Chapter 288: Grow to your heart's content

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</> The scary thing about Shaquille O’Neal is not that he uses the power that can destroy the Empire State Building like a King Kong to smash his opponent’s basket to pieces, or use his huge body to make an amazing turn The action is that Shaquille O'Neal is a guy who can call it a tactic by himself. The name of this tactic is "Give the ball to O'Neal."
Leon deeply realized this. Although as the head coach, he and O'Neal only met once. That was when O'Neal made his comeback at Staples Center last year. The Sharks used 48 points at home to completely beat the Celtics. Shred.
From then on, Leon truly understood that Pj-Brown could not limit O'Neal, and that things that even Mutombo could not do could not be expected to be done by Brown.
But unlike those coaches who were frightened by O'Neal all of a sudden, hoarding the insides frantically, abusing shark-slashing tactics, using cars to fight and double-team against O'Neal, Leon is not afraid of O'Neal. He believes that if you start to fear a player and have not restricted him at all costs, your team has already lost more than half.
Leon admitted that O'Neal can defeat a team on his own, but this team will not be his Boston Celtics.
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In the middle of the first quarter, O'Neal made 6 of 7 shots and scored 12 points. Pj Brown, who used to be the Celtics insider King Kong, suddenly became a toy in front of O'Neal. He can withstand O'Neal's card position, but he can't withstand O'Neal's turn and hook. The Shark is in excellent condition today, which seems to be Leon's mistake.
Let an opponent's super center have such a good opening feeling, no matter how you look at it, it is tantamount to suicide, especially for O'Neal, who is trapped in free throws and catches in the final stage, making him crazy output in the most comfortable stage. , It is really incomprehensible.
But looking up at the score of the two sides, 15:17, the lead turned out to be the Celtics. When Paul Pierce broke through the inside line in an offensive and caused Malone's defensive foul and made two free throws from the free throw line, the score of the two sides came to 15:19, and the Celtics led by 4 points.
At this time, Phil Jackson, who had been sitting on the bench quietly watching the game, finally couldn't sit still. When the situation was not bad and O'Neal was in exceptionally good form, Jackson could not sit still. The coach, who has always been good at sitting firmly on the Diaoyutai when the team is in a critical moment, stood up from the bench and watched the game like Leon on the other side.
"Phil Jackson's left his stool. It's amazing. The Lakers are doing well, but they should have some problems in Jackson's view. In addition to O'Neal, they only scored two people. Kobe took it. After two points, Payton scored one." As an old commentator, Dick Stockton has a keen sense of the situation on the court.
The Lakers are too focused on scoring, although this is very common in NBA games. When a player feels good, his teammates will keep feeding him the ball and let him score.
But obviously, the situation for the Lakers is a little different.
It was the Lakers' turn to attack, Payton handed the ball to Kobe, and Kobe held the ball for halftime. He lowered his focus, looking for opportunities to cut in from the Celtics' perimeter defense. But the existence of Kevin Garnett made Kobe hesitate for a while. He has repeatedly blocked Kobe's breakthrough line by relying on sensitive fills.
At this time O'Neal started to take a position in the paint again. He was in great form. He wanted to score a few more goals when he felt good. But Kobe didn't choose to pass the ball. As usual, he passed the ball to Fox. Fox then gave Malone in the middle. O'Neal would have a good chance of receiving the ball.
Kobe finally chose to cut into the inside line from the left in a large circle, trying to tear apart the Celtics' defense with speed and skill. His choice is not a problem. In addition to O'Neal, other players in the Lakers also need to find an offensive feel.
Kobe's speed is not very fast, but his rhythm is very good, Reid feels it is difficult to keep up with him, as if he will be thrown away as soon as he accelerates, but he does not know when he will accelerate, and then he will Will not stop jump shots.
But Reid had a concept in his mind. Leon told him that when you face Kobe, don't try to guard his offense, but try to guard his pass.
When Kobe got inside, he wanted to find a pass to Malone or Fox on the outside, but Reid followed behind with his arms outstretched and his feet stretched out like a goalkeeper to stop all his passes.
Kobe bypassed the bottom line, forced a jump, and a difficult drawbar layup. This was his skill-but Kevin Garnett jumped up, and he and Kobe collided in the air. His long arms interfered. Kobe.
Moreover, the referee's whistle did not sound. Obviously the referee hesitated and finally thought it was a good defense. Kobe's layup missed the basket.
But Garnett and Brown's forward defense gave O'Neal a chance. He grabbed an offensive rebound and prepared to end the offense with a heavy dunk.
Reid fought for his life and regarded himself as an eye-catcher. He threw himself on O'Neal and then reluctantly pulled O'Neal off without letting him dunk.
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O'Neal stood on the free-throw line, the worst enemy of his life, but before he could start the free throw, Phil Jackson unexpectedly called a timeout, and the players from both sides temporarily retired to their benches.
Jackson, who has always liked to let players solve problems on his own and dislikes to call timeouts, actually called timeouts in this balanced situation, which is enough to show that the scene is not as optimistic as the score shows.
"Where we contact, where is our shared ball, Shaq can solve many problems, but Shaq is not the only solution to the problem! Let the ball pass Carl's hands more, no matter how annoying Kevin Garnett is, Carl, you are appropriate To catch the ball more outside. Our perimeter also needs to open, as well as our defense, it is a very bad thing for them to find the shooting touch!" Jackson emphasized a few issues during the timeout.
Compared to letting O'Neal find the offensive end, what Jackson thinks is more terrifying is actually letting the Celtics shoot. All of their five starting players are capable of mid-to-long range, and the three backcourts are even the best shots. Many people think that the Celtics are a team that has always been good at fast breaks and counterattacks, but Jackson believes that the most terrifying aspect of the Celtics is their jump shots.
Jackson has always liked to play on teams that are good at long-range shots. The Lakers themselves are not a particularly good long-range shot team, but he has a way to prevent the opponent from making shots. But tonight, the Celtics' shooting state is very good, and it is more blooming, it seems that Fox-Leon is deliberately making every player on the field find a shooting feeling.
On the other side, Leon did not make any arrangements during the timeout, but told the players to play seriously, "This is Staples. No one supports you except yourself. Remember, we are going to kill them."
After that, it was Leon's turn to sit back on his bench.
As the game gradually deepened from the first quarter, Leon's expectations for this game became clearer and clearer. What he really wants is not just victory, but through this game, to see clearly what is the difference between the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers, what are the differences, and what are the advantages.
Therefore, he decided to interfere with the players to the minimum, try not to use conspiracy and tricks, and set a general direction for the players, let them play to their fullest, give full play to their personal abilities, give play to the tacit understanding of the team, and let them compete at the top level. Under the mental pressure, grow up heartily.
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When the timeout ended, Jackson made a substitution adjustment. He replaced Gary Payton with Derek Fisher. Payton looked inactive in the first quarter and turned out to be crooked. Mouthful and unhappy.
O'Neal unsurprisingly missed both free throws from the free throw line. Looking back, Arenas hit a counter-stop jumper. Facing Fisher's defense, Arenas' offense was much easier.
However, the Lakers have also improved here. When Malone started to touch the ball, he as the pivot point smoothed the Lakers' offense very well. Although he was pressured by Garnett and had to receive the ball from a more outside position, Can not directly attack after receiving the ball.
But the good tactical qualities that he has been nurtured by the tactical system for many years have improved the Lakers' offensive tactics. As Fox received a three-pointer from Malone from the bottom corner, the Lakers made the first quarter. A three-pointer.
Jackson saw the goal and was about to turn around and sit back on the bench to continue the Zen pose. He didn't know that his waist hadn't been bent down. Arenas dribbled the ball quickly through the half and chased the Lakers' to make a three-pointer at the top of the arc.
The ball enters the net with a hollow core and passes through Jackson's small heart hollow. (To be continued.)