All-round Athlete

Chapter 923: Kobe Comes Back

The next day, the biggest news in American sports was that the Lakers reached the playoffs.

"The Lakers have entered the playoffs? How is this possible? Didn't they even have five players on the field? How did they enter the playoffs? It's been more than half a month since April Fool's Day, how can they still have April Fool's Day?" A joke? What? Eighth in the Western Conference? 49 wins and 33 losses? Impossible! They lost 32 two and a half months ago. Could it be that they only lost one game in the past two months? It must be a lie!"

"Congratulations to the landlord Netcom!"

"Congratulations to the host for returning to Earth!"

"Congratulations to the landlord for escaping the mental hospital!"

Below this comment, there are all such replies.

In the United States, the Los Angeles Lakers have always been the most watched team, and every move of the Lakers is also the most watched team.

And this year's competition in the Western Conference is really too fierce. The 49-win Grizzlies have reached 60% of their winning percentage, but they still can't enter the playoffs. However, the Lakers were able to play a wave of 33 wins and 1 loss after 16 wins and 32 losses. , entered the playoffs abruptly, which was enough to surprise everyone.

In the entire NBA league, no one regards the Lakers as an underdog, and many people even regard the Lakers as the favorite team to win the championship.

At this time, another news that excited the Lakers fans also came out: Kobe is back!

...

D'Antoni seemed a little helpless. He found that Kobe and Zhang Guan didn't seem to be very compatible. When Zhang Guan and Kobe were on the court at the same time, it was like two Kobes, and there was a problem with the distribution of the ball.

Kobe is a ball bully, and the whole world knows this. "Ball master" does not mean that Kobe can't pass the ball. On the contrary, if Kobe really plays assists, he is no less than a top point guard. "Ball bully" does not mean that Kobe can only play singles, singles refers to Marbury's type of player. "Ball bully" does not mean that you must always control the ball and hold the basketball without letting go, then other people don't have to play, and it is enough to follow the switch.

The so-called ball dominance means that everyone in the team must play according to his style of play, rhythm and will. This is not just a matter of tactical cooperation, or as simple as giving him the ball, but that the whole team must Play around a person.

What Zhang Guan learned was Kobe's experience book. His needs for basketball are the same as Kobe's. To put it bluntly, Zhang Guan is another ball bully. When Kobe was away, Zhang Guan replaced Kobe's position as the ball leader, and when Kobe came back, it was like two suns appeared in the solar system at once, and who did the eight planets revolve around?

"This won't work. The rotation of the ball is a big problem. When Zhang Guan and Kobe are on the court at the same time, the players don't know how to play. Unless one of them is willing to change!" D'Antoni shook his head in distress.

From the bottom of his heart, D'Antoni very much hopes that Kobe can change his style of play to accommodate Zhang Guan. After all, Kobe is 36 years old, and his body and shooting rate are not as good as before. He is not as omnipotent as he was when he was young, and his blacksmithing has gradually increased. Players at this age should slowly change their roles, from the core of the team to role players. In comparison, Zhang Guan is younger, has better physical fitness, and has a higher scoring efficiency.

But it is obviously impossible for Kobe to change. If Kobe could really change his style of play, he would have changed it long ago!

"What should I do! Do you want to let one of them go to the bench? It's impossible! These two uncles are not material for being a substitute..." D'Antoni was thinking about it, but suddenly saw On the training ground, Zhang Guan fell to the ground and did not get up for a long time.

"Pause!" D'Antoni immediately stopped everyone and stepped forward in person.

"What's going on?" D'Antoni attacked.

"Twist it a bit." Zhang Guan hugged his knee, already sweating from the pain.

"Team doctor! Come here quickly!" D'Antoni shouted without hesitation.

...

Reporters in Los Angeles soon got the news that Zhang Guan had sprained his knee during training and needed to rest for a week.

"The playoffs are about to start in two days, but Zhang Guan has to rest for a week. This means that he will not be able to participate in the first three games! Without Zhang Guan, what will the Lakers have to play against the Spurs?"

"At first, I thought the Lakers might be black! Now it seems impossible. Once Zhang Guan is injured, it will be good if the Lakers don't get swept."

"Don't panic, don't the Lakers still have Kobe! Don't forget, Kobe is back. With him, the Lakers still have hope!"

At this time, the Lakers fans couldn't help thinking of Kobe who had just returned. Kobe has brought too many miracles to the Los Angeles people, and this time, it is time for Kobe to lead Los Angeles.

...

On April 20, at the ATT Center Arena in San Antonio, which is the home of the Spurs. Since the Spurs have home court advantage in the playoffs, the first two games of the playoffs will also be held here.

Kobe stood on the sidelines, looking at the familiar field. In fact, for a veteran who has played in the NBA for nearly 20 years, any stadium in the league is familiar to Kobe.

"In the first round of last year's playoffs, if I hadn't been injured, maybe I wouldn't have been swept by the Spurs! I didn't expect that we would be here again in the first round of this year's playoffs." Kobe took a deep breath, his Inexplicably, the figure of Zhang Guan appeared in his mind.

"Zhang Guan! I have to thank him, he brought the team into the playoffs, but now, it's my turn to do things! Zhang Guan can lead the team to defeat the Spurs, and I can do it too!" Kobe Bryant's eyes There was a burst of heat.

...

"Kobe is old!" Duncan sat on the bench, watching the arena, and in the arena, Kobe was still running like a gladiator.

"Old? You must be two years older than Kobe! You have the nerve to call him old!" Ginobili, who was sitting beside him, said.

"We're all old." Duncan leaned back in the chair, just about to smile, but suddenly stopped his expression. He remembered that he once got a technical foul for sitting on the bench and laughed, and was sent off the court.

Ginobili next to him didn't notice this, but went on to say; "Kobe has already scored more than 40 points, this is the playoffs, and you haven't done much to get 40 points in the playoffs." time?"

"Four times! The last time was six years ago." Duncan shook his head, and continued: "This is still because of Kawhi (Leonard)'s defense, otherwise, Kobe would have scored more points Fortunately, Kobe is 36 years old. If it was Kobe ten years ago, no one could guard against him!"

"But the Lakers still have to lose. Even if Kobe scored 50 points, the Lakers still have to lose. Kobe is not LeBron, and he doesn't have the helpers like Wade and Bosh." Ginobili looked up and looked at The scoreboard, at this time the score of the two sides is 105 to 90, with the Spurs leading by 15 points.

...

In the first game of the playoffs, the Spurs defeated the Lakers 108 to 95. In this game, Kobe played 40 minutes and scored 42 points alone, but it was difficult to lead the Lakers to a victory.

As for the Spurs, the GDP combination played less than 30 minutes. The Spurs almost relied on a semi-substitute lineup to win the Lakers.

On April 23, in the second game of the playoffs, Kobe played 44 minutes again and scored 48 points personally. However, the Lakers lost another game 92 to 113.

Losing at home to the Spurs is not something to be ashamed of. No team in the league can guarantee that they deliberately win in San Antonio, but the way the Lakers lost was a little embarrassing because Kobe won a total of It's 90 points.

Kobe scored high points, but the team lost. This is nothing new for the Lakers. In the seasons when Kobe averaged more than 30 points per game, the Lakers often lost. For several years, this situation also happened from time to time.

Sometimes, it is not a good thing to have a strong desire to win, especially for Kobe. Many times he got high scores, but his scoring efficiency was not so high. For example, Kobe, if his shooting percentage drops to 40%, the higher the score, the more shots he takes, which means the more opportunities he wastes.

This was exactly the case for Kobe at the end of his career. He averaged around 20 shots per game, but his scoring efficiency continued to decline. Harden, who is also a shooting guard, is actually about the same as Kobe in terms of shooting percentage, and the number of shots is not as good as Kobe, but he averages more points per game than Kobe, except that Harden shoots slightly more three-pointers. , and more importantly, Harden can cheat 10 free throws per game, and this statistic is much less than Kobe. This is the gap in scoring efficiency.

On April 26, the third game of the playoffs came to Los Angeles, the home of the Lakers.

This time, the playing time of the GDP combination finally exceeded 30 minutes, and even the 38-year-old Duncan played 36 minutes.

But the Lakers lost again, 119 to 118. Danny Green's three-pointer lore made Kobe's 50 points in vain.

In fact, Kobe has tried his best, he was almost carried off the court. The continuous high-intensity battles made Kobe's old ankle injuries tend to recur. He even needs the support of his teammates when he walks.

With a total score of 0 to 3, the Lakers seem to have returned to the situation where they were swept by the Spurs last year.

In the history of the NBA, there has never been a team that has been able to comeback from a 0-3 deficit. It can be said that the Lakers have fallen into a desperate situation.

"Are the Lakers going to be swept by the Spurs for two consecutive years?" The Lakers fans left Staples Arena in great disappointment.

...

After the game, the Lakers announced two news. The first news was that Kobe was asked to truce by the coaching staff because he felt uncomfortable in his ankle and was worried that the old injury would recur.

The second news is that after a week of recuperation, Zhang Guan has basically recovered and will return in the fourth playoff game.

"It's already 0 to 3. What role will Zhang Guan play when he comes back at this time? Can he still lead the Lakers to comeback?"

"It would be great if Zhang Guan came back one game earlier. He fell behind 0 to 2, and it was home again, and he could still come back. Now, it is already 0 to 3. Even if he wins the next game, he still has to go to the Spurs' home court." Loser. Zhang Guan came back, at most to avoid being swept by the Spurs! 1 to 4 loss and 0 to 4 loss, the result is the same, both are eliminated!"

On April 28, the fourth contest between the two sides was still held at the home court of the Lakers.

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