NBA: I just want to play soy sauce, you let me win the championship

Chapter 325 Octopus

The Lakers quickly refocused their offense on the triangle offense.

Letting Billups sit and beat Bibby is just the appetizer arranged by Phil Jackson.

If Bibby really had no power to fight back, he wouldn't mind continuing to fight like this.

But now that Bibby has shown a very strong will to resist, and the Kings have made corresponding tactical arrangements to protect Bibby, there is no need to fight hard.

After all, they have a more efficient offensive method than Billups' singles, which is to destroy the opponent's defensive system through O'Neal's offense.

Although Billups can create a certain amount of shooting space when he plays Bibby in isolation, if O'Neal is allowed to attract double-teams, he will get an open shot opportunity.

Moreover, O'Neal's offense can also cause damage inside, which is much more profitable than Billups' singles.

Which one to choose? Don’t hesitate!

O'Neal grabbed a position inside and reached for the ball. The ball was still flying in the air, and the Kings' formation began to shrink.

It's a different strategy from last year, a new rotation developed by the Kings coaching staff.

Last year's Lakers' three perimeter shooting spots each had their own problems.

Horry is too slow, and it is difficult to find good opportunities through movement. He plays more of an outside high turret, and his main function is to pull Webb out.

Fisher is too short and is easily blocked by Kings players.

And Fox is too tough!
If you ask Fox to defend or do mid-range catching and shooting, he can do a good job, but treating him as an outside shooter is a bit too difficult for him!
Therefore, the Kings' defensive strategy last year was to release Fox and focus on the other two, so that one player could return to the inside to double-team O'Neal.

But this tactic won’t work this year!

Although Horry still has the problem of slow pace, the newly added Billups and Battier must not let go.

Therefore, the Kings coaching staff developed this new defensive tactic, codenamed "Octopus"!
Back on the court, O'Neal received the ball. Except for Divac, who was standing behind him to defend, Lu Yuanzhi, who was directly in front of him, shrank the most and was only 2 meters away from him.

Perhaps in the eyes of ordinary people, this is still a very safe distance.

But in the eyes of this group of guys with abnormal physical fitness in the NBA, this distance is not safe. With Lu Yuanzhi's height and wingspan, he may interrupt O'Neal's dribbling with just one step, and he can catch up with him with two steps. folder.

An uncomfortable distance.

Stojakovic and Bibby also shrank, not so completely, but on guard near the free throw line.

O'Neal is unsure of the situation now, so he is ready to use his offense to test the Kings' new defensive strategy.

O'Neal got off the ball and started to post up Divac, but as soon as he made physical contact with Divac, Lu Yuanzhi double-teamed fiercely.

Divac was very smart. He blocked the passage to the basket and released the other side that entered the 3-second zone laterally.

If O'Neal wants to turn to the side away from the basket, he can only attack with a small hook in the 3-second zone, and Lu Yuanzhi, who is double-teaming, can interfere with his shooting.

Without thinking, O'Neal relied on instinct and experience to pass the ball directly to Kobe, who was being guarded by Lu Yuanzhi, with a flick of his wrist.

Kobe was ambushing inside the three-point line. Outside the three-point line was not a place where he was good at ending attacks. Lu Yuanzhi immediately followed the ball and ran towards Kobe, blocking Kobe's breakthrough route.

At the same time, Bibby and Stojakovic also left the central area appropriately and found their opposing defenders again.The Lakers failed to execute their first offensive tactic and failed to find the Kings' defensive loopholes, but they did not panic.

Kobe continued to hand the ball back to Billups. Billups changed directions and passed the ball inside again, and the Kings' formation also tightened again.

This time, the one closest to O'Neal became Bibby.

Bibby does not have Lu Yuanzhi's abnormal wingspan, so he shrinks even more completely, only one position away from O'Neal. As long as O'Neal dares to dribble, he will use his speed advantage to steal O'Neal.

O'Neal felt that it was difficult for Bibby to stand in this position, but if he passed the ball at this time, there would definitely be no good opportunity from the outside, so he chose to turn away from Bibby. Bibby reacted quickly and stepped forward to double-team.

After seeing Bibby double-teaming and being unable to defend Billups at all, O'Neal passed the ball from Bibby's head to Billups.

With the ball still in the air, Stojakovic started on the other side of the free throw line and headed toward Billups.

Of course, the ball must fly faster than a person can run.

Billups estimated Stojakovic's speed. Even if Stojakovic finally rushed to defend, he would still have a slight gap, but his shot would definitely be interfered with.

He can choose to force the shot, but now, isn't Shane next to him empty?

So why don't I pass the ball to him?

Billups very selflessly passed the ball to Battier at a 45-degree angle on the other side, but just as the ball was flying, Lu Yuanzhi dropped Kobe Bryant who was marking him and rushed towards Battier.

Battier also faces the same problem as Billups. He has room to shoot, but not much.

He can throw the ball, but he will definitely be interfered by Lu Yuanzhi.

In fact, because of the additional blocking pressure provided by Lu Yuanzhi's exaggerated wingspan, Battier's shooting opportunities are not even as good as those of Billups before.

Battier quickly observed the situation on the court. After Stojakovic made the save, he quickly returned to the defense and stood in a defensive position. Billups had no chance.

Although Horry was reaching out for the ball, Webber was not far away from him, and there was no opportunity there.

O'Neal had just left the penalty area because it was almost three seconds before the attack. It was not suitable to pass the ball to him at this time.

The only passing point left is Kobe?

After Bibby finished double-teaming O'Neal, he quickly ran towards Kobe and defended Kobe for Lu Yuanzhi.

But with Bibby's defense, it's a bit difficult to guard against Billups, let alone Kobe?
Battier quickly passed the ball to Kobe. At this time, there were more than 8 seconds left in the attack time. Kobe received the ball, dribbled away without hesitation, then easily created a huge gap, and then leaned back gracefully. Jump shot.

See, this is called a fadeaway jumper. A shot like Stojakovic's can only be called an ugly "backward jumper"!
The ball drew a wonderful line, and then - hit the neck of the basket hard!

Kobe's face darkened. The previous action was so beautiful, but the ending was so ugly, it was hard to accept!
But the Lakers still have a shark in their pocket.

O'Neal grabbed the offensive rebound before Divac, did not stop after landing, directly took off again, and slammed the ball into the basket!
snort!
So what if I'm double-teamed?
I, O'Neal, can still score!
O'Neal took a domineering step that his relatives didn't recognize and slowly retreated to his own half.

On the Kings bench, Adelman and his assistant coaches looked at each other and felt that this new defensive strategy was indeed effective.

(End of this chapter)