Chapter 701 [Everyone Is Silent]
The season started too late, and the die-hard fans in Los Angeles were waiting for hope.
They don't care about lockouts, greedy stars, or asshole bosses, they just want to watch high-level basketball games; they don't care who wins or loses, as long as the game is exciting.
On the 20th, the Staples Center was full for the preseason. The Lakers and Clippers have no reservations. The stars have all appeared. They have rested for too long and must seize all time to adjust the lineup.
In the locker room, Byron Scott even gave a passionate speech to boost morale as he did for the playoffs.
If the Lakers don't produce results this season, Scott will definitely be fired. He is able to do so now because he led the team to the Western Conference Finals in the 2009-10 season.
Yang Rui was very relaxed before the game. He just arranged tactics, refined the division of labor within the team, and allowed the core players to make bold moves.
He doesn't take the Lakers seriously at all. Gasol and Love are not suitable to partner inside. Both of them have range and have certain offensive power. But when it comes to the defensive end, neither of them is very fast. They suffer from switching positions on pick-and-rolls and quickly retreating during counterattacks. The effect is not as good as Gasol and Aldridge.
In the playoffs, the Clippers and the Mavericks fought hard to attack and counterattack wildly. They have experience in dealing with such floor-flowing insiders.
Therefore, Yang Rui directly sent a small ball lineup. Paul, Tony Allen, Korver, Battier, Griffin.
Lakers starting lineup: Nash, Kobe Bryant, Luol Deng, McRoberts, Gasol.
It's not that the Lakers have any reservations, but Scott knows that Love and Gasol are not suitable to start together, and the team's training is too slow.
If Love plays power forward and mainly defends the pick-and-roll, edge point guard Jeremy Lin can hold the ball against him.
McRoberts can shoot three-pointers and can take on the task of withdrawing. Love leads the bench as the main attacker and can also get more ball rights.
From a tactical point of view, there is nothing wrong with Scott's arrangement. It is easier for the team to win, but Love has scored 20+10 data and won the rebounding title. How can he be willing to play as a substitute?
Love had no objection in the preseason. If he was kept as the sixth man during the regular season, he would soon propose a trade. If the Lakers don't trade him, he will be a restricted free agent after this season. If there are teams willing to pay him a high salary, the Lakers will definitely be in a dilemma.
Now, the Lakers already have four high-paid players in Kobe, Nash, Luol Deng, and Gasol.
Looking at the lineup, the Lakers are stronger than the Clippers, and their total salary is much higher than the Clippers. However, after the game started, the Clippers quickly took the initiative.
The Clippers used a hybrid defense, with Tony Allen pestering Kobe from the outside. If Kobe relied on a screen to break through, no matter which side he went, Griffin and Battier would switch defenses very quickly, making it difficult for Kobe to break into the basket. He could only make jump shots or score points from the outside. Give the ball to a teammate.
Last season, the Lakers were swept by the Clippers in the regular season. Kobe was holding back his energy and wanted to put up luxurious statistics, but Yang Rui refused to let him do so.
One is a close defender without the ball, and the other is good at filling in and blocking shots to interfere with shots. No matter how hard Kobe plays, he can't make an easy shot.
It's no problem for Battier to defend McRoberts alone. The power forward has a soft style of playing and takes the route of shooting and supporting. Battier can use experience to make up for the lack of strength.
When the Clippers attacked, the Lakers struggled to defend. Paul and Griffin played a pick-and-roll in the middle. The change of defense slowed Paul's shot. Paul was pulled out of the penalty area when the defense was changed inside. Griffin could catch the ball and attack the basket.
Gasol couldn't leave the penalty area. As soon as he went out, Griffin singled out McRoberts easily and happily.
The Clippers players can grab rebounds in the backcourt and counterattack. Paul singles out Nash, and Griffin quickly singles out Gasol. They are all good opportunities, just like mismatches.
The Clippers led 37 to 22 in the first quarter. The two teams were not at the same level at all. The arrival of new aid Battier strengthened the Clippers' defense, while McRoberts' defense was not much better than Odom, who was used to running away.
Everyone who watched the live broadcast online was stunned. Kobe made 3 of 9 shots in the first quarter, 0 of 2 three-pointers, 2 of 2 free throws, 8 points, 3 rebounds and 1 assist. His shooting percentage was too low.
Next section,
Yang Rui sent Curry, Green, Gay, Parsons, and Chandler.
Farid is on the bench. Yang Rui has already told him in the preseason that he will not be allowed to play. He will be the team's secret weapon in the regular season. He didn't want to let his opponents know how hard Faried, a power forward, grabbed rebounds and how fast he ran because of his warm-up.
Yang Rui's arrangement surprised everyone. The core of the tactics was actually second-round pick Parsons, who played as a point forward in the middle.
Gay, Green, and Curry pulled away, and Chandler provided Curry with an off-ball screen from the side, helping him get rid of Fisher to catch the ball.
Parsons plays the ball very quickly, and has an unexpected tacit understanding with Curry. Curry can not only shoot, but he is also very sharp with the ball. He can disrupt the defense and create secondary organizations.
Troy Murphy is terrible at guarding pick-and-rolls, and he is a typical stat brusher. He has many glorious deeds, such as pushing away his teammates to rush for rebounds, and in order to maintain his three-point shooting percentage, a man who loves shooting three-pointers could resist not shooting a three-pointer in the last game of the regular season. ?
O'Brien is the only one in the league who likes him and lets him do whatever he wants. Now he can prepare to lose his job.
Curry hit a three-pointer, scored a layup, and assisted Gay and Chandler to score on an air cut.
Parsons suddenly made a pull-up in the middle, hit a three-pointer, and assisted Green and Curry to hit three-pointers.
The performance of the substitutes surprised the fans. A wave of 15 to 3 widened the point difference to 27 points, and it was garbage time before halftime was over.
Only Love made a three-pointer for the Lakers, and no other players played.
Fisher is worse than last season. In the summer, he was busy negotiating as the chairman of the players union and did not practice. Not only was he a colander on the defensive end, but he also couldn't score on the offensive end.
DeMarre Carroll's shots are inaccurate and he is a blue-collar guy; Kapono can only shoot, not the open shot; Murphy floats outside and shoots, even if he has an obvious height advantage, he does not hit Parsons in the low post.
Love cannot bring a substitute, and the second team lacks an outside ball-handling attacker. It would definitely be better to reuse Jeremy Lin, but Scott gave Chairman Fish face and cheated the Lakers.
Paul only played 30 minutes and scored 17 points, 12 assists, 7 rebounds and 5 steals. He picked up backcourt rebounds many times and directly launched counterattacks. It was Chandler's credit.
Chandler only had 10 points, 5 rebounds, 1 block, and three dunks. His statistics don't show up. If he chooses to grab rebounds instead of passing the ball out and quickly return to defense, his rebound count can reach double figures.
This is the difference between an excellent team player and a data brush. Chandler has a high golf IQ and never plays randomly. He averages only 5 shots per game in his career and his shooting rate is as high as 4%.
Curry scored a team-high 33 points and 6 assists, and hit 6 three-pointers.
Blake Griffin had many wonderful performances, finishing with 18 points and 11 rebounds; Gay, Green, and Neal also scored in double figures.
For the Lakers, Kobe Bryant made 8 of 21 shots, 0 of 4 three-pointers, 6 of 6 free throws, and scored 22 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists.
Love had 15 points, 12 rebounds and 2 assists; Gasol had 16 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists in his Lakers debut; Nash had 11 points and 7 assists; Luol Deng made 1 of 7 shots and only scored 5 points with free throws, the team's worst performance.
Luol Deng wants to leave now. He is fed up with being a blue-collar perimeter defender. Like Artest when he joined the Lakers, he has no ball rights at all and is forced to transform into a fixed-point three-point shooter.
The Clippers beat the Lakers by 45 points 141-96.
Everyone who criticized the Clippers fell silent. Comey felt desperate. It was obvious that Los Angeles was no longer owned by the Lakers, and Kobe was no longer the best player in the league.
Kobe had no reservations. You could see how impatient he was by looking at his expression. He almost had a hole in his jersey, but he still lost and his shooting percentage was pitifully low.