Basketball trainer, I created a super giant

Chapter 140: Getting 40 points on my head? You're dreaming!

The spacious press conference room was filled with reporters.

On stage, Jackson, dressed in a suit, spoke with impeccable manners: "I think I've said this more than once about how talented Kwame is."

“I have seen some media reports saying that Kwame is able to achieve his current strength simply because he met Tang, but I want to say that he was already a top pick before he met Tang.”

“I think Michael is very qualified to speak on this point.”

Jackson then gave his protégé a light tap.

"So stop asking these questions. He's already an All-Star starter, a star player. There's no point in discussing these kinds of questions anymore."

In all the years that the NBA has existed, how many players have made the All-Star team in their rookie season?

Not to mention that Brown, like Kobe, is one of only two players under the age of 20 to be an All-Star starter.

With such high quality, there's no need to discuss whether he has talent or not.

"We're in great shape. Shaq's foot is fine; he's still the best interior player in the league."

"As for this match..."

When asked by a reporter how he felt about the media calling this game a preview of the NBA Finals, Jackson paused slightly, smiled, and said, "Who knows what the future holds? For now, today is just a regular season game."

"If we're talking about something special, it's that it's broadcast nationwide, and we hope to bring a great game to fans all over the United States."

Jackson remained relaxed and did not join the reporters in making a fuss.

Similarly, Rivers made the same point when playing the Magic at home.

"This is just a regular season game. Of course I'm happy if we win, and we'll keep trying if we lose."

Rivers chuckled and laughed it off.

The reporters in the audience were clearly dissatisfied.

Although magic has a "tradition" of being humble on the surface but going all out once on stage, it always feels like something's missing if there's no foreplay or some verbal banter.

However, despite his humble words, Rivers immediately changed his demeanor once he returned to the locker room and closed the door.

His gaze was unusually serious as he swept over every player in the locker room.

"I think the importance of this game doesn't need me to repeat it again."

"Patrick!"

He suddenly called out names.

Ewing raised his head, his face filled with solemnity.

Rivers countered, "Do you want to win a championship?"

Ewing glanced at everyone, then grinned: "I've been dreaming about it."

He laughed, and everyone else laughed too.

It's as if nobody wants to.

Rivers nodded in satisfaction and said in a deep voice, "I don't care what the Lakers think, I want you to treat this game like the Finals!"

"If we win this game, then in June we can win the second, the third, the fourth, the fifth game, and then lift that damn championship trophy!"

His last words were almost shouted.

Actually, Rivers had another idea before the game started.

That is to feign weakness to the enemy.

Since this is just the regular season, we might as well conserve our strength, wait patiently, and continue to build up our power so that when we finally stand in front of the Lakers, we can give them a surprise.

And is the Western meat grinder just a figment of imagination?

Who knows if the Lakers can make it out of the Western Conference this year?

Finally, they fought a real battle, revealing their playing style. But that's still a long way from the finals; the trade deadline hasn't even arrived yet.

What if this spurs the Lakers to make further acquisitions?
But Rivers ultimately abandoned this approach.

Why concede defeat prematurely when you have a chance to win?

If we give up now, how can we face everyone's hard work?

Take Ewing, for example. At five o'clock, he could have been dreaming about his championship trophy, but he chose to get up and train.

There's no reason for us to admit defeat, given their reputation.

"victory!"

Rivers proudly extended his right hand.

Brown glanced at everyone, then stood up and stepped forward, placing his hand on top of theirs.

His gaze was resolute and intense.

He was dominated by O'Neal in the last game, and he's eager to get his revenge.

Meanwhile, in the away team's locker room, Jackson, who had been mild-mannered at the pre-game press conference, revealed his true colors.

"Shaq, beat that kid to a pulp, show him who the real top-tier center is!"

O'Neal grinned, revealing a set of white teeth.

"Kobe."

Jackson then looked at Kobe and said in a deep voice, "Do you remember how many points Tracy scored in the last game?"

Kobe paused for a moment.

Jackson said coldly, "I remember, it was 45 points!"

Kobe's smile vanished instantly.

In that match, the two went head-to-head for a period of time, launching a fierce offensive.

As a result, they were the first to be defeated.

This is also a major reason why Kobe was unhappy watching McGrady continue to improve.

Regardless of what Kobe was thinking, Jackson said in a deep voice, "This time, I hope you're the one who scores 45 points!"

Kobe didn't say anything, but just nodded with a serious expression.

Jackson looked away and continued, "I know many media outlets say the Magic are very strong. They have two super talents, they are already number one in the East, and they can even compete for the championship."

"By the way, they also have the best trainers in the league helping them."

Kobe raised an eyebrow slightly.

He could ignore the earlier parts, which were complete nonsense, but he did agree with the last statement.

After experiencing Tang Sen's training session this morning, he had only one feeling: what have I been training for all these years?
"But we are the Lakers, the Los Angeles Lakers. Go look at the championship banners hanging in the Staples Center. Do they think they deserve to take the championship from us?"

Jackson thought the same thing when he last met Tang Sen.

I still think that way now.

Does Orlando, this rural place, even deserve a championship trophy?
"set off!"

Jackson waved his hand, as if sounding the war horn.

The entire water villa area was packed, and as far as the eye could see, it was like a blue ocean.

The deafening cheers echoed throughout the arena, giving it a bit of a "devil's home court" feel.

Guo Yonglin, who was sitting next to Tang Sen, couldn't help but say, "The fans are really excited today."

Tang Sen thought to himself, "Not today."

Anyway, after climbing to the top of the Eastern Conference, the Magic's home attendance has increased significantly.

The players saw hope of winning the championship and started working hard, and so did the fans.

Tang Sen once said that Orlando fans have a hurricane-like temperament; once they fall in love, it will be as intense as a storm.

Guo Yonglin then asked, "Old Tang, who do you think will win today?"

The Sentinel has a strange fascination with surveys. Before the game, they inexplicably conducted a fan survey, which showed that only slightly more than 40% of fans believed the Magic could beat the Lakers today.

To this, Tang Sen can only say that when it comes to demoralizing their own side, the Sentinel will never disappoint.

"I can't predict the future, how would I know?"

Tang Sen watched Brown on the court, warming up and shooting with methodical precision, while he himself had already done everything he could from the sidelines.

What happens on the field depends on him.

……

The competition began at 8 PM.

For the Magic, PJ Brown has replaced Grant in the starting lineup.

The Lakers fielded the same lineup as in the previous game.

Samaki Walker played terribly in the last game, but Jackson didn't make any adjustments.

Horry is a knife; there's no need to draw it unless it's absolutely necessary.

When Brown and O'Neal stood at center court, O'Neal put his hands on his knees, grinned, and said with a contemptuous look, "Kid, try your best not to get destroyed by me."

Brown pursed his lips and retorted, "You too, so you don't end up like last game, scoring only 17 points."

O'Neal was taken aback.

When he played against the Magic, he felt that Brown was not very talkative and was quite quiet.

I never thought they'd have the guts to spout trash talk now.

The key point is that it touched on his own sore spot.

He scored 17 points in the last game, but some newspapers mocked him, saying that he couldn't even beat a rookie.

"Kid, remember what I said, I'll score 40 points on you." O'Neal's smile vanished, his slightly narrowed eyes revealing a coldness.

He's usually not angry, but when he's annoyed, he can be quite lecturing.

Brown remained unfazed, his gaze fixed on the basketball in the referee's hands.

The game begins. Brown leaps and steals the basketball.

Billups kept the pace steady, dealing with Fisher's interference while observing the situation on the field.

"salmon!"

he shouted.

Since McGrady pointed out his problem, Billups has quickly broken his habit of remaining silent.

In the NBA, each team seems to have a codebook, with its own set of tactical gestures and secret codes.

Especially the secret codes, which are randomly selected names that will be changed after a while, representing the team's most frequently used tactics.

Salmon represents the pick-and-roll tactic.

But that's not all; you also need to use hand gestures.

Billups held up two fingers and wiggled them a few times.

Then he passed the ball to Miller and started circling around the baseline with Fisher.

In an instant, the entire Magic team was running.

Brown quickly lost O'Neal and sprinted out of the paint.

On the weak side, PJ Brown had already set a screen for McGrady.

Fox circled around the wall of players and followed, while Kobe, who was next to Miller, also began to move, preparing to pounce on McGrady.

at this time.

Miller passed the ball directly to Billups, who was curling out from the baseline.

Kobe noticed that Fisher was a beat too slow and hesitated for a moment about whether to go over and help defend.

At that moment, Brown, who had rushed out of the paint, set a screen for McGrady and blocked Fox.

McGrady rushed out, and Billups had already passed the ball to him.

The salmon represents the double screen tactic used to set up McGrady.

At that moment, Fox and O'Neal, who had barely managed to get out of the paint, both focused their attention on McGrady.

Kobe was also pulled to the three-point line by Miller.

But at that moment, McGrady, who was about to attack, passed the ball.

With a bounce, the ball returned to Brown's hands.

Brown was almost 12 feet away from everyone.

Without hesitation, he pulled up and shot directly.

The basketball hit the net.

Rivers, who had been standing on the sidelines since the start of the game, clapped his hands in satisfaction.

The tactical maneuver was successful, which is a good thing.

At the start of the game, Rivers wanted to test the Magic's tactics to see how well they could execute against the defense of a championship-caliber team like the Lakers.

It looks pretty good now.

Billups does play with his brain; he chooses appropriate tactics based on his teammates' positioning.

This ability alone makes him a qualified point guard.

The reason Brown was ultimately chosen to shoot was clearly because the pre-game plan was strictly followed.

Rivers wants Brown to leave the paint, firstly to participate in the team's offense and provide screens for McGrady, and secondly to punish O'Neal from the mid-range position.

However, Rivers is more worried about the defense than the offense.

The key to winning the game lies in whether or not the Lakers can be contained.

The specific strategy is also very simple.

First, there was a high-level delay.

Cook whatever is available. Armstrong's height and weight are limited, so there's no point in him going to the high post to provide cover.

But Billups is different; he's a full-size point guard.

His high defensive position allows him to effectively disrupt Fisher.

Rivers didn't expect Billups to be able to steal the ball. Fisher's playmaking ability was average, but he was still a championship-caliber point guard.

The purpose of this was to reduce the Lakers' offensive time.

The Lakers dominate the league, and their playing style has long been thoroughly studied by other teams in the league.

In Rivers' view, all of the Lakers' tactics and movements are always about solving one problem: how to get the ball to O'Neal.

Because as long as O'Neal gets the ball, he has an almost unstoppable offensive ability under the basket.

At the same time, even if O'Neal doesn't play, as long as he receives the ball, the opponent can only choose to double-team and help defend.

That's when opportunities will arise on the outside.

Only then can the so-called OK linkage be formed.

Most importantly, regardless of whether O'Neal has a chance or not, the Lakers will always try to get the ball to him first.

By shortening the offensive time at this point, even if the ball gets to O'Neal, it reduces the time he has to handle the ball.

Kobe came over to assist.

By the time he received the ball, there were only 16 seconds left on the 24-second shot clock.

The Lakers then began to move around, spread the ball, and look for opportunities to get it into the paint.

At this point, PJ Brown began to play a role as the second line of defense.

He positioned himself in the upper part of the paint, observing the Lakers' passes.

In addition to his good defensive support, he has a great awareness of disrupting passing.

Therefore, the ball wasn't delivered to O'Neal until there were 10 seconds left on the shot clock.

It's impossible to completely stop O'Neal from receiving the ball.

Therefore, Brown is still the last line of defense.

He braced his arms and pushed O'Neal away.

This entangled confrontation began when O'Neal tried to move to the low post.

Brown played good defense in the last game.

He has a stable lower body, strong core strength, and has always been excellent in combat.

Otherwise, O'Neal wouldn't have only scored 17 points in the last game.

That match happened two months ago.

Brown is now even stronger.

Shaquille O'Neal felt this most keenly.

O'Neal wouldn't even bother with ordinary centers trying to compete against him.

If you can even move me by just standing there, you're something else.

But Brown can't.

When Brown braced his back against Brown's arm at the edge of the restricted area, O'Neal felt like there was a wall behind him.

It's a bit hard to push.

The key is that this is still a wall pressing down on you; if you relax, the wall will push you away.

Therefore, O'Neal must pull himself together and exert himself to hold on in order to keep his position.

And when he tries to exert force to gain position, the difficulty is not ordinary.

At that moment, the ball was delivered to us.

O'Neal used his butt to push past Brown, and the moment he received the ball, he started to drive towards the basket.

Hard!

Brown is quick on his feet and has plenty of power. With the season halfway over, he has also gained a lot of defensive experience, and his positioning and anticipation are excellent.

Most importantly, PJ Brown rushed over immediately.

One pushes from behind, the other goes around to the front.

O'Neal was trapped.

The crucial point is that in the initial confrontation, he didn't get a position where he could easily turn around and attack the basket.

He weighs 175 kilograms, and when he spins, no one in the entire league can stop him.

However, if you are far from the basket and need to create space to shoot, the difficulty increases exponentially.

What's more troublesome is that there's very little time left for the attack.

O'Neal lowered his waist and pushed past PJ Brown, then stepped towards the basket, intending to force a hook shot.

PJ Brown's performance was decent.

Most importantly, Brown behind him wasn't completely pushed aside.

O'Neal roared in encouragement and forced a shot.

The rhythm was completely disrupted, and the excessive force also affected the feel of the game.

With a clang, the basketball hit the frame and came out.

Brown quickly leaped and grabbed the rebound.

That shot was saved!

And then I will defend the second and third shots until the end of the game, stand in front of O'Neal and tell him that you are dreaming if you want to score 40 points over my head!
(End of this chapter)