The Pope of Basketball Community

On the evening of the 8th, the Staples Center Arena was full.

When the players came out, the fans gave them warm applause. Even if the opponent is very weak and Yao Ming is sure not to play before the game, the fans are still willing to attend the game because the home team will definitely score high points and have a chance of winning, and Kobe is more likely to score high points.

Super data is always what attracts fans the most.

Yesterday, Los Angeles Sports predicted that Kobe Bryant is expected to break out in this game. If Yao Ming does not play, he will get more shots. When Yao Ming was here, the two cooperated a lot, and the ball power was not concentrated on one person.

On the sidelines, some fans held signs saying "Kobe Bryant 70 Points" to express their good wishes. Jordan's career high in a single game is 69 points. As long as Kobe can score 70 points, it will be a surpass for Jordan.

Kobe's wife Vanessa also attended the game to support her husband. The Eagle County incident has passed, the relationship between the two has been reconciled, and Kobe is in a good mood.

Because the opponent is weak, this game is not broadcast live across the United States, but only on local stations and China CCTV5.

Zhang Lili said when introducing the lineup: "Yao Ming cannot play today due to injury. It is a pity that the Rockets have Mutombo inside. When he was with the Knicks, Larry Brown often said that he hoped Yao Ming would become Mutombo. No. Many fans left messages online, wanting to see them play against each other."

Yu Jia smiled and said: "I think the current Yao Ming is definitely not something Mutombo can guard. Yao Ming is expected to become the No. 1 center in the NBA, and Mutombo can only serve as a substitute for Cato."

Zhang Lili joked: "I hope the Lakers won't win so easily today. Yang Rui said when he was with the Raptors that Carter's biggest enemy is garbage time. Now with the Lakers, Kobe's biggest enemy is also garbage time. If he plays less time, It’s hard for him to put up luxurious numbers.”

During the warm-up, players from both teams were practicing three-pointers. Many experts analyzed that the only magic weapon to win against the Lakers is three-pointers, because the Lakers usually use a 122 zone defense, and Yao Ming guards the penalty area and cannot hit the basket at all. Even without Yao Ming today, the Lakers' inside strength is obviously better than that of the Rockets.

The Lakers' starting five: Damon Jones, Hoiberg, Kobe, Odom, Rasheed.

Rockets five: Mike Bibby, Mobley, Jaylen Rose, Kris Humphries, Kevin Cato.

Yang Rui's decision to let Kobe improve his statistics in this game is related to the Rockets' staffing. They hired former Pacers star Jaylen Rose in the summer. In Yang Rui's previous life, Kobe Bryant scored 81 points against the Raptors, and Rose was the one who defended him.

In that game, Rose seemed to have added a BUFF to Kobe, and the basket was as wide as the ocean.

Rose's current statistics are quite good, which is very confusing. The Rockets thought that trading him in the summer would make the team very competitive in the new season. In fact, Ross is strong in offense and weak in defense, and is not qualified to be the second boss.

Humphries was a rookie drafted by the Rockets in the first round of 2004. He has strong physical fitness and equally poor defense.

The Rockets were forced to let him start. The team's weakest position is the 4th position. Eddie Griffin, the "American Tony Leung" who had high hopes before, could not keep up with the rhythm of the game due to his drinking problem. The Rockets could only bear the pain. Its cut out.

Then the Nets signed Griffin for free, thinking they would get a bargain, but the guy ended up spending a year in an alcohol rehab center.

As for Humphries, in Yang Rui's previous life, this person left an extremely deep impression on the fans.

He is 206cm tall and weighs 107kg. In his peak season of 11-12, he averaged 13.8 points and 11 rebounds per game. Although he was not selected for the All-Star Game that season, he was selected into the top five players many times and was dunked several times by a Clippers guy named Blake Griffin.

What he is most famous for is his marriage to Kim Kardashian and becoming the first NBA player to be guarded to death by members of the Kardashian family.

In short, the Rockets' overall defense is very poor. The Raptors in Yang Rui's previous life were even worse. The Raptors at least still have Bosh.

After the game started, the Rockets' performance was eye-catching. They broke out from the outside and quickly turned away from home.

Bibby scored consecutive singles on Jones' mid-range shot.

Mobley also got rid of Hoiberg and scored two three-pointers, broke through the baseline for a layup, stole Jones' pass, and performed a solo fast-break dunk.

Jones became an undercover agent for the Rockets today and sleepwalked on the court at the beginning of the game. He has always suffered from defenders like "White Devil" Bibby. When playing against the Mavericks, he was also terrible at guarding Terry.

As a point guard, Bibby's assist ability is not very strong. His advantage is that he has excellent change of direction and breakthrough speed. He can quickly tear apart the opponent's defense, and then make emergency stop mid-range shots, pick-and-roll mid-range shots, and occasionally a three-pointer.

Jones has slow lateral movement and poor bounce. He is always half a beat slow in blocking shots and interfering with jump shots.

Hoiberg and Jones have very similar styles. They are both accurate in three-pointers and poor in defense. As a veteran, he moves laterally slower than Jones, and he is even worse against Mobley, who can shoot suddenly.

After 5 minutes of play, the Lakers trailed 14 to 23.

In this case, ordinary coaches would call a timeout and make substitutions, but Yang Rui watched the ball quietly on the sidelines without any expression.

Zhang Lili couldn't understand. "Why didn't Yang Rui call a timeout? Of the Lakers, only Kobe Bryant played well and scored 9 points. The two insiders were active on the outside today and did not make cuts. Being beaten by a weak team is not like the Lakers' style."

Yu Jia said with a smile: "Today's game just showed the importance of Yao Ming. Without him, the Lakers will not have an overwhelming advantage inside. Cato and Humphries guarded the penalty area, controlled the backcourt rebounds, and the frontcourt He also rebounds very hard.”

In fact, it was Yang Rui who did not arrange for Odom and Rasheed to attack. The two were only responsible for opening up the space to help Kobe Bryant score. Even if they were covering, they would only pick and not roll. They would not be in good position to cut to the basket and give up space to Kobe.

The Lakers' insiders sacrifice offense and make guest appearances as blue-collar players, while the Rockets insiders are blue-collar players themselves and do what they are good at, defending and rebounding. Naturally, they look better than the Lakers' two space-based insiders.

Yang Rui didn't call a timeout, believing that Kobe could find his touch, and the low shooting percentage at first allowed him to continue shooting. If he doesn't call a timeout, Kobe won't think too much and knows he means what he says.

Don't use it if you doubt it, don't doubt it if you employ it.

Yang Rui is well aware of the characteristics of the Rockets' perimeter and knows that with Jones and Hoiberg, it will be difficult for the Lakers to defend against the Rockets' offense. He deliberately found two guards with excellent three-point accuracy and poor defense to partner with Kobe. Good at opening up space and helping Kobe score.

If Iguodala is sent in, the Rockets will not be able to score easily. On Mo Williams, the defense is better than Jones. But that is not in the interests of the Lakers, and it will be more difficult to achieve the goals set before the game.

Statistics is a science. If the Lakers take a big lead at halftime, like the time against the Heat, many people will question the game and sympathize with the weak. If the score is tight, it makes sense for the stars to play more minutes.

Yang Rui didn't call a timeout, and Carlisle didn't call a timeout. The Rockets were in the lead.

In the second half, Kobe found his shooting touch, relied on Odom to get rid of Rose, and made three consecutive jump shots in one step.

Cato is an excellent meat shield center. Although he did not produce luxurious statistics after signing a big contract with the Rockets, he has always been a starter and his ability to defend the penalty area has been recognized. Jason Collins, who was originally selected by the Rockets, is now sent to the Hornets because of Cato.

However, Cato's weaknesses are also obvious. He is heavy and cannot move fast enough. He is easily passed by the defender when switching defenders, and the defensive defender is also half a beat slower in emergency stop jump shots.

At the end of the first quarter, the Lakers trailed 31 to 37. Kobe Bryant scored 19 points and 2 assists.