The Godfather of Basketball

On May 21, US time, after two days of rest, the Rockets and Lakers moved to Los Angeles to start the third game of the series.

News came out before the game that in order to change the team's decline in the past two games, the Lakers will adjust the starting lineup and let Odom replace Bynum as the starter.

Although Bynum has come back, he has actually averaged less than 15 minutes per game since he entered the playoffs. This adjustment is tantamount to displaying the strongest lineup in the Lakers team.

And last season, the Lakers and Rockets also played with this lineup. Now that Kobe has become stronger, Phil Jackson obviously wants to use this lineup to establish some advantages in the opening stage.

When Tang Tian heard the news, he was leading the team to do pre-match training.

"Will the Rockets let Ron Artest start to deal with this situation?" The reporter asked.

"No, of course not, we have our own rhythm." Tang Tian said firmly.

When the reporter left, he couldn't help laughing.

Last week, Popovich invited him to his home in San Antonio to "cook wine and talk about heroes". He was not too impressed with Phil Jackson, a famous coach of his generation. At the beginning, Tang Tian felt that there was some prejudice from his peers, but when he thought about it carefully, that evaluation It seems to be a little high.

From blindly increasing the starting time last season to now mentioning Odom to the starting lineup, these are all things that some third-rate coaches will do.

Want to gain an advantage in the opening stages?

The Rockets have Yao Mai, where can they have an advantage?

And the most important point, Odom mentioned the starting lineup, what about the substitute?

Count on Bynum?

It doesn't matter if you play other teams, but the Rockets have Artest on the bench, which is simply digging a hole for themselves.

Think about the Lakers this season, which the media called the "show.time" team of the last century, but after thinking about it, the confrontation between the strong teams is a fierce battle every round, so there is no room for you Come to "show.time".

(Note: show.time is translated as a performance moment, which refers to the Lakers led by "Magic" Johnson and "Skyhook" Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy, who was also the No. 1 pick in the late 1980s. Teams can stop their attacks, can play whatever they want)

That night, the Staples Center was packed, and fans flooded into one of the most luxurious arenas in the league.

In addition to Nicholson, a die-hard fan, there were also many Hollywood superstars, like Leonardo, Robert Downey Jr....

For them, such a focus battle is also a great opportunity for them to show their faces.

Among them was Tang Tian's acquaintance, "Black Widow" Scarlett Johansson, who always winked at Tang Tian when she saw him.

Tang Tian didn't know why the Black Widow got entangled with him. It stands to reason that there is still a big difference in aesthetics between the East and the West.

He directly chose to ignore it, then turned his head and continued to explain the tactics to the players.

The pre-match warm-up is over and the lights are dimmed.

Accompanied by a burst of passionate music and wonderful editing under the white cloth projection, the opening ceremony of the Lakers kicked off.

As a city of entertainment, Los Angeles has a well-developed film and television industry. The opening ceremony of the Lakers was also full of momentum. As the white curtain fell, players were introduced one by one, and the atmosphere on the scene was quickly completely ignited.

When the opening ceremony is over, the starting lineups of the two teams will also be announced.

As Jackson said before the game, Odom replaced Bynum as the team's starting power forward, and Gasol moved directly to the fifth position.

For the Rockets, Tang Tian didn't change the starting lineup either, it was still an all-regular lineup.

Gasol beat Yi Jianlian to the cheers of the home fans and gave the Lakers the first chance to attack.

Fisher dribbled forward to the frontcourt, or handed over to Kobe in the low post on the right.

Battier defended behind him.

After turning around and leaning back, Kobe took a shot against Battier's blindfolded defense.

"Shua!"

The ball crashed into the net.

Black Mamba is still there.

"Defend! Defend!"

The fans at the Staples Center also began to cheer for the home team led by the DJ at the moment, and the momentum was overwhelming.

Yao Ming fell low, and Gasol directly chose to defend around the front, straightening his long arms to prevent him from receiving the ball.

When Billups saw this, he turned around and gave the ball to McGrady, and then signaled Yi Jianlian to pull up to a high position for a pick-and-roll.

This is the benefit of having a top point guard. Being able to read the defense in the first place and then make a judgment is almost equivalent to putting half of the coach on the court.

Yi Jianlian raised the pick-and-roll, McGrady broke through with the ball, and faced Odom who was supplementing the defense, he stopped and pulled out.

"Shua!"

The ball crashed into the net over Odom's head.

Odom can defend, but when he switches to a super giant of Tracy McGrady's level, he is still at a disadvantage in matchup.

Fisher attacked the front court with the ball and wanted to give the ball to Kobe, but Battier also chose to fight around the front with the ball, without giving him room to go in.

Odom ran to the top of the circle to catch the ball at this time, and then reached out to signal his teammates to play an air cut tactic.

As an all-round forward, Odom is known as the "left-handed magician". Compared with Fisher, who is more positioned as a three-point shooter, he is like the core of the Lakers' playmaker.

At this time, Kobe used Gasol's pick-and-roll to go straight to the basket.

At this time, the difference from last season came out. Because of the improvement in strength, Kobe's movement quickly tore apart the Rockets' weak-side defense, and the Rockets' defense on the field was forced to shrink.

At this moment, Odom saw Gasol's opportunity and directly hit the ground with a cross pass.

Gasol catches the ball and makes a shot.

"Shua!"

The high jumper hits steadily.

He fulfilled his promise after the last game and stood up to share the pressure for Kobe.

"Steady the rhythm and hit the success rate." Tang Tian stood up from the bench at this time and shouted at his players.

After Billups heard it, he made a tactical gesture with one hand and advanced with the ball in the other.

He is very clear about Tang Tian's request. At this time, the Rockets don't want to win many points, as long as they don't lose points, it is beneficial.

The key to not losing points is to stabilize the rhythm and shorten the number of rounds, and then hit the success rate.

Yao Ming mentioned the high position at this time, Billups handed the ball to him after passing, and then signaled the players to cut to the basket.

Although Odom's defensive area is larger than Bynum's, the deterrence around the basket is definitely not as good as the latter.

After a short cut, McGrady received a pass from Yao Ming, pressed Odom and scored a layup.

T-mac had a pretty good hand tonight.

The Lakers offense was still organized by Odom, and once again sent a second pass to Ariza from the outside. Ariza hit the iron with a three-pointer and the long rebound was taken by Yi Jianlian.

After Billups took the ball, he still controlled the ball and slowly crossed the half court.

At this time Tang Tian sat leisurely on the bench, crossing his legs.

With Billups as the field control master, he can play the Heat if he wants to speed up, but it is still no problem to stabilize the rhythm.

It can be fast or slow, and it is quite comfortable to change positions.