basketball kingdom

Chapter 46 Point Guards and Coaches

Cousins ​​showed a better bounce and helped the Kings get the offense.

Rondo dribbled the ball across half court and came to the top of the arc to direct his teammates to run.

Gay got instructions from head coach George Karl before going on the field, and tried to consume Xu Tian who was defending him with running positions.

George Karl is a controversial coach.After Carmelo Anthony left the New York Knicks, he didn't miss his old feelings and spoke ill of Anthony behind his back.During the playoffs against the Warriors, he instructed Iguodala to injure Curry.These are his controversial points.

But aside from these, Karl is a very experienced coach.He is the seventh coach with a thousand wins in the NBA and won the best head coach in the 12-13 season.

Before and after the All-Star game last season, the Kings signed a four-year contract with Karl, allowing him to take the position of head coach.

It is worth mentioning that George Karl is the fifth head coach after Cousins ​​came to the King.Cousins ​​is a 10-year rookie and has only played five seasons so far. On average, he needs to change a head coach every season, which is also a record.

Despite his personality issues, Cousins' performance on the court is still fine.

Cousins ​​took off on the spot inside, grabbed the ball with his right hand, and violently dunked Hibbert.

"BOOM!", the whistle sounded when the ball scored.

Hibbert lost a defensive foul and allowed Cousins ​​to score 2+1.

Cousins ​​flexed his biceps to the excited crowd behind the hoop.

Hibbert walked over and said a few words to the referee, indicating that he had not fouled, but the referee ignored him and continued to execute the penalty.

Xu Tian stood on the left side of the free throw line. This is where the defensive small forward should stand when the opponent makes a free throw. But now Nick Young is a little weak, so he can only do it for him.

Kobe's knee was still a little sore. In order to avoid the defensive run, he walked back to the Lakers' offensive half ahead of time, watching Cousins' free throw from a distance.

George Karl noticed Kobe's movements, got up and called the team's starting shooting guard Ben McLemore to his side, telling him that he could increase his personal offense.

Ben McLemore was the No. 13 pick in 7. He is 196 cm tall and weighs 89 kg. He averaged 12.1 points per game last season, which is not a good scorer.Karl asked him to attack, completely on the spot.

Scott stood on the sidelines, not very satisfied with the defensive performance of Nick Young and Kobe just now.Both have missed defenses on several occasions, and if the Kings attack from the perimeter, their defenses can become breaches.

However, due to Kobe's status, Scott just stood on the sidelines and said nothing.

Cousins ​​made a steady free throw and the Kings started 3-0.

Hibbert sent the ball to Xu Tian.

As soon as Xu Tian got the ball, he was booed by the audience.But he didn't care and dribbled the ball past halftime.

Randall came to the top of the arc to set a screen.

Willie Cauley-Stein, who defends Randall, is the No. 6 pick this year. He is 213 cm tall and weighs 109 kg. He is a center forward and good at defense.But in this game, he served as a power forward.

Cauley-Stein and Gay switch defenses.Guy went to follow Randall, and Cauley Stein came to Xu Tian and defended Xu Tian near the three-point line.

Bryant was parked 45 degrees to the left, Nick Young was outside the [-]-point line on the right, and neither was running.

Xu Tian saw that there was no chance to pass the ball, so he accelerated his dribbling rhythm and rushed to the inside of the Kings.

Cauley-Stein's speed and athletic ability are excellent, followed by Xu Tian.

Cousins ​​and Gay left their defenders and stood near the penalty area, ready to assist Xu Tian in defense at any time.

Xu Tian rushed near the penalty area, attracted the defense of Cousins ​​and Gay, and hit the ground to pass the ball.

The basketball slips between Gay's legs and into the hands of Randle, who stands to the right.

Randall took off on the spot, raised the knife in his hand and dropped it, and made a steady hit in the mid-range shot.

2-3!

Xu Tian and Randall clapped hands to celebrate.

Randall is also eager to win, and being able to play with a pass-first point guard is beneficial to his performance, so he put aside his prejudices and earnestly implemented Xu Tian's arrangement.

Barkley looked at Xu Tian who was retreating, and said with a smile: "Xu's vision is as good as ever. The Kings' three defensive players have completely blocked his vision, but he can still pass the ball to Randall."

Kenny Smith also did not shy away from his admiration, saying: "Xu played very confidently on the court and ignored the King's defense." Then he looked at Barkley and continued, "In your words, Xu Hit with ease!"

Barkley agreed with Kenny Smith's idea, and just about to continue, he was interrupted by Cauley Stan's powerful dunk, and turned to explain Cauley Stan's goal.

In the subsequent rounds, the Kings made adjustments on the defensive end. Cauley Stein no longer defended Xu Tian, ​​but followed Randall closely, leaving Randall with no room to shoot.On the offensive end, Rondo gave Cauley Stein and Cousins ​​​​all offensive opportunities, and the two continued to attack the Lakers inside.

For the Lakers, Xu Tian passed the ball to Kobe, Nick Young and Hibbert for three consecutive rounds, but these three passes turned into irons.

The Kings hit a 6-0 spurt to lead 11-2.

Xu Tian dribbled the ball across halftime.

Randall continued to come up to cover, and after completing the cover, he ran to the left.

Rondo understood that the Lakers were playing sudden points in the early stage, and blocked Xu Tian's breakthrough route early. He wanted to flank Gay back and forth, and defend Xu Tian oppressively.

Seeing Rondo, Xu Tian didn't slow down, dribbled the ball behind his back and changed direction, and passed him directly.

Cauley-Stein let go of Randle again and came out to defend.

Randall received Xu Tian's pass and rushed directly to the inside, catching Cousins' defensive foul.

Xu Tian ran over and pulled Randall up.

When Randall made a free throw, Carl called Rondo over. Rondo did not execute the early tactics he arranged. He needed to communicate with the starting point guard.

After Rondo came to his side, Carl put his arms around his waist and whispered, "Rajon, Kobe has a running problem today, give the ball to Ben and let him attack."

Rondo took off his braces and said: "Right now, I don't feel the need to change."

Carl insisted on his own ideas and said: "The defense of the Lakers' back line is not good. Attacking Kobe has the most benefits. You can't be wrong if you listen to me."

Rondo shook his head and said: "If the inside line can't be opened, I will pass the ball to Ben."

Carl knew about the conflict between Carlisle and Rondo last season. Seeing Rondo's attitude, he didn't insist on his point of view, and said, "Okay! If you really can't open it, use the tactics I said."

Rondo put the braces back in his mouth and said, "No problem!" After speaking, he walked back to the court.

Randall made one of two free throws, rewriting the score to 11-3, and the Kings took the lead.

Nick Young and Kobe had running problems and were slow to retreat.

Scott knew that a substitution should be made, but Xu Tian's offense to him made him decide to call a timeout later.

Rondo once again passed a lob to the inside, but Randall went around ahead of time, intercepted the pass, and threw the ball directly toward the frontcourt.

Xu Tian had already reached the center line, and seeing the ball flying in the air, he suddenly accelerated towards the frontcourt.McLemore, who was chasing after him, was quickly left behind by him.

After Xu Tian got the ball, he dribbled faster, and gently sent the ball into the basket with his right hand.

11-5!

McLemore ran out of the baseline, picked up the basketball that bounced to him, turned around and sent it to Rondo.

Seeing Xu Tian's speed, Rondo didn't dare to run and play with the Lakers, and slowly pushed the ball across half court.

Xu Tian knew that Rondo would not give the ball to Guy for the time being, so he took the initiative to switch defenses with Nick Young and came to the top of the arc to defend Rondo.

Both Hibbert and Randall chose to defend around the front and intercept Rondo's passing route in advance.

Under normal circumstances, the top insiders disdain to use the defense around the front.However, Xu Tian didn't have such a psychological burden, and he successfully persuaded Randall to use the front to defend the King's inside line.

Seeing Randall successfully blocking the Kings' attack, Hibbert, unwilling to be blown up, also put down his boring self-esteem and used this "declining" defensive method.

Rondo didn't find a passing opportunity.The dribble moved laterally, thinking of Carl's arrangement, and passed the ball to McClemore.

Gay and Rondo ran to the left and right respectively, pulling away the players defending themselves, allowing McClemore to single Kobe.

Xu Tian glanced at Kobe who was defending McClemore, saw Kobe in the most standard defensive posture, and roughly guessed the ending of the attack.

Kobe gritted his back molars, forgetting the pain from his knee, which interfered with McClemore's shot.

Xu Tian had already rushed inside ahead of time, and picked off the rebound from the air when Cousins ​​and Cauley-Stein hadn't taken off.

Although Nick Young's running speed was not fast, he started ahead of schedule and ran towards the Kings halftime.

The ball flew accurately into Nick Young's hands.

Gay quickly returned to the defense, took off from behind, and slapped Nick Young's layup on the backboard.

The fans at the scene ended their silence and gave Gay a warm cheer.

Nick Young clapped his hands angrily when he returned to defense.The ball could have been dunked, but the weakness of his feet made him not take off enough, so he had to convert it into a layup, but it was blocked.

Gay threw the ball to Rondo as he dribbled past half court.

Knowing that Xu Tian was by his side, Rondo quickly ran towards the ball.

Xu Tian was even faster, and before Rondo got the ball, he hit the ball towards the king's half court with his hands.

Rondo didn't want to give up the ball, so he kicked his feet on the ground, grabbed the ball with both hands, and called a timeout urgently.

After the referee's whistle sounded, Xu Tian stopped grabbing the ball.While walking towards the sidelines, he looked at the scoreboard.

With 7 minutes and 52 seconds left in the first quarter, the Kings led 11-5.

Scott was angry and wanted Xu Tian to arrange tactics, but when he said this, he thought that the magician might watch the game.He took over the tactical board from Mark Madsen and gave the players simple tactics.

Standing on the periphery, Xu Tian didn't listen to Cousins' chicken soup tactical arrangement, but looked at Cousins ​​who was sitting on the king's bench.

(End of this chapter)