Chapter 364: Locker Room Problem

Latest website: Zhao Dong clocked in for the third quarter and only played 30 minutes, scoring a triple-double of 28 points, 11 rebounds, 8 assists, 4 steals and 6 blocks.

This game exceeded everyone's expectations from the beginning.

Everyone thought that the Lakers could compete with the Knicks and even have a slight advantage. However, from the first minute, it was a one-sided game that made everyone's jaws drop.

After the game, although Zhao Dong only played three quarters, he was still named the best of the game and accepted interviews with the media at the scene.

A Los Angeles Sports reporter asked: "Feilong, please comment on this game."

Zhao Dong organized his speech and said: "This game can be divided into three stages. In the post-starting stage, we relied on our tactics to stun the Lakers and completely restricted O'Neal.

In the second stage, the Lakers replaced Ben and replaced Horry. O'Neal got the opportunity to play me alone. Then we immediately changed our defensive tactics and implemented multiple double-teams on him under the basket. At this stage, we also guarded O'Neal and prevented the Lakers' offense from being able to play.

Then in the third stage, the Lakers failed to reverse the situation. Their morale was low. No one could stand up and unify the team. They became a scattered mess fighting alone. This was the worst stage for the Lakers. .

This was a game that no one expected, we got a huge win tactically and the coaching staff reflected their importance. "

"Do you think the Lakers' performance in this game was unsatisfactory?" the reporter asked again.

"It can be said that this is not a reflection of the Lakers' true strength, especially in the third stage, they completely collapsed. If this was the finals, it would be a very poor performance." Zhao Dongdao.

"What do you think the Lakers should do?" the reporter asked again.

"The Lakers' tactics failed in the first two stages. This is more a problem with the coaching staff. Of course, there are flaws in the lineup, but this is secondary. What the Lakers should solve is the problems exposed in the third stage. Their Without enough cohesion and tenacity of willpower, we were defeated in the first quarter. Such a team is not qualified to face us in the finals," Zhao Dong said.

The Lakers had returned to the locker room at this time, and a large group of reporters followed them, asking for interviews, but they were all rejected. They were not mentally prepared for a big defeat, or even a rout, and no player was in the mood to be interviewed.

After the players enter the locker room,

No one talked, those who went into the bathroom went to the bathroom, those who took a rest, the atmosphere in the locker room was very bad.

"Jerry, we still have problems with our lineup..."

"Are you an insider? It's difficult to trade now..."

Phil Jackson and Jerry West stayed outside and the two talked.

This game disappointed both of them.

Especially West, who worked hard to build this lineup, but suffered a defeat at the hands of the Knicks, he couldn't accept it and was in a very bad mood.

At this time, the Los Angeles Sports reporter who had just interviewed Zhao Dong rushed outside the locker room, looked at the door of the locker room, and then said to West: "Jerry, I just interviewed Fei Long, and he said something, I Think you need to know."

"Oh, John, tell me quickly." West said quickly.

The reporter named John repeated Zhao Dong's words and finally said: "I think he is right. Our most important problem is not the lineup, but the locker room, but the cohesion of the team and the willpower of the team." , If we don’t solve this problem, it will be useless no matter how strong the lineup is. If we solve this problem, then there will be tactical issues, and finally there will be lineup issues.”

West nodded thoughtfully, glanced at the locker room, and then at Phil Jackson. Without speaking, he just patted John on the shoulder and expressed his gratitude.

Phil Jackson was a little unhappy that John put tactical issues before lineup issues, but he couldn't object. He just said: "O'Neal's character is not as strong as Feilong, and his control over the locker room is indeed not that strong, and Kobe's character... ... I think a veteran player can be traded to stabilize the locker room and to mediate the relationship between Kobe and other players."

This was a good suggestion, and West nodded.

An hour later, the two teams held a post-match press conference.

The Lakers press conference hall was packed with reporters. There was a forest of cameras in front of them, and the sound of shutters kept coming and going.

"Coach Jackson, do you think we had any tactical problems in this game?" a reporter asked.

Phil Jackson pondered for a while and then said: "The tactical issue is not the most important. Our main problem is that after falling behind, the team's morale was easily shattered. Then the team fought independently without cooperating. This is Our main problem, our most important problem.”

He deliberately avoided tactical issues because that was his problem.

But the reporter asked again: "Mr. Coach, can we just talk about tactical issues? Your tactics did not give O'Neal a chance to show his strength. Your tactics always made him face double teams at the basket, and even There are multiple people outflanking you, how are you going to solve this problem?"

Phil Jackson looked a little ugly. After losing to the Knicks in the Bulls, he had to face such criticism. Now he is in the Lakers, and he is in a bad mood.

At this time, he couldn't help but feel dissatisfied with Jordan, because if Jordan hadn't forced Zhao Dong away, he wouldn't have encountered this, and he would have been Zhao Dong's head coach.

Now Jordan is following Zhao Dong, and with Zhao Dong's support, he even owns a big-market team like the Mavericks, and he still has to face this situation. When he thinks of this, he feels that Jordan interfered in the team's operations. The behavior is really fucked up.

If it weren't for Jordan, he would have won seven championships with the Bulls now and would have eight championships this season.

He calmed down and said: "There are actually ways to solve tactical problems. For example, when Ben Wallace is on the court, after Shaq attracts a double team under the basket, we can ask Ben to double team and hold the ball. People, do the pick-and-roll. We can also launch flank attacks, this is all possible, there are many solutions."

The reporter immediately asked: "But sir, the tactics you adjusted did not solve the problem."

Phil Jackson shook his head and said: "The game is changing rapidly. I can only choose one of the tactics. It's impossible to play two tactics at the same time, right? I can only experiment one by one. I need to know which tactic is the most suitable." , isn’t that what the regular season is for?

But the change was too fast. Before the end of the quarter, Feilong dunked Shaq consecutively and blocked him consecutively. The psychology of our players changed and they were directly defeated.

I will adjust my tactics later, but I can no longer execute my tactics correctly on the court. I am very disappointed in this game and I am sorry. "

Oni, who was sitting next to him, rolled his eyes when he heard this. Phil, you pick up the pot that doesn't open. Why did you pick me up if you said something bad?

When Phil Jackson said this, the reporter accepted it and did not refute or ask further questions, so he continued: "So, tactical issues are not the most important. I just said that the team's ideological issues and willpower issues, The issues of unity in the locker room, these are the issues we need to solve first.”

"Phil, are you saying there's something wrong with our locker room?" a reporter asked loudly.

"No, no, I'm not saying there's a problem in the locker room, I mean..."

Phil Jackson was really annoyed. After pressing this question, that question came up again. He could only barely explain: "...We need a more united locker room and a more stable locker room."

However, no matter how he explained it, the lack of unity in the Lakers locker room was still exposed by the media.

The next day, the 29th, various related news appeared in major media.

But that's something for later. After the press conference, Phil Jackson and Jerry West discussed it and called the players who were leaving to talk.

The atmosphere in the locker room was still not good, and no one spoke much. O'Neal, who was always responsible for making jokes, was too lazy to say anything.

Jerry West, as the general manager and a Lakers legend, started by saying: "Everyone is disappointed when we lose the game, which I understand very well.

However, what we have to do now is to solve the problem, and we must solve the problem. If we do not solve the problem, we will still be the losers next time we meet Niels. "

Having said this, he looked at O'Neal, then at Kobe and Ron Harper, and asked, "What do you think?"

When the question came to the head, these people had to take a stand.

O'Neill said first: "Yes, Jerry, I think you are right, we need to solve the problem."

Ron Harper then said: "Then settle it, sir."

Kobe raised his head in silence and said coldly: "We need to work harder and redouble our efforts instead of doing nothing. This is the core of all problems."

The atmosphere in the locker room, which had just stirred up a little, suddenly froze again.

Kobe has high demands on his teammates, even O'Neal. He has always disliked O'Neal's laziness. This sentence clearly shows his accusation against his teammates.

West touched his forehead. He was very optimistic about Kobe. Otherwise, he would not have traded the main center Divac for Kobe in 1996. In the second season, Kobe was promoted to the All-Star starter. In the third season, he was replaced by Kobe. Kobe controlled the Lakers' ball and became the Lakers' outside core.

And Kobe did not disappoint him. With his hard training in several consecutive offseasons and his persistence in basketball and victory, he performed very well and had full superstar foundation.

But Kobe's character gave him a headache. He couldn't integrate with his teammates and was out of tune.

At this time, Phil Jackson stood up and said: "I think Kobe is right, all of us need to work harder, otherwise once we meet the Knicks again, or even meet the Knicks in the Finals, we have no chance at all.

Regarding the Knicks and the Dragons, I think I have the most say here, because that is a team that Jordan's Bulls cannot defeat. Even if they lost most of their championship members this season, they are still very strong. Extraordinarily powerful.

So I want to say, like Kobe said, without redoubled efforts, we have no chance at all. In the end, we can only look up and watch the Knicks win the championship, and we are the losers. "

When Kobe heard that Phil Jackson supported him, his spirits lifted. Except for West, no one on the team recognized his dedication to basketball and victory.

Phil Jackson continued: "Shaq, you are the boss of the team, do you agree with what I say?"

O'Neal didn't want to lose again, let alone be dunked by Zhao Dong again, or even knocked over by Zhao Dong's humiliating dunk. He couldn't help but nodded and said: "Agree, we can't fail again."

"so……"

Phil Jackson glanced at all the players and said: "We must be twisted into a rope, not a piece of loose sand, then we can have a chance to defeat the flying Knicks.

You have also seen and should know how united the Knicks are.

For example, they currently play a three-back tactic. All three defenders need to hold the ball, but who has the ball? Distributed by whom? Have the Knicks ever had ball possession issues?

No, the Knicks have never had a problem with the ball. They are too stable and united. They can unleash all their abilities. This is the most fundamental reason for their strength. "

When Phil Jackson said this, Ron Harper felt a little embarrassed. In this game, because he was unhappy with Kobe, he sometimes refused to pass the ball to him.

Kobe, for his part, was delighted because he thought Jackson was talking about Ron Harper.

However, Phil Jackson is not talking about specific people, but the issue of ball rights. He hopes to make everyone understand that sharing the ball is what they should do, and the basis for the distribution of ball rights must have a tactical rationality.

Next, he explained this issue repeatedly.

As a head coach, one of the things he is best at is adjusting the players' emotions, the relationship within the team, and stimulating the players' potential.

Thanks to his efforts, the atmosphere in the Lakers locker room finally changed.

After solving the ball possession problem, he began to solve the problems of O'Neal and Kobe.

O'Neal is too talented, so he doesn't train very hard. This is the crux of the conflict between him and Kobe.

This problem was also present in the previous life, but it did not appear so early. However, in this life, Kobe worked harder and was stronger than the previous life, so this problem appeared earlier.

At the same time, O'Neal's character was very funny and playful off the court, which was completely opposite to Kobe's silent character, and the two couldn't get along.

But to completely solve the problem between O'Neal and Kobe, he doesn't have that ability, and neither does Jerry West, because O'Neal is the current boss, and Kobe is the team's rising star and the established outside core.

Just now, the reason why Phil Jackson talked about the issue of ball rights first was because he saw that there was a problem between Kobe and point guard Ron Harper, and between the two, Kobe was the future of the team, even now. Harper is far less important than Kobe, so he has no scruples and can solve this problem easily.

But between O'Neal and Kobe, he couldn't really resolve it, he could only mediate and seek common ground while reserving differences.

"Shaq, what do you want to do when we go to Madison Square Garden?" he asked.

"I want to dunk that guy over and over!" When he mentioned this, O'Neal's eyelashes were filled with anger.

"But, Shaq, you need help. Feilong is too fast. It's difficult for you to do it without the help of your teammates. If they still double-team you without the ball, it will be difficult for you to even catch the ball."

Phil Jackson began to provide guidance. He said: "You can let Kobe attack from the weak side to attract the defensive attention of Feilong, and then you can dunk him. What do you think?"

"Why didn't you arrange a fight like this today?" O'Neal said sadly and angrily.

Phil Jackson said helplessly: "Shaq, haven't you recovered from the failure? You should calmly analyze all the details of this game.

Have you forgotten that Kobe's weak-side offense is one of the regular season tactics, right? Moreover, in the triangle tactic, after Kobe gives you the ball on the strong side and then cuts to the basket, he can also create opportunities for you to dunk him after attracting Feilong's defense.

Kobe also played a lot of wing attacks tonight and made a lot of cuts. Didn't you see these? No, you just ignored it. You and he lacked coordination and each played his own game. Once you got the ball, you couldn't pass it out. "

O'Neill nodded helplessly and said, "I was messed up by that bastard Fei Long tonight."

Everyone was shocked, and they were defeated in the first quarter. This is not a problem of one person, but a problem of everyone.

But Phil Jackson knows very well that this is not everyone's problem, this is O'Neal's problem.

O'Neal is the boss and the core of the team. After being repeatedly humiliated and beaten by Zhao Dong, he failed to adjust his mentality in time, let alone the mentality and morale of his teammates, which resulted in the team being defeated in the first quarter. This is the most important thing. s reason.

To put it simply, O'Neal's performance tonight was too poor and he did not fulfill his duties as a team leader and core.