The NBA's Absolute Dominance

Chapter 231 But... I'm the shooting guard

41-38, Knicks on offense.

The Knicks' offense remained unchanged, still centered around Tang Bei, with Van Gundy not being adept at orchestrating the offense.

In order to test O'Neal's current strength, Tang Bei spent most of the first quarter in the low post, still maintaining an advantage in the matchup, but his physical exertion was greater than before.

This style of play, while disadvantageous to him, is advantageous to O'Neal.

After O'Neal's weight reached 160 kilograms, his defensive weakness became more and more obvious, namely, his inability to defend the paint.

The increase in weight has caused his speed and stamina to decline. He can barely defend out, and it's troublesome when he comes back because he can't keep up with the defenders who break through.

Especially in defending pick-and-rolls, his slow speed, particularly his slow lateral movement, results in a severe lack of ability to screen and defend effectively. He cannot provide timely lateral movement to help defend, and once the opposing guard drives in, he is unable to get back to the basket in time.

Currently, O'Neal is only good at protecting the rim under the basket. When Tang Bei's offense is concentrated in the low post, it is particularly advantageous for his defense.

Xiao Fan just asked Tang Bei to strengthen the high pick-and-roll tactics to create opportunities for outside breakthroughs.

This time, Tang Bei didn't land in a low position, but in a high position.

Shaquille O'Neal was a smart man. As soon as he saw Tang Bei's position, his heart skipped a beat, and he knew that trouble was brewing.

Chris Childs quickly broke through the wall, and O'Neal was unable to move laterally in time, allowing the ball to pass him. O'Neal immediately turned around to chase and defend.

Meanwhile, Elden Campbell, in the low post on the right wing, quickly moved laterally towards the basket. His speed in returning to defend the basket was faster than O'Neal's, but not as fast as Tang Bei's.

Instead of taking the shot himself, Chris Childs fully utilized his strength in passing to key players, quickly distributing the ball.

Tang Bei received the ball and sprang up, and Elden Campbell, who had just reached the right side of the basket, changed his expression and quickly retreated to the baseline.

"boom!"

The next instant, Tang Bei smashed the Lakers' basket with a powerful tomahawk dunk.

Michael Breen said, "The Knicks' offensive tactics have also changed, and they've started playing one of the tactics that the Knicks excel at: the high pick-and-roll offense."

Tom Tolbert said, "O'Neal's weaknesses were exposed: he was not good at defending pick-and-rolls and couldn't keep up with the ball."

Phil Jackson is aware of this, and he couldn't solve it with the Bulls before, and he still can't solve it now.

To solve this problem, O'Neal must have both size and speed.

But that's impossible. No one in the world can weigh 160 kilograms and still have the speed to keep up with a defender's breakthrough.

Let alone O'Neal, if Tang Bei's weight reaches 160 kilograms and his strength explodes, his athletic ability will decline significantly, as the treasure chest has already demonstrated.

Therefore, Phil Jackson did not intend to rely on O'Neal to solve this weakness on his own. His first approach was to rely on Campbell's help defense.

But now it seems that this method didn't work, and Tang Bei's fall from his high position was even faster than Campbell's.

He immediately made an adjustment, giving a tactical signal so that O'Neal would no longer retreat to defend the basket when being driven, but would continue to hold Tang Bei at the high post, preventing Tang Bei from cutting to the basket immediately.

As for the area under the basket, that's up to Campbell.

Of course, there will be open shots for Oakley, and Tang Bei will definitely get rid of O'Neal, but no tactic is perfect.

41:40, Lakers on offense.

Chris Childs, who was previously outmaneuvered, played even harder on defense this time. He started guarding Van Exel when he was still two meters from the three-point line, putting in considerable effort in physical confrontation.

He knew he had enough substitutes. Charlie Ward and Sam Cassell were both strong players, eagerly waiting for their chance to play on the bench. If they didn't perform well, their starting positions and playing time could be taken away at any time.

Van Exel was caught off guard and noticed John Starks moving toward him, so he quickly passed the ball to Jordan.

John Starks' defensive strengths lie in his tenacious physicality and his ability to anticipate opponents' passing routes. So, while double-teaming, he anticipated that Van Exel might pass the ball to Jordan.

He also has another advantage: his outstanding ability to steal the ball and counterattack.

"Snapped!"

So when Van Exel passed the ball, he quickly cut into the passing lane, intercepted it, and immediately accelerated forward, starting the Knicks' counterattack.

Jordan returned to defense from the top of the key, sticking to John Starks' left side at the right top of the key, while Van Exel stuck to his right side, forming a double team.

"squeak!"

John Starks abruptly stopped, neither forcing his way in nor attempting to attack from within the encirclement.

At this moment, Jordan's eyes narrowed because he saw that Tang Bei had arrived, while O'Neal and Campbell had fallen behind.

"Shit! Didn't they say he weighed 145 kilograms? Why is he moving so fast?" He cursed under his breath and turned to catch up with Tang Bei.

"ball!"

John Starks shouted and passed the ball toward the basket.

"boom!"

The next moment, Tang Bei was hanging high on the rim when Jordan jumped to block him from the right side. He was knocked away by Tang Bei in mid-air and fell to the floor after landing.

"Beautiful! A powerful alley-oop dunk!" Han Qiaosheng shouted.

Xu Jicheng said excitedly, "Putting aside positional warfare, the Knicks have an absolute advantage in fast break tactics against the Lakers."

Sun Zhenping said with a smile, "Tang Bei is much faster than O'Neal and Campbell, and Oakley is also a little faster than them. The Knicks can form a five-on-three advantage in the frontcourt."

41:42, Lakers on offense.

"Keep a close eye on Jordan."

Tang Bei went over to John Starks and said this, and the latter nodded.

As the Lakers' offensive engine, Nick Van Exel would accelerate after just two steps past the midcourt line and constantly change direction, preventing Chris Childs from having a chance to close in on him.

Skilled in crossovers and changes of direction, he once again outmaneuvered Childs, tearing apart the New York Knicks' perimeter defense and posing a threat to the paint.

Using the same movement, as Van Exel drove toward the left elbow area, Michael Jordan quickly moved from the top of the arc to the left wing.

His movement was aimed at maintaining his and Van Exel's passing angles to avoid being cut off by John Starks, who was double-teaming his left elbow.

In a 3-2 zone defense, when Van Exel drives past Childs, John Starks in the high post is bound to double-team the left elbow area.

But he soon discovered that John Starks wasn't double-teaming Van Exel, but instead was relentlessly pursuing him.

At this moment, Van Gundy frowned because John Starks had violated the defensive tactics.

When Van Exel drove to the left elbow area, only Childs was chasing behind him. Seeing that no one was helping or assisting and there was no one under the basket, he gritted his teeth and continued to accelerate into the paint.

Tang Bei and Oakley on the left and right wings returned to defend the basket at the same time, but at that moment Nick Van Exel suddenly jumped up with the ball.

As soon as the ball came together, Tang Bei reacted immediately, lunging forward with explosive power and speed, leaping up as the ball was thrown.

"Snapped!"

With a single hand, he caught the ball.

"WOW!"

Madison Square Garden erupted in enthusiastic cheers.

During the transition between offense and defense, O'Neal and Campbell could only try their best to get back on defense. One weighed 160 kilograms and the other 135 kilograms. They couldn't outrun Tang Bei and Oakley and fell behind.

"boom!"

Tang Bei drove straight to the basket, received a pass from John Starks, and scored a basket.

Michael Brin said, "Tang Bei just spoke with John Starks, and judging from this defensive play, it seems that Tang Bei has changed his defensive tactics."

Tom Tolbert said, "There's a reason not to let Jordan go. Van Exel's shooting percentage is only a little over 40%, and he's okay at shooting from outside the paint."

"But if we charge in and face Tang Bei and Oakley, those two nemesis, we'll be asking for trouble. Even if we force our way in, our accuracy won't be high."

41:44, Lakers on offense.

After a series of failed attacks, Van Exel did not attempt another breakthrough but instead passed the ball down.

On the left wing, in the low post, O'Neal received the ball. Without any help defense or double-team, he began to isolate and attack Tang Bei.

"Boom! Boom!"

Tang Bei managed to take only a small step back after two consecutive back-and-forth attacks, and without losing his balance, he held off O'Neal.

O'Neal couldn't get close to the basket, and being too tightly guarded, he couldn't use the Shaq Spin. He could only force a spin move and then hit a hook shot.

"Snapped!"

Tang Bei completed the block thanks to his higher jumping height. His blocking skills are now excellent, reaching level 98.

This level of shot blocking is not just about jumping height and reaction speed, but also about defensive experience.

The combination of blocking technique and just the right amount of blocking power allows him to control the landing point. With a light tap of his finger, he not only sends the ball high into the air but also controls the landing point to his own side. Upon landing, he immediately turns and blocks the shot, then steals the basketball.

"Another fast break!"

Han Qiaosheng's impassioned voice rang out.

"boom!"

Tang Bei made another quick run down the court and scored a goal.

The Knicks led by 5 points at 41-46, and the Lakers called a timeout.

After the timeout, the Lakers did not make any major adjustments to their offensive tactics, but they emphasized Campbell's twin towers strategy, which is an offensive triangle formed by the twin towers and Jordan or Van Exel.

Campbell has a height advantage over Oakley, and Phil Jackson hopes to capitalize on this advantage to deliver high-quality low-post offense.

After the timeout ended and the game resumed, O'Neal received the ball in the low post on the left wing and went one-on-one against Tang Bei.

Campbell dominated the low post on the right wing, and Oakley, weighing only 111 kilograms, couldn't keep up and was brought close to the basket.

At that moment, Jordan suddenly cut in from the right arc, and O'Neal immediately passed the ball, forcing Oakley to help defend Michael Jordan.

Jordan quickly passed the ball to Campbell, who received it on the right side of the basket and made a layup.

After O'Neal passed the ball, Tang Bei turned around and returned to the basket.

"Oops!"

But when he tried to block the shot, he realized something was wrong. The ball's height and power were incorrect. Campbell wasn't going for a layup; instead, he was throwing the ball to O'Neal behind him.

So after landing, he immediately performed a full-force Tai Chi turn.

"Tang Bei, I'm going to dunk on you! Die!"

A hint of excitement flashed across O'Neal's face. He leaped up, caught the ball in mid-air, and then slammed it heavily towards the basket and Tang Bei under the rim.

"roll!"

A furious roar exploded in Tang Bei's throat, and as he jumped, his right palm landed precisely on the ball that O'Neal was about to smash into the basket.

"Snapped!"

With his full-power explosive force, he withstood the force of O'Neal's two hands slamming into the rim with just one palm, sending the basketball bouncing high into the air.

"WOW!"

A huge cheer erupted in Madison Square Garden.

"Bang!"

Amid cheers, O'Neal slammed his hands heavily onto the rim, knocking Tang Bei to the ground. Tang Bei staggered back two steps before regaining his footing.

"damn it!"

O'Neal's eyes widened in fury; his seemingly certain dunk was blocked.

The basketball flew over the backboard, landed on the basket support, and bounced out of bounds. The referee pointed to the baseline, indicating that possession still belonged to the Lakers.

Tang Bei bumped into O'Neal with his chest and warned him in a fierce tone, "Sardine, you want to dunk on me? Next time I'll make you lie on the floor."

"Hmph! How many times have you dunked on me? Do you think I've forgotten?"

Faced with intense fear and anger, O'Neal's adrenaline quickly subsided. He snorted, uttered a single sentence, and walked away.

"Bang!"

The Lakers attacked again, and Jordan received the ball in the right elbow area. Facing John Starks' defense, he faked a pass and shot, but missed.

Tang Bei grabbed the rebound, and the Knicks attacked.

He continued to employ high-post tactics, exploiting O'Neal's weaknesses in defending pick-and-rolls and his slow movement, relentlessly attacking him.

Oakley intensified his defense on Campbell, employing extremely aggressive defensive tactics, almost like a fight, and together with Tang Bei, effectively countered the Lakers' twin-tower strategy.

After the second quarter, the score was 19-29, with the Knicks leading by 10 points in the quarter. At halftime, the Knicks led by double digits, 49-59.

Michael Brin analyzed, "The Lakers played well in the first quarter and their tactics were very successful, but after adjusting their tactics in the second quarter, their offense failed to come together."

Tom Tolbert said, "Phil Jackson must have been puzzled too. The triangle offense was supposed to be used in the second quarter, allowing players like Jordan, O'Neal, and Van Exel to utilize their skills. Why did it fail?"

Michael Breen laughed and said, "The Lakers didn't use the triangle offense in the first quarter, but instead tried various tactics and played better."

"But in the second quarter, Van Exel became the real offensive engine. Neither O'Neal nor Jordan had the ball. It was a classic triangle offense, but it failed."

"That's something Phil Jackson will have to analyze after the game. Once he figures out why we played well in the first quarter, we can find a way to beat the Knicks."

At this moment, in the visiting team's locker room, Phil Jackson leaned against the wall behind the door, recalling how the first quarter had gone.

However, due to the short time available, I couldn't watch the game recordings, so my mind was a bit confused for a moment.

He knew why the second quarter's offense didn't work out: Van Exel's old problem had resurfaced. He took too many shots with a low shooting percentage, passed too few passes, had only one assist, but committed two turnovers, resulting in a dismal turnover-to-assist ratio of 0.5.

Thinking about it this way, he immediately realized that the reason the first quarter's offense was successful was naturally because Van Exel took fewer shots and made more passes, plus fully utilizing O'Neal's role.

Even though O'Neal couldn't beat Tang Bei on either offense or defense, his high level of involvement in the offense meant that Tang Bei had to focus most of his energy on him.

In the second quarter, both O'Neal and Jordan had only one role: offensive finishers, with Van Exel having possession of the ball most of the time.

After thinking it through, he sighed. It seemed that Van Exel was not a good fit for this lineup. If there was an opportunity, he should trade him away.

With halftime almost over, he didn't have time to think about how to play in the third quarter and hurriedly led the players back onto the court.

At the start of the third quarter, the Lakers used rookie Fisher at point guard, while the Knicks used Sam Cassell at point guard.

Cassell's one-on-one defensive ability is not very good, but he has more experience than Fisher and is good at anticipating passing lanes, so his defensive effect is still good. He stole the ball from Fisher once in a single quarter and forced Fisher to commit a passing error.

Phil Jackson eventually had to give Michael Jordan and Shaquille O'Neal more individual offensive options and handed the ball over to the two of them.

After the two players took over the offense, the Knicks immediately tightened their defense on them, took control of the situation, and the Lakers' turnovers began to increase. Their performance in the second half was far worse than in the first quarter.

Ultimately, the Lakers' poor performance at point guard affected the overall game, resulting in a 97-111 loss on the road.

Jordan scored 35 points and O'Neal 23 points, but Tang Bei scored 52 points by himself, with a shooting percentage far higher than the two of them.

……

Back in the locker room, Michael Jordan started yelling at Van Exel.

"Nick, don't just do it on a whim. You're a point guard, not a shooting guard. Look at your shots tonight: 5 for 15, plus 6 turnovers. Do you even know what you're doing?"

Van Exel took a step back, covered his face with spittle, and argued, "Michael, I can't see you most of the time."

Jordan's temple throbbed, and he suppressed his anger, saying, "That's because all you see is the basket, that's why you can't see me."

"You only have eyes for the basketball hoop?"

Upon hearing Jordan's words, rookie Kobe, sitting in the corner, couldn't help but brighten up, feeling that these words were very much to his liking.

“Michael means that point guards can’t just have the basket in their eyes, but… I’m a shooting guard,” he thought.

……

At the post-game press conference, a reporter asked, "Coach Jackson, what do you think was the main reason for the Lakers' loss tonight?"

Phil Jackson gave a wry smile and continued, "We still don't have a way to defend Tang Bei. Especially in the high post, the low post is actually better."

"On the offensive end, our goal tonight is to test the feasibility of our tactics. Losing is not unacceptable."

The reporter pressed further, "So what do you think are the weaknesses of the Lakers' current roster? Does the current roster have the ability to win a championship?"

Phil Jackson's expression hardened. He thought to himself that while the current lineup was strong, it wasn't a perfect fit.

He feels confident against most strong playoff teams, but he's not so confident against the Knicks in the Finals.

The Knicks' defense was too strong, Tang Bei's individual ability was too great, and the Lakers' own shortcomings were obvious.

Van Exel at point guard is too selfish and his defense is poor, while the small forward position is too weak. Even with Michael Jordan, the Lakers' outside shooting is still not good.

He thought to himself and said, "The roster does have some flaws, and the compatibility isn't high enough. As for winning the championship, I can only say that we have a chance to reach the finals."

(End of this chapter)