After defeating the Rockets, the Lakers' record continued to improve, now reaching 21 wins and 6 losses, with a 10-game winning streak.
At the beginning of this season, the debate about Howard and Tang Qian came to an end long ago, and no one paid attention to it anymore, because the answer was obvious. After the game, Taylor was indeed a typical American big girl type, full of personality.
She immediately said @Kohler.Kardashian: Sorry kids, obviously this game proved that our tiger is more powerful.
Please help your kitty.
According to gossip tabloids, Kardashian smashed a TV that night, but I don’t know if it’s true or not.
This kind of news should be treated as an adjustment. Just watch Le Yile. Tang Qian didn't take the Rockets this season to heart.
For him, teams that can't make it to the playoffs are not worth paying much attention to. People's energy is limited, and only fools will face all teams with the same energy. If they win, that's normal.
Yes, even he can feel the internal atmosphere of the Rockets very clearly. Howard and Harden, the internal and external combination that had great expectations back then, will definitely break up after this season, and it is impossible to stay at the same time.
.
But Tang Qian had no sympathy at all, because everything Howard did was his own choice, and no one forced him. Especially in this time and space, he actually tricked the Lakers in the end, which made Tang Qian even more uncomfortable.
Joy.
Speechless, the Thunder team ranked in front of them also won. The Thunder defeated the underdog Suns and still maintained a half-game lead. They were barely in front of the Lakers. But this situation will soon
It was changed because the next game is when the two teams face each other directly. If the Thunder wins, they will stay third in the Western Conference. If the Lakers win, they will take their place.
Therefore, this game between the two teams is a "Western Conference Ranking Game".
No one wants to lose.
The main structure of the Thunder this season is still "double junior" + inside Ibaka. The difference from before is the growth of rookie Steven Adams. He and Ibaka are now the Thunder's main inside protectors. But
Both of them are blue-collar. Not to mention Steven Adams, his scoring this season is still far away from double figures. He can't be bluer. Although Ibaka claims to have broken away from the "blue-collar position", he has scored in double figures this season.
He also averaged 15+ points per game last season, but that was his peak. His offensive limit was around 15+. And there has been a decline in the past two seasons. Last season was only 14+, and this season it is even more.
Unfortunately, they only averaged 12+ points per game. The shooting percentage and efficiency are also declining. What makes the Thunder management feel most intolerable is that the defense, which is said to be the foundation of Ibaka, has become increasingly sluggish in recent years.
He has averaged less than 2 blocks per game this season. This is the first time since his rookie season that Ibaka has averaged less than 2 blocks per game.
But now he has developed a three-point shot, which is a bright spot.
Before the game started, Westbrook joked with Tang Qian, claiming that he wanted the Lakers to secure fourth place in the Western Conference. Of course Tang Qian disagreed, and immediately said that the Thunder were more suitable for fourth place, and the Lakers' goal was to be fourth.
1. Durant's personal ability has actually been declining this season. After a serious injury, his personal ability is not as good as before. It is not obvious in the regular season. It is just a sign. In the playoffs, his true character is completely revealed. Super low
His shooting percentage, poor three-point shooting, physical problems, etc., all made him completely intolerable. Seeing that another super giant in the league was about to decline. At this time, Durant...
Anyway, after the Thunder left Harden, their bench strength has already declined a lot, relying entirely on Durant and Westbrook to support them.
Coupled with Ibaka's interior protection also declining, the Thunder no longer have the momentum they had in previous years.
The record is still in the top four, but anyone with a discerning eye can see the Thunder's fatigue.
If they don't make some achievements this season, with so many teams in the West about to rise in the future, their chances will be even slimmer. This is not an alarmist. Except for the Warriors' sudden emergence last season, the Spurs have also finished this season.
In terms of core transition, the Lakers seem to have great momentum this season. The Thunder are simply a little bit stuck in this situation.
The management has nothing to do with it, mainly the players themselves, who are a little impatient.
Ever since James set an example of "earning a championship", Durant has also been itchy. After all, James was only 25-26 when he went to the Heat. Where is he now? He's almost 28, okay. If he doesn't change, he will get better.
In a few years, he will enter the downward spiral, so Durant is likely to become a tragic figure like Karl Malone.
No, it is far worse than Karl Malone. Because after all, he still has two MVPs. In this time and space, he has not even won the MVP. If there is no championship, he will definitely not even win Karl Malone.
It's not as good as it is, it's hugely inferior.
Because he has no defensive formation yet, he is not an offensive and defensive star.
In that case, what awaits him is to be slowly forgotten by history, and people will only laugh at him even though he has a star teammate like Westbrook as his long-term companion, and the team is often at the forefront of the regular season, but he has never won a championship. This kind of thing
What is the name of a person? Needless to say, he is a typical "brush". He cannot bring real victory to the team. In that case, the name Durant will completely become a "joke". At least it will be compared with those who have shining stars.
The chance of matching names is completely gone.
Durant's mentality has been affected this season, and he has begun to think about things he had never thought of before.
He didn't want it to end like this, to end like this.
This game was held at the Thunder's home court, and both sides quickly got into the mood. There were no unnecessary politenesses, just a battle. Tang Qian won the ball easily, and the Lakers entered a positional battle rhythm. Although the Thunder's defense averaged
The points lost have reached the highest value since 2011, but their scoring has also increased this season. Last year's individual training made Westbrook grow a lot, which makes the Thunder's firepower look even more vigorous. This season they have
The average score also exceeded 110 points, ranking among the top three in the league.
So the Lakers never thought about playing fast with them from the beginning.
The rhythm of the game should be entered into contention from the beginning. The sooner you can suppress your opponent, the better.
The Lakers played a cross attack, covering the inside and cutting in from the forward, but Bosh made a mistake in the shot and the basket collapsed. To be honest, Bosh's performance in recent times cannot be said to be good, and the bad games are even more bad than the good ones.
Bosh himself was also very annoyed, but he always felt that sometimes he was a little out of his depth and very depressed.
Normally, he would have made the shot. The chance was indeed good, but tonight, it missed a lot.
The basketball bounced very far and was taken away by Russell Westbrook. After Westbrook's solo training last year, his entire ability has improved comprehensively. After being "joked" by Tang Qian last season, he actually really
He has had many triple-doubles, and rebounds are also a type of triple-double.
But to be clear, no matter how hard you try, the improvement in Westbrook's rebounding ability is visible to the naked eye. Otherwise, do you really think you can easily average 10+ rebounds per game? Isn't it a dream? Westbrook's rebounding ability
, is now the first defender, and even in history, it is one of the few.
The Thunder push quickly and play very quickly. Their game rhythm is different from that of the Warriors. Although they are both fast, they are not very controllable. They often rely on the team's physical fitness and personal ability to defeat them. They used to be known as "
The “birds and beasts” brigade is not fake.
There really is no need to mention the talent of this team.
Westbrook breaks through and Rondo defends. This ball is a real breakthrough, which is often called a "naked breakthrough" in the wild. Without any pick-and-roll or cover, you can break through with your own breakthrough ability. This kind of ball is here.
In the past few years, Rondo has often struggled to defend, and Westbrook also used this move to defeat the latter. But this season, Rondo is no longer the Rondo of previous years. Under the re-guidance and training of Larry Brown, he is only 29
His 20-year-old body burst out with new energy. Coupled with the bonus of a suitable team system, Westbrook's breakthrough ball did not break through. It was blocked by Rondo. Westbrook chose a straight up and down zombie jumper, jumping
He is not short, but he is still disturbed by Rondo's super long arms.
Basketball strikes, Tang Qian firmly stuck in position and got the rebound.
This season, anyone who was rebounding with Tang Qian felt the huge pressure. Adams had no chance to get stuck. He was instantly locked behind No. 29 of the Lakers. To be honest, Adams is a very hard-working player.
, he is very motivated to play and is willing to do blue-collar work, but he has no sense of presence in this game from the first rebound.
Sometimes his face was deformed, but he still couldn't grab any position. On the offensive end, Butler of the Lakers caused a defensive foul on Andre Robertson and made 2 of 2 free throws from the free throw line. The Thunder still played well.
It's the kind of "flying" that can't control itself. It is indeed not bad against some teams whose defensive system is not good enough. But why has it been difficult for the Thunder to beat the Spurs for so many years? Even if the GDP is old, it still has a good effect.
It is very painful. If Durant and Westbrook were not at their peak, they would not be able to lead the team. But their play is still too primitive and too lack of structure. Popovich has an example of accurately evaluating the Thunder:
It was after a playoff game that the old man said this: We didn't play any clever tactics, we were just waiting for our opponents to make mistakes. We took advantage of these mistakes.
Popovich expressed the true meaning of playing against the Thunder in one sentence. After all, this team has two star players at the peak of their careers. They can help each other create strong containment for their teammates, so it is too difficult to completely defend them.
It is better to play slowly, adjust your mentality, and wait for these two people to make mistakes. This is the real "stopping with silence" and "preempting the strike later". Popovich is called Popovich in the country. This is not the fault of the coach. The vision and methods are all coaches.
The Presidential Hill level of the world.
And who did he inherit this style from? The answer is Larry Brown. Larry Brown is a person who is very stable in coaching and rarely makes mistakes. Such "old ghosts" are all monsters. They are still in the locker room.
At the time, Larry Brown said that the main thing tonight is to play it safe and guard against arrogance and impetuosity. There is no need to rush in this game. But you must take advantage of the opponent's key mistakes.
This is a very correct big-tempo control. The Lakers are stable enough this season and have the capital to "wait and wait" like this.
The Thunder haven't beaten a strong team this season, and abusing the opponent is nothing to a team that aspires to compete for the championship. Fighting against a strong team is the key. The Thunder's Durant made a shot, but this kind of ball doesn't matter.
The solution is to not let a single ball in. Durant is a super scorer. Ariza is still too far behind.
It's not that Ariza can't defend well. Ariza is definitely a strong defensive player and is well-known in the league, but his opponent is too strong.
Defending Durant requires a lot of physical confrontation and team encirclement, which is not easy to do in the first regular season because the scale is not enough.
Bosh on the Lakers' side retaliated, and the Thunder chased after him. Westbrook made a "European step" and went up against Bosh who was assisting in defense, hitting 2+1. The game started very fiercely, and the Thunder double
The lack of firepower provided a lot of pressure, which put a lot of pressure on those who defended them. Larry Brown made a quick decision and changed the defensive method, from man-to-man to man-to-man, allowing the opponent to come in, but strictly guarding the other two flanks.
.
When Westbrook broke through the ball, I thought the Lakers would help defend him, but unexpectedly, this did not happen after he came in. The Lakers players just interfered with his passing route, so that he was properly "packed" in a defensive circle.
Among them, this defensive method was specially set up by Larry Brown for Tang Qian. It was a bold move based on Tang Qian's super rim protection ability.
Otherwise, the usual assist defense is to focus on delaying and defensive interference and blocking shots after assisting the defense. Unlike the Lakers, there is no intention of delaying and defensive interference at all. They just block Westbrook's pass.
The line is gone. To many people, this actually looks more like the amateur playing style of an amateur team. Professional teams rarely make such "mistakes". Let alone the NBA?
So is it really a "mistake"? Of course not. This is the new defense tailor-made by Larry Brown for the Lakers this season.
It's called the "fragile trap," and many Lakers players on the team often call it "fragile cash."
The meaning is a bit funny, it means waiting for the other party to "rob the bank".
Because the defense is weak, it looks more like "opening the door to welcome the thief".
When this defensive tactic was first proposed, many Lakers players said it was a bit whimsical, because it also tested the inside players, mainly No. 29's personal ability to protect the basket. If it is not operated properly, it would completely expose Tang Qian.
Under the impact of the opponent, it is easy to fall into the quagmire of fouls. And because there is no one to delay or interfere, the passing route is blocked, and it is impossible for anyone to come up and help in a short time.
But Larry Brown still defied all opinions and decided to practice this new defensive tactic, because the formation of this tactic was not because of his temporary fever, but because he studied the overall player characteristics of the Lakers in many aspects, especially the characteristics of No. 29.
Finally, a well-thought-out defensive change mode. If used well, Larry Brown guarantees that this will be a nightmare for all players or stars in the league who like to attack the basket.
I still remember that during the first drill, everyone was shocked.
The Lakers' No. 29's ability to protect the basket inside has reached this point. He only made 3 goals in 10 cuts.
Please, this is a situation where there is no delay or interference at all, and the players can accelerate the impact with all their strength.
Everyone thought it was luck, but when they came back for the second time, the results were even more shocking. They only hit 2 goals in 10 times.
This, you're not mistaken, this is a one-man attack. Butler is also an average scorer of 20+ per game this season, right? Is this shooting rate too miserable? You must know that under normal circumstances, he has finished the game at the basket this season.
The hit rate is as high as 67%. In his career, he has a hit rate of almost 64%. This 20% suddenly dropped by 40%, but it is still all without interference...
At this point, everyone truly understands the terrible shot-blocking talent of No. 29 of the Lakers.
As Tang Qian's strength and tonnage have increased again this season, his blocking ability has also continued to increase. Although there are only 9 crystal bricks, they are obviously better than before. This means that his body is stronger and his effect is more thorough.
.
Later, this tactic was practiced many times, which lasted for more than half a month. During this period, there were even many complete zeros. That is, none of the 10 balls were hit. This made many Lakers players feel
fear.
Especially Butler, who had the most impact, said that even if he was no longer with the Lakers, he would avoid a head-on conflict with Tang Qian under the basket because it was too hurtful.
It hurt his self-esteem so much that sometimes he felt like he was transported back to his middle school days.
Now, this is the first appearance of this defensive tactic this season. Larry Brown thinks that the drill is enough and needs to be put into actual combat to see it again. When Westbrook came in, he found that no Lakers player came to delay and resist.
, which made him a little surprised, because some players clearly had the opportunity to come over to delay, but they did not come over.
In this case, if you ask me to hit the basket with full acceleration, then I won't be polite.
Westbrook didn't think much, he rushed up and went towards the Lakers' basket.
He has always been straight up and down, but because his physical fitness is so strong, most people in the league can't do anything to him.
The ball was already secured by Westbrook, but within half a second of taking the ball, something unexpected happened, and a yellow palm pressed it down in the air.
Nice block!
Blk!!!
PS: A new professional tailor-made design strategy has appeared. This is the first update. Xiao Zi continues~~~
I took the injection for 2 days and my body feels much better~~~Keep going~~~I won’t fail to do what I promised everyone~~~
Please wait until Xiao Zi updates the next chapter before asking for votes~ In exchange for hard work, Xiao Zi also feels at ease~