The world's best combo guard

Chapter 217 212 [The playoffs start]

The one-on-one match that lasted a little over an hour ended, and both Li Hao and Kobe were sweating profusely. After all, this one-on-one was [-]% devoted to a certain extent.

"Well, Lee, although I'm exhausted at the moment, to be honest, I feel good, and there are almost no accidents. After a night, my state will further improve"

Kobe laughed and left.

As he said, strong duels are often easy to break through the limit. Kobe believes that when the playoffs really come, he can cope with everything in a peak state.

Seeing the sound of Kobe leaving, Li Hao also turned around and planned to leave. He also had the same idea as Kobe, go home and have a good sleep, adjust his state to the best, and welcome the upcoming playoffs.

"Lee, come here"

However, just as he turned around and was about to leave, Rudy Tomka Norwich stopped him. Immediately, Li Hao followed Rudy Tomja Norwich to the office on the second floor.

"Lee, let's talk about it. How do you feel about the upcoming playoffs?" Rudy Tom and Norwich looked at Li Hao with a half-smile and said.

"How should I put it? Boss, I have a very contradictory feeling right now, that is, I am looking forward to it but I am also very apprehensive."

"You know, the upcoming playoffs are a new challenge for me, and of course I am looking forward to it, but at the same time, before I even joined the Lakers, I already knew, The NBA playoffs and the regular season are completely two concepts. Although I have experienced that completely different feeling last season, to be honest, everyone knows what we will encounter in the playoffs this season. Although we The regular season is unstoppable." Li Hao spread his hands, this is what he said in his heart, of course, it has nothing to do with his self-confidence.

"Haha, Lee, it's normal. All NBA players or all superstars come here like this. Look at Michael, Irvine, and even Kobe. It seems that their performance in the playoffs is not inferior to the regular season or even surpassed the regular season. However, what I want to tell you is that these superstars once faced the same ambivalence as you.”

"And what I want to tell you is that the situation you are facing now is the second hurdle you have to face on the road to super giants. You are now a superstar. If you can cross this hurdle, then , you are already a higher-level superstar, and you performed very well in the playoffs last season, so you should understand what I'm talking about"

"At the same time, what I want to tell you is that, unlike the first hurdle of the super giant road, if you want to cross this second hurdle, in many cases, you need to rely on faith"

"What is belief? It may be difficult for you to understand, let me give you a simple example, or let me ask you a question, what do you want to gain from this season's playoff journey?"

"Haha, you don't need to answer me about this question, just think it through yourself. I want to talk to you about another question. The playoffs are about to start. Li, can you fully support the backcourt?"

Rudy Tom and Norwich changed his joking expression just now, and stared at Li Hao seriously.

On the other hand, Li Hao paused, pondered for a while, looked up at Rudy Tomka Norwich and said, "Boss, obviously, I know my current strength. To put it bluntly, from the current point of view, I will No one can defeat me head-on. You saw the one-on-one match between me and Kobe just now. Kobe is the best player in the backcourt, but we are [-]-[-]." Li Hao was very confident.

"Haha, Li, I'm really happy that you can think like this. Since this is the case, then, let me tell you, make all the preparations. In the upcoming game, you need to support the sky in the backcourt. I mean both offense and defense. end, because I plan to change...

…………

After a short conversation with Rudy Tom and Norwich, Li Hao was very excited, and drove all the way back to the apartment humming a little song, and then quickly fell into rest.

…………

On April 4, BJ time, the playoffs of the NBA 24-2004 season kicked off in full force, and the East and West will stage two sets of duels at the same time.

In the West, the Lakers vs. the Grizzlies at home, and the Spurs vs. Timberwolves at home!
In the East, the Heat played against the Nets at home, and the Pacers played against the 76ers at home!
Among them, the duel between the Lakers and the Grizzlies in the West and the Heat and the Nets in the East started at the same time.

The Staples Center, home of the Los Angeles Lakers, is still an hour away from the game. At the scene, players from both sides have already practiced shooting before the game, and fans are already entering the stadium in the stands.

"Ahao, this season's playoffs will start in less than an hour. Can you talk about your feelings? Is there anything you want to say?"

On the sidelines of the stadium, Li Hao, who was sweating profusely, was being interviewed by CCTV Sports N reporter Duan Feng.

"How should I put it, look forward to it, this is destined to be a memorable experience in my career, I will try my best to play the game well"

"Then Ah Hao, the game is about to start. In China, many fans are paying attention to your performance at this time. Facing the camera, what do you want to say to everyone?"

"Thank you fans and friends for your continued support. Please continue to support me. Of course, I also want to say to everyone: the Los Angeles Lakers will definitely defend the championship."

.........

Half an hour later, in the Lakers locker room, everyone was changing their jerseys. Rudy Tom and Norwich clapped their hands to signal everyone's attention.

"Guys, the playoffs are on. We've had a great season this season. We're a great team. We've got what it takes to win the O'Brien Cup again, so keep it up, guys. Take down the opponent..."

"So, the starting lineup for this game is, Lee, Derek, Kobe, Lamar, Bryant, everyone listen, to deal with a team like Memphis, we must counterattack on the basis of ensuring defensive strength, before, We have never once studied their game characteristics in the video room. The video tells us that the start is very important to deal with Memphis, so I ask everyone to show all their strength from the moment the game starts.”

Except for the somewhat unnatural expression of Brian Cook at the moment when Popovich announced the starting lineup, the other players did not respond. After all, most of these players have experience in the playoffs .

Although Brian Cook, like Li Hao, won the championship with the Lakers last season, in fact, the experience of the two is very different. In the playoffs last season, Li Hao already started, and he Brian Cook has almost no chance, let alone a starting game.

Although Brian Cook has grown further this season, he has started many times in the regular season and even secured his start.

But when the playoffs came, when Rudy Tom and Norwich really announced that he was still starting, to be honest, he was still a little nervous

Of course, everyone was not surprised that Rudy Norwich put Derek Fisher in the starting position. After all, Rudy Tom Norwich said in front of everyone two days ago that he would change his lineup. .

.........

After 10 minutes, the lights of the entire arena were dimmed and everything was silent, and the appearance ceremony officially began. Immediately, the home team took the lead on the field...

As the DJ enthusiastically introduced the names of the players on the field, the fans also began to cheer and applaud the home players. When they heard the familiar Li Hao, the atmosphere reached a climax again after Kobe’s appearance. The applause and cheers were generously given to Li Hao. There is no doubt that the current Li Hao has been completely recognized by the Lakers fans.

…………

Soon, the starting players of both sides stood on the field.

Lakers starters: Li Hao, Derek Fisher, Kobe Bryant, Lamar Odom, Brian Cook.

Grizzlies starters: Mike Miller, Bunch Wells, Shane Battier, Stromile Swift, Pau Gasol
.........

After 5 minutes, the game finally started. The two sides jumped the ball in the middle circle. Gasol, who had the advantage of height, was even better. Thinking of himself, he scored two points first with a small throw.

Li Hao didn't even prepare for the defense. Unexpectedly, he was caught off guard by the opponent. It seems that the Grizzlies really have fighting spirit.

When the Lakers served, Fisher patted Li Hao and asked Li Hao to dribble the ball. The Lakers were not as anxious to score as the Grizzlies. Winning at the beginning is not considered a win. Whoever can persist until the end and score is considered powerful.Although Rudy Tom and Norwich said before the game that the start is very important, but so what?The arena is like a battlefield, and fighters are fleeting!
On the sidelines, Grizzlies head coach Mike Fratello stared at Li Hao. He was observing Li Hao, to see how this superstar who had killed all sides in the regular season came to the stage of the playoffs, and how he performed. Of course, from Fratello's point of view, he naturally hopes that Li Hao's performance will become average.

Just when Mike Fratello was standing aside and staring at Li Hao with malicious intentions in front of him, the Lakers passed the ball several times, and the ball was passed to Li Hao's direction again.

Li Hao ran out of the inside without the ball. Just when he came to the three-point line, Kobe made a strong cross pass and passed the ball directly to Li Hao. You know, the basketball suddenly dropped and flew behind Li Hao's body!
Then.There was only a bang, accompanied by a middle-aged man's scream.

"ouch!" Coach Mike Frattero covered his face with his hands and squatted down in pain.

It turned out that the basketball that Li Hao dropped directly hit Mike Fratello on the sidelines impartially!
"Oh, coach. Are you okay?" Mike Miller was the first to rush forward, caring, and then shouted at Li Hao: "Boy, you must have done it on purpose. You hurt someone on purpose. Referee, give me a call!" He got a technical foul!"

Li Hao was speechless for a while, and the field fell into chaos less than 1 minute after the start, making the fans on the scene confused.

.........

In fact, Li Hao definitely made a mistake with the ball. When Li Hao touched the ball, because he was worried that the defensive player would step forward to block the block, Li Hao wanted to get the ball and make a lightning shot. Unexpectedly, the action was too fast. He didn't hold it steady, and went directly backwards, but it just happened to be a coincidence.Mike Fratello was in that position and it hit him directly on the head.

In the end, in order to calm down the mood of the players, Mike Fratello reassured the players that they were fine, and let the players return to the field to play with peace of mind, but he took a long time to relax before opening his eyes...

After all, it's the playoffs, and both sides played very conservatively at the beginning, in other words, they were both testing.

However, such a situation is not what they most want to see for the Lakers who have an overall strength.

Therefore, Kobe, who played as a small forward in this game, couldn't stand it anymore, and he took the lead in attacking.

After receiving Li Hao's lob pass on the left side of the paint area, facing Sean Battier's defense, he directly used a fadeaway jumper.

brush!
Perhaps as far as the current league is concerned, there is really no one who can defend against Kobe's signature. Even Li Hao, in private one-on-one with Kobe, may not be able to defend against it.

Sean Battier is not unknown in this league. As the No. 2001 pick in 6, his deepest impression on people is his strong defense.

In the four regular season matches with the Grizzlies this season, Li Hao has experienced Battier's defensive ability many times.

It can be said that today's Grizzlies cannot live without Battier on the defensive end. The basic situation is that the Grizzlies with and without Battier are two teams.

Battier is a defensive champion recognized by both Li Hao and Kobe, and it is also a blockade that the two of them need to break through in this series.

Therefore, after seeing Kobe succeed in singles against Battier, Li Hao was also slightly relieved.

However, just watching Kobe attack is definitely not Li Hao's character.

In the next offensive round of the Lakers, Li Hao directly approached Battier with the ball.

It was almost the same position, and almost the same movement, Li Hao also succeeded in the fallback jumper.

"The purple and gold twins are tit for tat? Haha, well, maybe we have to sweat for Sean (Battier), we have to admit that Sean is a defensive fighter, but to be honest, when he is against Zijin When it was Gemini, it was really stressful, after all, these two are not fuel-efficient lamps."

Being humiliated continuously, Battier himself felt that he couldn't hold back his face, and instead responded directly with a dunk on the offensive end.

As the No. 2001 pick in [-], Pau Gasol should now be regarded as the most stable point of the Memphis Grizzlies, and it is also the biggest reliance for Mike Fratello to dare to challenge the Lakers.

After several matches in the regular season, Li Hao discovered that Pau Gasol's style of play has certain similarities with Yao Ming. In terms of physical confrontation, Gasol is undoubtedly stronger than Yao Ming at this stage.

After the game lasted for 2 minutes, the Lakers were the first to call a timeout. The reason is very simple. Lamar Odom really can't handle Pau Gasol at this point. The latter has scored 6 points in a row during this period...

(End of this chapter)