good, but the two are very different in terms of offensive skills and personal styles. Wharton cannot dictate how Tianyang should play."

Kenny nodded and said in agreement: "This style of play ignores the offensive talents of Ingram and Clarkson. Randall always holds the ball in the high position or at the top of the arc, which is no different from Draymond Green. You know, Randle is a power forward who can take the ball from the backcourt to the frontcourt!"

Walton was naturally unaware of the criticism of the TNT trio, but the Lakers management, who sat in the president's office and watched the game, heard it clearly.

Jenny, Jim, and Kupchak didn't know much about tactics, and all three looked at the magician.

The magician crossed his arms and thought for a while, and said, "It is indeed a copy of the Warriors' five small tactics, but the difference is that Tianyang holds the ball much more than Curry. He is the first to handle the ball. It depends on what he thinks..."

Jim raised his hand to interrupt, and asked, "Is it reasonable for you to just say this kind of Dafa?"

"The three of O'Neal's statements are too exaggerated. In fact, judging from the performance of the whole team in the first quarter, the mobile offensive tactics are very effective. Walton may just want to experiment temporarily. Let's talk about it after the game is over." The magician said vague.

But Jim said firmly: "I don't want a weakened version of the Warriors, I just want a brand new Lakers, Tianyang has scored 2 points and 16 assists in the 5nd quarter. He is not Curry, nor Kobe, he A new star like no other."

　Do you want to take the college entrance examination?I hope you can guess all the multiple choice questions correctly.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)