Chapter 372 Those Who Are Good at Fighting Have No Great Achievements

"Shaq, go to the top of the arc in the paint area. The distance of one step is not a big problem for you, but you can leave a little more space under the basket..." On the Lakers' bench, the Zen master was explaining non-stop.

On the SuperSonics side, Lin Dong has taken over McMillan's responsibilities and is also explaining the tactics: "As long as O'Neal's position reaches the top of the arc in the paint area, the little space left under the basket will become a trap for them. The position of the ball is so high that Sakuragi can't intercept it no matter how high he jumps. On the contrary, it is equivalent to leaving O'Neal free under the basket. This is the simplest way to break the bypass, and it is also the most troublesome point. At this time What is needed is help in defense, someone needs to flank O'Neal from inside the paint! Desmond, Iguodala, as long as you see Sakuragi coming around, whoever is closest to you will hit him!"

McMillan was a little suspicious of the chatter and tactical arrangements from both sides. Double-attacking O'Neal under the basket is a routine tactic for any team in the league, and it is not surprising, but the 'break yourself in advance' tactic, But it still makes McMillan feel a little incredible.

Although it sounds reasonable, how did he know that the Lakers would play like this? Is this arrangement too early?

Moreover, was this detour tactic invented by Lin Dong and taught to Sakuragi Hanamichi? How come he knows the pros and cons of this tactic so well?

…………

After a short pause, when he returned to the court, O'Neal appeared again.

At this moment, the development under the basket was as Lin Dong predicted before. O'Neal reached the outside of the paint area. As soon as Sakuragi went around, Kobe lobbed the ball into the inside of the paint area.

This was indeed a seven-inch hit on the forward defense, but with Lin Dong's advance arrangement, Desmond's double attack withstood O'Neal's catch, the basketball flew directly out of the baseline, and the ball was transferred.

Phil Jackson on the sidelines let out a long sigh.

With a score difference of 19 points, I tried hard to figure out how to get around this move. I originally expected O'Neal to stabilize the situation immediately after coming on the court and help the Lakers complete their counterattack, but I didn't expect that he would be defeated immediately.

The SuperSonics seem to have already had a plan to deal with all this. Their forward-passing tactic seems not to have been accidentally bumped into in a hurry, but was specially designed for O'Neal! But it was to no avail after enduring four games in the series. It was not used until the most critical G5, completely catching the Lakers off guard.

This game, I'm afraid it's...

As for the Sonics, McMillan is completely convinced.

Lin Dong's understanding of tactics, understanding and control of changes in the situation on the court really made him a little amazed.

The two additions to this hand's bypassing tactics, checking for errors and correcting them, both choked the Lakers' lifeline in advance...

Uh-huh!

As Sonics outsider Iguodala scored another 3 points.

32:10, a full 22 points difference in a single quarter, has extinguished the remaining fighting spirit in the hearts of most Lakers players.

Falling behind by 22 points, with more than three quarters left on the clock, this is not a score that cannot be caught up, but the momentum is overwhelmed, the fighting spirit is weakened, and the fear of the opponent and the despair of this game are still there. It will only lead the team to the abyss of eternal destruction.

Kobe no longer passes hard passes to the inside. Faced with the prepared inside explosion from the SuperSonics, it is almost impossible to expect O'Neal to beat No. 10 again, and even if he can do it, The Lakers have no time to wait and can only rely on themselves to fight hard.

The activation of State 3 and his dedication to victory allowed Kobe to completely enter the singles mode. He scored two extremely difficult 3-pointers in succession, fast-forwarding the Lakers' score to 16 points, but the SuperSonics responded with two 2-pointers. , they still controlled the score difference in the first quarter to 20 points and still controlled the ball.

At 36:16, the two sides ended the first quarter.

In the second quarter, Kobe continued to play in singles mode, turning on state 3, allowing him to kill God when he was blocking, and kill Buddha when blocking Buddha.

O'Neal in the inside failed to regain his invincible rhythm under the basket. He was miserable with forward defense and various flanking attacks, so the offensive end no longer took on the responsibility of the main attacker, but focused more on On the rebound, to ensure the Lakers' second offense.

When it comes to rebounds, O'Neal mainly focuses on seizing the landing position. After all, O'Neal, who has an absolute advantage in strength, still takes a huge advantage. He can pick off six or seven of the ten rebounds, but the remaining three or four are. Sakuragi, who was in full state and had gained confidence, 'stealed' in various ways. As he became more and more successful in stealing, there were more and more small moves. The ratio was still tilting towards Sakuragi. .

Although this allowed the Lakers to regain some offensive feeling, it was nothing more than that. Facing the SuperSonics' fully blossomed outside line, as well as Lin Dong's breakthrough and Sakuragi's cooperation, it was impossible to close the score. Effect.

In the second quarter, the score was 27:24, and the SuperSonics won by another 3 points.

The third quarter after the intermission continued the rhythm of the second quarter, with a single quarter of 28:26.

At 91:66, the SuperSonics entered the final quarter with a full 25-point advantage.

At this point in the game, except for the furious Kobe who seemed to be thinking about trying to come back, everyone else on the Lakers, including Phil Jackson, actually knew it was hopeless.

The Sonics' forward defense can be said to be a tactic that created a new idea for interior defense.

Phil Jackson could feel that there must be loopholes and flaws in such a tactic, but unfortunately, that was not a question that he could find the correct answer to in just a few dozen minutes of the game.

With this move, the Japanese red-haired No. 10 completely suppressed O'Neal. At least in this game's performance, the red-haired No. 10 can be said to have effectively restricted O'Neal, the number one center in the league today.

The data of 9 points and 15 rebounds in the first three quarters can be called a disaster in O'Neal's playoff career. Although he can definitely still have a double-double after the fourth quarter, such a double-double obviously has no meaning.

As for the fourth quarter... facing Lin Dong, who had barely made a few strong attacks throughout the game and whose physical strength was well preserved, no matter how much Kobe Bryant exploded, he still couldn't close the 25-point gap.

The Lakers' dream of four consecutive championships is over.

At this moment, Phil Jackson suddenly became extremely envious of the Sonics.

Lin Dong had 21 points, 14 assists and 2 steals, Sakuragi Hanamichi had 14 points, 11 rebounds, 4 steals and 3 blocks. Iguodala made 4 of 5 3-pointers and added a free throw to score 13 points.

This... these three people are all newcomers selected by the SuperSonics through the draft last summer, but they are able to perform like this after one year of training, even overpowering the OK combination that has been invincible in the league for three years!

Forget it about Lin Dong. Even before he entered the league, he was already an absolutely super player that everyone was optimistic about, but that Sakuragi Hanamichi... was just a second-round pick! But in the playoffs of his rookie season, he defeated O'Neal and played a No. 1 pick-level inside performance. This, this is really...

A magical lineup of newcomers!

The Lakers are doomed to fail today, and the tired teams left behind by the Spurs and Mavericks after seven games will probably not be able to stop this Sonics, which is completely inconsistent with common sense and objective logic.

In comparison, the rookie Cavaliers team in the Eastern Conference, which is extremely optimistic by the US media, is simply weak in comparison!

Now, if you want to stop this Sonics, you can only count on the God of Basketball and the equally invincible inside wizards in the Eastern Conference. But by then, Payton may have returned to the team, and the Sonics will form a true god combination. , I’m afraid even the Wizards may not be able to stop them.

And if that Asian leads an almost brand-new team to win the championship in his rookie season...

Phil Jackson crossed his hands and had a vague premonition.

The NBA league may really be changing!

…………

The fourth quarter of the game between the two sides.

Kobe Bryant tried his best. Even if he was in the most energy-saving state of turning on and off at any time,3 he could continue to play like this for three quarters. After all, his physical strength began to be seriously exhausted. In the last quarter, he started to hit the iron frequently. Fortunately, O'Neal under the basket seemed to have finally regained some feeling under the encouragement of his teammates.

He no longer forced the offense to catch the ball, but protected the rebounds and directly completed the second offense, but he controlled the score without any difference.

And when the two sides entered into a real fight inside the basket, it was obvious that O'Neal's advantage was still obvious. Even Sakuragi, who was enlightened, could only achieve 30-70.

It can cause trouble and make O'Neal make occasional mistakes, but it can no longer prevent the opponent's scoring and actions.

But at this point, O'Neal's late explosion is meaningless.

The SuperSonics' continuous touch and explosiveness from the outside are interspersed with Lin Dong's goals at every opportunity. Therefore, even if they lose some rebounds and offensive rounds, they do not lose to O'Neal in terms of scoring efficiency.

The score difference between the two sides has always been maintained between 20 and 25. The SuperSonics tried their best to prevent the score from shrinking to less than 20 points for even half a time.

I thought I needed to make a breakthrough in this game, but Sakuragi's performance and the forward defensive tactics brought discomfort to the Lakers, so that I didn't even drink the prepared physical potion, and the transition was smooth to the end. time.

At 116:95, the SuperSonics still led by 21 points, but there was only time left in the last offensive round.

The Lakers did not choose to make substitutions, nor did the SuperSonics. With such a point difference and such remaining time, everyone knew that the outcome was determined.

But this was the game that ended the Lakers' four consecutive championships, and it was also their last game in this year's playoffs. Even if they died, the main players wanted to die standing on the court.

The SuperSonics' lack of substitutions was just the last bit of respect given to this three-peat team when the Lakers had given up resistance and were just killing time and there was obviously no danger.

Won! You're about to win!

Win this series and advance to the Western Conference Finals early!

The entire Key Arena was in jubilation at this time. All the fans stood up with excitement, cheering for every goal of the home team and every wonderful moment of the home team. At the same time, they were constantly staring at the electronic scoreboard. time and score.

Payton, who was on crutches on the sidelines, was completely relieved and sat in a chair chatting with McMillan in a relaxed manner.

Lin Dong held the ball steadily through the midfield and did not choose to attack. Instead, he patiently controlled the ball to kill the 24 seconds of the offensive round. The Lakers did not choose to come forward and press hard, but Kobe's matchup was still there.

Lin Dong's personal data includes 28 points, 17 assists, 4 steals, and 2 blocks.

It was another game in which he scored less than 30 points, but Lin Dong felt extremely relaxed all over his body and his mental state was in an extremely transparent state.

What are the responsibilities of captains and leaders? That is to guide the team's morale, let the people who should perform their best work come out, clear the way for those who are blocked, and put the right teammates on the right stage at the right time, even if you have to give up your own time to them. The stage is also spared.

This is not equivalent to his previous understanding of organizing the offensive and tactical arrangements of the point guard, but a kind of spiritual guidance that allows everyone to use their best state to do the most correct thing. .

In the last game, I scored nearly 60 points, but lost the game by a huge margin. This time, I only scored 29 points, but won extremely easily. Of course, there was a reason for Sakuragi's explosion, but there was more. Or is it because I put more energy into understanding each other's situation and controlling the balance.

Those who are good at fighting have no outstanding achievements and only know how to score points, and they will never be able to become a true king.

This made Lin Dong couldn't help but think of what coach Anxi said to him when he was in the Nippon League. That was also what the teacher of the National Youth League in his previous life told him.

——Twist every independent individual around you into one, let them no longer be afraid, no longer timid, let them dare to follow you into the land of nine deaths without hesitation, let them exert their greatest value, then That’s the role of leadership.

Individual ability? So what if you are stronger?

Only when you become a true leader can you be worthy of being called the king of the NBA!