The Whip of the God of Basketball

The scary thing about Shaquille O'Neal is not that he tore the opponent's basket to pieces like a King Kong with the power to destroy the Empire State Building, or that he used his huge body to make amazing turning moves, but that, Shaquille O'Neal is a guy who can call it a tactic, and the name of this tactic is "Give O'Neal the ball."

Leon deeply understands this, although as a head coach he only faced off against O'Neal once, that was at the Staples Center last year when O'Neal returned. The Sharks used a super performance of 48 points to defeat the Celtics at home. Completely shredded inside.

From then on, Leon truly understood that PJ Brown could not restrict O'Neal, and it was impossible to expect Brown to accomplish what even Mutombo could not do.

But unlike those coaches who were suddenly frightened by O'Neal and started hoarding insiders like crazy, abusing shark-cutting tactics, and using wheel battles and double-teaming to deal with O'Neal, Leon was not afraid of O'Neal. He believes that if you start to fear a player and do not limit him at all costs, your team has already lost more than half.

Leon admitted that O'Neal can single-handedly defeat a team, but that team won't be his Boston Celtics.

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 big man, suddenly turned into a toy in front of O'Neal. He can withstand O'Neal's blocking, but cannot withstand O'Neal's turn and hook. The Shark is in excellent condition today, and this seems to be a mistake by Leon.

Letting an opponent's super center have such a good opening feeling is tantamount to suicide no matter how you look at it, especially for an insider like O'Neal who is trapped in free throws and catching the ball in the final stage, allowing him to output wildly in the most comfortable stage. , it’s really hard to understand.

But looking up at the score between the two sides, 15:17, it was the Celtics who were leading. When Paul Pierce broke inside during an attack and caused a defensive foul on Malone, he made two free throws from the free throw line. The score between the two sides reached 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. Even though the situation was not bad and O'Neal was in excellent condition, Jackson couldn't sit still anymore. The coach, who was always good at staying on the Diaoyutai when the team was in critical moments, stood up from the bench and stood on the sidelines watching the game like Leon on the other side.

"Phil Jackson's butt left his bench, which is surprising. The Lakers are doing well, but in Jackson's opinion they should have some problems. Except for O'Neal, only two of them scored, and Kobe Bryant scored He scored two points and Payton scored one." Dick Stockton, as an old commentator, has a very keen sense of the situation on the court.

The Lakers' scoring here is too concentrated, although this is very common in NBA games. When a player feels good, his teammates will constantly feed him the ball so that he can score.

But obviously, the Lakers' situation is somewhat different.

It was the Lakers' turn to attack. Payton handed the ball to Kobe, who controlled the ball for half the game. He lowered his center of gravity, looking for opportunities to cut through the Celtics' perimeter defense. But the presence of Kevin Garnett made Kobe hesitate. He had blocked Kobe's breakthrough line many times with his sensitive replacements.

At this time, O'Neal began to take position in the interior again. He was in excellent condition. He wanted to take advantage of his good touch to score a few more goals. But Kobe did not choose to pass the ball. He passed the ball to Fox as usual, and Fox passed it to Malone in the middle. O'Neal would have a good chance to catch the ball.

Kobe finally chose to circle from the left and cut inside at a high angle, trying to use speed and skill to tear apart the Celtics' defense. There is no problem with his choice. Besides O'Neal, other Lakers players also need to find their offensive sense.

Kobe's speed is not particularly fast, but his rhythm is very good. Reid feels that it is difficult to keep up with him, as if he will be thrown away as soon as he speeds up, but he doesn't know when he will speed up, and when he speeds up, he will be thrown away. No pull-up jump shots.

But Reid has a concept in his mind, and Leon told him that when you face Kobe, don't try to defend against his offense, but try to defend against his passing.

When Kobe reached the inside, he wanted to find a passing opportunity to Malone or Fox on the outside, but Reid followed behind him with his arms spread out and his feet stretched out like a goalkeeper to block all his passes.

Kobe went around the baseline, forced a jump, and made a difficult pull-up layup. This was his specialty - but Kevin Garnett pounced on him. He and Kobe collided in the air, and his long arms interfered. Kobe.

Moreover, the referee's whistle did not sound. Apparently the referee hesitated and finally thought it was a good defense. Kobe's layup missed the basket.

But Garnett and Brown stepped forward to cover up the defense and gave O'Neal a chance. He grabbed the offensive rebound and prepared to end the offense with a hard dunk.

Reed fought for his life, thinking that he was an eye-catcher, and threw himself on O'Neal, barely pulling O'Neal down and preventing him from dunking successfully.

O'Neal stood on the free throw line, his biggest enemy in life, but before he could start the free throw, Phil Jackson unexpectedly called a timeout, and the players on both sides temporarily retreated to their respective benches.

Jackson, who is known for letting players solve problems on their own and not calling timeouts, actually called a timeout in such a balanced situation, which shows that the situation is not as optimistic as the score indicates.

"Where are we connected, where are our shared balls, Shaq can solve a lot of problems, but Shaq is not the only solution to the problem! Let the ball pass through Karl's hands more, no matter how annoying Kevin Garnett is, Karl you are appropriate Get the ball further outside. Our perimeter also needs to be open, and our defense, letting them find their shooting touch is a terrible thing!" Jackson emphasized several issues during the timeout.

Compared with letting O'Neal find the offensive feeling, Jackson feels that what is more terrifying is actually letting the Celtics' shots go away. Their starting five all have mid- to long-range abilities, and their three backcourt players are top shooting experts. Many people think that the Celtics are a team that has always been good at fast breaks and defensive counterattacks, but Jackson believes that the scariest thing about the Celtics is their jump shots.

Jackson always likes to play against teams that are good at mid-range and long-range shots. The Lakers themselves are not a particularly good team at mid-range and long-range shots, but he has a way to prevent the opponent from making shots. But tonight, the Celtics' shooting condition is very good, and it is blooming more. It seems that Fox-Leon is deliberately letting 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 Stamps. 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.

When 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, he can clearly see the differences, gaps, and advantages between the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers.

Therefore, he decided to interfere with the players to a minimum, try not to use intrigues, and set a general direction for the players, allowing them to play to their heart's content, exert their personal abilities, and exert the team's tacit understanding, so that they can compete in top-level confrontations and huge competitions. Grow up to your heart's content under the mental pressure.

………………

At the end of the timeout, Jackson made a substitution adjustment. He replaced Gary Payton with Derek Fisher. Payton seemed to have done nothing in the first quarter, and when he came off the court, he had a crooked mouth and an unhappy face.

As expected, O'Neal missed both free throws at the free throw line. Looking back, Arenas hit a counterattack pull-up jumper. Facing Fisher's defense, Arenas' offense was much easier.

However, the Lakers have also improved. When Malone started to touch the ball, as the pivot point, he guided the Lakers' offense very well. Although he was pressured by Garnett and had to catch the ball from a further outside position, Unable to directly attack after receiving the ball.

However, his good tactical qualities, which he has cultivated through years of being influenced by the UCLA tactical system, instantly improved the Lakers' offensive tactics. As Fox received a pass from Malone in the corner and hit a three-pointer, the Lakers scored the first quarter goal. The first three points.

When Jackson saw this goal, he was about to turn around and sit back on the bench to continue practicing meditation. Unexpectedly, before he bent down, Arenas dribbled the ball quickly across the half court, chasing the Lakers' butt and hitting a three-pointer at the top of the key.

The ball went hollow into the net and passed through Jackson's little heart.