With a simple operation, George Karl woke up Cousins and asked him to avoid going into the low post and shoot from the outside instead. This had a great effect. To put it simply, it was a huge mismatch. Similar to the Timberwolves
Towns' play style. Towns has not fully developed the three-pointer this season, but Cousins has fully developed it. This is also the result of his failure in the Lakers' No. 29 in the past few seasons.
, a special offseason training project.
From averaging 0.1 three-pointers per game last season, he has averaged more than 3+ three-pointers per game this season, and there will be more in the future. Of course, Cousins' overall shooting ability is still not inferior to Towns.
Few. Because Towns is a full-coverage type. From the basket to the three-point line, his effective shooting range is all, and his shooting rate is terrible. Cousins can't do that. He just forced himself to practice three-pointers.
It’s just a ball. His mid-range shooting rate this season is 25% from 10-16 feet, and his shooting rate from 16-23 feet is only 35%. Such a person obviously relies on muscle memory to forcibly practice his shooting range, but
I have to say that this is a trend for almost everyone in the league now, especially centers.
The existence of Tang Qian has accelerated this trend, because everyone feels that it is too difficult to fight with him under the basket, and the statistics are easily suppressed by offense and defense. That would be too embarrassing. So going outside to make a living is also a way. Anyway,
That is to say, playing against the Lakers only increases the ratio of long-range attacks. When playing against other teams, it can still be balanced.
Tang Qian didn't even know that he had set off a wave of 3-pointers among NBA centers. Otherwise, would Cousins still be alive tonight? Can his average points per game increase so much in one breath? This is 3 points.
It’s all thanks to the ball.
What do you think of Cousins' shooting performance in the playoffs? Brother, I also want to know. He has never made it to the playoffs, okay?
Maybe he will be unlucky in the future and it will have nothing to do with him if he goes in.
But you have to say that such a change made the Kings' scoring come alive, preventing them from being unable to open up the situation like before. Cousins hit two consecutive three-pointers, and the Lakers were caught off guard. This made Cousins
Si laughed loudly and proudly: "Dongfang Tang, did you see it? I scored, and it was a three-pointer! Can you do it?"
"Don't be ridiculous. Only insiders who don't have dominance fly kites on the outside. You are, but I'm obviously not."
The Lakers made a wing cut, and Farmar broke through, but was blocked by the Kings. However, because the defense was not strong enough, Farmar could calmly release the ball. The basketball gave Josh Smith a chance, and Josh Smith saw the opportunity.
Just take a step forward and fly into the air with one leg. Looking at his posture, he is going to perform a big dunk. Josh Smith's physical fitness is really nothing to say. If his golf intelligence and understanding can be better,
He would never have been so miserable. Unfortunately, he just doesn't have any brains sometimes.
This is quite a pity.
At this time, the Kings suddenly turned into a contraction under the basket. Cousins stepped up and blocked Smith's dunk in the air. Cousins is also a monster center this season, weighing 308 pounds. This is not fake.
.Although it is not as pure muscle as Tang Qian, it is enough to deal with an outside player. Do you think everyone is James?
No, even James and Cousins are confident in blocking this season.
Josh Smith didn't score the ball. His hand skills after the confrontation were not very precise. The basketball fell off the basket. The Kings quickly pushed the ball when they got it. The Lakers retreated very quickly and did not let the opponent score this time.
Quick defensive counterattack. Seeing that the opportunity was not good, the Kings gave Gay on the wing and prepared to use him to single out Josh Smith. Gay was preparing to attack, and Cousins forced the lane from the top arc: "Pass~
Give it to me~" Guy looked at it, gave it to him, and stopped attacking.
With Cousins holding the ball, the Lakers used Randall to rotate out in order to keep Tang under the basket and in the low post. This move was something Larry Brown required the entire team to practice more inside after he came to the Lakers.
The purpose of the defensive rotation strategy is to keep Tang Qian under the basket as much as possible without being easily transferred out like last season.
But Cousins is not an ordinary center. Not only has he improved his three-point shooting this season, but as mentioned before, this guy is probably the best among centers in terms of his ability to break through with the ball. He has been able to do so in history.
Ranked No. 1. Although Randall was very aggressive on defense, he was still a sophomore and was out for half the season last year, so Cousins easily shook him off and scored.
What's wrong with today's centers? Towns is like this, Cousins is like this, are they all playing like this?
Larry Brown also feels a little headache, because it would be fine if Cousins just practiced three-pointers. The problem is that this guy's breakthrough ability is also very high. This creates a natural mismatch. You are short.
Now, his strength and height can directly eat you up. If you go to the inside, he can also use breakthroughs to dribble past people. Although Randall has a good defensive attitude and he trains hard in the team, he is still young after all. Defensive
Talent is not something that can be seen by the naked eye. Therefore, it is really difficult for him to guard Cousins, who has averaged close to 27 points per game this season.
On the Lakers side, Randall made a direct attack, but failed to score. His handwork was still a bit rough.
Basically, it is a "three-point ax", which is easy to be seen through and targeted.
Cousins was happy to score consecutively. Facing the Lakers' man-to-man marking, he actually made a feint + accelerated dribbling with his left hand, and scored a projectile close to Randall's body. Randall was also sentenced to a penalty.
A hitter fouled him. After all, he was still too young, and the physical advantage he was most proud of in the college league was gone against Cousins. It was not surprising that he couldn't defend.
With the extra free throw percentage, Cousins scored a wave of consecutive personal scores, and his competitive state also came, and he began to shout loudly to Tang Qian: "Dongfang Hot, how are you? Are you ready to call mom?" Tang Qian also said
I'm speechless. If the Lakers weren't full of injuries, wouldn't it be easy and enjoyable to beat the Kings? But now, it's true that the Lakers' offense is a bit misfired. The previous impact was a little weaker, and the team members' singles ability and personal attack
The problem of insufficient ability has gradually been exposed. No joke, Butler, the main scorer on the outside who averages about 20 points per game, is no longer available, and the team's star No. 4 has also been announced as retired for the season. This time, the Lakers have changed from their previous position.
There was no shortage of scoring points, but there was a lack of scoring points.
Original substitute Farmar, original substitute Josh Smith, second-year Randall, and 3D player Ariza, this is the current scoring firepower of the Lakers' starting lineup. If the Kings' defense was not so bad, this problem would still exist.
The earlier you stand out, the earlier you will be exposed. Remember when Jordan, Kobe, and Tracy McGrady were scoring fiercely by themselves, but the rest of the team couldn't? No matter how good they were, it was really difficult to defeat their opponents easily.
The Lakers had this idea in this game. Farmar's layup was blocked and Josh Smith missed. Tang Qian got the offensive rebound and passed it to Ariza from mid-range, but still missed. The Lakers obviously
It has fallen into a stage where the overall feel is sluggish, and someone needs to step up and take the initiative to shoulder the responsibility of scoring. At least to get through this period.
Tang Qian caught the ball, but unexpectedly, the Kings directly double-teamed the ball. Yes, it was a double-team and not a defense. Tang Qian almost made a mistake after catching the ball. It seemed that the Kings' head coach had changed the situation on the court.
This is what the Kings said in the locker room. As long as the rest of the Lakers feel bad, they will immediately adopt a double-team tactic against the Lakers' No. 29. This is actually a kind of gamble.
Any double team is a gamble to break one's original defensive lineup.
If Tang Qian was like Howard who was not good at playing the ball, he would probably be surrounded. But although Tang Qian almost made a mistake, he still got the ball and at the same time decisively played the ball, giving the basketball to Randall who was free.
Randall made a mid-range shot. Tang Qian jumped high again and helped the team grab the offensive rebound. Before he could do it himself, the Kings double-teamed him instantly, causing him to fall into the crowd.
Tang Qian was able to keep his composure and passed the ball, but it was still passed to Randall. Randall took action, but still missed.
His shooting ability is so bad. If it were Bosh, he would shoot through the opponent's basket every minute.
Even in 2018, Randall's shooting rate in the original time and space was only 25.6% from 16-23 feet from long range. This shooting rate is equal to that, you can let him shoot, and he will basically hit the iron with a little dive. At this time, Tang Qian
, showing his strong rebounding ability. He actually blocked Cousins and got an offensive rebound again.
"Surround him!!!!" the Kings yelled.
Tang Qian's ball came directly to three people. Tang Qian almost made a mistake. It is not fun to be double-teamed by so many people. This is an inside line. It is not like the outside line where there is so much room to dribble or start. Tang Qian forced the ball out.
After receiving this ball, Farmar attracted the defense and quickly passed it to Josh Smith, who was free due to covering himself on the other side. Josh Smith shot a 3-pointer and missed. There was no way out.
The opportunity came up, but I just didn’t feel good about it.
The Kings' Cousins was attracted by a high post and handed it to his teammate. Darren Collison shot a three-pointer. The latter has a 3-point shooting rate of more than 40% this season. With Cousins this
The ball was blocked well by using its large tonnage, and it was almost open.
With a brush~hit~the morale of the Kings team was completely boosted.
The score difference was closed again.
"Dongfang Tang, I said, I will defeat you in this game! You are a guy who relies on the talent of the country to become an All-Star starter! Now, I am going to expose you! Give me your number one center title
Right." Cousins laughed. He is a person who says whatever he wants. Such straightforward words are sometimes even more annoying.
"Do you really think you can beat me?"
"Facts have proved that in this game, I will lead the team to win, and you are the loser." Cousins was quite satisfied with his performance in this quarter, so his words were a little wandering: "Give me everything you have."
Just show your ability, Dongfang Fang, no, use 150% of your ability, otherwise you really can't beat me."
"Are you sure you want to see 150% of my ability?" Tang Qian suddenly asked.