Chapter 762
"The King Awakens, the Lakers Dynasty Comes Again?" "
"Awakened Lions, the Lakers set sail again"
"The strongest combination in history reappears, and the new MVP is hard to compete"
"End the strongest winning streak in the playoffs, the return of the Lakers king"
"..."
"..."
At the Lakers training ground at the Toyota Center, a large plastic board that is usually used to record players' shooting drills stands on the side of the court, and it is covered with headlines from mainstream sports media newspapers.
Unlike when he just returned to Los Angeles a few days ago, a certain man was practicing while wearing the No. 8 jersey, and occasionally glanced at the newspaper next to him. His joy made him uncontrollably show a happy expression.
Everyone is saying that the Lakers are going to return to the top. This kind of public opinion, the psychological stimulation brought to Kobe makes him feel so good. Of course, if in these reports, the first mentioned Not the fat guy, he'd be happier.
On the only day of rest after the game, Kobe was the only one who was still training on the Lakers side.
After training, Kobe's body was already full of sweat, dripping from his chin. He stared at all the reports, and it was O'Neal who scored 31 points in front, not his name.
After the training, the excitement subsided. Kobe looked at the newspapers and murmured, "O and K, why is O in the front, not K?"
...
In Los Angeles, a private lakeside villa with a total area of 1.6 acres, or more than 6,500 square meters including the lake, has a huge fat man talking and laughing with his friends while fishing.
Malone hoisted up a sea fish, and said in surprise: "Oh... there are sea fish here? Shaq, how did you do it!"
"Haha, Carl, I used salt to turn the lake here into a saltwater lake last month, just to be able to fish at home, how about it, it's great, but it's a pity that these fish died on their own in a few days, and they had to be cleaned up , It’s too troublesome, when the salinity of the lake drops, I’ll keep freshwater fish.”
"Cut, you guys who entered the NBA after 1990 are really extravagant..." Ma Long was envious and jealous. If the three championships were left aside, his career honors were much more than O'Neal's, and championships were not a factor affecting big contracts. But the money he made was less than half of O'Neal's, and O'Neal could sign another big contract.
"Don't confuse me with Shaq, I don't make as much money as he does, and I entered the NBA in 1989, Carl and we are from the same age." Payton was also very envious, "By the way, Shaq, how did you Didn't you ask Kobe to come with you?"
"Oh, Gary, I called him, and he's still the same as before, going to practice again..."
O'Neal invited the other two of the Big Four to fish at his house, and originally invited Kobe. O'Neal felt that after these three games, the relationship between him and Kobe should have recovered a lot. , but Kobe still refused to participate in group activities, and O'Neal did not force it.
However, on the Lakers side, three of the Big Four are full of longing for this year's championship again.
Before the last game, through the mediation of Zen Master, the four reached a tacit understanding, and they did their best to defend collectively in order to win. The most important thing is that among the four, Kobe, Malone, and O'Neal's defensive chemistry has always been very good. When they were paired together, they were regarded as the most suitable three-person combination even if they couldn’t play the triangle offense. It’s just that Ma Long is too old to make people feel sorry. The cooperation is very strong.
Payton is also a master of defense. His defensive state was found in the last game of the Western Conference Finals. Although he couldn't make an offensive shot, when the rest of the Lakers started to defend with all their strength, he immediately integrated into it.
After winning the next game, the big score became 1 to 2. Although they only won one game, the difference between 1 to 2 and 0 to 2 is too far!
In yesterday's game, the Big Four were all integrated into it, giving O'Neal, Malone, and Payton a feeling of finally playing in a team.
...
Now the Big Four of the Lakers are full of self-confidence. The big victory in yesterday's game and public opinion have all turned towards them. Now their self-confidence has returned to the state before the start of the finals, and it is even stronger.
However, the Big Four are obviously divided into two groups, one group is Kobe alone, and the other group is the other three giants. The ideas of the two groups are completely opposite...
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...
At 6:30 pm on June 13th, the fourth game of the finals came as scheduled.
When Liu Mang entered the stadium, there were fewer boos on the scene.
"Aristocrats..." Liu Wei clearly felt that the Lakers are very confident today, and even the fans have become more confident. The tense atmosphere before the last game is completely gone. The Lakers, Lakers fans, the level of self-confidence can even be described as conceited.
For Liu Mang, it couldn't be better!
Yesterday afternoon and this morning, Liu Mang participated in two coaching staff meetings, and he concluded that the two factors that are most beneficial to them are the physical fitness of the Lakers and the current public opinion!
Seeing the Lakers side is like before the first game, a group of Lakers players are talking and laughing, training alone, a strange feeling of harmony, there is a sense of disobedience visible to the naked eye But Liu Mang feels normal, that is the Lakers...
And when I saw my teammates, when the game was about to start, they all had frost on their faces, as if strangers should not enter...
This game must be won! Just him!
The final preparation time before the game was over, and the players from both sides were about to play. Liu Mang called Prince and Raheem together: "Tyshaun, Sharif, that guy is handed over to you!"
Prince was still indifferent, did not speak, just nodded; Raheem also only left an "OK", and then went to sprinkle chalk.
Liu Mang went to the technical stage to hug Boozer and walked onto the court. The Lakers had been waiting for a long time, watching the Eagles' pre-match action with disdain.
For the Eagles, Liu Mang, Prince, Raheem, Rasheed Wallace, and Kwame Brown are still sent to the starting lineup today.
On the Lakers side, the lineup of Payton, Kobe, Devin George, Malone, and O'Neal debuted.
After stepping on the court, Liu Mang came to the free throw line and waited for Kwame Brown and Prince to dance after the dance. While waiting, he felt that something was missing!
When the referees blew the whistle to start the game and Kwame Brown came to the middle circle, Liu Mang remembered that something was missing. The deterrent buff of the OK combination was gone!
The trend of OK is not the buff of whether they cooperate with each other tacitly, but the deterrent force that makes teammates fear after they have won the title of "the strongest duo in history" for three consecutive championships. When you get to the OK combination, you will feel that the opponent is too strong. Faced with this situation, either rely on the home court advantage and rely on the cheers of the home fans to increase confidence to fight against, such as the devil's home court, or they also have one of the best in history. Stars as teammates, such as the Spurs, otherwise when O'Neal's peak tail and Kobe's near-peak OK combination are still playing together, other teams will feel suppressed when they see them.
Because of the four seasons, the Lakers only lost one round of the playoffs, which was eliminated by the Spurs in the second round last season, and the Spurs were the championship last season. They are all very big. The strong strength of the Lakers over the past four years has a strong deterrent effect on opponents!
However, today, my side was not suppressed by the OK trend like last time!
Seeing that Kwame Brown was extremely excited to win the jump ball over O'Neal, Liu Mang was also very excited. After receiving the ball, he rushed forward. Payton blocked Liu Mang, but the Eagles all accelerated their sprints. , after Liu Mang was blocked, he immediately threw the ball to Rahim. With the humiliation of the previous game, Raheem received the ball one step beyond the three-point line, and immediately broke through, throwing the defensively unstable German Wen-George made a pass and rushed inside.
Malone was originally at the free throw line, and immediately retreated to the basket. Raheem rushed inside and took off against Malone's defense. He was about to dunk at the beginning!
Ma Long's positional defense is still strong, but facing the rushing Raheem, he really has no choice but to foul directly! Malone slapped Raheem hard.
Raheem, who was in the air, was slapped on his left shoulder by Malone, and the pain made Raheem even more excited! Raheem, who had enough impact, was not overturned. After being slapped, he forced the ball into the basket across Malone!
The Eagles started so aggressively!
The Lakers did not expect that the Eagles lost so badly the day before yesterday, but today they are more motivated! Shouldn't it be like the 76ers, after losing the second game, completely lose fighting spirit in the next three games, and lose more than ten points per game in the remaining three games?
Originally things should be as they thought, the Eagles were originally as they expected, just like the 76ers were beaten by the opponent after winning a game, and then the fighting spirit that had reached its peak was defeated, and the fighting spirit would plummet But what the Lakers didn't expect was that Liu Mang rekindled the fighting spirit of his teammates by himself!
Moreover, now the Eagles are playing with anger!
Raheem dunked Malone at the beginning, not only dunked the ball, but also caused a foul!
Although the extra penalty was not scored because of the heavy beating, this start made the fighting spirit brought by the burning anger of the Eagles even higher!
The Lakers were dunked at the start. They were surprised. O'Neal immediately became angry and wanted to dunk it back!
The Lakers attacked, and Payton received the serve and advanced to the frontcourt.
Kobe immediately ran to the top arc to ask for the ball. Payton passed the ball to Kobe without thinking much, and then went to open the space to make an air cut. That's all he can give on the offensive end.
Just when the teammates were about to guard, they suddenly heard Liu Mang clapping his hands. Looking over, he saw Liu Mang's gesture of "must play zone defense".
There was no time to think about it, and the Eagles players subconsciously set up a zone defense position. Prince defended Kobe. He is watching, ready to go up and attack the outside ball holder at any time.
The Eagles are defending the zone again! That is to say, O'Neal has the chance to play one-on-one.
O'Neal ravaged Kwame Brown crazily in the interior, seeking positions at the basket. To O'Neal's surprise, Kwame Brown was more impactful than the previous games, pinching the fat on his waist so painfully, and then, O'Neal pushed Kwame Brown into the three-second zone even more angrily, pressing Kwame Brown, as long as he received the ball, he could directly dunk.
However, until O'Neal ran out of the basket because of a three-second violation, Kobe did not pass the ball to him!
Kobe, now facing Prince's post defense, looking for a shot!
Kobe could only choose to break through under the defense of Prince, but as soon as he made a breakthrough, Raheem flanked him. With O'Neal, who has an absolute advantage in the opponent's center position next to the second zone, he didn't choose to pass the ball, but forced a step into the three-point line, and made a two-point shot!
No entry!
There was a sound of "哐", and Liu Mang, who had guessed this scene, rushed inside and grabbed a defensive rebound at the first time!