Chapter 606 [Just Block and Not Break, Never Get Tired of It]

Lakers starting lineup: Daniel Gibson, Kobe Bryant, Iguodala, Millsap, Yao Ming.

When Lamar Odom and Yao Ming were injured last season, Millsap performed very well and became a double-double machine for a time, hitting 20+10 many times. In the regular season, he averaged 13.8 points, 8.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1 steal and 1 block, and his field goal percentage was 53.4. %.

Yang Rui started Millsap this season. Yao Ming and Odom have overlapping roles in the middle. If they play together, Odom can only move around on the side and wait for opportunities to shoot, which is a bit wasteful. Millsap, on the other hand, is short, very mobile in the 4th position, and better at defending pick-and-rolls.

Odom has no problem with this. He has been used to playing off the bench for four years.

Trail Blazers five: Steve Blake, Roy, Travis Outlaw, Aldridge, Noah.

Noah won the jump ball. Blake picked up the basketball and passed it to Roy. The latter played a pick-and-roll with Aldridge. The Lakers were in a zone defense formation. Millsap kept up with Roy. Iguodala stood in a non-marking position and stayed close to the center. Guard against Adelaide.

Roy broke through with the ball and was double-teamed by Yao Ming and Millsap. He distributed the ball to the left side. Noah received the ball in an open position and took a step towards the basket. Yao Ming turned around and returned to defend, raising his arms to interfere and defend. The coverage area is large, covering the basket, and Noah can only pass the ball out.

Outlaw caught the ball on the left and was entangled by Kobe, making it difficult to turn around. He distributed the ball to Blake for further organization. After passing the ball several times, Aldridge made a high jumper, which missed due to interference from Iguodala. Yao Ming easily grabbed the rebound.

You can see the current defensive strength of the Lakers in one round. Even Gibson can interfere with shooting. Trail Blazers center Noah is not good at mid-range shots and has weaknesses.

When the Lakers attacked, Millsap went to the right baseline and took a step inside the three-point line to attract the defense. Iguodala opened the right side at 70 degrees. Kobe and Yao Ming played a pick-and-roll in the middle. Noah switched defense in time, blocking Kobe's breakthrough route. .

The Trail Blazers are a team with a balanced offense and defense. After Noah joined, they did an excellent job of defending the pick-and-roll, but their defense of the penalty area was average. The two big men are both light-weight and highly mobile.

Yao Ming cut to the left low post and received Kobe's pass. Noah quickly returned to defense, but Yao Ming obviously struggled to resist the 124 kilograms. Yao Ming turned to the middle and hit Noah with a hook. 2 to 0.

When the Trail Blazers attacked, Roy forced a breakthrough and pulled up the lever between Millsap and Yao Ming for a layup. He avoided Yao Ming's block, but missed due to interference. Yao Ming turned around without jumping and easily took the shot with his height advantage. After getting the rebound, it was handed to Gibson to organize, and the Lakers fell into position to fight.

Not only do the players play with a rhythm, but the coach also arranges tactics with a rhythm.

Yang Rui has been the head coach since 1998. This is already his 10th year. He has accumulated rich basketball experience. He can not only help players develop their strengths, but also attaches great importance to their coordination. With Kobe and Yao Ming present, positional warfare has always been the main focus.

Kobe and Yao Ming played a pick-and-roll again, and Roy caught up. Kobe protected the basketball on his left side without any haste, waited for Yao Ming to cut through, and passed the ball to the low post again.

Yao Ming leaned against Noah, shook his right shoulder, and turned toward the baseline.

He didn't completely get rid of it. He pulled the ball up with his back stuck in his position. He made a small jump and hit the basket. He leaned on Noah and used his height advantage to hit the board shot and easily scored another two points. 4 to 0.

Noah is 211cm tall and weighs only 104kg. He is too thin and has no jumping ability. He is squeezed out by Yao Ming and cannot jump.

In Yang Rui's previous life, Noah won the Best Defensive Player in 2014, two Best Defensive First Teams, and one Best Team First Team. Just looking at these honors, some people may mistakenly think that Noah is better than Yao Ming. In fact, before the 2012-13 season, Noah did not do well on the defensive end, but he was fully committed to defense.

Data shows that in the first three seasons of his career, the Bulls' defensive efficiency was higher when Noah was not on the court. When Noah was resting on the sidelines or absent, the Bulls allowed their opponents to score 4.4 points less per round. The average efficiency value of the league's big post players when facing Noah is 16.8.

The overall average efficiency value of the league's interior players is only 15.

In other words, when Noah defends the center alone, the centers of other teams can perform at a higher level. In the Bulls, Noah was good at defending pick-and-rolls and assisting with mobility. Taj Gibson and Boozer are responsible for resisting people in the penalty area. Obviously, Aldridge can't resist people, and the two of them are not suitable as partners.

In the 2007 NCAA finals, Oden scored 25 points and 12 rebounds, while Noah scored 8 points and 3 rebounds. Oden was still injured at the time, which is why the Trail Blazers were unhappy after drafting Noah. Noah has to develop a good passing ability like Yang Rui in his previous life, and then the Blazers will make money. He is too young now.

When the Trail Blazers attacked, Roy misplaced Millsap and was blocked. He passed the ball to Outlaw, who pulled to the right to receive the ball. The latter faced Gibson and made a three-pointer. 4 to 3.

The weakness of the zone defense is that the point guard sometimes has to defend against the big man. Yang Rui never cares about this kind of mismatch. The real weakness is when Yao Ming defends out. The defender can easily pass him, and he can also break through and draw fouls. Once Yao Ming falls into foul trouble and takes a break, there will be one less strong offensive player.

Yang Rui firmly believes that it is impossible for the Trail Blazers to defend against the Lakers' pick-and-roll offense, and "just pick-and-roll" is not necessarily the case.

In the next round, Kobe did not pass the ball to Yao Ming. After the pick-and-roll, he chose to challenge himself. Under Roy's interference, the pull-up jumper missed and Noah grabbed the rebound.

The Trail Blazers counterattacked, Blake missed a three-pointer, and Iguodala grabbed the rebound.

The Lakers attacked in position. After Kobe's pick-and-roll, he attracted Noah to switch defense. Yao Ming cut to the basket and squeezed Roy out of the way. Kobe failed to pass again. His step-back jumper missed due to Noah's interference. The rebound was grabbed by Aldridge. .

Kobe believes that Yao Ming has a height advantage and can "assist the rebound" even if he fails to make a shot, but the ball will not bounce towards Yao Ming every time.

In the next round, Kobe still attacked on his own. After the pick-and-roll, he changed direction and passed Noah. He avoided Roy's pursuit and blocked shot with a pull-up layup and scored his first goal.

Kobe finally got his start. It was much harder for him to score goals than Yao's list to challenge Noah, but he still enjoyed it.

After that, the Blazers' formation began to shrink and solidify the defense in the penalty area. Kobe continued to play in isolation. If the Blazers did not double-team, he would not pass the ball. Although he got a few goals closer, it went against Yang Rui's tactical arrangements.

Yang Rui requested that Yao Ming be the core of the offense in the first quarter and attack the opponent's weak point of inside confrontation. Yao Ming's opening touch was very good, but after scoring two goals, he couldn't catch the pass. He turned back and ran again and again, only to steal the ball. An offensive rebound and a tip-in.

The tactics were not smooth. Kobe tried hard towards Roy, the defensive strong point, and the Lakers' offense was not that strong.

Last season, Kobe took more personal shots and was unwilling to pass to Landry and Millsap. After winning three consecutive championships, his confidence was greatly inflated. He believed that he was the best player in the NBA and all tactics should revolve around him. However, his shooting percentage was not among the top five in the team.

The Lakers led 25-18 in the first quarter.

The Lakers' overall offensive efficiency was not high. Kobe scored 10 points and Yao Ming scored 6 points and 6 rebounds. They were able to suppress the Trail Blazers relying on defense.

The Blazers' offense mainly relied on Roy and Aldridge's high pick-and-roll, the two three-pointers running around to find opportunities, Noah rushing to grab offensive rebounds, and cutting to the basket to pick up missed shots. Every position was inferior.

With the score leading, Yang Rui didn't say anything. He didn't care about the regular season this season, as long as he could do well in the playoffs, because even if the Lakers won the best record in the regular season, it would be difficult for him to win the best coach award.