The Whip of the God of Basketball

Jackson called a timeout. In fact, the Lakers performed well on the court, and Nash couldn't keep scoreless. But Jackson could vaguely feel that the Phoenix Suns' game rhythm was very different from the past. In the first two seasons, the Lakers and Suns fought in the playoffs. Although the Lakers lost twice, as head coach, Jackson did not lose to D'Antoni in the formation. They even led the series 3:1 at one time. , but it is a pity that the hard power of the two sides is indeed very different, and in the end they were unable to recover.

As for Fox Leon, this extremely cunning and smart guy, Jackson has always disliked him. Smart people always dislike smart people because both parties can always see through each other's tricks.

Not long after the game started, Jackson still couldn't guess what medicine was being sold in Leon's gourd, but he felt it was necessary to interrupt and at the same time make slight adjustments to the personnel. He patted Andrew Bynum on the shoulder and signaled him Ready to play.

Kwame Brown was replaced. He made two consecutive mistakes, which made Jackson lose patience with him. After a short pause of 20 seconds, the two sides quickly returned to the court. Leon briefly explained a few words during the pause, then continued to sit down and practice meditation with Jackson.

The game restarted. No. 17 Bynum immediately stood out as soon as he came on the court. His official height was 7 feet, but his wide frame and long limbs made him look extremely huge. Former teammate Turiaf stood beside him. Everyone in front of me feels smaller. Bynum is only 20 years old this year and has set a record for the youngest player to play in the NBA. This is his third season. In the first season, his playing time and scoring were extremely poor, but last season he has become a good player. Inside substitute.

Among them is Lakers legend and former superstar Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Since 2005, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has been spending time helping Bynum hone his inside skills. This summer is no exception. Bynum looks stronger. , he looked more confident when standing on the court.

In the first attack after the timeout, Bynum took the initiative to drop to the low position, blocking Turiaf behind him and asking for the ball. His movements of blocking and asking for the ball seemed a bit exaggerated, his butt was stuck out very much, and his hands were stretched out very wide, like a big spider. Kobe still lobbed the ball to Bynum in a reasonable manner on the outside, and the Suns did not cover it. Clip, Bynum easily got the ball in the low post, he used his strength to push away Turiaf, turned inside and wiped into the inside, and then made an easy layup!

Bynum's speed is not fast, and he is even a little slow when he turns around, but he is very powerful, and he is too tall and his arms are too long. Turiaf simply looks at the ball and sighs, and can only watch Bynum. Mu scored the ball easily.

After scoring the goal, Bynum opened his long legs and ran towards the backcourt. Leon watched Bynum running hard and said to himself that this kid's physical condition is indeed good, but his running posture is not right. Such a posture , I’m afraid my knees will have problems in the future.

Just this thought flashed through his mind. Nash had already advanced past half court with the ball. This time, under the cover of Diaw and Turiaf, he used skillful dribbling to get into the Lakers' interior and beat Byner. Mu was called out, reached the right baseline, and then made a cool pass to the middle with his left hand. He followed the cut-in Marion to catch the ball and dunk with both hands!

The American Airlines Center finally erupted in enthusiastic cheers. This kind of offense is what they want to see. This kind of Nash is the Nash they love and are familiar with. This is the cooperation they often had during the D'Antoni era.

The cheers of the Suns fans seemed to stimulate Kobe. After the transition from offense to defense, Kobe tore off his reasonable coat and attacked with the ball for the first time in the first quarter. Without any cover, he used his footsteps to penetrate the inside from the right side of the center. ! The inside line guarded by Turiaf was really no threat to Kobe. He easily reached the basket and dunked with both hands. After scoring, Kobe made a "silence" gesture to the audience, which attracted the attention of the audience. A burst of boos.

But Kobe's shot is indeed wonderful. He is one of the few guards in the NBA who can easily break through the defender without any help from his teammates, and he relies not only on his speed, but also on his superb dribbling skills and outstanding The combination of man and ball technology.

In Leon's view, as long as Kobe's mentality does not collapse and he does not get into trouble, he will be an extremely difficult guy to deal with and can be infinitely close to Michael Jordan. But Leon is familiar with the weaknesses of every superstar in the league. As a coach, you can't go to the court to stop them personally, but there are always other ways to interfere.

But today, Leon has no interest in playing psychological warfare with Kobe. It is only the second game of the regular season. Moreover, it seems difficult for the Lakers to become a stumbling block for the Suns this year. Whether they can keep Kobe is still a question.

In the first quarter, the offense of both sides played very smoothly, but the defense of both sides seemed a bit lax, especially the Suns. Some fans at the scene were both happy and disappointed. Fortunately, Leon's arrival did not seem to make the Suns a defensive force. The main team is disappointed that Leon did not make the Suns a strong defensive team. The fans' needs are so strange.

In the second half of the first quarter, Phil Jackson asked Barbosa to come on as a substitute. The Brazilian lightning star who had shined in the sun won warm applause from the audience, and as soon as he came on the stage, he made a hit in the attack. A three-pointer and a layup in the counterattack helped the Lakers take a 33:29, 4-point lead at the end of the first quarter. 33 points is also a very high score in the first quarter.

In comparison, the Suns' bench seemed to lack that much firepower. Jaskevicius did not make much contribution after coming on the scene in the second half. Stoudemire was still the one who supported the team's offense. In the first quarter, he scored Scored a team-high 10 points.

And all his points came from independent offense, especially none of them came from Nash's assists. In fact, the two people's playing time was staggered. Stoudemire was replaced during the first official timeout. By the first quarter In the second half, Nash took a break, and Stoudemire reappeared. The two played staggeredly, each leading the team's offense.

It can be seen that in the second game of the regular season, Leon has gradually developed his own ideas in terms of personnel rotation and begun to put them into practice. He hopes that Stoudemire will grow into a general who can take charge of Nash's duties. pressure. So during the break in the first quarter, Leon kept communicating with Stoudemire and spent a small amount of time.

"When you break through from the center, pay attention to the bottom corner of your wing. Always pay attention. I will always arrange players here to respond. Bell, Steve, or Diaw. If necessary, you have to pass the damn ball to me. .”

"Increase your left-hand breakthrough, which will help your passing. Practice it frequently."

"On the defensive end, watch your defender. I don't ask you to help defend. This is not your job. Remember, those goals conceded in the first quarter have nothing to do with you."

Stoudemire listened very carefully and kept nodding. Stoudemire is not a talkative person on the court. He has his own ideas in his heart, but he is not too wordy. The coach tells him what to do, and if he thinks it is right, he will do it. If you think something is wrong, you will do it according to your own ideas.

What Leon has communicated with him the most in the past few months is that he hopes that he can take charge of his own role and become the real core of the offense. This makes Stoudemire very excited, so he also works hard on the training ground and on the court. At the same time, Leon never lets Stoudemire do things that he is not good at, such as organization, support, back-passing, etc., so Stoudemire himself can’t quite figure out what Leon’s plan is, but whatever. Well, just do it.

The second quarter of the game started quickly, and Nash was still resting off the court. Unlike other teammates, he was not sitting on the bench, but lying on the sidelines, a dedicated position for him, to protect his lumbar spine.

At this time, the Suns' lineup on the court was Stoudemire, rookie Dudley, Jaskevicius, senior Barry and Diaw. On the Lakers' side, Kobe was still resting off the court. Kwame Brown, Barbosa, E. Vince, Radmanovic and Jordan Farmar had to get through the beginning of the second quarter, and they maintained a 4-point lead.

Phil Jackson still sits firmly on the Diaoyutai. He believes that the team is in very good shape tonight, while the Suns look a little loose, especially their defense. He has confidence in the Lakers in this game. But at the beginning of the second quarter, within two minutes, the Suns taught Jackson a lesson.