Bishop of the Devil

"Kill them!"

“Portland must win!”

At 8pm on December 27th, the Trail Blazers will face the NBA dominant Chicago Bulls at home!

The fans at the scene screamed excitedly. After defeating the Lakers before, the Trail Blazers had high hopes from the fans!

In the eyes of fans, the biggest highlight of this game is the showdown between Ben and Rodman.

But Richard feels that the biggest highlight is what kind of offensive level the young Mamba can perform under Jordan when he has unlimited firing rights.

"Rebound!"

"Defense!"

"I need you to rebound and defend!"

"Kobe Bryant is our absolute main point of attack in this game, others must cooperate!"

Before Richard made his debut, he gave another warning...

Although everyone was a little confused about Kobe's unlimited firing rights in this game, they didn't think much about it.

…

The schedule has reached the end of December, and the Trail Blazers have two games left to end their entire 1996 schedule.

After playing a total of 35 games, the Trail Blazers' schedule is almost halfway through. At this time, their record is 22 wins and 13 losses, with a winning rate of 62%!

The Lakers' winning rate is 68%, and the gap between the Trail Blazers and the Lakers is not too big.

But to say whether the Trail Blazers can catch up with the Lakers in the remaining half of the season, it can only be said that the possibility is not very high.

In the first half of the season, the Trail Blazers' schedule is relatively easy, at least compared to the Lakers. In the second half of the season, the Trail Blazers will face many powerful teams.

Under such circumstances, it is difficult to maintain a winning rate of more than 60%.

However, this has little impact on the Trail Blazers. The Timberwolves, ranked sixth in the Western Conference, currently have a record of less than 50%, only 48%. Compared with the Trail Blazers, the gap is huge.

With the schedule almost halfway through, it is obviously difficult for the Timberwolves to catch up with the Trail Blazers' record.

Basically, the spots for the top five teams in the Western Conference playoffs this season have been determined...

The Utah Jazz, who are ranked first, have a winning rate of close to 80%, which is obviously difficult to shake. The Rockets and SuperSonics, who are second and third, have similar records, not as good as the Jazz, but better than the Lakers, so the rankings of these two teams will not be the same. What a big change.

The Lakers are fourth and the Trail Blazers are fifth.

Judging from the current situation, the Trail Blazers will face the Lakers in the first round of the playoffs and the Jazz in the second round...

This is obviously a hell of a playoff schedule.

…

"Beep!" The referee blew the whistle to start the game.

The starting players from both sides began to appear.

The Bulls' starting lineup: center Luke Longley, power forward Dennis Rodman, small forward Pi Erye, and backcourt Joe Gangzhu and Ron Harper.

There are also players on the bench such as Kukoc, Cole, Jason Caffey, and Bill Wennington.

Judging from the Bulls' lineup, there is no point guard in the strict sense of the word. Harper, who partners with Jordan in the backcourt, is not a point guard, but a swingman.

If you really want to find an organizational point in the Bulls lineup, it is undoubtedly Pi Erye.

Looking closely, the later Warriors head coach Steve Kerr let Green play the point forward position, probably because of his experience in the Bulls.

…

Richard doesn't care whether the Bulls have a point guard or not, and he doesn't even care much about winning or losing this game.

What he cares about is what kind of performance Kobe can perform in this game!

…

Players from both sides walked to the midfield line to perform a jump ball. The Trail Blazers came on the second starting lineup. They were not suitable for jumping balls, but let Rasheed do it.

Luke Longley, the center of the Bulls' second three-peat dynasty.

This is an unlucky guy. The greatest honor of his entire career is to win three consecutive championships with the Bulls. But the tragedy is that because his house caught fire, all three championship rings were missing...

You say you are unlucky or not, it means you have worked in vain all your life.

Rasheed got the ball for the Trail Blazers in the first offensive round. Kobe got the ball and started to advance.

Kobe's expression seemed calm, but judging from his behavior of holding the ball and rushing directly towards Jordan, this guy might not be as calm as he looked on his face.

Jordan also saw Kobe rushing toward him with the ball, and couldn't help but laugh.

Jordan has to teach a few of these stupid young people who try to challenge themselves almost every season...

Kobe Bryant defeated the Western Conference powerhouse Lakers a few days ago and has been considered a very outstanding rookie this year. Jordan has also heard about it, but how could Jordan take such a newcomer seriously? No matter how outstanding he is, he is just a rookie.

…

Soon, Kobe and Jordan were facing off.

The young and energetic Kobe, after encountering Jordan outside the three-point line, dribbled from behind, trying to pass Jordan and rush into the Bulls penalty area.

But Jordan's defense is not a vegetarian, and he is one of the few who can get DPOY as a backcourt player.

If Payton is the defensive god at the point guard position, then Jordan can almost be regarded as the defensive god at the shooting guard position...

Defended one team 9 times and took away DPOY once!

Kobe's cool move was cut off by Jordan's extended arm. The latter quickly counterattacked with the ball and launched a one-stop tomahawk dunk.

…

Seeing that Jordan gave him a harsh lesson in their first encounter, Kobe didn't show any embarrassment on his face.

Not to mention that Kobe is stupid and bold, even when he missed three consecutive playoff games, there was no embarrassing expression on his face...

It was another offensive round for the Trail Blazers. This time Kobe did not continue to single out Jordan, but chose to pass the ball to Rasheed.

The latter scored a mid-range shot under Pippen's defense.

Bulls offensive possession.

The triangle offense is the Bulls' signature tactic, and this is something everyone knows.

In terms of tactical difficulty, the triangle offense is difficult to say and easy to say...

Unlike Princeton tactics, players in the triangle offensive tactics system are more independent and quite free on the offensive end. There are often situations where outside players play 1V1 singles in the high post...

Such a situation is unlikely to occur in the Princeton system.

It seems to be a relatively simple tactic, but this tactic requires extremely high personal strength of the players!

If the Princeton system is a civilian tactic, then the triangle offense is an aristocratic tactic. A team with no family background wants to play the triangle offense? That is undoubtedly asking for trouble...

Jordan held the ball outside the three-point line and without saying a word, he rushed directly to the basket under Kobe's defense.

"Uh-huh!"

"Dudududu!"

Near the free throw line, Jordan directly stepped back and made a mid-range shot, and the basketball easily scored. Not only that, Kobe was also called for a beating foul by the referee.

The hit is valid, plus a free throw!

Jordan made a steady free throw and successfully scored 2+1...

At the beginning, under the defense of the young Kobe, Jordan scored five points in a row as easily as eating and drinking.

Richard stood at the end of the field, frowning...

Jordan is so strong!

It's a bit scary!

As an outside player, his offensive threat on the court is not inferior to that of the giant O'Neal inside.

The key is that Richard still has nothing to do with Jordan. O'Neal can use the shark-cutting tactic, but what about Jordan?

Jordan's free throw percentage is more than 80%. If you try to kill him, you will definitely be in trouble.