Chapter 289: Oppression of talent

? Arenas' confidence is proportional to the distance to the basket. Sometimes Leon wondered if he played too much with Antoine Walker, and had the urge to throw it after halftime.
But throwing a three-pointer in the counterattack is one of Leon's behaviors that do not restrict Arenas. Although sometimes this can cause harm to the team, it is obviously more damage to the opponent than to himself.
After Derek Fisher came on the field, Arenas began to strengthen the offense. This was not Leon’s instruction, but the Celtics' consciousness. They know that Fisher's playing will bring some holes to the Lakers' defense. Fisher is strong, active in defense, and at the best age of professional players. However, he has always been flawed in defensive speed point guards. Arenas is not a speed point guard, but his speed, especially his shooting speed, is absolutely fast enough.
With two consecutive three-pointers in the first quarter, Arenas almost threw Jackson’s heart through, but the Zen master still couldn’t beat Fisher. On the one hand, he couldn’t hit his face so quickly. On the other hand, he knew that the Lakers Now what really needs to be solved is not the defensive problem, but the offensive problem.
Fisher's play and the increase in Malone's touches did gradually ease the Lakers' half-court offensive problem. Fox began to score and Malone's mid-range began to bloom. However, the good feel the Celtics accumulated in the first half of the first quarter was obviously not exhausted. Arenas, Reid, and Pierce used three-pointers to counter the Lakers.
The point difference was stretched to about 6 points. The Lakers tried to erase the 6 point difference throughout the first half. This is a problem that Arenas can solve with two three-pointers, but the Lakers’ outside touch never felt Open, they try to get back the offensive feel, point by point.
But the Celtics' defense is like a quagmire. They pursue a strict one-on-one defense, not easily double-teaming, not easily transferred, and not easily lost position. This is the best defensive method that players on the court can do without the coach's command-keep an eye on the person in charge and ignore the others.
At the end of the half game, the score was 54:48, and the Celtics still maintained a 6-point lead.
Of course, this did not affect the joy of the Staples Center fans. After all, this is the first half. After all, this is only the regular season. After all, many people come here to watch stars rather than basketball. After all, this is Los Angeles.
Before returning to the locker room, Leon was stopped by a female reporter for an interview. When asked what kind of targeted arrangements he had in the first half, Leon replied: "No, if you know the ball, you will find me what I didn’t do anything specific, I just told the players to play hard and try to win the game. Obviously they have done a good job so far."
After saying goodbye, Leon said goodbye and left the field and returned to the player channel, leaving the female reporter alone to face the camera with some embarrassment.
Leon doesn't want to waste too much time on interviews, he has a lot to do during the intermission.
Back in the locker room, he immediately began to analyze with the players on the tactical whiteboard how best to deal with the triangle attack. At the same time, he reminded the players to reduce unnecessary cooperation in the offense. That's right, Leon felt that sometimes players would cooperate a little more meaninglessly.
Passing the ball is not the better. In particular, most of the Celtics players have a strong ability to attack independently. Excessive conduction of the ball pays attention to rationality, and it will weaken the efficiency under the 24 second offensive limit.
Recently, the Celtics have been practicing offensive zone offenses, and players have become more and more aware of sharing and passing the ball. In the first half, when Leon had little planning, several players on the field passed the ball so happily that sometimes they passed too much and pursued absolute offensive opportunities, and finally the offense failed.
"Sometimes I also want to tell you that it is difficult for you to make the best choice within 24 seconds. The time is too short. So, if you have a chance, even if this opportunity is fleeting, you If you have confidence in your own abilities, you must seize the opportunity and attack decisively." Leon said to every player.
After allowing the players to experience a self-directed first half, it is most effective to educate them in the midfield. Everyone thinks about how they feel on the court and what the coach says.
Leon knows that players have limited time to think. In addition to games and training, they spend a lot of time on entertainment, clubbing, games, and vacations. It is very difficult to expect them to learn tactics and basketball thinking. of. Then learning in the game is the best way.
"Of course, I have to add that, except for Arenas, what you just said, restrain your confidence. If you dare to throw three-pointers in the second half, I will let you return to Boston and throw it again." Finally Leon specially reminded.
Arenas originally listened very seriously, but when he heard Leon’s words, he was not happy. In the first half, his scoring was second only to Pierce and ranked second on the team. A few chasing three-pointers boosted morale. At the same time hit the opponent. It can be said that his performance in the first half may not be the best, but it was the most eye-catching.
"I can throw in! I swear." Arenas said to Leon with a grieved expression. He didn't dare to make a mad face to Leon, and could only pretend to be wronged.
"I know you can still get in when you need it, but in the second half our offensive focus will be on the inside," Leon emphasized.
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On the other hand, in the locker room of the Los Angeles Lakers, Phil Jackson was furious. In his fifth year coaching the Lakers, the top coach has become increasingly temperamental. It's not that his personality has changed, but because in such an increasingly swollen team with problems constantly appearing, sometimes he has to be temperamental.
"Do you still want to beat your opponent here? Do you understand the meaning of this game? Or do you want that brat to light his cigar here again?" Jackson couldn't help but confront. The players yelled.
Last year, although the Sharks overturned the Celtics' inside line on their own, the Celtics finally relied on the scoring and the superb performance of the substitute players, and you overturned the Lakers on the road. The scene where Fox Leon lit his winning cigar on the sidelines in the final stage became a shame for the Lakers.
However, for tonight's game, Leon was not booed by the Los Angeles fans. On the contrary, many people cheered and applauded him. This is the difference between Los Angeles and other places. It has the tolerance and generosity unique to a metropolis. They worship and praise the hero, and they don't mind whether he is an opponent or an enemy.
So they also have the only failed finals in nBA history>
Jackson undoubtedly didn't like this feeling. He enjoyed his unique "low-key high-profile", but this time he felt the pressure from the opposite, the Fox-Leon who is also good at getting things done.
He tried his best to inspire the players. At the end, he pulled Kobe and talked with him alone for a while. Kobe's performance in the first half was not outstanding, even a little bad.
Back in the game, the bright yellow floor in the center of Staples was dazzled, and the Celtics' green color was the nasty patina on the brass. What was even more annoying was that they were still leading.
Jackson knew that he had to fight back as soon as possible, turning the momentum and the situation around at the beginning of the third quarter.
The Celtics attacked, Pierce missed a mid-range jumper, O'Neal got a rebound and the Lakers counterattacked. This time Kobe received the ball, went straight from the backcourt to the basket, and then succeeded in a layup~EbookFREE.me~ also caused Garnett's foul and an additional penalty.
Kobe seems to be recovering, which is good news for the Lakers.
Afterwards, Garnett turned his back to face Malone and missed a jumper. PJ-Brown grabbed the offensive rebound and passed the ball to Arenas. Arenas caught the ball from the center and faced O'Neal's huge palm. Hits.
After Kobe once again hit a mid-range, the Celtics launched their second quick counterattack. Pierce shook Fox off the ball and made a counter-basket from the bottom line.
Kobe's hand is getting hotter and hotter, but there are always players on the Celtics side who can rely on personal ability, plus a little cooperation and some dribbles to get the ball into the basket.
The third quarter of the game went by a little bit, the point difference has been fluctuating around 6 points, never below four points, that is to say, there is no time when the Lakers hope to use an offensive round to equalize the score.
Jackson has no way to sit on the bench, and an unwilling fact slowly emerged in his heart: this Celtics may have surpassed the Los Angeles Lakers in terms of overall talent and hard power. (To be continued.)