Bishop of the Devil

Under normal history, the Lakers actually used Crazy Fan in a deal with Green Kai and the Nuggets to acquire Tyronn Lue and other corner players, while Green Kai received Tony Barty from the Nuggets.

Now Tyronn Lue was drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers, not the Nuggets, so the three-way deal was not reached, it was just a two-way deal between the Lakers and the Nuggets.

Richard also couldn't understand what the Lakers were doing, because Fan Fan was currently in his prime, an All-Star point guard, and the Lakers almost sent Fan Fan to the Nuggets for free...

It is worth mentioning that D'Antoni, the Nuggets' new head coach this season, took office and started his coaching career.

Although he is a new head coach, D'Antoni is also close to 50 years old...

…

At eight o'clock in the evening, the starting players of both sides began to take the field at the referee's whistle.

Because the Glen Rice deal has not yet been reached, the Lakers' lineup has not changed much except for Crazy Fan.

O'Neal, Campbell, Eddie Jones, Kidders and fisherman Fisher.

Under normal circumstances, Kidders's growth trajectory is similar to that of Kobe. After all, apart from the age difference, the two are still very similar in other aspects.

In the first two seasons, Kidders mainly appeared as a substitute for the Lakers, which also prevented him from injuries.

This season has finally come to an end. Coach Harris felt that Fox, whom Greencap acquired in a trade, was not suitable for the starting lineup, so he put Kidders in the starting lineup.

Kidders himself is quite good, but he didn't play well because of injuries.

Now that there are no injuries, he may be able to have a different and perfect career.

Ou, Ben, Rasheed, Robinson and Kobe, the Blazers' No. 1 starting lineup, have not changed much compared to last season.

…

The Lakers are old rivals, so Richard didn't say much before he came on the court. Both sides knew the basics, and the players knew exactly what they should do on the court.

O'Brien won the ball for the Trail Blazers, and the 1999 season officially sounded the clarion call for offense!

Kobe, defended by fellow rookie Fisher, didn't put much effort into controlling the ball in the frontcourt.

After Rasheed came over and set a pick-and-roll, Kobe went straight down and hit the middle of the basket.

After entering the paint area, he took a direct mid-range shot and perfectly hit the first goal of the night.

Fisher was quite helpless. His speed was not enough to be thrown away by Kobe. The main reason was that his size was too disadvantageous when defending Kobe.

To describe Fisher as a ground gun, this is almost the most appropriate adjective.

Fisher can do a good job of guarding against the opponent's point guard's post-up play, but he is completely helpless against the taller point guard's pull-up...

Expecting him to block Kobe Bryant's shots is better than expecting O'Neal to hit 100% free throws in this game.

…

In the Lakers' offensive round, Fisher controlled the ball to the frontcourt and passed the ball to Eddie Jones.

Richard can now almost guess why Lakers head coach Harris sold Fan Fan at a low price...

There is an 80% possibility that Harris is disgusted by Fan Kuang's stickiness to the ball, his ups and downs, and his nerve-wracking touch. Sometimes, because of his stickiness, O'Neal loses many opportunities to shoot at the basket.

It would be better to use Fisher, a fairly traditional point guard, as the main point guard. He doesn't stick to the ball very much, moves actively, and has a high grasp of open shots.

After Jones received the pass, he made a breakthrough and passed the ball to O'Neal...

O'Neal caught the ball, overcame O'Neal's single defense, turned around and hit a hook shot.

…

O'Neal is still so incomprehensible. Even though O'Neal has grown very rapidly now, it is still not enough in front of O'Neal.

Big Ben stretched out his index finger towards Xiao Ao, indicating that he was not in a position to help defend, so he would take the blame himself...

The Blazers' internal strategy has always been to use the Auburn combination to defend O'Neal. If it is a single defense, neither O'Neal nor O'Neal can be a match for O'Neal.

…

It was the Blazers' offensive possession again, and this time it was still Kobe who was in charge. He made a precise three-pointer from the outside and hit it again.

The Lakers were not so lucky in the offensive round. Jones' three-pointer from the outside was knocked off the defensive rebound by Ben, and the Blazers immediately turned into a counterattack.

Rasheed scored in the mid-range shot...

In the first three rounds, the Blazers scored cleanly and scored seven points in a row!

The entire Staples Arena was silent...

They must be well aware of the strength of the Trail Blazers, but they didn't expect that the Trail Blazers would give them a blow to the Lakers as soon as they came on the court.

The next few offensive rounds left Lakers fans at a loss.

The Trail Blazers certainly couldn't continue their 100% hit rate. In the next five offensive rounds, they hit three more goals and scored another seven points!

In just four minutes of play, the Trail Blazers had already scored 14 points!

On the other hand, the Lakers were collectively misfired on the outside, and they struggled to chase points with only one O'Neal.

It's not that easy for O'Neal to score points at the basket right now. The zone defense between Ben and O'Neal requires him to consume a lot of physical energy every time he attacks, and his key shooting percentage is also lowered!

He can actually pass the ball to Campbell, but considering Campbell's anxious shooting percentage, O'Neal feels that it is more reliable to do it himself...

Richard sat on the sidelines, watching the situation on the court, feeling quite relaxed.

Looking at the current situation of the Lakers, it should be imperative for them to introduce Glenn Rice. They must optimize their lineup, otherwise, it will be difficult for them to be an opponent of the Trail Blazers.

…

The entire Western Conference is currently using the Trail Blazers as its imaginary enemy.

This is normal. When the Bulls were there, those teams that wanted to compete for the championship used the Bulls as their imaginary enemies and used the Bulls' lineup to create a competitive lineup that could restrain the Bulls...

Now with the disintegration of the Bulls, the Trail Blazers, who can undoubtedly compete with the Bulls in seven games, have become imaginary enemies of various powerful teams. They will build a team that can compete with the Trail Blazers based on the situation.

In the West, the Jazz are definitely out of luck. Their foundation is not good and they lack a top center.

The Spurs and Lakers have such a foundation to build a foundation to compete with the Trail Blazers lineup...

The Blazers' interior defense is strong, but their offensive ability is not strong, which leaves players like Campbell completely useless.

Campbell has no offensive ability. Although he is good defensively, who is he going to guard? Does Big Ben need to guard against him...

In this case, for the Lakers, the value of Campbell staying is almost zero, so they might as well sell it in exchange for some chips.