Kobe Bryant through time

Chapter 125 The Curse of Portland

In this game, the Lakers lost no temper at all. They were outflanked by the Jazz on both ends of the offense and defense, and they were outnumbered by the Jazz in both assists and rebounds. There were turnovers and fouls, throwing the Jazz a few freeways.

This game was played so badly, the Lakers management naturally saw it.Del won't come back for a while, and Shaq has been fishing at home for a long time. If no measures are taken, the Lakers may miss the playoffs.

At this time, it was already mid-March, and there were not many games left in the regular season. It was also at this time that the competition between teams became more and more intense.

The Jazz recently played a wave of seven consecutive victories, leading the Rockets by 2 wins, and took the No. 5 position in the Western Conference.

The Rockets have lost two of the last three games. The state seems to be a bit sluggish. Maybe it's a season of battle. The veterans of the Rockets seem to be tired, and they are a little powerless when they play.However, these veterans are still 1 games ahead of the Lakers behind them.

The battle between the heroes in the West is very fierce. Except for the Jazz and Rockets who can guarantee to enter the playoffs, any of the 2 teams from 10 to 8 may get tickets for the playoffs and enter the playoffs.

The fierce battle and the ambiguity of the situation made the Lakers management more nervous. They held a meeting overnight. After discussing it, they informed the team's assistant coaches early the next morning to lift the ban on Ling Yu and Fisher. They come back as soon as possible.

For the lifting of the ban, Ling Yu was already prepared in his heart, because in the current situation, the Lakers headquarters could only watch the pressure of public opinion and let them play.In contrast, the fate of the team is always more important than face.

Ling Yu knew all of these, so he wasn't too excited.After learning the news, he smiled slightly, and then went into intense training again.Because, in the next game, they can't talk anymore.

On the night of March 3, the Lakers visited Portland to challenge the Trail Blazers.

Another night without Del! !
Yuri glanced at Ling Yu, slowed down, and said softly: "We must win tonight's game."

Yes, we must win.

Ling Yu gritted his teeth, nodded, and said, "Yes! We must win."

Yuri reminded: "If we lose, we may become seventh."

The third has become the seventh. This is not alarmist talk.

At this time, the Lakers have the same wins as the Trail Blazers behind them, and only 0 wins ahead of the Warriors who are fifth. The Kings and Suns both have 5 wins, ranking sixth and seventh respectively, and the Lakers are only one ahead of them. In other words, if the Lakers lose in this game, and the Warriors, Kings, and Suns win at the same time, the Lakers will drop four places to seventh. Location.

"We really can't lose again."

Yuri sighed, patted Ling Yu's shoulder lightly, and said, "It's up to you later."

Ling Yu gritted his teeth, nodded deeply, and then walked up the court.

This game cannot be lost again.

Ling Yu gritted his teeth, looked sullenly, and looked at the basket in front of him, which was the direction of the Blazers' backcourt.

The Trail Blazers in front of them don't have a Hall of Fame insider like Malone, nor a backcourt like Stockton, but they have their own characteristics, calm and unassuming.Such a team may not see a few fast breaks or climaxes throughout the entire game, but such a team has taken a place among the western powerhouses, and its strength cannot be underestimated.

"Bryant." Eddie called softly, "You're finally back, and we can fight together again."

"Ah."

Ling Yu frowned, responded deeply, and said seriously: "We must play well in this game, and we must not lose."

Eddie nodded, agreed and said, "I'll feed you the ball later, and you play."

"You don't need to feed me the ball." Ling Yu vetoed it and said, "They must be playing positional warfare and playing rhythm."

"You don't need to give me the ball when you go up." After a pause, Ling Yu continued: "First hand the ball to the inside and see if Campbell can use his height to gain some advantage. If the inside can be opened, he will focus on the inside, no If not, you and I will attack from the outside and cause damage to their inside."

Eddie frowned slightly, nodded vigorously, and said in agreement: "Just as you said, call the inside first."

"Wait tell Campbell, I'll remind Knight later and ask him to pay attention to rebounding."

Saying that, the two parted ways and ran away.

At this moment, the whistle sounded and the game began. The Lakers took the lead to get the ball. Eddie took possession of the ball.

"Bryant."

Eddie yelled softly, handed the ball to Ling Yu who retreated from the bottom line, and then he went deep and ran to Campbell's side.

Ling Yu received the ball from outside, and the Trail Blazers immediately rushed up, straddled their steps, stretched out their hands, and kept waving in front of Ling Yu's eyes, as if to interfere with Ling Yu's sight and force Ling Yu to dribble.

The Blazers' defense is based on zone defense tactics, two or three positions, defense against breakthroughs and no defense against shots. The defensive tactics deployed by the Lakers.

Joint defense?

Ling Yu glanced at the positions of the Blazers players, frowned, and slowly dribbled the ball.

Pull away!

After Ling Yu motioned to Campbell and Knight at the bottom of the basket to move away, he leaned down and walked forward step by step while dribbling the ball.

Zone defense is the best way to defend breakthroughs. However, the fatal shortcoming of this tactic is that if the opponent opens the outside line, the role of zone defense will be useless at all.

Ling Yu knew this clearly. He glanced sharply at the Blazers players in front and on the right, and found that they were slowly closing in, ready to close the door. He only waited for Ling Yu to rush in, and then made a move. After closing the door, Ling Yu was forced to make a mistake and hit the ball.

According to common sense, facing the zone defense, the attacker generally chooses to start from the outside line, using the line of fire from the outside line to tear apart the opponent's zone defense.

"Bryant."

Huo Li, who was at a 45-degree angle on the right, ran back and roared at Ling Yu.

"I come."

Ling Yu waved his hand to signal Huo Li to go away, and then accelerated towards the basket.

This is to insist on a breakthrough?Looking for the rhythm of death?

The Blazers defensive players were stunned for a moment, and without hesitation, they quickly got together, closed the door, and blocked Ling Yu's way forward.

Seeing that Ling Yu was about to bump into him, mistakes would be inevitable.At this moment, Ling Yu suddenly stopped, pulled back, then took a step back with his left foot, and raised his upper body, as if he was about to shoot. The Trail Blazers rushed forward, trying to block Ling Yu's shot.At this moment, Ling Yu dribbled the ball behind his back again, and then passed the ball alone. He pushed the ball through the gap between the two, and then made a high throw and hit the ball into the basket, winning two goals for the Lakers. point.

"They have joined the defense, and they will fight from the outside later."

Ling Yu ran to Eddie's side, reminded him gently, and then ran back to the backcourt to defend.

The Blazers' offense still follows the usual style, insisting on playing positional warfare and hitting the ball inside.

In this era when the inside wins the world, the ball is naturally handed over to the inside first, and the inside is played, and the outside is supplemented by offensive tactics.

The same is true for the Blazers, who dribbled the ball to the half court, wandered outside for a while, and handed the ball to the inside players, and then the outside players ran back or responded.

"Inside?"

Ling Yu thought to himself, and then shouted at Campbell: "Campbell, pay attention to defense."

Campbell seemed to understand, strayed away, and pushed forward vigorously.

Just then, something unexpected happened.I saw the Blazers' center lying on the ground, clutching his feet, with a painful and tangled expression.

"Is this the case?"

Campbell froze for a moment, shook his head and said, "I don't know, he just fell down."

Is this the legendary Portland curse?

(End of this chapter)