Top arc one-on-one, this is one of the most common and classic duel methods in the NBA.
What's more, the bosses of both sides went into battle in person.
In order to maintain the competitive performance of his body, Kobe lost weight again this season. In terms of maintaining weight, he and Michael Jordan took completely opposite paths. Why? Who doesn’t know that athletic ability and speed will inevitably decline as you age, so you gain weight?
Using strength to gain a matchup advantage is also a disguised form of compensation. Why did Kobe go in the opposite direction? Did he deliberately want to be different from Jordan?
Of course not, it's just because...his physical talent cannot support any more weight gain at this age.
This is Jordan's advantage and Kobe's disadvantage. Because of his talent, the latter can't make up for it no matter how hard he works.
In fact, when Jordan was young, he was much lighter than Kobe. Jordan really gained weight after the age of 30, or even after three consecutive championships. This can be seen from the physical test when he first joined the league. When Jordan was a rookie, he was 84kg, and Kobe was 84kg.
He exceeded this number when he was a rookie, close to 90KG. You may not believe it, but this is the official physical test data that can be viewed. Jordan joined the NBA and has already gone to college, and Kobe is still a high school student. So in the early stage, it has always been
It is Kobe who maintains the leading position in terms of tonnage. To use the words of Jordan's personal trainer, Tim Grover, when Kobe found him in 2008, he was gaining weight every year. So at least before the consecutive championships, Kobe's weight
The overall level is still rising steadily. Although it is not as good as his peak "Little Malone" period, he is still strong enough at the No. 2 position.
But unfortunately, as he gets older, his excessive weight directly makes Kobe's knees unable to support him at first.
This was also the later watershed between him and Jordan. You must know that back play and low post, strength and tonnage are all primary factors. After Jordan turned 30, he continued to improve, and even in his last season, his weight once reached the maximum value of his career.
As for Kobe, within a few years after he turned 30, he could only lose weight to reduce the burden on his knees in order to maintain his endurance for the game.
The gap in physical strength and talent is clear at a glance.
In fact, veterans will eventually choose to lose weight to maintain competitive status and maintain the NBA's rigorous schedule.
Only Jordan is different. His body seems not to be affected by this at all. Not only does it not need to be reduced, but it can continue to increase, making his strength advantage at the No. 2 position the greatest in his career.
The reputation of the God of Basketball is perfect for him.
From skills to mental will, from mental will to physical raw capital, he is an almost unique existence in the history of basketball.
So Kobe was far behind Jordan from the starting point.
You can catch up with or even surpass some people through hard work, but some people... let's talk about it a little cruelly.
You can never catch up.
Because when someone whose raw talent far exceeds yours yet works as hard as you, your pursuit is basically doomed from the very beginning. It’s not that you don’t work hard, it’s just that the person’s capital is too strong.
Weight loss has pros and cons for Kobe at this stage. Needless to say, the pros are very clear as mentioned above, but the cons... also affect Kobe's offensive and defensive ends.
The attacks are mainly low position and back strikes, which are not as powerful as the peak.
Defense is now.
If it is Kobe's peak weight and strength period, then he can completely rely on pressure defense to continuously squeeze Curry's dribbling space and offensive space, thus occupying a huge initiative. This is what the so-called offensive defense means.
Now, after a whole season of exertion, Kobe only weighs about 200 pounds.
This is a very serious matter.
You must know that at his peak, Kobe's weight once reached 107KG, which is about 235 pounds. 10 years ago, it was between 98KG and 100KG, which was extremely stable. However, for the sake of his increasingly fragile knees, Kobe lost weight at the beginning of the season.
He has gained a lot of weight, and now he has dropped to the lowest point in his career. It can be said that except during his rookie period, Kobe's weight has never been less than 200 pounds. But before the start of today's game, Gary Vitti asked Kobe to pass
After being weighed, only 199.7 pounds remained. For the first time in the new century, it fell below the 200-pound mark.
The smaller the strength and the lighter the tonnage, the easier it is to be injured in breakthroughs and confrontations. It can quickly gain weight, and Kobe's knees cannot bear it. That's why Gary Vitti kept suggesting that Kobe should reduce his playing time every game.
It is best not to average more than 35+ per game in the game. Who knows that God is not as good as man, but at the end of the season, the Lakers fell into an extremely tragic "tie-breaker". Kobe, let alone averaging 35+ per game, can be less than
40+, thank God.
With the recent consecutive 44+, 45+, and even playing the entire game, it is not surprising that Kobe's body has fallen into extreme fatigue.
And even if No. 24 could bear this kind of super-intense overdraft mentally, he couldn't handle it physically.
The weight is getting smaller and smaller, which is a typical "red light" signal, but now... who can let Kobe lose it?
Who dares to let Kobe down?
Not to mention, the Los Angeles Lakers rely on him more this season than any previous season.
The decline in weight, strength, and physical stamina caused Kobe to lose a bit of the advantage of oppressive defense when he faced the 185-pound Curry. Super oppressive defense has always been Kobe's defensive label in the past. After Jordan,
The second person.
Old, this is really a cruel and helpless proposition in competitive sports.
Curry collided with Kobe with his body, and then used the gap created by the collision to force a three-pointer.
Kobe tried his best to jump and block the shot. He thought that if he was full of physical strength, he would definitely be able to block the ball directly, but now... his opponent (@#￥%&*) shot it half a beat too late.
damn it!
A "swipe" sound penetrated the center of the Lakers' basket, and Curry scored again.
His condition tonight was also terrifying. Otherwise, how could he achieve a shooting rate of over 60%? He rarely attacks the inside and rarely kills the basket. To achieve such a shooting rate is simply unbelievable.
101-94, the score difference was widened again.
After Curry scored, he did his signature move, spitting out half of his braces, and then retreated back to defense with a showy face.
But unlike a few seasons later, Kobe now has no pleasant expression on his face, nor does he pat his opponent's butt in a friendly manner. He just has cold eyes, and then cold eyes like swords. The feeling is... I will bite
Damn you.
You wait.
In the Lakers offensive round, since Thompson graduated with 6 fouls, Jarrett Jack came on the bench. He is a relatively strong outside player. He is 191cm tall, but he is almost 15 pounds heavier than the same Curry. Ben
He was 29 years old during the season, which happened to be the golden age of basketball players. Now Kobe had to play with him in the low post, eat strength, and not take too much advantage, so... Kobe chose to break through as soon as the rhythm changed.
After all, throughout the whole game, his shooting feeling was not very good. He still managed to break through and kill, which was relatively safe and had a high success rate.
Sure enough, although Jarrett Jack is very strong, his concentration and lateral movement on the defensive end have always been a big problem, so for this ball, he was easily broken through by Kobe's rhythm change. The rhythm change was also 24
As Kobe gets older, he uses a change of direction breakthrough method most often. Although he can't do the cool crossover he did when he was young, it is still very difficult, because Kobe can use his many years of court experience to tear things apart in a leisurely manner.
Break the line of defense.
There was another strong body contact, and then he reluctantly made a layup.
The Warriors' interior defense was very clean on this ball. They kept jumping straight up and down, and there was no infringement with their arms, so the referee did not give Kobe another whistle. Fortunately, Kobe still forced himself to stay in the air and scored the goal.
ball.
The moment he landed, Kobe's face seemed to move, but it was quickly forcibly hidden by him.
The highest "pain valve" in the league is definitely not just talk.
101-96, the Lakers are still 5 points short of their opponents.
There are less than 6 minutes left in the game.
And as time continued to decrease, Tang Qian's heart became tighter and tighter.
He tried to ask Kobe to take a rest immediately, but No. 24 ran away without turning his head after hearing this.
Seeing this, Tang Qian knew that unless he knocked him out, this man would definitely not rest.
Maybe...maybe history has changed, hasn't it?
Maybe... I just think too much!
Tang Qian had no choice but to comfort himself like this.
The Warriors called a timeout.
"Damn! Why are you defending! He is so tired, and you are easily broken by him? Don't you want to stay in the Bay Area anymore? Ah? Jarrett!" Curry was very angry, because of this game,
He didn't want to lose and was determined to win. Therefore, "Cute Baby" was quite dissatisfied with Jarrett Jack's defensive attitude.
Jarrett Jack was not a "loyal" player to begin with. He has changed five teams in eight years since he started playing in the NBA. Therefore, he has long been used to which city he stays in and doesn't care at all. Besides, he plays
The goal of the NBA is very simple, it is to make money and get rich, so he usually plays extremely well and eye-catching offensively, but there are no statistics on the defensive end, so he is not so focused and dedicated.
After all, for his position, rebounds and blocks are basically unavailable. The only steal data he has never been particularly good because of his heavy weight. So compared to the offense that can bring big contracts
, Jarrett Jack has always been less enthusiastic and less invested in the defensive end.
This is not a big mistake. After signing him, the Warriors management and coaching staff were interested in his offensive ability off the bench. He can make a wave when the main force comes off the court. If he can complete this aspect, the higher-ups are already very satisfied.
.As for the defensive end, it’s best if you can redouble your efforts and invest more, otherwise it won’t hurt.
No one thinks highly of his defense anyway.
Jarrett Jack has been in the league for seven or eight years, why don't he understand this truth? So he simply "doesn't seek merit but seeks no fault" on the defensive end, save physical energy, and then give full play to the offensive end. This is for ordinary role players and substitutes
For players, there is nothing wrong with it. If you really love basketball to the core like Kobe, there will be countless players in the league.
The management and coaching staff also know it, so they just ask Jarrett Jack to do what he needs to do.
It doesn't matter to Jarrett Jack that Curry suddenly got so angry. Anyway, for him, it's the same wherever he plays.
No difference.
As long as someone is willing to pay, that's OK.
As for whether he will be with the Golden State Warriors or the Los Angeles Lakers next season, he doesn't care at all.
So I didn't bother to argue with Curry's statement, I just lowered my head and listened.
"Stephen, there is no need to be angry. Jarrett's opponent is Kobe, but the Black Mamba cannot defend him. This is normal. There is no need to be too harsh." Mark Jackson, the head coach of the Warriors, came out to smooth things over and saw Curry.
Still wanting to talk more, the former directly made tactical adjustments, saying: "In the game later, use Harrison Barnes on the defensive end to defend Kobe. Harrison is young and has the advantages of height and athletic ability. He should be able to compare.
This will help solve the team’s defensive problems.”
"I just don't know if Harrison is willing to accept this hard work." Mark Jackson used a provocation.
Harrison Barnes was a typical young player, so he nodded and agreed without thinking too much.
This made Mark Jackson nod with satisfaction, and then said to Stephen Curry: "Stephen, what do you think of this tactical arrangement?" Curry looked at Harrison, nodded and said: "I am better than him, I hope it can be done.
Let’s limit Kobe’s performance!”
"Stephen, believe me, I will definitely do my best!" Harrison Barnes said looking eager to fight.
"Okay, let's briefly lay out the next tactics, so..."
On the Lakers side, there were sounds of gasping and drinking water. There was nothing I could do, they were all too tired.
The most important thing is No. 24 Kobe Bryant. He looks like he was fished out from the bottom of the water. His whole body is soaked. Even if he is sitting on a chair, he still can't stop the sweat glands all over his body, sweating violently.
At this time, there are no tactics to talk about. Mike D'Antoni can only say some "nutritious" motivational words, hoping to have a small effect.
"Bryant, you..." Before Tang Qian could finish speaking, Kobe raised his head and said with no emotion in his eyes: "I want to continue to play." This sentence left no room for negotiation at all, and he was suddenly let down.
Tang Qian was completely at his wits' end.
Before Mike D'Antoni went on the court, he couldn't help but ask Kobe, "Bryant, do you feel like you can hold on? If you are really tired..." "I'm fine, there are only the last 5 minutes left."
Minutes, we must win!" After Kobe said these words, he threw away the sweat-absorbent towel on his head and went straight onto the court.
There was no hesitation at all.
But when the matchup on the field changed, Tang Qian was stunned.