Chapter 92 The Unstoppable Shark

Author: Feng Yuanhua

Chapter 92 The Unstoppable Shark

Without a chance for a fast break, Gary Payton still did not pass the half slowly, but continued to speed up.

Almost at the same time that he came outside the three-point line, O'Neal returned to the three-second zone.

At this time, Brent Barry had already followed Wang Hao's pick-and-roll and cut inside.

Gary Payton immediately passed the ball, and O'Neal, who had not yet reached the basket, had to quickly follow up to help defend.

The Lakers' defensive positioning was still not stable, but it was disrupted again.

Vin Baker also stepped into the three-second zone at this time, Brent Barry returned the ball to Gary Payton, and Gary Payton passed it to Vin Baker.

Because O'Neal was drawn away, the Lakers only had AC Green under the basket, and Vin Baker made an easy layup.

Phil Jackson on the bench frowned, he naturally saw the Sonics' tactics.

However, seeing through it is one thing, but whether it can be restricted is another.

No tactic is garbage, the only question is whether it can be perfectly executed by the players on the field.

Why is the triangle offense so powerful?

Because when we were with the Bulls, we had Jordan and Pippen, and when we were with the Lakers, we had O'Neal and Kobe.

Today, the SuperSonics players also execute the bombardment tactics perfectly.

When the Lakers attacked, they still looked for O'Neal, but this time Horace continued to step forward.

When the Lakers wanted to move the ball, they were interfered by the Sonics and couldn't pass it to O'Neal.

If Kobe is on the court, Kobe will naturally play in isolation at this time, or O'Neal will come out to pick and roll.

Kobe was away, and Fisher didn't dare to let O'Neal pick and roll him, so he could only pass the ball to Glen Rice.

At his peak, Glen Rice averaged 26+ per game and was an All-Star player.

After receiving the ball at this time and facing Wang Hao's defense, he was naturally not in a hurry.

However, Glen Rice is now thirty-three years old, and his speed is not as fast as before. He couldn't get past Wang Hao when he tried to break through.

I had no choice but to try a long two-point shot and the basketball bounced out of the frame.

In fact, Glen Rice's identity is a pitcher, a pitcher who is not inferior to Ray Allen.

It's just that the current Lakers team has no one available on the outside except him, so they just point to him to break through.

Horace protected the rebound, Gary Payton continued to speed up, and Wang Hao also crossed the half court immediately.

Seeing Vin Baker and Brent Barry rushing into the paint again, the Lakers' defense was obviously in a mess.

At this time, Gary Payton seized the opportunity and passed the ball to Wang Hao on the sideline.

Wang Hao didn't hesitate and hit a three-pointer.

7:4

Looking at this goal, Glen Rice looked helpless. If it were him, he would still be able to score.

But the problem is, no one double-teams O'Neal. Who can pass the ball to him on the Lakers at this time?

It's a bit embarrassing to point at an old man of his age who still needs to break through with the ball to create opportunities!

The Lakers offense still uses the same old tactics, wait for O'Neal to get down low, and then look for O'Neal.

Horace was blocked behind him. When Fisher saw it, he didn't dare to delay and immediately chose to pass the ball.

As a result, who knew that the Sonics, which had never double-teamed O'Neal, suddenly changed their tactics.

Wang Hao broke out from the diagonal stab and directly made a steal. At this time, Gary Payton had already passed half court.

After receiving a pass from Wang Hao, he made a layup.

9:4

Phil Jackson, who had always been as steady as a rock, couldn't sit still anymore and called for a timeout.

In the opening tactical arrangement, he was completely suppressed by the Sonics, and he had to make adjustments.

"AC, and Ron, you must pay attention to retreat and don't let your opponent easily launch a fast break!

And Derrick, you keep an eye on Gary Payton, start guarding him from the frontcourt, and don't let him speed up."

Phil Jackson's mind is very clear. Even though there is a point difference now, the Lakers don't score many points, but their offensive tactics are fine.

It's just that every time the Sonics counterattacked, they scored, which makes the Lakers' score appear to be relatively low.

He is full of trust in O'Neal, and he believes that O'Neal can wreak havoc on the opponent's basket.

Choosing not to double-team O'Neal, no matter which team makes such a decision, will pay a price for it.

Sure enough, when he returned to the game, O'Neal dunked again and easily scored two points.

There is no way, without double-teaming and allowing O'Neal to catch the ball easily, it is indeed difficult to defend him.

Wang Hao did not delay, but chose to serve from the baseline immediately, and Gary Payton also speeded up immediately.

However, at this time, Fisher had already blocked the way.

After such a delay, the Lakers had completed their defense, and even O'Neal returned to the three-second zone.

More importantly, after the timeout, the Lakers team already knew what to do when retreating without looking messy.

If you fail to play fast break, you will have to fall into positional warfare.

But the question is, how high is the success rate of the Sonics' positional warfare? A 50% shooting rate is not low.

But the question is, what kind of shooting rate can O'Neal achieve in a one-on-one duel? 60% or 70%?

Sure enough, they failed to play a fast break and the efficiency of the positional battle was reduced. The Lakers immediately recovered the score.

Eight minutes into the first quarter of the game, when both sides began to make substitutions, the Lakers had already taken the lead.

18:20

In the substitute stage, this is the time when the Sonics are scrambling for points, and they might even be able to gain an advantage.

Because they have Vernon Maxwell on the bench, Ruben Patterson, and Rashard Lewis.

Together, the three of them averaged 26 points per game off the bench, which is already very good.

The Sonics' ability to achieve such results this season has a lot to do with the performance of the bench.

However, what everyone didn't expect was that the SuperSonics bench performed terribly today.

Vernon Maxwell's three-pointer was gone, and Reuben Patterson's cut layups also missed one after another.

On the bench, not only did they fail to suppress the Lakers, but they were scored consecutively by Robert Holly and Devin George.

For this reason, Paul Westphal had to return Gary Payton to the game early.

By the time the first quarter ended, the Sonics were already 7 points behind the Lakers at 25:32.

Not only Gary Payton, but also Wang Hao was sent on the court when the second quarter started.

Facing Devin George, Wang Hao was not polite. He scored 5 points in a row with sudden shots from inside and outside, stabilizing the situation.

But as the game time goes by, the big shark is coming back!

Facing O'Neal who was back on the court, Paul Westphal had to redesign his tactics, which was double-teaming.

In this regard, I was quite helpless. After all, Paul Westphal did not dare to take a gamble and could only readjust.

In this way, while O'Neal is constantly double-teamed, others on the Lakers get opportunities.

Glenn Rice and Ron Hubble both played brilliantly.

As for double-teaming O'Neal, in fact, it may not have particularly good results, because double-teaming may not stop the Sharks.

At the end of the half, O'Neal had scored 16 points and 6 rebounds. He was simply unstoppable!
Chapter completed!