The Whip of the God of Basketball - Chapter 344
Hearing Arenas’ “so-you-are-overpaid”, Leon, who was originally serious, couldn’t help but smile. This is not Arenas provoking Leon, but a sentence from the Boston Celtics. The famous mantra-from Cardinal Auerbach. This odd-tempered old man likes to squeeze his players the most. After he became the general manager of the Celtics, he collected talents on the one hand, and tried all kinds of methods to keep players down. Motivated public opinion across the city to pressure the salary of newcomer Larry Bird is a good example.
In addition, the old man likes to spray the players “so-you-are-overpaid” on various occasions regardless of the time period, which makes some players really doubt whether the old red head really pays himself more salary in the end. Up. Of course, after winning the championship in 1984, Bird used this sentence to counterattack the old man beautifully. After the championship interview, Auerbach said humbly, “After all, I didn’t make a shot.” By the side, Bird added so-you- in a timely manner. are-overpaid, causing Auerbach himself to laugh.
Now Leon likes to yell at players like this from time to time in training, especially to Arenas. When he doesn’t have a good three-pointer and likes to shoot blindly, Leon will use this sentence to spray him, but he did not expect Arenas finally got his revenge in the finals.
Leon, who had been standing on the sidelines and watching the battle, finally returned to his position, with his hands on his legs, straightened up as if Phil Jackson was in Zen; on the other hand, Phil Jackson could not sit still. In fact, after the start of the finals, he basically did not have time to sit on a stool and watch the game quietly. The disadvantages faced by the Lakers made Zen Master unable to calm down.
And Leon knows that his players have fully entered the state. Although the scores of the two sides on the field are only tied, the Celtics have already overwhelmed the Lakers in psychological and state. All he has to do is to wait, waiting for the team he has tuned out to have players play their strengths and give the Lakers a hard blow in Los Angeles.
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On the Lakers’ side, if there is anyone who doesn’t want to give up, then this person must be Karl Malone. A person who has experienced despair, when he faces the same despair again, he will either collapse or stand through his teeth with an extremely strong will.
The situation in the second half of the third quarter was worse than in Game 6 of the 1998 Finals, because Malone felt that his legs were a little disobedient. On the contrary, the Celtics were getting faster and faster and stronger. . After Arenas’ three-pointer equalized the score, the Celtics’ three-pointers washed the Lakers’ basket like rain. Malone was really helpless in the face of these three-pointers. He could only look at Pierce and Ali. Nass two Los Angelesers swallowed the dream of Los Angeles to win the championship.
In the second half of the third quarter, the Celtics replaced Kevin Garnett again, and Jackson replaced Malone. Malone could only sit on the bench and watched Garnett turn the tide on both ends of the offense and defense. The Lakers still have only two absolute strengths, O’Neal and Kobe, to rely on. The points difference is a little bit open, 2 points, 3 points, 6 points, 8 points, the Celtics are quite stable. After the three-point frenzy of chasing points, they smoothly transitioned to the positional attack. Obviously they have got rid of the bad state of the first half and returned to the advantage.
Malone greeted Wharton and handed him two ice packs to put on his knees. This knee, which hadn’t been a problem for two decades, suddenly went on strike when he most wanted to win a championship. In the previous 18 seasons, he missed only 8 games in the regular season, but he missed 40 games in the regular season this year, making up for the past 18 years.
The reason is because his knees really can’t bear it, and the hard training as always has no way to keep him like a steel body. After all, manpower can’t fight time, and aging can be delayed but unavoidable. Malone watched the young Celtics fly on the court like birds and beasts, and the Lakers were a little staggering except Kobe.
“Coach, I want to try again in the fourth quarter.” Malone suddenly said to Phil Jackson. He sat next to Jackson, bowed his head and stopped watching the situation and the score.
Jackson turned his head to look at Malone and nodded slightly. At this time, Jackson could only be a dead horse doctor.
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The third quarter of the game was just as Leon expected. After the Celtics returned to normal, the Lakers were no opponents at all. Apart from anything else, the two sides were a bit weaker in physical strength and athletic ability. The Celtics side The oldest main player is PJ-Brown, who is 32 years old this year, and the Lakers are mainly veterans over 33 years old. Only Kobe is a young Peter Pan.
It’s not that Jackson has never brought a veteran. The Bulls won the championship with the oldest average age lineup in the league, but their opponent, the Utah Jazz, is the second oldest in the league. So Jackson knows that on the basketball court, experience and athletic ability are often a pair of enemies. You do not have him. However, there are always some players who can combine the two very well at the right time. It is a pity that the Celtics are just such a team.
However, he still chose to believe in Malone. From the summer when he decided to come here, Jackson was full of trust in him, not only because he was his biggest opponent, but also because he was a trustworthy man.
At the end of the third quarter, the Celtics played a 37:20 in this quarter, from 10 points behind to 7 points ahead, if not for the second half of the third quarter, the Celtics missed several open three-pointers. , The difference between the two sides has already been stretched to more than 10 points. So for the Lakers, a 7-point difference is still a salvation.
The Celtics are indeed very strong. Jackson realized that because until now, he still doesn’t know where the bottom of the team is. Fox-Lyon has never really shown his hole cards, and the Celtics have never Reveal their killer weapons. This reminded Jackson of the 1996 Bulls. He understood the situation of the team, that is, “The world is beautiful, basketball is very happy, and the championship is mine.”
He decided to make a desperate move. Karl Malone went back to the battlefield. Jackson set the tactical focus between the third and fourth quarters~www.mtlnovel.com~ He asked Kobido and Malone to play a pick-and-roll, and found a breakthrough from Malone. Then tear apart the Celtics defense.
“Pick-and-roll, use more small cooperation, this is our last chance, no one wants to face a 0:3 backward situation, no one wants to, because no one can come back, no! Don’t think that we are the exception, so there is another section Time to work hard!” Jackson said in a very tough tone, obviously this was a warning to Kobe.
Kobe still played well in the third quarter. His several difficult goals gave the team a continuation of his life, but his non-integrated style of play can’t match the Celtics. Whether O’Neal can receive the ball in the fourth quarter and whether he can make a free throw will be a problem, so Jackson decided to bet on Malone.
At the beginning of the fourth quarter, the regrouped Malone used a mid-range jumper in the offense to announce that he had not given up. This was an 18-foot jumper completed after a pick-and-roll with Kobe, in his favorite position.
But Pierce immediately broke through the layup and changed colors. No one on the Lakers can stop Pierce.
Malone’s flames were not completely extinguished. The Lakers counterattacked. He once again completed the pick-and-roll with Kobe. This time he chose to cut inside and then received the ball and rushed inside, causing Brown to foul.
Standing on the free-throw line, Malone thought of his mother, the single woman who drove a forklift, a laundromat, cooks, and feeds eight children. Ma Long was not a strong kid since he was a child. Until he entered the NBA, he would secretly wipe his tears because of the bad environment in Salt Lake City and the fierce competition in the NBA. When he called home, his mother yelled at him as always. “Don’t cry!”
Now, Ma Long is already a tough guy. No matter how desperate he is, he will never give up or cry.
“Huh!” “Huh!” Ma Long hit two free throws, 5 points, a breath still