The rest is just noise

June 2, 1997

With two days left before the start of the Finals, the Lakers continue to test Ben Wallace's interior defense.

In the second game, the direction of investigation is no longer whether Ben can limit Garnett, but whether Ben can limit Barkley. Judging from the technical and tactical logic of Ben's restriction on Garnett, it is purely due to strength.

advantage, and Barkley is undoubtedly an interior attacker with overwhelming power.

What Ben did with Garnett didn't work against Barkley.

However, yesterday Garnett claimed that his hand was not good, so today, although his matchup with Big Ben is not the focus of the investigation, Louis and Bird are still very concerned about his matchup with Big Ben.

When Garnett once again missed a shot in the face of Ben's defense, Bird asked jokingly: "Have you thought about the reason for today? Didn't you eat lunch? Didn't you get a good rest last night? Or is your hand feeling bad again?"

"Li, how can you say that? How can a genius like Jasmine feel bad for two days in a row?" Louis Cha said, "He must be sick!"

These words awakened the iron-blooded blood in Garnett's body on the spot, and he shouted: "Dude, you are in good health. You are too anxious. It's only one goal. Just wait and see the good show!"

So Bird and Louis continued to look down, they really wanted to see what kind of work Garnett could do.

After that, Garnett no longer insisted on attacking with his back.

With his physique, if he wants to rely on his back body to take advantage of the situation, he lacks strength and cannot take advantage of his height advantage. Therefore, it is best to change his back to the basket to face the basket.

Although he faces confrontation with the ball and the basket, the initiative is always in Garnett's hands, and both offense and passing are controllable.

Garnett first passed the ball with the ball, raised it high and scored a layup, and then used the breakthrough as a guise to stop and shoot again.

Then, Garnett looked back at Louis and Bird, "What's going on? You're not bragging, are you?!"

Bird nodded happily, thinking that this guy finally used his brain. Louis sighed softly, "This is why I have never considered letting Ben go against Ralph. It's really asymmetrical."

He could have developed his talents to the extreme through personal struggle and become the best defender in the 2000s, but being the best defender does not mean he can guard everyone.

There are several types of players that he can't handle. Sampson is one of them.

He is tall and flexible, can shoot, dribble, and has a variety of moves. The difficulty of guarding him is not at the same level as guarding a rigid low-post offense.

Garnett's versatility saved him from an education, and Ben's test has just begun.

After that, he was assigned to face Barkley.

"Why have you changed people? You haven't proven yourself yet?" Garnett said deliberately.

"No need, you have proven yourself." Louis' words made Garnett calm down.

Then there is the duel between Barkley and Big Ben.

Only when Ben faced Barkley could Louis feel how powerful this man was.

Barkley seemed to be a weight bigger than Ben. As a result, his bulldozer attack could not completely crush Ben's defense.

Big Ben withstood Barkley's pressure like an old monk in trance. Until the latter turned around and shot over his head, he still maintained an upright defensive posture and caused enough interference with his lower limbs and upper body.

"Ugh!"

Barkley didn't feel comfortable playing this goal. He was able to score it because of his personal ability, and there was nothing wrong with Ben's defense.

"Even if Patrick is allowed to play this defense, he will be given full marks." Stevens praised.

Is the mean image of the orangutan so deeply rooted in people's hearts? Why can't he learn emotional intelligence from another junior who uses the same type of facial template?

Louis didn't say much about Ben's performance.

Bird actually asked Stevens: "Can Ben's defense cause trouble for Karl Malone?"

"I can't say anything about this," Stevens said. "I'm not an insider. I only know that his defense is very good, but can he use it against Karl?"

·Ma Long still needs to be tested in actual combat."

In the next few rounds, Barkley also performed well. Even if Ben's defense was as difficult as a mountain to shake, he could still find opportunities to take action.

Even if Ben's little moves are annoying, he can still score with the best touch.

At this point, Ben's defense is meaningless to Barkley. He is in an unparalleled state of combining man and ball.

What the Lakers coaching staff saw was Ben's tenacity and stability on the defensive end.

No matter how Barkley plays, he can defend to the letter, and he can have a clear conscience for the goals he scores because he has done his best.

At the end of the game, Barkley's outstanding performance allowed the purple team to win.

Ben was about to go to the weight room to work out, but Louis called him over.

"Ben, if I asked you to guard Karl Malone, would you be confident?" Louis asked.

If it were Kobe, he would say that he was confident, and if he couldn't do anything to Malone, he would bring it up.

Omoto said pragmatically: "I will try my best."

In the two games against the Celtics in the regular season, Ben didn't have a chance to face Malone, so Louis doesn't expect him to be able to explain how to deal with Malone now. "Be prepared."

Louis said, "I might ask you to face Karl Malone later."

Ordinary rookies will worry about being beaten if they hear that they are going to face off against a superstar.

Kobe's kind of guy who only wants to blow others up is an anomaly.

And Ben is not an ordinary person. Like Barkley, Ben, who is from Alabama, is the tenth child in the family. From the moment he was born, he started to compete with his brothers and sisters, whether it was toys or clothes.

They won't let it go easily.

This kind of growing environment developed his extremely strong desire to compete. When he heard that Coach Lu wanted him to play against Malone, he immediately regarded it as an opportunity.

He is not a lottery pick like Kobe and Nash, who beat most of his peers at the starting line. Players like him who lack talent and are low in the draft have to fight and grab every opportunity, like today

To be given such a heavy responsibility suddenly is almost pie-in-the-sky, and you must seize it.

"I will do my best and will not betray your trust!" Ben said excitedly.

"Let's go train." Louis dismissed Da Ben.

"Is it really okay to tell him directly?" Bird thought it would be more appropriate to suddenly make this adjustment on the spot.

Let me tell you in advance, if I can't bear the pressure, I probably won't be able to sleep well in the past two days.

"There is an advantage in saying it in advance. I could have made more preparations for this." Louis said confidently, "Even if he doubts his ability, I believe he will adjust to his best condition within two days. He is

Such a player."

Another day has passed.

There was only one day left before the start of the finals, and the Lakers played an actual simulated confrontation on this day.

Garnett imitates Sampson, and the tragic actor imitates Malone.

Since the strength of the two of them was far different from that of the real master, this simulated battle was naturally not interesting, and the duel match also suffered a disastrous defeat.

Louis did not make any more demands for the match because all the preparations that needed to be made had been made.

Now we just have to wait for the finals to start.

Adjusting players' psychology is a more important task than preparing for games.

Fortunately, the Lakers have many first- and second-year players. The common characteristic of this group of players is that they are young and frivolous, and do not take the opportunity in the finals that they seem to get easily seriously.

On the contrary, Mesozoic players like Barros will have many negative psychology that affect themselves.

Louis announced that he will be removed from the team based on Barros' performance in the team competition in recent days@

The contribution your husband can bring may not be half as much as yours, but he is more excited than you and has no psychological burden. Maybe he

You will perform better as a result.”

Hearing this, Barros was not angry. It would be fine if he was replaced by Dumas, but the person who replaced him turned out to be Nash.

"Coach, I will adjust." Barros said.

Louis shook his head and said: "No, judging from your performance in the competition these days, your condition is very bad. If you want to prove that you will not be affected, then perform well on the bench."

That day, Barros used his veteran authority to force Nash to bullfight with him.

As a result, he defeated Nash by an overwhelming margin.

"If you want to play in the finals, this performance is not enough!" Barros scolded severely.

In the distance, Louis watched with a smile as Barros ravaged Nash.

It was a lie from beginning to end about Jean Nash, and Louis was not that crazy yet.

At the current stage of the Lakers, the number one position is either Barros or Dumars. They will have different arrangements for different opponents, and the technical characteristics of these two people are enough to deal with any opponent.

What Louis said to Barros in the office was just to adjust his mental state.

He looks good now. He no longer has time to think about how difficult it is to play in the finals. He only thinks about how to win back.

This is pretty good, but it's a pain in the ass.