The Way of the Center

"In the first half of the game, the Thunder have always controlled the situation. They suppressed the defending champion. Reggie, what do you think the Lakers relied on in the third quarter to change the direction of the entire game."

"Kobe Bryant." Reggie Miller answered decisively without even thinking about it.

"15 points and 3 assists in a single quarter, the Lakers only scored 31 points in the third quarter, but Kobe accounted for 21 of them. This is why he can be called a great reason, sometimes two The difference between the teams is actually the difference between one player, but this kind of gap cannot be made up casually.” Miller’s analysis is correct, he is also playing in the NBA, why some players’ annual salary is just over one million , and it is not uncommon for some players to sign a big contract worth hundreds of millions. There is a reason for this. Sometimes the excellent performance of a star can even overshadow the light of the entire team.

An Jie seized all the time to rest. He originally thought that he would win a big victory at Staples in the near future. Unexpectedly, they were forced to be so embarrassed in the third quarter. Is it because the Thunder didn't do a good job? Not! Anjie's defense is already in place, and Sefoloza's blocking is also the best. But Kobe just could get the ball in, no matter what you did, he could find a way to score.

If it’s because you didn’t do well that your opponent played well, that’s not too scary. At least the players know what they didn’t do well, and there is still a chance to make corrections in subsequent games. But when you do everything to the extreme and still can't stop the other party, the situation is very tricky.

There are not many things Van Gundy can emphasize, and the Thunder have no major problems at the tactical level. Now let's see which of the Thunder's three young masters can stand up and compete with Kobe to the end!

Under the shouts of concerted efforts of the Lakers fans, the fourth quarter finally kicked off. The difference between the two teams is now only four points, and there are still 12 minutes left in the game. Fans love to watch suspenseful games, even if this is the most annoying situation for players on the court.

In the last quarter, the Lakers finally got another chance to attack first. Zen master is undoubtedly an extremely utilitarian coach, he will not play tricks, what method is the most effective, Zen master will continue to use that method to play until the end of the game. Unless this style of play fails, he will not be easily replaced.

There is no doubt that the most effective thing for the Lakers now is the triangle offense, or using other people's involvement to create one-on-one opportunities for Kobe.

In order to widen the space, Zen Master did not hesitate to replace Bynum with Odom, in order to make Anjie and Morris afraid of the shooting ability of Odom and Gasol, so as to give the offensive space inside Kobe comes out.

Although the inside defense of the Lakers will be very tight, Zen Master believes that the Thunder's offense cannot overwhelm Kobe's firepower anyway.

Angie is a little overwhelmed now,

Although he trusts his teammate Sefoloza, trust alone is not enough when facing an opponent like Kobe. It is an indisputable fact that Sefoloza has been repeatedly broken by Kobe. Anjie had to find a way to help defend and make Kobe's offense difficult. He couldn't be led by Phil Jackson all the time.

The players on the court were thinking, and Van Gundy was even more restless off the court. There were two rounds in the fourth quarter, and Kobe also won two consecutive rounds in the heads-up with Sefoloza.

And these two defensive failures were caused by Anjie and Morris not having time to supplement the defense after Kobe broke into the paint. No way, the shots of Odom and Gasol are really not blocked, and it is impossible for Anjie and Morris to put these two guys aside.

Fortunately, Anjie and Durant are still able to respond on the offensive end. As for Westbrook, he was entangled by Kobe and completely lost his threat.

The game lasted for four minutes under the back-and-forth scoring of both sides. Although the Thunder still took the lead, Van Gundy was the first to call a timeout. He knew that with Kobe's current state, the Thunder would not be able to consume the Lakers!

He had to guard Kobe before the situation changed, or else he would try to change it later, and the situation would have been lost for a long time.

"Zone defense!" After the players sat down, Van Gundy threw the word out of his mouth without any foreshadowing.

"Defense the zone? But the shooting space of the Lakers..." The assistant coach of the Thunder, Alton, had just objected, but Van Gundy interrupted him.

"Not everyone defends the zone defense. We have to combine man-to-man and zone defense." Van Gundy knew that players might not be able to adapt to such a change in defensive strategy. But right now, this is the only way!

"Ann, the area under the basket is given to you. You should have played this tactic when you were in the Cyclones, are you familiar with it?" Van Gundy had studied Ricard's tactic before, because the pair used Anjie and Morris helps a lot.

"We have played several times, but our opponents are different." Can the NCAA team compare with the Lakers? An Jie was still a little worried about the feasibility of this tactic.

"As long as you're at the basket, you're fine! Listen, Ann, Morris and Durant, you three guard the zone, Russell and Sefoloza, keep man-to-man! But when you're man-to-man When someone runs into their defensive area, you can just let go and keep an eye on the one you missed!" Van Gundy began to write and draw on the tactical board. This defensive strategy is equivalent to a variant of the 2-3 defense. However, the two players on the outside have to work harder, because they can be said to be both man-marked and zone-marked.

The Thunder made arrangements here, but Zen Master didn't say much about the Lakers. As long as the Lakers continue to play according to the triangle offense, they will definitely be able to move back to the situation. The core of this tactic is Kobe. As long as Kobe is okay, the triangle offense is fine.

With a rough and uneasy mood, the Thunder players stepped onto the court. It's not that they don't trust Van Gundy, but as I said just now, facing an opponent of the Lakers' level, they can't be defeated by trust alone.

After returning from the timeout, the Thunder's offense came first. The air cut cooperation between Anjie and Durant easily tore apart the defense line composed of Gasol and Odom. Durant broke through to attract double-teams, and then gave a hit to Angie who cut inside. Just like that, An Jie dunked one by one again to end the attack.

But the next defensive round is the real test for the Thunder!

When Gasol and Odom got involved, they found that the Thunder were different! An Jie didn't continue to follow, but kept hovering around the basket. Ensure that you will not defend for three seconds because of this, and also ensure that you will not leave the defensive area of ​​​​the basket.

"Do you just rest assured of my shooting?" Gasol was about to raise his hand for the ball, but found Durant lying in front of him. Although Durant is a small forward, his height and wingspan also allow him to have no disadvantages in the matchup with Gasol. At least the passing route was completely blocked by kd.

Durant defends against Gasol, so Artest must be empty! Thinking of this, Kobe began to look for Artest, but Artest was watched by Westbrook. What exactly is this? Is it man-to-man or zone defense?

Kobe knew he must have a teammate open, but that person was too far away from him, and if he wanted to use a pass through the crowd, the chance of making a mistake was too great.

Thinking of this, Kobe lowered his center of gravity, his feet started to move, he wanted to play singles by himself!

Sefolosa didn't dare to neglect, even though he knew that Anjie was behind him. But facing an attacker like Kobe, you must not give an inch!

Kobe's movements are not as fast as they were then, but his experience has also helped him a lot. Kobe first took a step against Sefoloza with his body, and then quickly turned around and made a shot. Although Sefoloza was not tricked into jumping up, he was still shaken. When Kobe saw this, he immediately changed his direction and rushed in the direction just now. Sefoloza reacted quickly and quickly followed. Although he could interfere with Kobe by physical contact, Kobe had already rushed up.

Just when Kobe got rid of the Swiss and was about to make a layup, when he looked up, he found that there was darkness in front of him. In the next second, Kobe seemed to have knocked down a wall. Due to the huge inertia caused by the breakthrough, both he and the wall fell to the ground, and the referee's whistle sounded.

Anjie had already stood firmly at the basket, waiting for Kobe to come to his door. He managed to draw an offensive foul from Kobe Bryant without adding any showmanship.

Kobe didn't expect An Jie to come back so quickly, but he didn't know that An Jie had been wandering around the three-second zone and never left.

"Hmph, do you use zone defense?" In just one round, the Zen master saw the change. But he didn't make any adjustments. He believed that even Anjie couldn't do much about the explosive Kobe. After experiencing the failure of this ball, Kobe will definitely adjust later.

However, when Kobe failed to hit the restricted area for a layup for the second time, Zen Master realized that he was wrong.

After returning from the timeout, in the Lakers' second attack, the ball still hit Kobe, who was in good shape. Sefoloza is now not afraid of Kobe's shooting, but Kobe's breakthrough.

Of course Kobe would play according to his opponent's fear, so he still went his own way into the penalty area.

This time Kobe was ready, he knew that Anjie would definitely appear in that position to stop himself. as expected! As soon as Kobe took three steps, Anjie stood with both feet, blocking between Kobe and the basket.

Kobe jumped in the air and prepared to use a lever action to avoid Anjie's block, but Anjie's defensive range was too large. Kobe didn't get a decent chance until the end, so he had to make a hasty shot.

This pull-bar layup is very beautiful, but unfortunately, under Anjie's defense, Kobe failed to score the ball.

Once or twice is a coincidence, three or four times is a fact. Kobe's successive breakthroughs made the Lakers' momentum suddenly stagnate. If it wasn't for one of Anjie's fouls, Kobe might not even get a point!

If the inside breakthrough failed, Kobe chose to shoot from the outside. But whether it's a drop shot or an emergency stop jumper, the Swiss Sefoloza can always judge the timing of the block. Kobe wasn't blocked once, but his shooting percentage was a lot lower than in the third quarter.

Seeing that the score is about to be equalized, but they still can't make it to the last hurdle. Kobe can still score, and the efficiency is not too low. But with the efforts of Anjie and Sefoloza, it is very difficult for Kobe to lead the team to play an offensive "gao chao" like the third quarter and make a comeback in one fell swoop.

Even though Kobe is extremely perfect in the hearts of Lakers fans, it has to be admitted that the Black Mamba was defeated in the confrontation with Anjie! With Anjie guarding the basket, Kobe's scoring momentum could not continue. The core end point of the triangle offense is restricted by Van Gundy's "four different" defensive strategies.

However, Kobe's state is indeed very good, he can still score some difficult goals, so that the Lakers have always had hope. But until the last minute of the game, the gap between the two teams was still 5 points.

By this time, Kobe was already exhausted. But Zen Master can't make substitutions. Kobe must stay on the court at this moment. Even if he wants to change, the Lakers management will not be satisfied with this decision.

Kobe was effectively contained, but Durant and Angie were still killing all directions. After Bynum came back, the Lakers' interior defense was indeed much better than when Odom was on the court. But this can only slow down the speed of the Thunder to open the score, and has no substantial impact on the final result.

All the Lakers fans were shouting Kobe's name and cheering for their team loudly. If this game is lost, then the Thunder will get the match point, and the next game will be played at the home of the Thunder...

Lakers fans dare not think too much. They don't want to be the next Nuggets, but their ambitions are eliminated early.

But the fact is cruel, this is not a computer game, you can read the file and start again. When the whistle sounded at the end of the game, the Lakers fans knew that their dreams had been shattered.

104 to 110, the Oklahoma City Thunder finally succeeded in standing on the court alive!

3 to 2, this is the total score of the two teams now. In an optimistic situation, the Lakers actually let the Thunder get the match point.

The next game is at Chesapeake Energy Arena, just one more win for the Thunder to advance!

Van Gundy himself was very excited. One foot of the Thunder team has stepped into the circle of the Western Conference Finals!

The Thunder at full strength can beat the Lakers even on the road. But how many people still remember that Kobe is in a very good state today...

So what if Kobe broke out, Anjie can still win!

(:, ()!: .