My Name is Kobe Bryant

At the Great Western Forum, the Lakers are preparing to meet the challenge of the Sacramento Kings, who previously ranked tenth in the West with 13 wins and 18 losses. Although their head player Mitch Richmond played the best performance of his career, averaging 25.9 points, 3.9 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game, he still couldn't escape the bad luck.

The ability of the King's other players is really poor. In the 1990s, Sacramento had some stars, such as Webber and Rambis, but in the 1993 season, Rambis was traded to the Lakers. Now he has become the chief of the Lakers. teaching assistant. Webber was traded to the Atlanta Hawks in the '95 season.

But at present, they can be called capable players except Richmond. Mahmoud Lauf as the team's point guard is not acclimatized, and it is difficult to perform in the Denver Nuggets now. Among the other players who are more famous, there is only one Billy Owens. The No. 3 pick in 1991 gradually sank, and now he has been completely wiped out. This season, he averaged only 11 points per game.

Kings coach Garry St. Jean Garry Jane has served as the head coach of the Sacramento Kings since 1992, but his leading performance in leading the team has made the team's top management seriously dissatisfied. There are rumors that if the King finds a suitable A replacement, he may be swept out at any time.

So the King's 13 wins is already a record that Richmond has worked hard to win. After all, he is not a superstar, and he can't lead a bunch of O'Neill-level players to the playoffs like a superstar.

The Lakers will play a game against the Kings at home on January 2, and will fly to Sacramento immediately the next day. Played against the Kings back to back on the road.

But in a game that was a surefire game, the Lakers almost overturned.

Perhaps it was because there were no games for several days, and the Lakers players were not focused. In the first quarter, Richmond led the team to a 31:23. The offensive problem is not big, but the Lakers players' omissions and eye defense on the defensive end are very serious.

Maybe it's an old problem of the rich teams, after winning consecutive games, they will drift away in various ways.

The Lakers' substitutes continued to dig holes, allowing the point difference to continue to widen. Most of the Lakers' substitutes rely on shooting to score. When they lose their touch, the game will be very difficult.

In the second quarter, the Lakers started to play again, and Kobe took the initiative to lead Richmond. In this way, the momentum of the Kings was contained, while the Lakers gave up outside shots and scored consecutively into the Kings penalty area.

Sacramento Kings 58:49 Los Angeles Lakers at halftime. Richmond was the most eye-catching star in this half, scoring 16 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists on 7 of 13 shots.

Kobe scored 8 points, 2 rebounds and 4 assists in 3 of 9, and O'Neal scored 13 points and 4 rebounds in 6 of 10. The Lakers' offense is still online. Facing the King's sloppy defense, it is not difficult to score.

In the third quarter, the Lakers started chasing points. In the first half, Kobe, who was somewhat misfired, adjusted his sights. Kobe is not a man who will collapse to the end. Even if he feels bad, he chooses to go inside and score consecutively with penalties.

Richmond has a misfire, and Kobe's defense is very tight. Even if he can press Kobe to break through the basket with strength, he still has to face the complementary defense of Campbell and O'Neal.

Bryant's defensive strategy is to press the defensive shot, rush to the basket and let Campbell and O'Neal help defend.

Kobe's defense made it impossible for him to get a good shot at the first time. His offense could only become a dry pull against Kobe's defense, or a strong attack against multiple defenders under the basket. beat.

This kind of efficiency is of course not as good as the Lakers with Kobe and O'Neal. After Kobe opened up, the Kings decisively chose to double-team, and O'Neal was excited at this time. There is plenty of space inside to make moves, hitting the basket again and again.

The score kept chasing back, and Horry's buzzer shot tied the score at the end of the third quarter.

At the end of the three quarters, the Sacramento Kings 72:72 the Los Angeles Lakers.

At this time, the balance of victory has been tilted towards the Lakers. Richmond has experienced many such games this season. As an absolute single-core player, even if he beats the opposing team in the opening game, he often still loses. Physically limited and tactically affected, Richmond is not the kind of player who can change his life against the sky.

Kobe first led the Lakers to play a few minutes early in the fourth quarter, and then O'Neal's appearance with 7 minutes left in the game became the last grass that broke the camel's back.

The physically fit O'Neal is invincible against third-rate insiders. In a short period of time, he scored 7 points in a row and harvested the game.

At the end of the game, the Lakers had the last laugh in this turbulent game.

Sacramento Kings 85:93 Los Angeles Lakers.

Richmond's defensive efficiency against Kobe began to decrease in the second half. In a normal game, he scored 24 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists on 11 of 25 shots. There was no assist in the second half. Kobe completely connected Richmond with his teammates. All cut off.

Kobe finally made 9 of 17 shots and scored 21 points, 2 rebounds and 8 assists. With a poor shooting touch, he continued to perform efficiently with breakthroughs and defense.

O'Neal was the best player in the game. O'Neal, who just won the league's best player of the month in December, scored 31 points, 14 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 blocks in this game. Of course, Kobe attracted a lot of defense for him. The reason why it is so easy is that after Kobe scored 55 points, unless the team has a top defender, no team will choose single defense when Kobe breaks out for a long time to come.

Kobe's defensive pressure will rise to a higher level than in 1996!

The Lakers players celebrated briefly, and then went home to rest. They needed to board a plane to Sacramento early the next morning.

The second game against the Kings was even easier. As long as a single-core team like the Kings can lock up Richmond, they won't be able to make waves.

In this game, Harris chose to use Bowen to defend Richmond, and at the same time adopted a defensive strategy of double-teaming the dribble.

Such a fierce and targeted defense made Richmond dumb and suffering. Which of the three Lakers forwards and guards is the league's top perimeter defender, and they even double-teamed. Didn't you even double-team Jordan? Why bother targeting me, the poor guy.

The Lakers didn't double-team Jordan because the Bulls still have Harper and Pippen. You must know that if they give up defending these two players, they are ruthless characters who can blow up the field when they explode! On Christmas Eve, Pippen carried the team to defeat the Pistons led by Grant Hill!

3 of 18, 8 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist and 4 turnovers.

That's right, this is Richmond's performance in the face of the Lakers' three-forward defense, and everyone was beaten.

At the end of the game, the Lakers defeated the Kings in Sacramento 95:77 back-to-back. Lock up Richmond, and the rest can be cast randomly. After this game, Harris realized another point. Facing a single-core team, the Lakers' double-teaming seems to be very useful!

You must know that Kobe, Eddie Jones and Bowen are all tireless scud-type players with oil on their feet, and they rarely lose their positions in rotation defense!