Basketball boy, starting to shine from the slam dunk

Holiday took a deep breath, gathered himself, and pushed the ball to the frontcourt.

The Lakers' starting lineup today is still Holiday, Zhuang Yu, Korver, Anderson, and Lopez.

The Pelicans' starting lineup is Rajon Rondo, Ewan Moore, Dante Cunningham, Anthony Davis, and DeMarcus Cousins.

Among them, Rajon Rondo joined the Pelicans in July this year. After Holiday left, the Pelicans needed a guard. DeMarcus Cousins ​​and Anthony Davis all graduated from the University of Kentucky like Rondo. The three are alumni of the University of Kentucky.

Because of this relationship, Cousins ​​and Davis recruited Rondo, who eventually signed with the Pelicans with a one-year contract, forming the "Kentucky Three."

Among these three, Cousins ​​and Davis are both All-Star players, and both were selected to the All-Star team last season.

Rondo is a little older and is no longer at the All-Star level, but he has been selected to the All-Star team many times and has excellent organizational skills. The reason why the Pelicans recruited him is because he can make Cousins ​​and Davis better.

Coming to the frontcourt, Holiday took a quick look.

The Pelicans' defense was still man-to-man, but Anthony Davis did not defend too far out and kept Anderson at a certain distance. He was not worried about Anderson's shooting because Anderson's shooting was unstable. He was worried about Lopez and Zhuang Yu.

Especially Zhuang Yu.

Once Zhuang Yu breaks through, Davis will move closer to the inside and can shrink back to provide defense in time, and can also help Cousins ​​with assisting defense.

"Pick and roll."

Holiday called a pick-and-roll, and Lopez came to the top of the arc. Holiday took the opportunity to get rid of him, then passed the ball back to Lopez. Lopez passed the ball to Zhuang Yu and set a screen for him.

Zhuang Yu got rid of Moore and moved to the right. The Pelicans quickly switched defense, with Rondo defending Zhuang Yu.

Rondo has been selected to the best defensive team many times and has rich defensive experience. When it was his turn to face Zhuang Yu, he immediately rushed forward and started close defense, raising one hand to block Zhuang Yu's direct shot.

Rondo is now over 185 years old and is only cm tall, so it is difficult for him to defend Zhuang Yu one-on-one.

But it doesn’t matter, he just needs to defend Zhuang Yu’s shooting.

If Davis comes to back-up defense after Zhuang Yu breaks through, Davis is also a player who made the best defensive team, and Rondo has no doubt about his ability to back-up defense.

"laugh!"

The shoes rubbed against the floor, and Zhuang Yu changed direction and accelerated to pass Rondo by half a body length, then paused for a moment, then accelerated again, using a change of rhythm to completely pass Rondo. Rondo was somewhat helpless, not to mention him now, even in his peak period, he would not have been able to do anything, because Zhuang Yu's shooting threat was too great, so he had to make some choices, and he jumped too far forward, and Zhuang Yu's speed was too fast, which finally explained the result.

"Fortunately, there is AD behind us." Rondo said to himself.

Davis was the first to provide backup defense. Although he is an inside player, he is very fast and has a good height. He has excellent defensive skills and awareness. He is also a player who has been selected to the best defensive team many times. Whether he is defending individually or providing backup defense or assisting defense, his abilities are very strong.

This time he was very quick in making up for the defense. He took a step forward to block Zhuang Yu with one hand raised high. As long as Zhuang Yu dared to shoot, he was confident that he could block him.

Zhuang Yu slowed down slightly, but did not play the ball himself. Instead, he swung the ball with one hand and passed it to Anderson. At this time, Anderson was left open.

But Anderson's shot was not stable. He did not shoot, but passed the ball to Korver...

After two more passes, the ball finally reached Holiday. Holiday took a look at the basket, gritted his teeth and shot a three-pointer.

boom!

There was a muffled sound, iron struck.

Davis took the rebound and passed the ball to Rondo. Rondo advanced to the front court slowly and called a tactic. He used a pick-and-roll to get rid of Cousins. Rondo pretended to pass the ball to Cousins, but actually passed the ball to Cunningham outside the three-point line and shouted to Cunningham, "Shoot it yourself."

Opposing Cunningham is Korver, and Rondo knows very well that Korver is the weakest defensive link in the Lakers' starting lineup.

He is not only an organizer on the court, but also a tactical master and offensive commander... So the moment he passed the ball, he directed Cunningham to play on his own.

With Rondo's reminder, Cunningham didn't need to think too much when he got the ball. He decisively shot on his own, first breaking through, then passing Korver and making a jump shot.

The score was 2:0, and the Pelicans took the first game.

"nice shot."

"Well done."

In the audience, fans cheered excitedly.

Cunningham also smiled and walked up to high-five Rondo.

On the sidelines, Pelicans head coach Alvin Gentry couldn't help but smile and said to himself: "Rondo's scoring ability is definitely not comparable to Holiday's, but his organization and rebounding are no worse than Holiday's. In fact, he is even stronger in terms of organization."

This is what Coach Gentry is most satisfied with about this signing. The Pelicans actually do not lack people who can score. Cousins, Davis, and Moore are all people who can score. Cousins ​​and Davis averaged 24.4 points and 28 points per game respectively last season.

With Cousins ​​and Davis, the Pelicans' starting lineup is not short of scorers, so it doesn't matter whether Rondo can score or not.

On the court, the Lakers attack.

Holiday came to the frontcourt and subconsciously looked at Zhuang Yu. Zhuang Yu made a gesture to him, indicating that he should play according to the tactics. Holiday nodded and called out a tactic.

This time it was a tactic for the inside, Holiday and Lopez set a pick-and-roll, then transferred the ball to the left, Zhuang Yu came to the top of the arc, Lopez came to the low post on the right, and after Zhuang Yu got the ball, he formed an offensive threat at the top of the arc, and then broke through and passed the ball to Lopez.

Swish!

Lopez hit the rebound.

But Cousins ​​also returned a goal. He has a very strong scoring ability. He passed the ball to the player, made a fake shot and then broke forward. After taking one dribble, he turned around, bypassed Lopez, and finally made a layup.

The score is 4:2.

Here, the Lakers attack.

After arriving at the frontcourt, Holiday called a tactic, passed the ball and moved to the left. Zhuang Yu still broke through, forcing the opponent to shrink the defense line, then passed the ball to Korver, who passed it to Holiday.

This was a three-point opportunity, but Holiday did not shoot after getting the ball, but passed it to Anderson instead.

Anderson stood outside the three-point line in the left corner and tried to shoot a three-pointer, but missed.

With a bang, the basketball bounced out of the hoop.

Lopez and Cousins ​​wrestled, while Davis stretched out his arms and used his height and wingspan to grab the rebound. The Pelicans launched a counterattack...

It has to be said that although Rondo's scoring ability is average, his organizational level is indeed very high, at the master level, and he has an extremely outstanding basketball IQ. He is like an "on-court coach" and a "court conductor." Not only can he deliver the ball to the best position in time, but he can also command his teammates to attack. His teammates don't need to think for themselves, they just need to play according to Rondo's command.

This is the most reasonable way.

After only a few minutes of playing, Rondo has already contributed 3 assists and the Pelicans have scored 13 points.

On the Lakers side, Holiday played a little timidly. He did a decent job on defense, but was hesitant on offense. He didn't dare to shoot when he had the chance, and he was not as good as Rondo in organizing the pass.

"Bang!"

With a slight sound, Rondo assisted Davis in an alley-oop slam dunk.

Davis put his hands on the basket, pulling it so hard that it started to shake.

“That was a beautiful pass.”

"It has to be Rondo. His organizational skills are so strong. Davis and Cousins ​​can play better with him."

"Holiday can't make this kind of pass, and he can't pass it. Let Holiday go and sign Rondo. Great job."

In the audience, fans were discussing excitedly.

Some voices reached the court and reached Holiday's ears, making Holiday feel uncomfortable. Am I not as good as Rondo?

How could I be worse than Rondo?

But after a few minutes, his performance was indeed not as good as Rondo.

In a few minutes, Rondo contributed 2 points, 2 rebounds and 3 assists, while Holiday had 0 points, 1 rebound and 1 assist. It was obvious at a glance.

Under Rondo's organization, several Pelicans players played very well, especially on the offensive end, allowing the Pelicans to lead the Lakers by 15 points with a score of 8:7.

......

Lakers offense.

After Holiday came to the front court, Lopez came forward to screen, but Holiday's reaction was a bit slow. He paused for a moment before accelerating and was unable to shake off Rondo's defense. Holiday tried to break through and wanted to pass Rondo.

Snapped!

There was a slight sound, and Holiday's heart trembled, and he secretly said that something was wrong.

The ball was intercepted.

Rondo grasped the opportunity very accurately and acted quickly. He decisively cut off the ball the moment Holiday broke through.

The next moment, Rondo rushed out, grabbed the basketball and launched a quick counterattack. After reaching the frontcourt, he took three steps to make a layup. Zhuang Yuzhui jumped up behind him, but Rondo was very experienced and did not go up himself. Instead, he made a ground pass from behind to Davis who was following up.

Bang!

Davis dunked with both hands.

Zhuang Yu turned around and looked at Anderson. Anderson smiled bitterly, looking somewhat helpless. Davis was such a big guy, but he was very fast. Although Zhuang Yu caught up with him, his height and wingspan were not as good as Davis. He could only watch Davis take off and dunk.

The score is 17:8.

"Requesting a timeout."

Coach Scott called a timeout with a gloomy face.

At this point, five minutes into the first quarter, the Pelicans had already scored 5 points, while the Lakers had only scored 17 points. This was definitely not the performance they should have had.

Several players came off the court, and Coach Scott spread out the tactical board with a stern face. He just glanced at Holiday, but didn't get angry. He said, "Substitute later. Holiday and Korver come down to rest. Clarkson and Gerald Green, you two go up."