I'm not really a role player

Chapter 270 The Keynote of the Opening Game
In the past few seasons, the Lakers' lineup has been very stable.

In the new season, their only strong signing is Matt Barnes.

Sometimes, lineup stability is an advantage.

For the Lakers, being able to maintain a core lineup around Koga means that they have always been a top team.

But sometimes, the stability of the lineup also proves from the side that the team's signings are not strong.

Especially when the Lakers won the championship last season, and only one Matt Barnes joined, Mitch Kupchak's work is obviously unqualified.

Although Li Ke also believes that the Lakers are still the biggest championship favorites this season, their problems are also obvious.

There has been no signings at the point guard position, and the Lakers can only rely on Lao Yu and Jordan Farmar, two players who do not have the ability to dominate.

At the small forward position, Ariza and Matt Barnes are both very tough wings, but they are still not enough to face top stars like Le Bon and Li Ke.

In addition to the second position, the inside line with the greatest advantage has suffered from constant injuries in the past two seasons.

With such a big injury risk, the Lakers' inside substitutes are still only DJ Mbenga and Josh Powell.

The point guard position is disabled and the bench depth is not good. Therefore, in the opening game, the Bobcats still have a chance.

"Order the point guard, the flank defense resists, the inside also resists, and the opener will be there."

The point is actually to defend against inside and outside. As for point guards, Li Ke’s thinking is similar to that of Sam Vincent. With Curry’s current state, there is a high probability that he will interact with Lao Yu, right?
……

On October 10, the Bobcats arrived in Los Angeles.

The moment Li Ke got off the plane, Kobe sent out an invitation.

Now Li Ke will no longer refuse Kobe's heads-up request. He has S-level breakthrough and S-level back-up, plus S-level single defense, even if he meets the peak Kobe, he still has the power to fight.

Perhaps the probability of losing is greater, but even if you lose, you won't lose too badly.

For Li Ke, he already has a big lead over Kobe, and Kobe won't count the score anymore.

Before last season, he had been winning all the time, and Kobe who won had no desire to win.

Kobe didn't rekindle his fighting spirit until he lost several times last season.

In the new season, Kobe, who just won the championship and lifted the FMVP trophy, should be at the stage of the most vigorous fighting spirit.

In view of this, Li Ke was more daring to accept Kobe's heads-up request.

Outside the airport, Li Ke separated from his teammates. After waiting for a while, he saw a convertible Bentley roaring to a stop in front of him.

"Brother Li, hurry up, get in the car!"

That's right, the one who came to pick up Li Ke was the Great Sage.

Speaking of which, this season should have been the season when the Great Sage left the Lakers and the NBA.

But with the help of Li Ke, Dasheng has made significant progress, and he got some playing time last season.

The tall point guard just happened to meet that the Lakers also lacked point guards, so Dasheng got a contract extension with a one-year minimum salary and stayed in Los Angeles.

"How about it, are you confident in the new season?"

The handsome and fast-driving Dasheng wearing sunglasses smiled shyly. He knew Li Ke's meaning and nodded immediately: "Confidence, can you still have it?"

"Why, did you get the Zen master's promise?"

"It doesn't count. The main reason is that the Lakers are short of forwards and guards. For me, there must be opportunities. If there is no opportunity, I will leave during the off-season."

What the Great Sage said made Li Ke understand why the Great Sage is so confident.

This is the time to sign a contract in the off-season, get a promise...

The flying car soon arrived at Kobe's estate in Orange County. The two got off the car, and Kobe greeted him at the door.

Kobe was not in a hurry to get to the point, but first pulled Li Ke and the Great Sage into the courtyard, and Mrs. Va brought the servants a variety of delicacies.

Li Ke and Dasheng chatted about the situation of the league in the new season while enjoying it.

"The Nuggets this season are really good on paper."

"Although I am very optimistic about you, but this season, the Nuggets are No. 1."

First, the great sage sighed, and then Li Ke directly pulled the Nuggets to step on the Lakers. After a wave of operations, Kobe said: "That was also encouraged by you. To be honest, I really don't understand. Why did you send Shaq to Denver Plateau?"

"Because Shaq is going on his own."

Hearing Li Ke's explanation, Kobe spread his hands: "Then I can understand, Shaq is like this..."

Li Ke smiled. Judging by this, Kobe has already felt the threat from the Nuggets.

"How do you say, play a game?"

After chatting for a while, Kobe finally couldn't hold back and issued a challenge request.

Li Ke got up and threw off the heavy cotton clothes on his body: "Come on!"

On the outdoor court of Orange County Manor, the Great Sage once again became a spectator of Li Ke vs. Kobe Bryant.

In the first round, Kobe chose to give the ball to Li Ke.

Li Ke also did his part, leaning against Kobe in a high position, turned around, and galloped away, easily breaking Kobe's defense.

Continuing to score, for the second goal, Li Ke changed his method and made a strong frontal attack.

Bryant also changed the way, his defense suddenly began to oppress.

The frontal pressing defense suddenly reached out, and with a snap, it broke...

Although Li Ke's ball control has been upgraded to B-level, but in the top one-on-one, B-level ball control is already considered a disadvantage.

Kobe made a steal, got the ball, and then made a quick change of direction, swayed Li Ke away, rushed to the basket, made a layup, and hit a ball back.

But immediately after Kobe's second attack, Li Ke suppressed Kobe from the beginning to the end, and finally forced Kobe's shot angle and recovered the ball.

Ball after ball, Li Ke and Kobe played a tie.

The great sage of the bystander couldn't say anything other than shouting "Niu B".

In the end, Kobe narrowly won with one goal by relying on his shameless personal defense.

Seeing the innocent smile of the winning Kobe, Li Ke wanted to complain: Kobe is still too young!
On second thought, is 31-year-old Kobe young?not at all.

It can only be said that the mind is young...

……

The day after the Bobcats arrived in Los Angeles was the day of the opening game.

The league has arranged three games on this day, the Bobcats and the Lakers are one of them, and the other two are the Cavaliers away game against the Knicks, and the Celtics vs. Thunder at home.

It has to be said that David Stern's vision is much stronger than those of bricks.

He didn't even play a game in the new season, and he could see that the Thunder had completed the rebuilding and started to rise directly.

Not to mention the China game, the opening game was played by the Thunder, and the subsequent Christmas match was also played by the Thunder. These two games speak for themselves.

Needless to say, the Christmas battle, the main one is Li Ke vs Xiao Du.

In the opening game, what the league wants to express is that Rondo will return to the North Shore Garden.

In those years, the Celtics of the Big Three were unable to win the championship. Is it the problem of the former coach Doc Rivers, or the problem of the former master Ragalondo, or the problem of the Big Three not being big enough?

Everything depends on this opening game.

In addition to the Bobcats vs. Lakers, Thunder vs. Celtics, the rest of the Cavaliers against the Knicks, it is purely make up.

The purpose, just to make David Stern not have to run too far in the opening game.

……

Staples Center, the arrival of the new season has already made the fans of the defending champion start high again.

The arena raised all kinds of——

"The Zijin Dynasty is unstoppable!"

"Kobe: On the way to greatness!"

"The Lakers are No.1!"

"..."

Similar to this fan sign.

I have to say that the Lakers fans are proud. The word noble is a bit dark about the Lakers, but it is also a true portrayal.

A championship is enough to remind the Lakers of the past.

Amid waves of cheers, Kobe played.

Li Ke next door looked at Kobe like a king, enjoying the fanaticism of the Lakers fans on both sides.

"This group of fans seems to have forgotten Kobe's forced palace in 07 and the disastrous defeat in the 08 Finals."

Li Ke seemed to be feeling emotional, and the second Hua who was on the side gave Li Ke a strange look, and then gave his answer:
"Because the Lakers won the championship, the championship is to be able to forget those unhappy things."

"But failure can help them and remind them of those unhappy things."

After saying this, Li Ke laughed, but the second child Hua scratched his head.

They didn't look at each other with a smile. Obviously, the second Hua didn't think that giving the Lakers a loss was something that could be done with words.

"Come on, let's see the real chapter in the competition!"

……

Soon, it was time for the game to start, and the two sides made their debut——

Lakers: point guard Lao Yu, shooting guard Kobe Bryant, small forward Ariza, power forward Jiasao, center An Zhu.

Bobcats: point guard Curry, shooting guard Li Ke, small forward Hua Er Er, power forward Kenyon Martin, center Jordan Jr.

The jump ball match between An Zhu and Jr. Jordan can be regarded as the pinnacle duel. The two jumped at the same time, and the momentum seemed to break through the ceiling of Staples.

After cheers, An Zhu was the one who won.

"At the beginning, the Lakers' possession of the ball, let's see what changes they have made in the new season..."

Before the game started, the magician in the commentary was already looking forward to the changes of the Lakers.

That's right, the commentators for this game are no longer Li Ke's old acquaintances Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley.

TNT sent a commentary combination of Magic Johnson and McBrin, which is a bit biased towards the Lakers as a whole.

But considering that the home game is Staples, TNT's arrangement is not unreasonable.

In the opening game, the Lakers' first attack, Lao Yu controlled the ball and advanced to the frontcourt.

Jiasao stood at the top of the arc and caught the ball.

Kobe wandered on the flanks, facing Li Ke's marking.

Just looking at the formation the Lakers put up at the beginning, it seems that there has been no change from last season.

With Bryant coming around from the wing, a catch.

The Lakers' first attack turned into Kobe's singles.

Li Ke seemed to have returned to the one-on-one with Kobe last night. He was like a hungry wolf, with red eyes, staring at the basketball in Kobe's hands.

As Kobe swayed, Li Ke also changed the focus of defense, and he almost stared at every wave of Kobe's changes.

"Kobe, forcefully, shoot directly from the middle distance!"

Bang-dang-!
"One-on-one singles should be Kobe's strong point, but in this game, his opponent is Sheldon..."

McBrin shook his head. He knew that the Lakers' style of play was to allow Kobe to play singles, but obviously, singles in this game did not apply.

Under the basket, Kenyon Martin grabbed the rebound energetically.

The offense and defense were switched, and Curry received the ball immediately, turned around and pushed back.

It must be mentioned that the current Bobcats have been forced to diversify their style of play.

Every wave of offensive and defensive transition opportunities on the court, they will seize the counterattack, and if they can't catch it, they will enter the position. The main tactic in the positional battle will be the triangle attack.

So now, the Bobcats are fighting back.

With the twin towers standing on the court, it was quite difficult for the Lakers to defend against the Bobcats' counterattack.

Curry broke through to the frontcourt alone, and on the flanks, Li Ke and Hua'er made a quick assault.

The Bobcats formed a three-on-three frontcourt.

There is no advantage in numbers, but considering that Jiasao and Anzhu are at the end, this kind of counterattack still has some advantages compared to positional warfare.

It's just that this kind of advantage needs to be seized, and if it is delayed for a while, the opportunity will be gone.

In this case, Curry quickly got to the three-point line and became the only choice.

The Lakers chose to build a man-to-man defense in situ, and let the old fish defend Curry alone.

Seeing this, Li Ke felt that the ball was safe!

but……

Curry, holding the ball, rushed to the basket quickly, suddenly raised his hand, and chose a low hand layup.

However, Lao Yu suddenly leaned over from the flank, squeezed a bit, jumped up lightly, and touched the basketball with his fingertips.

The layup, which was already stable, just deviated from the original trajectory.

The magician yelled, "Derrick Fisher, he interfered with the ball!"

Strictly speaking, it's a cap.

But this does not hinder the excitement of the magician. In the distance, Li Ke knows that Curry still made mistakes that young people would make with this ball.

"Curry, Curry, when will you find the feeling of the NBA..."

It is very different from the Curry in the memory of the previous life. Curry who is so sleepwalking has made Boss Joe start to wonder whether the Bobcats' choice of the fifth pick is wrong.

As Bryant got to the basket and picked up the rebound, it was the Lakers' turn to counterattack.

The Lakers did not catch a counterattack. Although Kobe quickly advanced to the frontcourt, under the defense of Li Ke, he could only stop and wait for his teammates to be in place.

To reorganize the offense, Kobe asked for a pick-and-roll.

Although Li Ke's cover is fast, with his wife's cover, it is still difficult for him to touch porcelain.

Relying on a cover from Jiasao, Kobe galloped away and shot a mid-range jumper.

Swish-!
"A pick-and-roll, Kobe got an excellent shot space, the ball scored!"

"Just fight like this, it's right to fight like this!"

The magician clapped his hands, remembering his question at the beginning.

So I concluded: "From the two opening rounds, the Lakers in the new season have not changed..."

The Lakers scored first, and the Bobcats later, not to be outdone.

In other words, Kobe scored first, and Li Ke later, was not to be outdone.

A cover by Kenyon Martin is also not low in quality.

Li Ke also galloped away and hit the Bobcats' first goal in the same way.

2 to 2 tie, Kobe and Li Ke each made a mid-range shot, the tone of the game seemed to be set like this.

"Sure enough, this game is a one-on-one match between Sheldon and Kobe. Whoever wins the match will win..."

(End of this chapter)