There is no doubt that this is another highly hyped game in the league. The showdown between Kobe, who has the vague demeanor of the first player of the 1996 golden generation, and James, the top pick of the 2003 platinum generation, is a gimmick that the league is absolutely unwilling to let go. Although
From a positional point of view, it is impossible for the two to face each other. James may defend Kobe, but it is more likely that the one guarding Kobe will be the steal king Larry Hughes, allowing James to better use his skills.
Focus on the offensive end.
And Kobe will not be foolish enough to defend James. On the defensive end, he will fight hand-to-hand with James, a muscle monster. Although Kobe can be considered strong, when he and James stand together, he immediately becomes the spokesperson for his small arms and legs.
The Quicken Loans Center arena was filled with cheers, and there was not a single gap in the 20,562-seat auditorium. They were filled with Cavaliers fans, most of whom were wearing Cavaliers No. 23 with James' name on it.
The magnesium powder thrown all over the sky reflected the lights, making LeBron James, who was wearing the Cavaliers' No. 23 jersey, look like a god descending to earth. The audience at the scene made worshiping movements in cooperation, as if they were worshiping themselves.
The emperor!
"Little Emperor" - LeBron James.
From this reaction, it is not difficult to see Cavaliers fans’ support for James and his terrifying appeal in Cleveland!
"He really loves to put on a show." Adrian, who was flexing his muscles and doing warm-up exercises for the competition, frowned amidst the thunderous cheers.
"That's what he is." Turiaf said cheerfully beside him, not worried about being overheard and causing misunderstanding: "It's just like the TV show. Do you want to wear a suit and tie?"
His words naturally revealed a disdain for James.
Fortunately, although Turiaf's voice was loud, the cheers in the Quicken Loans Center Arena were so wild that even though Adrian was right next to him, it was hard to hear what Turiaf said, let alone others.
Maybe you heard it, otherwise if Cavaliers players or fans heard it, trouble would inevitably occur.
This summer, the Cavaliers' lineup has almost no changes. The Cavaliers' management completed the contract renewal with the team's core LeBron James this summer. The newly renewed contract is for three years and will expire in 2010.
, James will have a player option and can choose to jump out of the contract and become a completely free player. At the same time, on the basis of completing the contract extension with James, the Cavaliers also renewed the contracts of two of the team's generals, Drew Gooden and David Way.
In addition to this, they only signed free player Scott Pollard. This is a standard blue-collar player who is willing to do dirty work and basically only does dirty work.
And it works fine.
Although the Cavaliers did not make any reinforcements this summer, they did retain the team that reached the Western Conference semifinals last season. The overall strength is still very strong. James' performance has also been very obvious compared to last season.
Progress. So far this season, he has averaged 30 points, 7.9 rebounds, 7.2 assists, 1.8 blocks, 1.1 steals, 48.4% field goal percentage and 71.2% free throw percentage. Compared with last season in all aspects
There has been considerable progress.
In other words, James has become more mature and stronger, which is the Cavaliers' biggest reinforcement this summer.
However, even if the Cavaliers don't sign any impressive players this summer, their strength still cannot be underestimated.
The main center Ilgauskas is not a first-rate star, he is also the top of the second rate. Drew Gooden is also a defensive hero. Small forward LeBron James need not be mentioned. The performance of steals king Larry Hughes
But he is quite sorry for the high-value contract of 70 million US dollars and five years given to him by the Cavaliers.
All in all, although the Cavaliers are not at the championship level, they are at least a strong force in the playoffs. Of course, the key to how strong the Cavaliers can be depends on the performance of its star LeBron James.
There is no doubt that the important task of guarding LeBron James once again falls on Adrian's shoulders. He is now the most reliable swingman in the Lakers' perimeter defense.
Although Kobe's defense is also very strong, his natural physical fitness can only be regarded as above average. His defensive skills are very good, especially his strong stickiness. He can be said to be very handy in defending backcourt players with the same excellent skills. But if
When the targets are James, Pierce, Anthony and even Dwyane Wade, a physical beast with incredible physical fitness, Kobe's defense appears to be intentional but weak.
James' physical fitness can be called the most abnormal in the league, with jumping, wingspan, speed, and even more terrifying strength. The most uncomfortable thing for Kobe is to face off against this kind of player. On the offensive end, it's okay, he can use himself
He struggled with his versatility and delicate skills, but on the defensive end, his natural physical fitness made it impossible for him to compete with these perverts. Moreover, there is a five-centimeter height difference between Kobe and James, so trying to defend will not be effective.
As for Adrian, no matter how you look at it, he will not suffer too much when defending James. In terms of physical fitness, he will not be much worse than James. More importantly, Adrian's attitude of being conscientious and submissive to tactics makes him
Phil Jackson can safely use Adrian.
In order to allow Adrian to better match up with James, Phil Jackson even put Adrian in the small forward position. This is not the first time that Adrian has played the small forward position. He is 203 centimeters tall.
, coupled with his skillful ball-handling and passing skills, make him Phil Jackson's first choice as a point forward.
However, Adrian has always had difficulty getting used to the small forward position. Once he reaches the small forward position, he will never be as comfortable as he is at the point guard position. Phil Jackson has given up after trying it several times.
Let Adrian serve as the point forward for the Lakers, but this time Adrian takes the position of small forward, not to let him play the point forward, but to allow him to better compete with James on the defensive end.
Counter defense. For this reason, he did not hesitate to remove Luke Walton from the starting lineup and let Vujacic replace Adrian as the starting point guard. After all, he is a relatively reliable three-point shooter for the Lakers.
Sharing the firepower can also share some pressure for Kobe's offense.
Of course, no one expects Adrian to be able to guard James by himself. In addition to allowing Adrian to assume the small forward position, Turiaf will also assist Adrian when James breaks through and work together to block James.
Block James. Relatively speaking, if you let go of Gooden, there will be nothing you can't beat.
He is originally a player who defends the strong and attacks the weak. Even if he is allowed to attack, it will not cause much damage to the Lakers. On the contrary, James, even if it cannot be completely blocked, as long as James cannot rush into the paint, the Lakers will
Victory lays half the foundation.
After all, James' three-point shooting skills can only be considered average, and his 31.9% three-point shooting rate is not very high.
Adrian is relatively familiar with James. As the No. 1 pick of the 2003 Platinum Generation, although he has received mixed reviews from later generations, Adrian has watched his games since he was a child.
He also knows James very well.
At that time, Adrian looked down on James quite a lot, and even proudly called himself "James Black" on the forum. This was not because he was the secret to James, but because he really looked down upon James.
What is there to admire about a 'proud man of heaven' who conquers the world with his star whistle and crab steps?
He's just a bull who relies on his body to rush hard and has godfather cheats. Who wouldn't beat Kobe and Tracy McGrady in terms of skills?
But after Adrian entered the NBA as an assistant coach, he gradually understood. This is actually not a big deal.
Not to mention that physical talent is also a kind of ability. Even the star whistle is not exclusive to James. After all, NBA star whistle has a long history. As a business alliance, in order to gain higher ratings, or because of
Favoring the special status of star players, star whistles are naturally everywhere.
Apart from anything else, Iverson's "stealing" when he started his breakthrough has been an open secret in the league, and Kobe's hair-level foul calls have been criticized and complained by opposing players more than once. 'Flashman' Dehuai
Wade always steps first and then dribbles when he breaks through... At most, these things happen to James more often, and the five-step layup is really illegal, and other stars also received whistles.
The stars I took care of felt a little unbearable.
Who told the league to support James?
Even Adrian himself can vaguely feel that the referees will tend to take care of him a little bit when calling penalties, especially at the Lakers' home court. This is also because his reputation is gradually getting bigger.
Naturally, the referee will no longer treat him according to the standards of ordinary players.
After all, referees are people, not machines. If you want to be completely impartial, you have to introduce computer law enforcement. But to be honest, that would take a lot of fun away, and computer law enforcement is not so easy to implement. In order to achieve this
Not to mention the installation of expensive supercomputers and eagle eyes at each competition venue, programming is a huge and painful project, and countless dollars will be thrown into the sea of projects during the project process.
There may not even be a single echo at all.
If the league really dares to do this, it will have to face joint protests from the owners and management of thirty teams. After all, they have to pay for it.
After understanding all this, Adrian felt that his dislike for James had lessened a bit, but he still couldn't say he liked him. At least it allowed him to face up to how strong James was.
