Chapter 97 Provocation
Yang Mo's sudden pass, or Iverson's sudden pass, not only surprised Larry Brown, but also Phil Jackson on the other side. However, Larry Brown was surprised, while Phil Jackson was frightened.
For Phil Jackson, Iverson's breakthrough was already a huge threat, and now he has learned to pass the ball, which is really terrifying, because once he gathers the strength of the entire team through passing the ball to form a sharp spear of attack, then even if the Lakers' defense is as solid as an iron wall, it will inevitably be broken.
what to do?
Phil Jackson felt it was a difficult situation, but he looked at the people on the bench and there was no one available. They already had the best combination on the court, so did he have to put Tyronn Lue on the court and let Iverson knock him down like in the first game, and then suffer another humiliation?
There was no way, he could only hope that Iverson just had a sudden flash of inspiration and did not develop a normal passing awareness.
At the same time, the court switched offense and defense, and Derek Fisher took the ball back to half court. Yang Mo still stuck to Kobe Bryant, but he did not take the initiative to exert force, he wanted to catch Kobe Bryant off guard .
Kobe Bryant blocked Yang Mo and reached out for the ball very actively: "Derrick, here, here!"
At this time, Shaquille O'Neal was also blocking inside. Fisher hesitated for a long time, not knowing who to pass the ball to. He was in a dilemma. One side was the core inside player and the other side was the core outside player. Whoever he passed the ball to would offend the other. He hesitated for a while and directly passed the hot potato to Robert Horry. Horry took the ball and thought that Fisher passed it to him to let him be lazy. But when he just glanced and prepared to shoot, he found Jermaine Jones rushing up fiercely. He was so scared that he trembled and quickly passed the ball to Shaquille O'Neal who was blocking inside.
The ball was passed twice in a row, and the best time to attack had already been delayed. O'Neal received the ball, and Mutombo and Terrell Hill quickly surrounded him. He could only turn around and hook the ball against the two of them... Bang!
Of course the basketball didn't go into the net, it hit the rim and was grabbed by Mutombo for the defensive rebound.
At this time, Kobe's face was already very ugly. Seeing this, Yang Mo immediately provoked him again: "Hey, Kobe, look, your teammates don't trust you. They would rather pass the ball to Shaq who is double-teamed than to you. In my team , if I want the ball, no one dares not to give it to me. This is the style of a leader!"
Upon hearing this, Kobe Bryant glared at Yang Mo, said nothing, and ran to the front court with his head down.
Yang Mo couldn't help but laugh when he saw Kobe's expression. Kobe had really fallen into the trap. For him, as long as the OK combination fought on their own, then winning the game would definitely not be a problem.
Yang Mo ran to the front court and received the pass from Aaron McGee. He then stopped outside the three-point line and directed the players to run and position. After all the players were ready, he lowered his defense and broke through again. Yang Mo's breakthrough was still a heavy sword without a front, directly crushing the defense. Now that he has a strong force as a pillar, what other skills can he play? The difficulty coefficient of knocking through is much easier than shaking off.
Although Fisher's physical strength was not too bad, it was undoubtedly many levels lower than O'Neal's. Therefore, he could only helplessly accept the fact that he was knocked away again.
After Yang Mo crushed Fisher's defense, he cut straight into the penalty area, attracted a double-team, and passed the ball again, assisting Hill, who was in an open and unguarded position, to hit a mid-range shot.
Watching Yang Mo playing on the court like a commander, Phil Jackson felt very uneasy.
What made things even worse was yet to come. In the next round, Kobe took over the ball directly and launched an attack directly from the backcourt, ignoring the presence of point guard Fisher.
Seeing Kobe taking the ball and attacking, Yang Mo happily followed him and said with a smile while defending, "This is the momentum a leader should have. But you definitely can't make a shot on me."
"Really?" Kobe Bryant smiled. He was never afraid of Iverson on defense. After all, the height difference between the two was too obvious. So he immediately turned his back and squeezed Iverson with his broad back, trying to gain offensive space with this pure physical crushing, and then easily score a goal.
But... the current Iverson is no longer the Iverson of the past. He is now a triple combination of O'Neal's power and Yang Mo's soul.
When Kobe Bryant turned his back and leaned forward and exerted force, Yang Mo also exerted force suddenly...bang!
The two forces collided, Kobe Bryant staggered, and lost control of the basketball. Yang Mo took advantage of his unstable footing and rushed over to steal his basketball, then ran to the front court with the basketball. By the time Kobe Bryant reacted and rushed over to defend, Yang Mo had already rushed outside the three-point line.
At this time, there was no one in front of him. But... Yang Mo made an amazing choice. He actually jumped and shot directly from outside the three-point line.
Seeing Yang Mo stop and shoot outside the three-point line, Larry Brown was almost crazy: Oh my God, does this kid think he is a three-point shooter? Shouldn't he rush in...
This idea had not yet fully formed in his mind, he only saw the basketball smoothly go into the net...swish!
“He actually got in?”
All Lakers fans had the same incredible idea as Larry Brown. In their opinion, Iverson's three-pointers have never been particularly stable, so when Yang Mo made a quick stop and jump shot, they were still a little happy, but soon the three-pointer made their joy turn into frustration.
Watching Yang Mo hit a three-pointer, Kobe Bryant was filled with jealousy. Why is it that we both entered the NBA in the same year, but he can have the final say in the team, but I can't? He can enjoy all the personal honors, but I can't? I can obviously score better and defend better than him, so why is he the scoring champion and I am not?
Kobe Bryant was originally a paranoid man. He was born to want to be the best. In the past two years, when his skills were not yet mature, O'Neal could suppress him. But as he has grown stronger, he is no longer willing to be inferior to others. Tonight, Yang Mo's stimulation to him was great , which made him determined. He wanted to prove that he could win the game by leading the team alone.
His decision meant that the outcome of the game was no longer in suspense, because the game was between five people.
Kobe didn't understand this until 2008. During the years when Shaq was in the East, he did get all the honors that an individual could get, such as scoring champion, MVP, first team, All-Star MVP, etc., but he never tasted the taste of the finals again.
