The Magic players who returned to the locker room were very helpless. They had obviously taken a 9-point lead, but who knew that they missed two goals and were directly wiped out. Edison was also speechless. The players tried their best and the opportunity came out.
If you can't make a shot, there's really nothing you can do about it.
"It doesn't matter. Although the score is a draw now, we have the advantage. Don't be depressed. As long as we play normally, the victory will definitely belong to us." Edison comforted everyone at first, but then immediately put on the green-faced fang mask and started to rant angrily.
players.
"Brand, Howard, what happened to you two? Two recognized No. 1 picks can't handle a parallel importer. Others shouldn't think that this matter has nothing to do with you. Steve, you also have this problem. His guy usually
There are a lot of mistakes, but only one has been made so far. This shows that you have not put enough pressure on him. He gained too much space after getting the ball. I don’t want to see a similar situation again in the second half. Every time he grabs a rebound
, Nash, you three outsiders must stick up for me and see if there is a chance to steal the ball. If it doesn't work once, try to press him twice. That guy's habit will make mistakes sooner or later."
"And Tony, you have to pay attention. You have committed three fouls now. Kobe is very capable of drawing fouls, and this is still Los Angeles. You have to be careful. And Roy, Odom didn't play much in the first half.
, I believe that Phil will definitely correct their problem in the midfield, so Roy, your defensive pressure may surge in the second half, and you have to be prepared."
"Okay, now everyone has a good rest and prepares for the second half." After training the players, Edison unplugged the hair dryer with a wave of his hand and let the players clean up.
Seeing Edison making a dismissal gesture, everyone in the Magic no longer sat around in the middle of the locker room, but dispersed in twos and threes. Veterans like Nash began to ask masseurs to relax their muscles.
Time is relative. When you have just eaten a plate of mochi and are waiting for a seat in the toilet, every second seems as long as a minute; but when you are galloping on a prancing horse, you feel that you have possessed the golden gun.
It doesn't work, but in the end you may find that you only lasted 3 minutes.
While the Magic players were relaxing and playing around, Staples staff came over and told them to get ready to go out for the game.
When the Magic walked out of the tunnel again, the home fans greeted them with the loudest boos, and many radical fans near the tunnel even raised their middle fingers at the Magic players.
This kind of situation where fans collectively insult away players can basically happen in any sports event, and it cannot be stopped. So as long as it does not involve sensitive issues such as racial discrimination, everyone will turn a blind eye, and the players who are insulted will also turn a blind eye.
I don't take it too seriously. After all, other players will also encounter this when you return to your home court. But being scolded is not a pleasant thing after all, so all the Magic generals were angered.
It is normal for athletes to have anger. The key is how you deal with the anger. Whether to convert the anger into motivation and then release it in an orderly manner, or whether to let them explode wantonly. The Magic have done this very well. Nash has been in the league since he entered the league.
He has a maturity that far exceeds his age. There is no need for Edison to make any special arrangements. Under his control, Magic will definitely vent his anger on the court.
In addition, James has entered the league and has a maturity far beyond his age, but it is just in appearance.
At the beginning of the second half, under the guidance of Nash, the Magic players launched a storm of offense. And coincidentally, Phil Jackson of the Lakers also arranged for his players to attack during the halftime break, and the two sides fought together.
As a result, the game became much better to watch now, with the ball flying back and forth from both sides, basically occupying no space.
However, compared to the Lakers, the Magic are obviously more adaptable to this rhythm. Whether it is fast play in offense, running and intervening, or stealing and playing less in defense, the Magic clearly have an advantage.
At this time, Zen Master also realized that something was wrong, and began to whistle on the scene, and then asked the Lakers players to slow down the rhythm. But many times the game is like this, when the players on both sides are playing high, trying to slow down the rhythm of the game.
It can't be done by just yelling or making a gesture from the coach. Even if your name is **Vicci.
The Lakers players ignored Zen Master's intentions. Kobe led the team to fight the Magic on a fast break. Each round took up to 6 seconds for both sides.
The final result was that after only 2 minutes, 57-65, the Magic expanded the score advantage to 8 points. There was no other way but to call a timeout. It was not to arrange tactics, but to let the players recover from the excitement just now.
Calm down, and Jackson felt that it was not safe enough, so he replaced Odom, who was already starting to get better, with Walton, who has a higher golf IQ.
After Walton came on the court, the Lakers quickly stabilized their position and no longer followed the Magic all over the court. But another problem also emerged, that is, the Lakers' strength became worse after Odom came off the court, or on the court.
Player, your talent is lower.
Although the Lakers' offense slowed down, the chaotic battle just now completely disrupted the rhythm of the Lakers players. Everyone didn't know how to play, so they handed the ball to Kobe. And Kobe was in Tonya.
Under Lun's defense, he had no touch and hit the iron twice in a row.
At this time, the problem of replacing Walton was exposed. Walton is a good player. He is one of the few players in the NBA who knows how to use his brain when playing and can always remain calm and rational. However, his ability is really limited. He can
He doesn't make mistakes, but you can't expect him to force his opponents to make mistakes. He can't create his own opportunities.
Normally, it would be no problem for him to help Kobe Bryant, pass the ball, set a screen, etc. But when Kobe Bryant is frozen and you ask him to stand up and score with the ball, sorry, this is really not what he can do.
On the other hand, Odom, although this player is often distracted, which makes people very uneasy, and always makes people feel nervous and uneasy when he is on the court, his talent and strength are really beyond words. He can hit hard under the basket and pull out.
A mid-range shot, even if he can't attack himself, he can still distribute the ball in time and create opportunities for his teammates. It can be said that he is a rare good player.
So when the Lakers failed to attack again, Roy scored a three-pointer in front of Walton, opening the score gap to more than 10 points. Jackson requested a timeout again, and then replaced Odom on the court again.
, and rearranged the tactics with Odom as the core.
As mentioned before, when Odom and Roy faced off, the advantage in height and weight was too obvious. As soon as Odom turned around, Roy was gone, and then he calmly took action and scored 2 goals in a row.
Ordinarily, Roy's offense can be regarded as a small mismatch, but Odom clearly tried his best on the defensive end this time. His steps were very flexible and active, and he didn't make random moves like a twitch.
In this way, with Odom's outstanding performance, the Lakers began to regain the momentum. At this time, the home fans became even more excited, and the voice of "defense" echoed above Staples again.
"Paul can't go on like this. Odom is in very good shape. We have to find a way." As soon as Thibodeau saw that the situation was not right, he ran to Edison's ear and urged him to make changes.
"Well, we really need to make some changes." Edison bit his lip and thought for a moment, then called out Rasheed Wallace, "You go and change Roy. When defending Odom, I don't ask for anything else, I must give him
I'm tough, go and fight him physically. Even if he is taller than you and stronger than you, he can't fight you."
Although there is nothing to say about Odom's strength and talent as a player, his shortcomings are also obvious. If his inability to produce highlights can only be regarded as an accident and a time bomb, then his biggest problem is his softness.
In fact, this is also a common problem among other Lakers players in the Kobe era. From Odom to Gasol, to Bynum, and even now Howard, basically they can't escape the word "soft". The only exception is hard.
Artest cannot be tougher. If one person and two people are like this, it may indeed be the player's fault, but if it is like this, we should reflect on whether Kobe also has a problem.
I am not a critic of Kobe, and I insist on putting other people's problems on him, but after careful analysis, the soft impression of other players really has something to do with Kobe. The simplest thing is, why do we talk about Gasol and Odo?
Are they weak? Because they often fail to do anything at critical moments. The offense cannot score and the defense cannot stop people.
It's their problem that the defense can't guard them. I won't argue, but if the offense can't go in, Kobe must be responsible here. We all know that players have touch. If you don't touch the ball or shoot for a long time, your touch will be bad.
It will get colder and disappear completely. At this time, if you give him the ball, he will not be able to shoot it. This is often the case with the Lakers. Kobe occupies the most shooting opportunities for the team, especially in the fourth quarter.
He often chooses to attack by himself and ignores other teammates. Even if he passes the ball, it is more often given to shooters like Lao Yu or Walton who are open on the outside and can pass easily, rather than to the inside players in the crowd.
So for Odom and others who have been unable to touch the ball for a long time, if you suddenly give him the ball and let them play, it is really difficult for him to score in one shot. The problem is that once you fail to score, Kobe will immediately turn his back.
I started to distrust you, so I took the ball back, creating a vicious cycle.
Of course, for their weakness, the main problem is their own character and attitude. Kobe's factor can only account for 20%.
When Jordan commented on Pippen that year, he said this: "I try my best no matter what time, and he (Pippen) will only try his best when his opponent is chasing after him." The same goes for Odom,
Everyone thinks that he is no worse than Magic Johnson when it comes to seriousness, but the problem is that he can only be serious for 5 minutes in a game.
And although his physical fitness is very good, his body is strong and strong, he is very resistant to physical contact and always wants to hide from others. After Rasheed Wallace appeared on the scene, he did nothing else according to Edison's instructions, but went to find someone.
Physical contact allowed Odom to engage in a muscle battle with himself.
Now Odom couldn't adapt, and he began to avoid Wallace. Wallace was also stubborn and focused on resisting Odom, so the two began to circle around the three-second zone.
After three and two turns, Odom also knew that he could not escape, so he decided to face the bleak life and decided to fight Wallace head-on. However, his touch had been exhausted when he was just going around in circles, and he hit the basket hard.
Going down to the top, Wallace is not a soft persimmon, he still can't get in.
However, the Lakers' offense did not stagnate, because Kobe, who was restricted by Tony Allen for most of the game, began to show his fangs.
