Legend of Tomorrow

Popovich was surprised and regretted not selecting Guo Xu this year. This is the point guard the Spurs desperately need. With him, the Spurs can compete for the championship. The No. 1 position is no longer a weakness.

He feels that Guo Xu is like an enhanced version of Avery Johnson. On the offensive end, he has a longer range and can protect the ball steadily. On the defensive end, he is not weak and can withstand most defenders, which Johnson does not have.

Popovich was a little confused as to why Guo Xu was able to knock Johnson away twice and turn around, even though the two were obviously similar in stature. How did this kid practice? Looks so thin, is it a natural power?

Guo Xu's strength is due to practicing dance and boxing. His toes are very strong and his body is used to receiving punches, so he naturally doesn't take the impact on the basketball court seriously. Even if his opponent is much stronger, he dares to get close to him, and he doesn't care about the pain.

After two more rounds, Rose ran to catch and shoot but missed due to Grant's interference. Duncan knocked the ball out of the baseline while grabbing an offensive rebound, resulting in a dead ball.

With 2 minutes and 33 seconds left, both sides made adjustments. The Spurs replaced Johnson and Elliott and replaced them with Danny Ferry and Antonio Daniels. The Lakers replaced Guo Xu and O'Neal and sent in Brian Shaw and Horry.

Guo Xu scored 19 points and 2 assists before finishing the first quarter. When he came off the court, the fans gave him warm applause.

Woodson said: It's crazy. Jason gave the most terrifying scoring performance among this rookie class, and the opponent was the Spurs, who are currently second in the Western Conference.

Horvath laughed: This year's draft is really ironic. The last pick is more like the top pick than Kenyon Martin. Martin is a blue-collar player on the Nets. He can't even control fouls well.

On the sidelines, Megan Fox stared at the big screen in the stadium in a daze, feeling a little unreal.

This person who steals the limelight from OK Group is actually my neighbor. Will he chat with me, eat together, and buy groceries together?

Austin touched her arm and said with a smile: Don't be in a daze, he is looking at us over here.

Who's looking at us?

Megan followed Austin's hand and saw Guo Xu waving to them on the bench. Austin gave him a thumbs up and shouted: Brother, you are the best!

Megan suddenly didn't know how to greet Guo Xu. She opened her mouth when she was nervous and bit her lip subconsciously, with an awkward smile, as if to seduce people.

Guo Xu couldn't stand her expression. He was afraid that it would affect his game state, so he quickly turned away, picked up a bottle of sports drink he endorsed, and drank a few sips to calm down his shock.

After the substitution, the Lakers couldn't attack. Only Kobe made two free throws and scored two points. On the Spurs side, Anderson ran back to catch the ball and scored two points for a layup. In the last 8 seconds, Robinson was replaced, played a pick-and-roll with Daniels, and hit a buzzer-beating mid-range shot.

The Lakers ended the first quarter with a 34-21 lead.

In the second quarter, Jackson changed his strategy. Guo Xu rested first, and the OK combination came out with substitutes.

After playing for only one minute, Popovich realized that Robinson alone could not withstand the offense of the OK combination, so he replaced Duncan early.

The Lakers firmly held the initiative, leading 48 to 32 by 16 points midway through the second quarter. At 6 minutes and 20 seconds, in order to strengthen the attack, the Spurs replaced Johnson and replaced Daniels. Zen Master immediately replaced Brian Shaw and sent Guo Xu.

O'Neal attracted Duncan's defense in the low post. Guo Xu and Grant played a pick-and-roll in the middle to get rid of Johnson. Robinson was slower but still had experience. He saw the right moment and stretched out his long arm from the side to poke the basketball from Guo Xu's hand, allowing him to add After a mistake, the Spurs quickly counterattacked and Bert scored in the mid-range shot. 48 to 34.

Guo Xu and Grant played a pick-and-roll in the middle. He broke through from the right and kept a distance from Robinson to 45 degrees. Robinson had to keep up. If he didn't follow him, he would hit the mid-range shot. Johnson chased after him, and Guo Xu jumped up quickly. The ball was distributed to the center, and Grant made an open jumper.

50 to 34,

Guo Xu’s third assist.

Guo Xu had to defend the pick-and-roll in the middle. Popovich rushed to the court and shouted, asking Duncan to guard the pick-and-roll. Johnson stayed closer.

However, Jackson's offensive strategy has changed. He asked Grant to pick and roll Guo Xu, and O'Neal continued to play in the low post, all offensive positions familiar to players.

In the middle, Guo Xu didn't have a chance to take a shot. After attracting Duncan's defense, he passed to Kobe on the wing. Kobe singled out or gave O'Neal a low lob, forming a triangle with Fox in the right corner.

There are many routines in the triangle offense, all of which are designed to create one-on-one opportunities for players.

When picking and rolling in the middle, Guo Xu, Kobe on the right, and Grant in the middle are also in a triangle position. He only needs to look at two points to attract Duncan to switch defenses, and it is easy to find teammates to respond.

Many people look down on the triangle offense and think it is not easy to create openings, but with stars around, one-on-one combat is enough for the opponent, and there is no need for so many openings.

Fox and Guo Xu can also switch positions. When Fox cuts from the baseline, he can receive a pass from O'Neal and directly hit the basket. If he can't catch the ball, he can go to the left corner and wait for an opportunity. At this time, Guo Xu has to run to the right corner to ensure that someone in the strong side corner can catch the ball and take shots. These are a few running positions of the Lakers coach, which is not difficult.

After Guo Xu joined the Lakers, he mainly practiced three running routes and ran them very smoothly. In his previous life, when Artest joined the Lakers, he complained that he never knew what the triangle offense was. This made Guo Xu feel that he was a person with a high basketball intelligence and was a bit complacent.

At 2 minutes and 40 seconds, O'Neal grabbed a defensive rebound and passed it to Fox. Fox made a long pass to Guo Xu. There was a mismatch after the Spurs pick-and-roll. Guo Xu ran wildly and threw Robinson away for a layup. The second quarter opened.

In 31 seconds, the Lakers quickly counterattacked. Guo Xu advanced the ball to the frontcourt and hit a 70-degree three-pointer on the right side of Johnson. This was his sixth three-pointer.

His shot selection seems to be poor, but he is actually very smart. The Spurs have 9 seconds left after a positional attack, and the Lakers have enough time to attack another one.

After two passes, Ryder made an air cut and hit the basket to make a foul and made two free throws.

At halftime, the Lakers led 66 to 42 by 24 points, almost sealing the victory. Guo Xu scored 24 points and 3 assists at halftime, and made 6 of 9 three-pointers. The Spurs only made one three-pointer in total.

Popovich did not return to the locker room during the intermission. A reporter took this opportunity to interview him on the spot and asked him to comment on the first half of the game.

Popovich sighed: We must guard against Jason Guo. He is a huge threat. We seriously underestimated his strength before the game. It would be very scary to let him take outside shots. He pulled away. The space also makes O'Neal and Kobe more difficult to guard.

The reporter asked: Do you think Jason is a better point guard than the Spurs starter Avery Johnson now?

Popovich answered without thinking: There is no doubt that Jason is much better. Avery might be able to compete with him in his peak period, but now Avery's condition has declined, and he is the best rookie this year.

The reporter noticed that Popovich said the best rookie and did not add one.

This is Popovich's real thoughts, not flattery. The three point guards of the Spurs all have a single role. They can only break through or shoot three-pointers. If they want to adjust their tactics, they have to change. Guo Xu, however, is a guard who can combine sudden points and shooting. He is currently the only rookie who can do this.

There is no suspense, he is the best.