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

Chapter 326 Do you know why you need to replace the Cato?
The Kings' "octopus" tactic was born out of zone defense.

Because the Lakers have more reliable space points on the outside and the Kings don't dare to let anyone shoot, they came up with this defensive tactic.

When O'Neal gets the ball, everyone shrinks back, and if the ball is passed to the outside again, their own players can take advantage of the inner circle, move quickly, and pounce one by one like octopus tentacles.

I can give you the opportunity to shoot from outside, but I can guarantee that every shot you make will be strongly interfered with and your three-point shooting percentage will drop.

As long as your three-point shooting percentage is within my acceptable range, such as around 30%, then my defensive strategy is successful.

As for the final situation where Bibby defended Kobe, this was the worst possible matchup.

If it were Lu Yuanzhi or Stojakovic who came to defend Kobe in the end, it would still be able to ensure a certain level of defensive intensity against Kobe.

The Kings coaching staff finally understands. Does Kobe's shooting percentage have anything to do with how many people are guarding him?
He can score the ball gracefully when surrounded by four people, and he can also miss the ball before facing Bibby's defense!
Moreover, judging from the start, Kobe's hand seems to be average?
Lu Yuanzhi silently added in his heart: Although you are bald, you are not completely strong yet!

The truly powerful Kobe is the Kobe who evolved into the "Black Mamba". Although the current "Peter Pan" has some atmosphere, in the final analysis he is still too young!
As for the offensive rebound grabbed by O'Neal in the end, it was actually within the expectations of the Kings coaching staff.

You can't rely on Divac alone to restrict O'Neal. You still have to admit that he should be robbed. The important thing is to destroy the Lakers' strategy of scoring and playing with strong inside as the core.

At least in this offense, the Kings' defense basically achieved its tactical goals.

Billups looked at this attack and thought thoughtfully. This way of scoring goals did not quench his thirst.

In the next round of the Lakers' offense, they still hit the inside to attract double-teams for O'Neal, and then O'Neal distributed the ball to the outside. Battier had no chance to pass it to Billups immediately.

Billups made a shooting motion, and Stojakovic pounced on him. Billups made a shooting motion this time, and after the Yugoslav woman flew over, he quickly dribbled the ball into the paint.

Yes, that's Billups' defensive read.

How can you penetrate the opponent's defense if you only pass the ball from the outside?
Why don't you take the opportunity to break through to the inside at this time?
Now there is Divac standing inside, and he has to distract himself from defending O'Neal. How can he prevent my breakthrough.

Even if he dares to pounce, I can easily pass the ball to O'Neal, and it will be another violent slam dunk.

As Billups expected, Divac didn't dare to let O'Neal go and just stretched out his hand in vain. But how could such intensity of defense affect Billups?
Billups made an evasive move with the ball, avoiding Divac's "careless" defense, and jumped directly for a layup.

Got it!

That's it!

Break through your opponent's defense!
I found their defensive loophole!

Just when Billups confidently made a layup, Lu Yuanzhi suddenly appeared from behind him, jumped into the air, and directly pressed the ball to the backboard.

Nail board big hat!

The Kings home court erupted into huge cheers, and Adelman smiled. Young man, did you really think that was an opportunity?
No, that's a trap for smart people like you!

Lu Yuanzhi's assisting defense is the core of this defensive system.

Regardless of whether you choose to attack the basket or finish in the mid-range, as long as you choose to break through, you will attract Lu Yuanzhi's help.

The league's top wing sweeper will intercept any outside player who enters the three-point line.

Although I only have Divac on the inside, and it seems that I have to spend a lot of energy trying to get in position with O'Neal, my inside line is by no means empty, because we have Max Lu!
After Billups suffered a head-on blow, he did not dare to break through casually to the inside. The Kings' front line gradually stabilized.

But just as the Kings coaching staff expected, this defensive system is mainly focused on reducing the opponent's outside shooting percentage and interfering with O'Neal's offense inside. Therefore, the Lakers still rely on their own strong strength to continue to score.

Both teams fully demonstrated their characteristics on the offensive end, and the scores also increased alternately.

The first quarter lasted for more than 8 minutes. The score between the two teams was 18:18, and there was no winner.Phil Jackson is here, and he can see that Divac can't handle it anymore.

Although the Kings' perimeter has been helping him double-team, the double-teaming was not complete. Most of the time, he had to face O'Neal's ferocious attacks, which caused his physical strength to decline quickly.

Yes, very good. As long as Divac goes down, the Kings' offensive system will not operate so smoothly.

Sure enough, after seeing Divac's state, the Kings took the lead in making a substitution, and the one they replaced was not Pollard, whom the Lakers were familiar with, but Cato, who had just been traded this year.

Why Cato?

Phil Jackson has some questions.

Although Cato is also black and tough, and is the first choice human shield for most teams to defend O'Neal, in last year's series, Pollard did a good job on the defensive end, why not use him?

What do you say?
Of course!
The Kings have spent so much time this year, helping Clark with his statistics, and observing target players everywhere in the league. They even hid Cato in the last series just for this moment.

Just to keep the pressure on O'Neal on the offensive end!
With Cato's entry, the Kings' offensive focus has changed again.

The ball passed from Stojakovic to Weber, and then to Lu Yuanzhi at this moment.

You thought taking Divac off made us weak.

Do you think we will go on the strategic defensive without Divac?

Do not!
A new wave of attacks is coming!

After Bibby dribbled the ball into the frontcourt, he handed the ball to Lu Yuanzhi at the top of the arc and then quickly pulled his defender away, standing on the baseline with other Kings players, preparing to launch a new tactic.

After seeing the space open up, Lu Yuanzhi called Cato to step forward to pick and roll, and other Kings players also began to cover each other and move around, looking for open shots.

Stojakovic, Bibby and Webb all had baskets, and the Lakers did not dare to be careless at all. As the Kings players ran, the Lakers' defense seemed to have cold water poured into a hot oil pan, and it suddenly exploded. .

O'Neal still stayed inside and did not come out. He was very clear about his responsibilities.

Cato came up and blocked Battier's defense. Lu Yuanzhi took advantage of the situation and rushed straight to the basket.

coming!

O'Neal was full of energy and ready to teach this kid who had caused a lot of trouble a profound lesson.

But the next moment, his pupils shrank.

While Lu Yuanzhi rushed to the basket, Cato, who had just completed the pick-and-roll, also turned around deftly and quickly rushed to the inside.

This!
Lu Yuanzhi stepped into the three-second zone and began to fly. O'Neal had no choice but to go up to defend. When Lu Yuanzhi saw O'Neal taking off, he calmly pushed the ball to the side. Cato interfered with Battier. He jumped up quickly, caught the pass in the air, and then flew to the basket with unstoppable momentum.

"boom!"

Cato completed an alley-oop and scored the first point of his career in the Western Conference Finals.

Lu Yuanzhi high-fived Cato in celebration, and then looked back at O'Neal.

Damn fat man, you know why you need to change to a Cato!

(End of this chapter)