Bishop: since 1998

Chapter 35 Very unique starting five tigers!

Los Angeles Today: Sweeping the entire league, who can stop the raging sharks?
Los Angeles Times: Shaq averaged 39+ per game, pointing to the throne of scoring champion! !
ESPN: The Lakers, with the OK super combination, have begun to take shape as a dynasty.

Sports Illustrated: The new bishop has won 5 consecutive victories. Is it due to his strength, or is he holding the shark's thigh?
……

The headlines of North American sports news are still dominated by O'Neal.

The league's new round of strength rankings was released. The Lakers won all five games in the opening game, ranking first in the league's strength rankings.

With a super performance of 39 points, 13 rebounds and 4 assists per game, O'Neal was elected as the player of the week in the Western Conference and was in the leading position among the MVP candidates in the regular season.

In addition to O'Neal's explosive performance, the Lakers' luxurious lineup has also been touted by the media, claiming that the Lakers have two Western Conference Finals-level lineups.

Finally sigh: Who can stop the footsteps of this super Lakers team?

……

"The Pacers are eighth, and the Lakers are first.

Very good, I already smell the taste of 'Black Eight'! Larry Bird put down the newspaper, a confident smile flashed across his face.

Under such circumstances, Larry Bird led the Pacers to the Great Western Forum in Los Angeles.

Listening to the boos of the landslide and tsunami of the home fans, Larry Bird vaguely returned to the past, the 80s called the black and white duo.

Feeling the familiar atmosphere and the familiar arena, Larry Bird stretched out his finger, pointed to the floor of the arena, and said with a light smile, "Here, my Pacers team will end the Lakers' new season." Streak!!"

Even if he changed his identity and became the head coach of a team, Larry Bird's self-confidence as a player still continued, and his ability to pretend was not lost.

February 1999, 2, the day of the legendary Valentine's Day.

Great Western Forum.

Li Mu saw the 'Big Bird' and the Pacers' luxurious and 'pretty chic' starting lineup.

Suddenly, as if remembering something, Li Mu showed a strange smile on his face

"This lineup reminds me of the Lakers All-Star luxury lineup in 2014.

That five star team consisting of Nash, Kobe, Artest, Gasol and Howard. "

In fact, if Li Mu was reborn half a month later, he would think of a more appropriate example.

That's right, in 2021, the Lakers will form a star team composed of James, Davis, Anthony, Westbrook, Howard and other stars.

The current starting lineup of the Pacers is the same as that of the two generations of Lakers.

Don't ask, it's just that they are all old boys.

Point guard Mark Jackson, born in 1965, is an All-Star player and is 34 years old.

Shooting guard Reggie Miller, born in 1966, is a five-time All-Star and is 33 years old.

Small forward Chris Mullin, born in 1963, is known as the left hand of God, a five-time All-Star, a member of the Dream Team, and is 36 years old.

Power forward Antonio Davis, born in 1968, is 31 years old and not yet an All-Star, but in 2001, he will be selected to the All-Star team.

Center Rick Schmitz, born in 1966, was a 98-year-old All-Star in 33.

Good guy, 31, 33, 33, 34, 36, the first five tigers, the combined age is almost 200 years old, right?
Li Mu thought of the Mavericks in 2011. That team was not young, and even killed the Big Three of the Heat, so he put away his contempt.

Of course, there is no need to think about tactics, just copy the tactics of the Heat's Big Three.

At that time, the main reason why the Heat lost was that Nowitzki was too amazing.

There are five minutes left in the fourth quarter, as long as the Mavericks are not trailing by more than 5 points.

Li Mu also felt at the time that the Mavericks could still come back, and Nuo Tianwang's shooting was simply unreasonable!

In Li Mu's view, the Pacers have a famous shooter like Reggie Miller, but they are far from the god-like performance of Nowitzki at that time.

The starting five of the Lakers remain unchanged, still point guard Billups, shooting guard Kobe Bryant, small forward Bowen, power forward Ben Wallace, and center O'Neal.

……

beep~~
As the whistle sounded, the basketball flew into the sky and the game began with a scrimmage.

O'Neal and Schmitz, staring up at the basketball, jumped almost at the same time.

Snapped--!
Schmitz beat O'Neal to get the first down for the Pacers.

Rick Schmitz is a floor player, but he is 2 meters tall. Yao Ming's template is actually the youth version of Rick Schmitz.

This jump ball is quite a competition between Yao Ming and O'Neal. The height advantage is too great.

On the court, Mark Jackson dribbled the ball to the frontcourt, instead of rushing to attack, he slowly observed the situation on the court.

At this time, Reggie Miller ran back, started to accelerate, and ran with Kobe.

Suddenly, Schmitz pulls high and does a wall to help Miller get out of the screen.

Just when everyone's eyes were focused on the pursuit battle between Miller and Kobe.

Mark Jackson jumped up and passed the basketball to the free throw line.

After Schmitz screened, he took two steps towards the free throw area, just received the pass, tapped his foot, and made a two-point shot...

Swish-!
O'Neal failed to defend, and the others switched defenses. The height mismatch was too obvious.

Schmitz made a precise two-pointer and scored 2 points for the Pacers.

2 to 0! !
Schmitz shoots with the same soft touch as Yao Ming.

Of course, his offensive method is very simple, without Yao Ming's dreamy footsteps.

Now almost all of them are mid-range shots from the free throw line area, with a fresh move, with a hit rate of more than 50%, but the offensive efficiency is not low.

On the commentary stage, Mike Brin said in surprise, "Last season, Rick Schmitz relied on this trick to shoot, scored 25 points, led the Pacers to beat the Bulls in G6, and then, against Jordan's Bulls Team, fought until the tie-break.

The Lakers didn't attack Schmitz's shooting? "

"Maybe I want O'Neal to maintain his strength and put his energy on the offensive end?" Mav Albert laughed.

"If you do this, you will be hit hard!"

On the court, the offense and defense switched, and the Lakers attacked.

Billups dribbled to the frontcourt and immediately lobbed to O'Neal.

He catches the ball with his back, dribbles a step, sits under the basket, turns around immediately, jumps up, and dunks with both hands.

Bang-dang-!
2 to 2! !
O'Neal scored in a low post attack and returned two points.

Off the court, Li Mu nodded, O'Neal at his peak was really helpless!

First of all, in terms of strength confrontation, I can't stand it. When O'Neill chisels, only the basket is left in front of him. This is too fatal!

In other words, looking at the inside combination of the Pacers, Schmitz and Antonio Davis, Li Mu felt a little familiar formula.

Schmitz didn't go to mark O'Neill. He has height but is too soft.

European centers have this problem, Dirk Nowitzki, Gasol, etc., without exception.

At this time, it is necessary to match him with a tough blue-collar insider. The role of Antonio Davis on the court is like this.

This is the same combination as Yao Ming and Cato, Yao Ming and Hayes with insiders. The formula is all stars and blue-collars.

Such a combination is indeed enough to face the average team.

In Li Mu's view, against O'Neal's team, the effect will not work.

Don't you see that later Yao Ming, in order to solve O'Neal, had to carry everything on his back and gain weight to fight against O'Neal, and the effect was not bad.

Anyway, O'Neal was no longer at his peak at that time.

Schmitz was lucky, he didn't need to gain weight, he didn't need to fight against people, and he could play for so long. In his era, there were O'Neills, but they weren't the kind of sharks with fat heads.

O'Neal, who just entered the league, did not exceed the standard weight.

On the field, the Pacers attacked, Mark Jackson received the serve from the baseline, and was immediately pressed by Billups.

The Pacers are a group of veterans, regardless of whether the tactics are effective or not, let's talk about reducing their physical fitness first.

After all, Mark Jackson is the second star point guard in the history of the league in assists. Facing the pressure, he cracked it very calmly and dribbled to the frontcourt.

At this time, Miller continued to run without the ball, ran back on the left, bypassed Mark Jackson to the right, and then cut into the inside.

Kobe chased after him, and he had the experience of playing with Hamilton. He still has a lot of experience in defense without the ball.

Suddenly, Miller made an emergency stop and ran back, pocketed the bottom line, and turned back to the right three-point line.

Bang-!
The field of view is good, the experienced Mark Jackson hit the ground with a flick of his hand, the man arrived at the ball, and comfortably passed the basketball to Reggie Miller's hands.

Kobe is also very good. After being shaken for a while, he still didn't give up, and he was able to fold his body and throw himself back.

In the eyes of everyone, this is a waste of physical energy. Isn't it good to put physical energy on the offensive end?

Is it really just on the offensive end, not off the court?
Kobe doesn't, he only has opponents in his eyes, only basketball.

Reggie Miller catches the ball, lifts it up, collects it, and knocks Kobe away. Then he takes a step to the right, adjusts his rhythm, twists his waist, jumps up, and makes a shot...

The basketball draws a wonderful arc in the air.

Swish-!
With his hand up and down, Miller's three-pointer hit the net with precision, causing splashes.

5 to 2! !
……

(End of this chapter)