Bishop of the Abyss

Chapter 229 229. The confrontation between McGrady and Kobe, "I think you should call a timeout

Chapter 229 229. The confrontation between McGrady and Kobe, "I think you should call a timeout next time".

Since the start of the season, the Grizzlies have become one of the best-performing teams in the new season.

So far, the Grizzlies have ranked first in the Western Conference with a record of four wins and zero losses, and their excellent offensive firepower has also attracted a lot of attention from fans.

After all, in this period of time, no team in the league dares to shoot a large number of three-pointers from beyond the three-point line. After a game, [-] or [-] shots from beyond the three-point line are considered to be the average level of the league.

As for a style of play like the Warriors that can average more than 20 three-pointers per game, it can already be regarded as a team that relies on three-pointers to win games.

A large number of three-point shots lead to a fast-paced game. Compared with frequent inside melees and frequent free throws to score, the Grizzlies' fast-paced and smooth games are undoubtedly more popular with fans.

If it is said that the ultra-fast pace of the small ball era and the lack of physical confrontation have always been the slots in the fans' mouths.

So today's frequent physical confrontation and intermittent game rhythm have also been frantically complained by fans.

Under normal circumstances, because of the unbearable constipation battle between the Spurs and the Pistons in the Finals that year, the ratings of the Finals hit a record low in the NBA in the past ten years, so the league will do everything possible to promote the offense.

It wasn't until later that in order to improve the enjoyment of the game, the league revised the rules many times, and more and more styles of play appeared in the league, and the small ball era gradually became the mainstream.

However, due to Luke's appearance, the Spurs and Pistons failed to meet in the finals, and the Timberwolves also relied on defense to win, which indirectly led to the league's offensive reforms being much slower than normal.

At present, most teams still hand the ball to their stars to play one-on-one in positional battles. At most, some simple tactical coordination is carried out through pick-and-rolls. From the perspective of play, it is undoubtedly simple and rough.

As for the bombardment of the Suns led by D'Antoni, it is already considered a clear stream in the league, which is why the Suns have attracted such a large number of fans in the past two years.

But the core purpose of the Suns on the offensive end is to play fast, while the Grizzlies this season have made a lot of three-point shots from the outside. There is still an essential difference between the two teams.

Entering November, the Grizzlies' schedule is still sweet. The opponents they encountered in the early stage are generally not very strong, which also gives the Grizzlies more opportunities to attract people's attention.

Even if the sweet schedule in the early stage will make it difficult for the Grizzlies in the later part of the season, as the saying goes, take a bath, look at your watch, and feel comfortable every second. As long as the Grizzlies can win the games they should have won, the final goal The team's record must not be too bad.

With the victory over the Bulls and the Kings in the first two games in November, the Grizzlies have increased their winning streak to six games, becoming an undefeated team with the Celtics, Lakers and Hornets.

The outstanding performance of the Grizzlies in the new season has kept the praise of the Grizzlies from the outside world. The six-game winning streak also broke the record in the history of the Grizzlies, which is the best start performance of the Grizzlies since its establishment.

In addition, Kyle Lowry, who could only serve as a marginal player last season, ushered in an explosion in the past two games.

In the game against the Kings, facing the All-Star player Mike Bibby, Lowry threw 6 three-pointers and scored 27 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists, and pressed the opposing player Mike Bibby crazy To ravage.

Among them, six three-pointers in a single game and 27 points in a single game both set a career high for Lowry.

After the game, Lowry's performance also attracted discussions from many outside fans. Everyone put the credit on Luke and believed in Luke's ability to turn stones into gold.

After all, last season Lowry was just a fringe player who couldn't even get into the regular rotation, but in the new season coaching the Grizzlies, Luke chose to put Lowry in the starting lineup without any warning.

And with the end of these games, Lowry's performance also ushered in a rise, and his excellent personal ability responded to many doubts from the outside world, which can be regarded as confirming Luke's ability to turn stones into gold from the side.

After defeating the Kings, the Grizzlies are about to usher in a tough battle, and they are a team stronger than the Timberwolves.

On November 11th, the Timberwolves will be a guest at the Staples Arena to challenge the Lakers. The tickets for this game were sold out two days in advance, and it is rumored that the scalpers have fired up the tickets to a very outrageous price.

But even so, there are still a large number of fans who bought tickets from scalpers at a price nearly five times higher than the market price, just to watch the Grizzlies vs. Lakers game from the first perspective.

In addition to the fact that the Lakers and Grizzlies are the two most popular teams in the active league, part of the reason is that the Lakers management is dissatisfied with Luke's joining the Grizzlies.

Long before the start of the season, the general manager of the Lakers, Kupchak, satirized Luke veiledly on social media. Kupchak’s operation at the time not only confused the fans, but even many people in the industry did not understand Kupchak. Why did Chek provoke Luke, the scourge.

Later, fans discovered that a large part of Kupchak's remarks on social media were for Jerry West.

Jerry West was a well-known Lakers star during his player period, and even the logo currently used by the NBA is Jerry West.

The first thing Luke did after joining the Grizzlies was to sweep West out, and in an interview with the media, Luke gave the reason, "It's time for Jerry to take a good rest."

Although there were some news reports about the layoff of Jerry West at the time, it did not cause waves for the entire league.

After all, Luke's ability to rebuild the team has always been clear to the outside world. Even if West did not dismiss get out of class at the time, it would be difficult to grasp real power in terms of player construction.

Kupchak's utterance seemed a bit stupid, and even looked a little out of breath in the eyes of the fans. All kinds of behaviors have always been incomprehensible to the outside world.

It wasn't until a gossip came out that people didn't know why Kupchak seemed so angry at the time.

According to unknown netizens, before Luke announced that he would join the Grizzlies, the Grizzlies star Paul Gasol has been making trouble to leave the team. This matter is not a secret in the league.

Jerry West, who was the general manager of the Grizzlies at the time, reached an agreement in private with the Lakers he had played for. To be precise, he reached an agreement with Lakers general manager Kupchak.

Said that he would do his best to facilitate the deal about Pau Gasol, let Gasol join the Lakers through the trade, and become Kobe's right-hand man on the way to the championship.

No one questioned Jerry West's ability to operate. Once West made up his mind to help the Lakers, it was only a matter of time before this deal happened.

It is conceivable that once this deal is concluded, the chances of the Lakers aspiring to the championship will become very huge, and it is not an exaggeration to say that the championship is booked in advance.

But Luke's joining is equivalent to smashing Pau Gasol's hope of joining the Lakers from the source, which made general manager Kupchak a little crazy, so he couldn't help venting his anger online.

Although Kupchak denied the rumor in front of the media, the other party, Luke, even smiled slightly, as if he had never taken this matter to heart.

However, when the game between the Grizzlies and the Lakers is about to start, the popularity of this game is still beyond the imagination of fans.

Especially when neither team has lost in the new season, no matter what the result of this game is, one team will face losing.

For fans, this is definitely a game not to be missed.

.........

On November 11, local time in the United States, the Grizzlies visited the Staples Arena to challenge the Lakers. The game was full of gunpowder.

Both the Grizzlies and the Lakers have yet to experience defeat, so both sides will definitely go all out in this game to continue their winning streak.

In addition, with Luke's prosperity in recent years, fans will inevitably compare with the "Zen Master" Jackson who has won the most championships in active service.

At first, the number of fans who supported Jackson was much higher than that of Luke, but in the past two years, Luke's strength has made "Zen Master" Jackson's status as the number one coach in active service gradually lost.

This summer Luke even signed a three-year $2600 million contract with the Grizzlies, officially surpassing Jackson and becoming the highest paid coach in NBA history.

This also caused Jackson to always be hostile to Luke, especially this year when the Grizzlies coached by Luke also started to play a triangle offense, Jackson felt that the outside world was full of hostility towards him.

It is foreseeable that once the Grizzlies upset the championship this season, or beat the Lakers in the playoffs, "Zen Master" Jackson's reputation will definitely start to decline in a straight line.

And the triangle offense will go from Jackson's honor to a joke.

Therefore, Jackson has been very serious about the Grizzlies game since before the game. He kept ticking off with the tactical board, stood on the sidelines and explained to Kobe and other players, posing as if he must win the game. attitude.

"It's been a long time since I saw Phil showing such a nervous look. Even if he is swept by his opponent in the playoffs, Phil can still keep his expression on."

"It seems that the rumors from the outside world are indeed correct. If there is anyone in the active league who can suppress Phil, then this person is definitely you."

Looking at Luke who was sitting on the side discussing which hotel in Los Angeles served well with Lambiel, Gentry said with a smile on his face.

Before the game, the cameras showed the two coaches Jackson and Luke many times. Compared with the seriousness and solemnity of the Lakers, the Grizzlies seemed much more relaxed. The head coach Luke was sitting on the court talking and laughing. It doesn't look like a big battle is coming.

"Phil's understanding of the triangle offense is definitely above me, but this game is a game he can't afford to lose, but it's just an ordinary regular season for me."

"Even if they lose the game in the end, the outside world will only say that the Grizzlies lost the game gloriously, but once the Lakers lose the game, Phil's good days will come to an end."

Shaking his head peacefully, Luke sat on the sidelines and watched the players warm up calmly.

As Luke said, the Grizzlies are a team that has just completed rebuilding. Even if the game really loses to the Lakers, the outside world will only say that the Grizzlies lost gloriously, and they will definitely not be too picky about Luke. .

On the contrary, the Lakers have endured huge external pressure in this game. Whether it is the head coach Zen Master or the head star Kobe, both of them are ready to play this game as a playoff.

Luke, who knows this well, finds it funny, "Sometimes weakness represents inspiration instead."

The Lakers still continued their regular starting game: "Old Fish" Fisher, Kobe Bryant, Odom, Okafor and Gortat.

As for the Grizzlies, it is the same: Lowry, McGrady, Gerald Wallace, Pau Gasol and Gasol Jr.

The matchup between the players of the two teams is quite interesting. Whether it is the outside line, the striker line or the inside line, they all have a very high degree of similarity.

Especially the matchup between McGrady and Kobe on the second position made the fans on the scene start to boil.

After all, these two have always been the most popular stars in the league. Fans look forward to every match between the two. Even though McGrady does not lose to Kobe in terms of personal statistics, he has been crushed by Kobe in terms of team record. .

As soon as the first quarter came up, a rather dramatic scene happened on the court. Since the Lakers' lineup is also very mobile, the Grizzlies have few opportunities to play a defensive counterattack.

This also led to the fact that when the game fell into a positional battle, the offensive tactics implemented by the two teams turned out to be triangle offenses.

Although the triangle offense used by the Grizzlies is not the same as that used by the Lakers, the core purpose of the tactics is very consistent, which is to open up space for singles players and create more opportunities to attack the basket through the pull of the triangle offense.

"Shu~"

Following McGrady's 45-degree angle on the right side and a mid-range pull-up hit, Kobe immediately asked his teammates for the ball in the next round, and made a mid-range back shot from the same position.

"Shu~"

When Kobe responded on the court, the entire Staples Arena fell into madness instantly. The fans stood up and shook their T-shirts wildly, as if witnessing a confrontation between McGrady and Kobe.

The atmosphere of the scene was heightened by the fans, which made it difficult for McGrady to ride a tiger. He could only continue to ask for the ball in the next round. After continuous trial steps, McGrady directly chose to pull out from outside the three-point line.

"Shu~"

The iconic three-pointer hit, McGrady chewed on his braces while looking at Kobe with sleepy eyes.

Sensing McGrady's gaze, Kobe stuck out his tongue and licked the corner of his mouth with a smile on his face, and then forced a three-pointer at the position where McGrady hit a pull-up three-pointer, and even the distance was almost the same as before.

"Shu~"

Another score from outside the three-point line not only made the fans excited, but even Jafaroni, who was sitting off the court, couldn't help but marvel, "This guy is really stubborn, and his personal ability is also desperate."

"This is a good show. I wonder if Tracy can stand it." Casey on the side also looked at the court with great interest.

There were some problems in the rhythm of the game between the Grizzlies and the Lakers throughout the first quarter. The two teams blossomed from the original multi-point, and gradually became a confrontation between McGrady and Kobe in the end.

Since the atmosphere on the scene was heightened to the extreme by the two consecutive scoring points, even if McGrady wanted to stop, he couldn't save face and pass the ball to his teammates.

And when Kobe and McGrady were playing singles, the players on both sides also tacitly did not attack, but stood aside and let the two start to fight.

Among them, Gerald Wallace once passed a look to Luke, as if asking whether he should flank Kobe, but Luke just shook his head with a smile on his lips, expressing to wait and see.

"Maybe this is not the best era of basketball, but it is definitely an era that everyone will remember."

"It's a really nostalgic way of playing."

Off the court, Luke and Jackson also tacitly did not move, did not adjust the tactics on the court, as if they both acquiesced in the soaring points between Kobe and McGrady.

Jackson's coaching style has always been like this. As long as the players can score on the court, Jackson will never take the initiative to call a timeout, but let the players adjust their status on the court.

Luke, on the other hand, is very interested in the offense on the field, and even looks forward to the next performance of the two.

"boom!"

With McGrady hitting the iron with a three-pointer from the outside, this is McGrady's two consecutive offensive rounds.

Kobe, who received the backcourt rebound, was not in a hurry to push for a counterattack, but held the ball through halftime with a smile on his face, and chose to shoot again at the position where McGrady just missed a shot.

"boom!"

The sound of hammering irons also resounded throughout the court. Seeing that Kobe missed the shot, McGrady was obviously relieved, and even the pressure on his body was much less.

For the next period of time, McGrady and Kobe played singles in most cases, and occasionally sent wonderful passes for teammates who ran out of space.

Until the end of the first quarter, the two sides battled to a 23:23 tie, and the entire first quarter was more like a bullfight between Kobe and Tracy McGrady.

首节比赛科比9投5中交出14分3篮板1助攻的数据，麦迪则10投5中贡献13分4篮板2助攻，从个人数据来看，双方斗的旗鼓相当，谁都没占到便宜。

And both of them played the first quarter without getting even a minute of rest.

After the game, McGrady took the towel and wiped the sweat off his forehead, then looked at Luke with sleepy eyes, "That guy is a tireless lunatic, I think you should call a timeout next time."

(End of this chapter)