noveldrama
Chapter 802 802 517 The Tragedy Announced in Advance
Chapter 802 802 517 The Tragedy Announced in Advance
?Chapter 802: Chapter 517: The Tragedy Announced in Advance Chapter 802: Chapter 517: The Tragedy Announced in Advance As the first quarter ended, the Lakers chose to sub Kobe out.
A 15-point gap is not a small number; if they don’t start the second quarter well and let the home-playing SuperSonics continue to widen the lead, the game is basically over.
Phil Jackson placed his hopes on LeBron James.
“LeBron, you weren’t the real you in the first quarter,” Jackson said in a tone filled with magic, “Now, let that guy see what you’re capable of.”
James glanced at the SuperSonics’ bench.
Yu Fei sat there calmly.
Because the Lakers hadn’t put any pressure on them, the SuperSonics could afford to let Yu Fei rest.
This was absolutely not allowed in the Lakers’ game plan.
Yet tonight, this scene had occurred.
Moreover, they looked very relaxed.
Determined, James said firmly, “I’ll get that asshole back on the court very soon.”
At the start of the second quarter, the SuperSonics entrusted the game to Durant.
On the perimeter were Shaun Livingston and Anthony Morrow, inside were Little O’Neal and Kwame Brown.
In terms of reserves, the Lakers’ stars were also quite impressive.
Mike Bibby, Mike Miller, James, Artest, and Big Z.
Jackson hoped James would be the output point for this lineup, thus giving the ball to Bibby.
He wanted to see the authentic Triangle Offense.
This suddenly made Yu Fei think, could the Zen Master plan to have James play in the post like Kobe?
If James’s post defense is considered amateur level, then his post offense isn’t much better either.
Not to say there isn’t any, but his technique is poor, relying solely on weight as a foundation, but even if he could push people around in the post, he didn’t have reliable offensive moves.
The only thing James could do was a turnaround jumper like Kobe’s, but his turnaround jumper from the post was extremely unstable.
Clearly, the Zen Master knew this.
And so did James.
Therefore, they tailored the Triangle Offense’s pivot starting move for James.
Tex Winter, the father of the Triangle Offense, designed it for those big men who can both post up and pass.
Therefore, Shaquille O’Neal could be said to be a perfect fit for the Triangle Offense.
The previous O’Neal, Jordan, and the current Kobe are all guards playing a center’s role.
Now that James was replacing Kobe, he had far superior organizing ability, but his back-to-the-basket game wasn’t effective. What to do? The ancestral tactics were inherently rigid. James believed that his post offense could entirely rely on turning to face the basket right after catching the ball to attack. This way, his attacking radius shrank, the certainty of scoring increased, and he could still pass to teammates. Couldn’t he still play a core role within the Triangle Offense system?
In the opening possession of the second quarter, Bibby’s jump shot missed.
The SuperSonics’ counterattack failed, settling into half-court play, and decisively started from Durant’s position.
Durant also made a jump shot, which, likewise, didn’t go in. The Lakers began to pass the ball to James, allowing him to create opportunities.
Moreover, the Lakers wanted to see the effect of James’ customized version of the Triangle Offense.
The result was mixed.
On the plus side, James scored the first basket as soon as he came on.
On the downside, it looked quite forced.
While facing-the-basket offense was feasible, if that was his only move, his offense became very predictable.
Receiving the ball in the post and turning to face the basket might reduce the offensive radius, but it also made it easier for the SuperSonics to double team him and for their interior players to protect the basket in time.
The key for the SuperSonics lay with Durant.
He was the lone warrior on the court, with Brown and Morrow, one only able to eat cakes and the other focused on stationary three-point shots, leaving only Little O to help him share the offensive load.
Livingston could back down opponents, but as long as Durant was on the court, his priority in isolation plays was above all others.
So, without a three-point ability and with a limited offensive repertoire, Livingston was just a laborer.
Last game’s defeat in Los Angeles was mainly because the SuperSonics couldn’t find a reliable second offensive option.
Yu Fei’s 40-point triple-double was undeniably impressive, but Durant was contained.
Now, with a 15-point lead in hand, Durant once again had the chance to prove himself.
In the first quarter, he and Yu Fei accounted for the team’s first 10 points. Although he wasn’t as flashy as Yu Fei, who singly scored 16 points in one quarter, he still had 9 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists.
Yet, this eye-catching performance did not earn the opponent’s respect.
James, who had successfully contained him in the last game, seemed to have lost interest in him.
The Lakers had James defend the power forward position during this phase, then had Artest come out to match up with Durant.
Such an arrangement could have several meanings; it might be understood as the Lakers feeling Artest could adequately limit Durant, or it could be seen as James responding to Yu Fei from a distance.
Yu Fei had said in the first quarter that Durant had lost interest in James, so he directly started challenging Kobe.
James, through not matching up, stated that he did not deign to waste time on Durant either; they were on two different levels.
The problem was, Artest was just the player best suited to guard Durant at the moment.
This was a former Defensive Player of the Year who had noticeably deteriorated. While he may have declined, he was still strong defensively, only finding it hard to cope with the increasing number of pick-and-rolls in today’s games due to weight issues; thus, moving to the power forward position could offset this problem.