Although Iverson was eager to score points, he did not choose to attack immediately at this time, because at this stage he is different from Kobe. The opponent Kobe has to face is Hill or Carter. Hill has just recovered from a serious illness.
Being able to be selected as an All-Star for the first time is mainly due to everyone's sympathy vote. A person who averages 19 points per game, has an average team record and is not the team's big brother would have no All-Star chance at all. So in fact, Hill
The strength is far inferior to these people. Carter is a person who hardly defends. Throughout his life, he can only be regarded as a defensive warrior when he was with the Mavericks. This is why Kobe can play well.
Whatever you ask for, many times the reason for producing super statistics is not only yourself, but also who you are facing. This is why superstars can easily score 40 or 50 points, but their average per game in a season is only in their early twenties.
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The defense in the West is obviously better. Kobe has always been the first defensive player. Although Tracy McGrady (sorry, I wrote Francis in the previous chapter) is relatively lazy and does not like to defend, it does not mean that his defense is not good.
Well, when he was with the Raptors, this guy's perimeter defensive ability was among the best in the league. He just didn't try his best when he wasn't on national broadcasts, but he still didn't want to be in the background during the All-Stars. Not to mention the other three.
Now, Garnett, Duncan, and Yao Ming have basically stopped Iverson from thinking about getting into the paint. Duncan and Garnett have a wide coverage. Although Yao Ming has poor mobility, his shot-blocking ability is still very good.
He is strong, but if you want to rush in and score on his head, it will be difficult.
So in the first half of the first quarter, it was almost all Kobe's performance. Kobe scored eight points in a row. At this time, we can see the advantage of the guard playing center. O'Neal also wanted to contain Kobe. But Kobe's opening dunk had already reached
For his own purpose, what he did next was relatively simple. He threw Hill away in the first few steps and then made a jumper.
But if the first half of the first quarter was Kobe's performance, then the second half of the first quarter was Iverson's performance. Popovich replaced the entire main force in the West. When Kobe asked why
When he replaced them all when the momentum was good, Popovich's serious face suddenly broke out with a strange smile and said: "A one-sided game is not interesting. I want to have more fun."
Popovich looks as dull as Duncan, but he is still relatively boring and fun-loving at heart. The lineup Popovich sent is: point guard Steve Nash, shooting guard Manu Gee.
Nobili, small forward Ray Allen, power forward Shawn Marion, center Dirk Nowitzki.
It can be said that everyone in this lineup is a three-point expert, and they are completely in a run-and-gun rhythm. Duncan approached Popovich and said: "What do you want?"
Popovich smiled evilly and whispered: "The Mavericks, Suns, SuperSonics and we are the top four in the Western Conference. The three teams except us are all run and gun. Don't you think I should know more about running?
Want some bombs? I want to see how that kid Rivers can crack the run and gun game."
As soon as Nash came up and dribbled the ball to the frontcourt, before the Western Conference could make any preparations, Milicic felt that Marion next to him had started. Before he could see his movements clearly, Nash had already thrown the ball to
At the basket, Marion dunked the ball in with an alley-oop.
Next, although Iverson took advantage of Nash's poor defensive breakthrough and scored a layup, Ray Allen and Nowitzki immediately responded with two three-pointers.
Rivers called a timeout, and after a simple deployment, the lineup was point guard Gilberto Arenas, shooting guard Devin Wade, small forward Paul Pierce, power forward LeBron James, and center Darren Davis.
Ko Milicic.
When Popovich saw the lineup in the Eastern Conference, he couldn't help but have a melting look on his face, as if he was talking to himself: "I gained more from this game. The Boston Celtics broke through and bombed. It was very interesting."
"
The core of the Eastern team is still the Celtics' dual-core Paul Pierce and Darko Milicic. The other players are actually more similar to the Celtics. Gilberto Arenas has a strong shooting ability but
He has average athletic ability and decent defense. He is like an enhanced version of Derek Fisher. Devin Wade has good running and jumping abilities. He is extremely fierce in defense and has strong air-cutting ability. He is a Tony who can break through and mid-range.
Allen and LeBron James are extremely strong, have excellent defensive capabilities, and are also flexible. They are more like an all-around version of Al Jefferson.
This is what Popovich wants to see, because he knows that every coach actually likes a lineup configuration, and then he will strive to create a similar lineup after changing a team, Pat Riley's inside and outside combination
, none of the four teams led by Pat Riley did not have a strong center. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the Lakers era, Patrick Ewing in the Knicks era, Alonzo Mourning in the Heat era and post-Heat
In the era of Shaquille O'Neal, these four centers are even basketball epic figures.
Stan Van Gundy likes big men inside with shooters, Larry Brown likes super blue-collar centers...
Rivers is now using the Celtics method to solve run and gun problems. This is an unexpected gain for Popovich. He can't help but lament that Rivers is still too young and just wants to be able to play in the All-Star Game.
After defeating the opponent, he was too eager for the media's attention. After all, he has a young mind and is still very immature compared to his old rivals Phil Jackson, Jerry Sloan, Larry Brown and Adelman.
The fact is really as Popovich expected. Rivers doesn't know much about these guys in the All-Stars. He knows that these guys are very good, but good cards are not so easy to play. These guys are on his own team.
There is no problem for a leading player to turn on the scoring mode on his own, but there will be problems with tactical coordination.
Therefore, when arranging tactics, he still uses Milicic as the axis, Arenas is ambushing on the outside like Fisher, and Wade is like Tony Allen, constantly cutting back and running and delaying the transition between offense and defense.
On the other side, James used his athletic ability to block shots, defend and pick up rebounds, while Pierce chose to post up or make mid-range shots from the mid-range.
The Eastern team sent the ball, and Arenas dribbled to the position where Milicic was pulled to the free throw line. Seeing this, Popovich smiled even more heartily.
