Chapter 360 Driving the Lakers Crazy
This guy was frozen and scolded by Old Brown because he was too greedy for fame and fortune, even a little drunken. But which young man doesn't admire vanity?
Brown’s approach was to block him directly, which only made him, who was only 18 or 19 years old at the time, rebellious and hate basketball. With this confrontation, he naturally went from a talented new star to a water cooler guardian, gradually sinking and wandering around the NBA teams. If he was not a rare inside player, if there were no teams that had illusions about his potential, he would have left the NBA long ago.
Now, Yang Mo decided to use the method of dredging to stimulate this guy to regain his love for basketball and regain all his lost talent and spirit. Although it is very likely that he still cannot become an All-Star level center, at least he can support the weak inside line of the Knicks.
"Okay, man, from today on, our inside line will be handed over to you." Yang Mo patted the excited Milicic and said with a smile: "You should make those who used to laugh at you become a joke, just like me. Those who said bad things about me and thought I was incompetent were severely slapped in the face by me. Come on, let's fight this fucking world together. Then, I will take you to enjoy good wine and the cheers of women."
Yang Mo's words seemed to have magic. He had already given Milicic enough attraction, and now these words hit him straight to the heart. He couldn't help but feel like a close friend towards Yang Mo.
In the first few years of his career, he suffered from the inhumane sarcasm and ridicule of Old Brown. As the second pick, he was always pressed on the bench to clean up garbage time. He never got any trust. Even if he transferred to other teams, all the general managers were just trying it out and never really trusted him. But now, Yang Mo has handed over the entire inside line to him. What's more, what Yang Mo said resonated strongly with him. He felt too much grievance in his heart. Yang Mo had also been questioned in this way, but Yang Mo just broke out with his courage. Now he is willing to take himself to shatter the doubts as a person who has experienced it, and he certainly wants it. What's more, Yang Mo also promised him a bright future, which is the result he dreamed of. He immediately made up his mind to follow Yang Mo's footsteps and fight hard.
Milicic is finally on the right track.
This is something Yang Mo had not thought of before coming to New York. In fact, he did not expect Jeffries to be motivated by him to succeed. Now Jeffries is definitely one of the two players with the best professional attitude in the Knicks.
The two returned to the half court, Kobe Bryant also ran over with the ball, and as soon as he came, Yang Mo stuck to him. But Kobe Bryant's offensive awareness was not strong at all today. After playing with his hips for a while, he quickly passed the ball to Fisher who was ambushing in the bottom corner. Fisher took the ball and shot... swish!
The three points went into the net, very cleanly.
Yang Mo turned around and saw that Chris Duhon was three meters away from Fisher who was shooting. In other words, he couldn't keep up with Fisher.
This is definitely not a physical problem, it can only be said that the defensive attitude is too bad. Even the aging Fisher can't catch up, what kind of defense is this?
Therefore, Yang Mo said to him very rudely: "I will give you one more chance. If you make such , you will sit on the bench for the entire game."
Chris Duhon had the best season of his career last season. He even felt a little proud and thought he was the No. 1 star of the Knicks. In fact, Al Harrington and David Lee also had such thoughts. To describe this, we can only say that the temple is small and the wind is strong, and the pond is shallow and there are many turtles.
Moreover, Yang Mo still made him the starting point guard when he took charge of the team this time, which made him feel very important and able to handle both systems with ease. Therefore, he, who thought he was very important, was very dissatisfied with Yang Mo's punishment of him in public. Although he did not express it verbally, he chose to go it alone in the next round when he returned to the half court. He directly dribbled past the aging Fisher and rushed into the penalty area. Then... he was ruthlessly blocked by Pau Gasol. Fortunately, Yang Mo grabbed the basketball in time and threw it into the basket with a lob.
After Yang Mo scored the goal, he asked him in great confusion: "Why didn't you pass the ball to Wilt just now? He had the best shooting position."
When questioned again by Yang Mo, Chris Du Hong didn't even look at Yang Mo, turned around and ran back to the half court.
Yang Mo was furious when he saw this. He thought, do you really think you can be so powerful? If I didn't want to reassure the other players, I wouldn't have put you in the starting lineup. Do you think you are so awesome that you can influence the fate of the team?
He immediately greeted Larry Hughes on the bench and asked him to warm up.
In this lineup, Larry Hughes plays no less of a role than Chris Duhon. Although he lacks some organizational skills, he is much better at defense. Moreover, as long as everyone plays by the rules and distributes the ball unselfishly, Chris Duhon's poor organizational skills are really dispensable.
Back in the Lakers' half, Chris Duhon missed the ball again and was beaten by Fisher with a simple reverse run, making him unable to see the taillights, allowing Fisher to hit a two-point shot on the line.
beep!
Yang Mo decisively signaled to the referee to replace Larry Hughes. Before Chris Duhon left the court, Yang Mo directly said to him: "You can go home now, you will not get any playing time tonight, goodbye, good night!"
After saying this, Yang Mo turned around and said to the newly-appointed Larry Hughes, "Try to break through the inside as much as possible. I will set screens for you. Be ready to pass the ball to Jeffries and Wilt Chandler on both sides at any time. The most important thing is to pass the ball directly to Milicic in the penalty area. Darko will be the one who decides the outcome tonight. Do you understand?"
"Understood." Larry Hughes nodded.
Although Yang Mo had defeated him before, he had no extra thoughts towards Yang Mo. He was a man who would accept defeat, and since he lost that time, he would abide by the rules and obey Yang Mo's orders.
In comparison, those who did not openly provoke Yang Mo at the beginning are more hateful and insidious.
But it doesn't matter, Yang Mo now has at least two teammates who can stand firmly by his side, Jeffries and Milicic. And Chandler, Larry Hughes, Nate Robinson, Al Harrington and others will not be bothered by the data. As long as Yang Mo can give them playing time and let them get better data, they will definitely have no objection. In other words, they are fence-sitters, leaning to both sides.
Arriving at the Knicks half, Yang Mo immediately set a screen for Larry Hughes, allowing him to get rid of the defense with great ease. Kobe Bryant was about to chase him, but he realized that if he chased him, Larry Hughes would pass the ball to Yang Mo. With his three-point shooting rate, it would definitely be another three-pointer. So he quickly retreated.
He didn't chase, Larry Hughes broke into the restricted area without anyone in sight, and after attracting Bynum's upward defense, he quickly passed the ball to Milicic. After Milicic received the ball, he leaned up slightly, passed Andrew Bynum with a single stroke, and easily put the ball in.
Bynum is far superior to Milicic in terms of physical talent, but when it comes to offensive work in the penalty area, even if he had ten brains, he couldn't keep up with Milicic's operating speed.
Seeing Milicic's inexplicable outburst, Phil Jackson finally couldn't sit still anymore and quickly made a gesture, asking Pau Gasol to be careful of double-teaming at any time.
Phil Jackson made a gesture to let Pau Gasol double-team him, which meant that Yang Mo had asked him to adjust his tactics again, or Yang Mo had forced him to keep changing his tactics. You know, Phil Jackson is famous for his ability to remain unchanged in the face of ever-changing situations.
Phil Jackson was ready to change his tactics on the defensive end, but what he didn't expect was that he faced a greater challenge on the offensive end.
As soon as Yang Mo returned to the restricted area, he took the initiative to defend Pau Gasol, while Jeffries held Lamar Odom tightly. Bynum was not easy under Milicic's care. As for Kobe Bryant, he was handed over to Larry Hughes, and Wilt Chandler was also looking after him. The remaining Fisher was not a threat at all, as long as he was not given the opportunity to find an open shot.
These five people were like a tightly locked chain. The Lakers had no way to find the key to attack without Kobe Bryant's active offense. In the end, the basketball was thrown out of Lamar Odom's hands with difficulty... bang!
The basketball missed the target, and Yang Mo easily squeezed out Pau Gasol to grab the rebound. He then launched a fast break and passed the ball to Larry Hughes, who was running fast. At the same time, he also ran over. Jeffries and Chandler followed closely behind him. Although Milicic's speed was a little slower, he was several levels more flexible than Bynum.
The Knicks immediately launched an umbrella-shaped defensive counterattack. Kobe Bryant and Lamar Odom could not find the defensive focus at all, and finally they locked their focus on Yang Mo, but Larry Hughes assisted Chandler with an aerial relay and scored a dunk.
drop!
Phil Jackson requested a timeout again. In less than five minutes, Phil Jackson, who was known for not calling a timeout, actually called for two timeouts.
From the scene, the Knicks looked more like the defending champions. This was surprising to everyone. Before the game, the question everyone discussed was how many points the Lakers could beat the Knicks. Now, the real question has become whether the Lakers can still beat the Knicks.
Leading a well-known bad team to push the defending champion to this extent, Yang Mo has already won regardless of the final outcome.
