Bulldozer of the NBA’s Restricted Area

The training camp before the regular season started in early October, and the entire Lakers team is training in an orderly manner.

The new teammates in the new season are also seizing the time to integrate into the team. A few preseason games are the best training ground, and because the core strength has not changed, there are no big-name players among the Lakers' new aids who can disrupt the order. In addition, Li Shengli and Kobe Bryant is two-in-one and has absolute say in the team, so the team atmosphere during the training camp was very calm.

As for the newcomer who was the focus of the first day of training—Artest.

After all, he is still a young man, and he was a little reluctant when he first joined the team. But after a lot of fuss, in the following days, he began to slowly integrate into the big team, but in Li Shengli's view... Artest is actually a good person. Yes, he has an extremely bad temper, a terrible smell. Just because Fisher had the idea of ​​​​teasing him on the first day, he didn't even look at Fisher in the past few days of training. Blowing his nose and staring are trivial matters. No one is there to hold him back, or even beat Fisher wildly. It is not impossible.

Fortunately, Fisher didn't care what a newcomer would think of him. The relationship between the two was so lukewarm.

However, Artest doesn't care either... Unlike his lukewarm attitude towards Fisher, he has a very good relationship with Li Shengli. The first thing he does when he arrives at the training hall early in the morning is to practice with Li Shengli, and he is very enthusiastic about the training. .

…

Then we played a few preseason games.

Until October 29, in the last preseason game, the Lakers played the Cavaliers, and the new head coach Phil Jackson thought about the upcoming regular season, so he sat on the sidelines and observed every position on the court. Every move.

The first is the insider the Lakers rely on most for their three championships.

Li Shengli is indeed what West said, he is a link that the Lakers never have to worry about missing. However, he only played 20 minutes in this game, but he got 18 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists, which made Jackson feel too Stable, terrifyingly stable.

Scoring and rebounding don't matter, because the Cavaliers' center position cannot limit Li Shengli.

Jackson was sure... As long as Li Shengli wanted to play, he could double his statistics. What surprised him was that a center could actually provide 5 assists in 20 minutes, and 3 of the 5 assists were for veteran Green.

In the 20 minutes synchronized with Li Shengli, Green averaged about 20 minutes per game last season, scoring 5 points and 5 rebounds, but this time he scored 12 points and 6 rebounds in 20 minutes.

Although a single game is not enough to judge a player's strength, let alone it is only a preseason game, the problem is that Green faced Sean Kemp, and Kemp only got 8+ in 20 minutes. 3 data, it is obvious that Green has a certain matchup advantage.

Of course, this advantage is still based on Li Shengli's historic destructive power in the penalty area, but in any case... the Lakers' inside combination is not weak anymore, and it doesn't matter that Green can only play for a short time, because Li Shengli is extremely durable. After sustaining the game, Jackson now has to see who can supplement the remaining 20 minutes behind Green at the fourth position.

Backup center Knight is okay.

Horry can also do it. He originally played the fourth position for Olajuwon in the Rockets.

Even Artest, as a rookie, can play a game, because Phil Jackson also saw it... Artest's overall quality is very good, relatively speaking, defense is better than offense.

But the key is to be in a team like the Lakers.

The threshold for being Li Shengli's partner is actually not high. Defense is the key, and offense only requires a mid-range shot. Artest is more suitable, especially when Li Shengli can amplify his offensive ability. Artest may not have any weaknesses.

Then there are other positions.

Kobe produced the effect that Phil Jackson wanted and dominated the time when Li Shengli was not on the court. What really made Phil Jackson happy was...according to his pre-arrangement, the Lakers as a whole were very adaptable to the triangle offensive tactics he arranged.

Phil Jackson feels he has to thank his predecessor Harris for this.

Because during Harris's tenure, the Lakers had a tradition of playing both inside and outside. The emphasis was on using Li Shengli's unstoppable intimidation to break defenses, attract double teams, and then move the ball to the strong side to hit the opponent's weak side.

The tactical ideas are very simple and basically the same.

So what Harris really left behind was the team's habits and understanding of running and positioning. With this good tactical quality, the Lakers' team performance was still strong during the time when Kobe was leading, leading the Cavaliers' score. Always in double digits.

…

Li Shengli came off in the second quarter and sat on the bench. Because the situation was already very transparent and everything that needed to be seen was seen, Phil Jackson also chatted with Li Shengli, talking and laughing.

"Today's game..." Jackson glanced at Li Shengli and said: "To be honest, Harris did really well. I have changed my view on him, but unfortunately he has been fired. I am much luckier than him. .”

If the management doesn't fire Harris, how can you come here? !

As for you being luckier than Harris...it's not that bad. With Old Bass's salary, being with Old Bass's daughter, and being brothers with Old Bass, it's so satisfying.

Uncle, you are the winner in life!

"Hey, what's your expression?" Jackson rolled his eyes at Li Shengli.

"No, it's nothing!" Li Shengli thought of Harris's secret collection of Jenny's photo album.

If Jackson finds out about this, Li Shengli feels... Jackson's view of Harris will have to change again, and he even wants to beat Harris up.

"Okay, let's not talk about Harris." Jackson glanced at the court and said: "Li, our lineup is almost the same now. In a few days, the regular season will start, and it will also be the beginning of our official cooperation. There will be more in the future." You can talk to me directly about any problem, there is nothing to avoid, because our goals are the same."

"Okay, no problem!"

Li Shengli was just chatting with Jackson. There was not much to watch in the game at this time. The two of them watched Kobe flexing his muscles on the court and talked about team tactics.

It’s different than when Harris was coaching.

Phil Jackson had just arrived. After seeing Kobe Bryant's gradual growth, he wanted to increase the offensive proportion of the outside line and let the inside line become an offensive backup. The general direction was to evolve into the original Bulls triangle, and the only worry was that Li Shengli's reaction.

But in fact, Phil Jackson felt that he thought too much.

Maybe in other teams, there would be problems when the first and second cores compete for status, but it is not a problem in the Lakers, because during the entire training period, including several preseason games, Li Shengli and Kobe were as happy as two little melons. The skin is the same, just like wearing a pair of underwear... Kobe can hit whenever he wants, hit whenever he wants, no one can say anything, Li Shengli won't let him say anything.

…

"Li, you really don't care?" Phil Jackson didn't believe in evil, as if Li Shengli didn't care that he was still unhappy.

"Why do you care about this?" Li Shengli curled his lips, "I've passed the time where I need to prove myself with data. It doesn't matter if I play more or less, not to mention it won't be less. At the critical moment, I have to wipe the ass of Kobe. , although... I have been wiping less and less recently."

Wipe your ass?

Damn, your relationship is...a bit dirty!

"Then you don't care anymore?"

"Yes, how could it not be? As long as it doesn't delay my making money."

Don’t delay making money?

Damn, you are riding a horse... you are really... Li Shengli with great ambitions!