noveldrama
Chapter 834 834 527 When The Chosen One Judges
Chapter 834 834 527 When The Chosen One Judges
?Chapter 834: Chapter 527 When The Chosen One Judges Chapter 834: Chapter 527 When The Chosen One Judges The Lakers set up an all-forward lineup to counter the Supersonics’ continuous targeting of their inside players.
This was indeed beyond Tyronn Lue’s expectations.
He thought Phil Jackson might reluctantly field a player like D.J. Mbenga to cover the court, but Jackson actually gave up playing a pure inside game.
But was this really a risk for Jackson?
Rather, many years ago, Jackson had tried similar tactics.
During the Bulls’ second dynasty, the main center Luc Longley was often injured, and when backup centers like Bill Wennington proved ineffective, Jackson would field a lineup of Harper, Jordan, Pippen, Toni Kuko?, and Rodman to battle the opponents.
You could say this was Jackson experimenting with the so-called “future of basketball consists of five forwards” prophecy out of necessity, which Pat Riley promoted.
Today, reality’s pressures once again reached the Lakers, forcing Jackson to give up Pau Gasol.
Having Artest and Jamison play inside meant not only facing huge pressure on rebounds, but their inside defense also became a point of exploitation, especially since the Supersonics did not need to lower their inside height to gain defensive flexibility like the Lakers did.
This was the reality the Lakers had to face, but the benefits they gained were obvious.
Kobe and LeBron were no longer bound by the Triangle Offense.
They became a true small-ball team combining shooting, speed, and space.
What did this mean?
Their game turned into two-man basketball; Kobe and LeBron shared ball-handling time. A proverb from a traditional coach states, “I damn hate a team that lets a star dribble more than five times in a single offense.”
Under these circumstances for the Lakers, don’t mention five times; if there was enough time, Kobe and LeBron could handle the ball more than ten times in a single play.
High ball possession coupled with repeatedly stretched out pick-and-rolls and isolation plays, role players either shot the ball or passed it back; no other options. The primary strategy was to maximize space and let the stars dominate everything.
In terms of gameplay, the Lakers had progressed further than Fei’s Supersonics and the Bucks.
They were like Don?i? and Irving’s Mavericks.
Stars plus shooters equal everything.
When the Lakers scored 10 points in three minutes in the second half, narrowing the lead to 4 points, the Supersonics extended the lead back to 7 points through their inside advantage.
Fei actively matched up against LeBron.
The 2010 LeBron was inferior in offensive skills compared to the 2024 Don?i?, and the 2010 Kobe was clearly better than the 2024 Irving, presenting a defensive challenge for the Lakers.
However, the extreme lineup the Lakers fielded did not maximize their offense.
At least they still had Artest, the space black hole.
Thus, the Supersonics could always leave Artest open to double-team one of Kobe or LeBron.
The Lakers did not miss the opportunities created by Artest’s open positions, but Artest’s performance when he got the open shots could only be described as bold in shooting. As for his shooting percentage, there’s not much to say.
Artest made 1 out of 4 shots in the second quarter, a mere 25% shooting percentage, but the Lakers needed him to keep shooting, not just him, others who got the ball also needed to shoot boldly.
Jamison made some contributions at this time, more active in scoring compared to being passively hit in the first half.
But the loss and rebounding pressure he brought to the Lakers inside were still not compensated by a few stealthy points.
Fei and Roy continuously targeted Jamison, magnifying their inside advantage.
The Lakers relied on the natural space advantage of five-out to score from outside.
Richard Hamilton saw what Fei was doing.
On defense, he guarded LeBron, did not spare efforts switching to guard Kobe, and even when he helped defend his own, he no longer dismissed himself as before.
What does this imply?
The Lakers indeed put unprecedented pressure on The Chosen One who always seemed above it all.
The first half of the third quarter was when the Lakers felt the greatest pressure.
Fei and Roy took turns handling the ball and targeting by name.
Then, after six minutes, the Supersonics substituted Roy out.
The ball was back in Fei’s hands alone.
He wasn’t in a hurry, dribbling with his right hand, directing teammates with his left.
Suddenly, a slight flaw appeared in LeBron’s defense, which Fei decisively penetrated, only to find it was a trap set by the Lakers, as Artest suddenly showed up.
Fei immediately passed the ball out.
Larry Hughes took it, shot a three-pointer, missed, but Chris Bosh grabbed the rebound, went for a second chance, still missed, Fei grabbed the offensive rebound, and without landing, he sent it back into the basket.
“Can a three-pointer save your life, LeBron?”
The Lakers’ excellent defense for over half a minute was wasted due to poor rebound protection.
Fei’s sarcasm didn’t get into LeBron’s heart.
“Just take your life is enough,” LeBron coldly replied.
“Is that something you can say?” Fei, walking back, tossed back a sentence without turning his head, “Have you forgotten who created this era?”
Something is unjust for Stephen Curry.
He should have become the destined son who changed the fate of basketball, a feat greater than the championships that were destined for him, similar to Oscar Robertson who led a revolt during the 1964 All-Star weekend, securing better benefits and pensions for future players, and after retiring, ended the long-standing slavery-like history of professional basketball with a protracted lawsuit. His Promethean act of stealing the fire was enough to lift The Big O beyond the mere bounds of basketball.