In February, the Lakers finally ended the team's final Eastern Conference road trip of the season with five wins.
On the 28th, the Lakers returned to their home court at Staples Center to face the Nuggets.
In this game, Anthony continued his mental state as if he and Kobe had a "revenge for killing his father" in the previous match against the Lakers.
Unlike Ajan, who previously regarded the matchup with Kobe as a traffic code, in the matchup with Kobe, Anthony does not care who loses or wins in the post-game Excel between him and Kobe.
He only cares about whether he can kill Kobe!
Fueled by the idea that they would all die together and no one would survive, on the evening of the 28th, Anthony made only 4 of 18 shots and relied on free throws to barely score 15 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists.
As for Kobe...
It was on this night that Anthony forced him onto the stage and played "The Little Blacksmith of Milan" with him.
In the whole game, Kobe made only 3 of 15 shots. Counting free throws, he scored a total of 12 points, 7 rebounds, and 10 assists.
During the game, Kobe, who sensed Anthony's determination, was constantly struggling in the first half. In the second half, despite the strong opposition of a group of "true fans", Kobe resolutely interrupted the large-scale concert and installed a pass button. The way he assisted his teammates led the Lakers to defeat the Nuggets at home.
After the game, when Kobe and Anthony shook hands, Wang Shuo noticed that Anthony squeezed Kobe's little hands tightly and refused to let go.
The expression on his face as he gritted his teeth and communicated with Kobe after the game reminded Wang Shuo subconsciously of Ma Chao in the New Three Kingdoms:
Thief, traitor, traitor, evil thief, you fucking give me back my foster father!
Anthony's mental state is truly worrying.
And Deron, who has already formed a relationship with Curry...
His mental state was no better.
In March, when he visited Staples with the Jazz, Deron became increasingly angry as he watched Curry doing warm-up training in the Lakers half court.
In Deron's view, no matter in terms of strength or qualifications, he should never have been deprived of his Western Conference star starting guard by Curry.
This is also true.
At this time, Deron has become a star defender who has played "20+10" for many consecutive seasons.
And in addition to having a solid body, Deron's exaggerated "substantial pendulum change" is also highly entertaining.
In Delong's eyes...
In addition to the fact that the Jazz in Utah cannot compare with the Lakers in Los Angeles in terms of influence, he was counterattacked by Curry in the All-Star voting simply because he could not compete with Curry. .
There's nothing wrong with Deron's idea.
Because most of the time, your popularity in the NBA is not necessarily directly proportional to your hard power.
As a result, the combination of the above factors resulted in Deron's dissatisfaction with the Jazz and Sloan breaking out in advance.
After the Star Weekend, Deron publicly stated in an interview that he was tired of Sloan's pick-and-roll system and hoped that the team could arrange more singles tactics for him.
Logically speaking, Delong's request does not seem to be a big problem on the surface.
Because facing most of the current defenders in the league, Deron does not need a pick-and-roll to complete the attack.
In addition, because of this life, Sloan borrowed a lot of off-ball pick-and-roll tactics popularized by Wang Shuo...
Therefore, this will also indirectly lead to Deron, like Iverson back then and Ellis and Curry now, having to hand the ball to the team's insiders for organization when necessary.
Yes, whether it is the Wizards, Suns, Knicks or the current Lakers, the point guard of Wang Shuo's team must make certain sacrifices for the team's smooth passing and cutting cooperation.
In the Suns back then, Wang Shuo's solution to this problem was to let Iverson be responsible for a large number of final passes, and through tactical design and staggered travel, Iverson's ball-holding offense was mainly concentrated in a certain period of time. .
But overall, Iverson's time with the ball during the Suns era is still not comparable to when he played under Larry Brown.
However, among the four major shooting guards, Iverson, who has long been as famous as Kobe Bryant, is also a player who is willing to play without the ball and can play without the ball.
This also made the Suns, under Wang Shuo, shine that season not only with their gorgeous offense and Spanish pick-and-rolls, but Iverson also won the scoring and assist titles in the 2003/04 season.
At the same time, his good brothers Stoudemire and Marion also benefited from this and produced a more beautiful technical statistics panel.
As a top coach, Sloan certainly knows how to make Deron play better technical statistics.
Otherwise, with this Jazz running a lot of Spanish pick-and-rolls, how could Deron still be able to perform "20+10" Excel for many years in a row?
But here comes the problem...
Does Deron have the physical ability of Iverson and the ability to stay healthy after a long period of drastic changes that can make your knees weep and your ankles cry?
In Wang Shuo's previous life, after leaving the Jazz, Deron used his later career experience to prove that the reason why Sloan had been sparing him...
This is because Sloan, who coached Malone and Stockton in his early years, knew very well that if basketball players want to stay healthy for a long time, coaches must strictly control the frequency with which these superstars use these advanced technical movements on the court.
Deron's "substantial pendulum change" is indeed so handsome that he has no friends.
But what's the cost?
After Deron was drafted by the Jazz, Sloan often advised Deron that if he could get a layup in a game, he should never dunk, and if he could use a pick-and-roll in a game, he should never hurt his knees.
Because only in this way can Deron, as a tank guard, have a longer theoretical peak period and a longer career in the NBA.
So, from that aspect...
Ajan really understood it.
Because Ajan, who rarely uses high-level technical moves in games, has proven through the two decades of basic skills that as long as I don't polish my skills, injuries will not come to me.
In short, Deron's public speech after the All-Star Weekend caught coach Sloan off guard.
After Delong spoke, Sloan immediately found Delong, hoping to have an interview with Delong.
However......
In this interview, Delong directly expressed his impatience with Sloan's admonishment.
enough!
Jerry, stop giving me your team basketball philosophy!
Do you know that this year I have been robbed of my spot as the All-Star starting guard by a rookie?
What I need now is better technical statistics and more career masterpieces!
On the day of the interview, looking at Delong who looked impatient, Sloan continued to say to him earnestly: "Everyone has his own limit of ability, Delong, what you need to do now is to calm down... ..”
Hearing this, Delong rolled his eyes at Sloan and said: "Calm down, calm down, these are the words I keep repeating over and over again.
Yes, everyone has their own ability limit, so Jerry... have you ever thought that it is precisely because of your poor coaching ability that the Jazz have never won a championship? "
Back then, after being defeated by Jordan and the Bulls in the finals for two consecutive years, he still remained strong and told his disciples with a smile that he would have to start over again.
At that time, after Malone left and Stockton retired, he was still able to calmly tell the Jazz management that it was okay. We will definitely return to the playoffs in a few years. Legendary NBA coach Jerry Sloan. .....
On the day of the interview with Deron, the young defender whom he had always regarded as his own talent successfully broke through the defense.
Sloan, who was immediately frustrated, subsequently missed all Jazz games for the remainder of February due to personal health reasons.
It wasn't until March 2, when the Jazz visited Los Angeles to challenge the Lakers, that Sloan regained his composure.
Because no matter what, Sloan hopes that he can lead the Jazz to finish this season.
But at this moment, Sloan has long lost his former glory.
Before the game, when the players of the two teams were warming up on the court, Wang Shuo, who looked at the decadent Sloan and knew that his life was likely to be unsatisfactory recently, shook hands with him as usual and said: "Jerry, wait until this game is over." Come have a late-night snack with me later."
Sloan did not reject Wang Shuo's kindness.
Although Deron has broken the defense, Sloan still wants to ask Wang Shuo for some details about Spain's pick-and-roll.
So now the question is, after losing the control of coach Sloan, can Deron Williams really perform in front of Stephen Curry in this game against the Lakers as he thought? Get your place back?
Answer: Not to mention in the NBA, even Michael Jordan would curse Kobe after the game.
Even if there is no Kobe Bryant to help Curry guard Deron in this game...
It's also difficult for Deron to regain his place in front of Curry.
Because the NBA's ecological chain is so interesting.
Just like Paul, no matter how hard he tried, he still had to get a good beating from DeLong when he played against DeLong.
Facing De Xiaopang, Curry also has his own tricks.
Not to mention anything else, just Curry’s effortless running without the ball in the game...
How can you let Deron, who is a tank-type defender, follow?
How do you keep Deron focused on defense?
And once Deron's physical fitness is severely depleted while defending, how can he ensure that every shot he takes can hit the target steadily?
Plus, like Sloan said.
Everyone has their own limits of ability.
No matter how handsome he is in "pendulum-style spending a lot of time", Deron himself will find out if he uses it a few times, and before his knees sound the alarm, his physical energy tank will be emptied by himself.
In Wang Shuo's previous life, Deron's career highest score in a single game was 57 points after he was later traded to the Nets.
In this game, Deron made 16 of 29 shots, including 4 of 11 three-pointers and 21 of 21 free throws.
Wang Shuo believed that after the game, Deron would feel proud and proud.
But after playing the season, Deron will find that... his season scoring average has not increased much because of the unlimited shooting rights he received in the Nets.
Moreover, in the season when Deron scored 57 points in a single game with the Nets, he only played 55 games for the Nets, which was the season with the lowest attendance rate in his career at that time.
After that, there is no more.
Because as injuries keep coming, apart from occasionally bullying Paul to remind people that he is still active in the NBA, Deron after the 2012/13 season can no longer be called a star guard.
And you know, Deron was only 28 years old at that time.
Generally speaking, for basketball players, the age of 28 is a prime time for performance.
On the evening of the 2nd, under the personal supervision of Kobe Bryant, who had just been elected the Western Conference Player of the Month for February, Deron Williams, who tried to rely on more personal offense to produce better statistics in the game, finally surrendered the game. He made 2 of 14 shots and only scored 8 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and 8 turnovers including free throws.
After the last game against the Nuggets, Kobe, who almost had his small hands squeezed into big hands like Jordan by Anthony, took out all the anger he suffered in the previous game on Deron.
On the court, as Deron suffered a serious injury, the Jazz's offense was in chaos. In addition, when defending, his teammates were also dissatisfied with Deron's defensive attitude that he would always complain about...
So that's it...
Before the game, Deron, who was once ambitious to regain his place in front of Curry, once again helped Curry to become famous in the match against him.
Although in this game, Curry made only 9 of 15 shots. Counting free throws and three-pointers, he only scored 26 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists.
But in people's eyes, Curry beating Deron is as easy as eating and sleeping during the game.
And the most important thing is...
The final score between the Jazz and the Lakers in this game was 85 to 145.
In the NBA, a league where you always beat me and I beat you, if it's just a "matchup" and you haven't beaten Curry, then Deron's fans can still find an angle to help Deron.
But on this night, led by DeLong, the Jazz created the largest losing record in team history...
Deron is destined to be nailed to the pillar of shame.
During the game, Wang Shuo noticed that Deron had turned his attention to the Jazz bench many times.
But it's obvious...
Sloan didn't want to control Deron in this game.
However, after the game, even though Deron had to bear the main responsibility for the Jazz's humiliating defeat, coach Sloan still took the initiative to shoulder everything in a tearful manner.
In an interview at the press conference, Sloan told the media that it was his incompetence that led to the Jazz's fiasco.
At the end of this season, he will voluntarily resign and officially step down as head coach of the Jazz.
Since coaching the Jazz in the 1988/1989 season, Sloan has experienced ups and downs with the Jazz for 22 seasons.
So as soon as Sloan's remarks at the press conference came out...
From the Jazz management to the Jazz fans, they immediately felt as if their sky was falling.
"Don't try to persuade me, I'm 68 years old this year.
Many times, I myself feel inadequate.
But before leaving the NBA, I still want to ask you... a few tactical details that I have never understood. "
After the press conference, while having supper with Wang Shuo, Sloan, who had decided to leave the rest of his life to his family, told Wang Shuo that he wanted to stay.
Hearing this, Wang Shuo was naturally ashamed to accept Sloan's request.
However, as Wang Shuo answered his doubts, handsome Sloan suddenly showed an innocent and bright smile like a child.
Because during Wang Shuo's review, Sloan discovered...
The problems that had been bothering him were not problems at all.
It's just that the Jazz's family background determines that it is impossible for the Jazz to find the most suitable player on the market to implement Sloan's tactical concepts.
"Can this Lakers realize my vision?" After smiling up to the sky for a while, Sloan suddenly looked at Wang Shuo and said.
Wang Shuo nodded and said: "I think you can see your tactical ideas in this year's playoffs.
At that time, I will name this play the 'Jerry Sloan Pick-and-Roll'. "
Sloan was happy and said: "You can't lie to me, a bad old man."
Wang Shuo smiled and said: "Jerry, you know, I never break trust with others."
In Wang Shuo's view, the biggest feature of Sloan's pick-and-roll is that he can use the personal abilities of his own stars better than the Spanish pick-and-roll.
In Sloan's tactical design, since Deron, who is responsible for holding the ball, is a defender with a strong single-point blasting ability, when the team conducts the second pick-and-roll, Sloan's pick-and-roll requires both sides to quickly pull apart. Create enough space for your own blasters.
Spain also has similar tactics in the pick-and-roll, but they still rely more on passing and cutting to complete the finish.
In Wang Shuo's eyes, the main reason why the Jazz cannot avoid being flanked when executing Sloan's pick-and-roll is that neither Matthews nor Miles can create problems for their opponents. More pressure.
But this Lakers can.
Because when Kobe is responsible for holding the ball on the court and launching Sloan's pick-and-roll, as long as the opponent's attention is attracted by Kobe, Curry will definitely make every opponent of the Lakers pay the price.
Moreover, the Lakers' interior playmaker is also more top-notch than the Jazz.
Therefore, according to Sloan's pick-and-roll design, when the Lakers perform a second pick-and-roll, Kobe does not necessarily have to launch the attack himself.
Instead, you can choose to hand the ball back to your own interior playmaker, who can be pulled to the wing to cover Curry.
At this time, with the Lakers' continuous off-ball pick-and-rolls and movement dismantling, the opponent's defense is bound to be in chaos.
If the opponent wants to use unlimited defense changes to target the Lakers' off-ball pick-and-roll, then Wang Shuo can directly create opportunities for his own defenders to play small and big on the court based on the changes in Sloan's pick-and-roll.
no doubt.
At this moment, in addition to feeling the legendary coach Sloan's imagination for pick-and-roll tactics...
Wang Shuo also felt the love that Sloan poured into Delong in this set of tactics.
Because if this Jazz team can follow Sloan's vision and be equipped with all the parts needed to launch this tactic...
Deron not only produces better numbers on the court as he wants.
in addition......
In this tactical system, Deron's personal abilities will also be infinitely magnified.
Yes, Sloan did often choose to "suffer one more time and suffer Delong" in the game.
But through this tactical system called the Sloan pick-and-roll...
Wang Shuo discovered that Sloan, who was not good at marketing, actually cared about Delong's feelings more than anyone else.
It is true that the Jazz, located in Utah, cannot provide Deron with more exposure.
But if possible, who says Sloan doesn't want Deron to play better data on the court?
Wang Shuo knows very well that this set theoretically integrates almost all high-level screens in modern basketball, Sloan's pick-and-roll that can maximize the power output of his own defender...
Once it comes out, it will definitely be king.
Especially when this Lakers have both Kobe and Curry!
So today, Sloan might not believe it.
In Wang Shuo's eyes, if the Lakers can win the championship this year, Sloan will definitely be one of the behind-the-scenes heroes for the Lakers to win the championship.
Wang Shuo will not only use this tactic in this year's playoffs, but he is also confident that this Sloan pick-and-roll will become a milestone in modern basketball pick-and-roll tactics.
In March, after tearfully accepting the gift from Sloan, Wang Shuo immediately arranged for the players to conduct a large number of exercises in the Lakers' training session.
On this day, looking at the Lakers players' flawless cooperation on the training field, Mike Malone said with a surprised look on his face: "You are definitely a genius, Wang!
I've been reading this tactic for several days but I still can't think of a way to break it! "
After hearing this, Wang Shuo smiled and said: "Mike, the genius is not me, but Jerry Sloan.
I obviously had a better hand, but I never thought that we still had potential to tap in pick-and-roll tactics. "
Malone shook his head and retorted to Wang Shuo: "I don't deny that Jerry Sloan's tactics are very suitable for us.
But Wang, do you know what is the hardest thing for a head coach? "
Wang Shuo spread his hands.
Malone paused and said: "In my opinion, the most difficult thing for a team's head coach is undoubtedly to think about constantly innovating one's own team while the team continues to achieve success. tactics.
And absorb more tactics from others, digest them, and add them to your own tactical reserves.
Wang, let alone in the field of basketball, even in various competitive sports, I have never seen anyone dare to be like you, who can continue to overthrow those who have helped you achieve success while succeeding one after another. Success theory. "
On the sidelines, Coach Lu also agreed very much with Mike Malone's statement.
Director Lu, who has been studying with Wang Shuo for more than half a year, smiled and said: "If my guess is right, we shouldn't use this tactic in the next regular season, right?"
Wang Shuo nodded and said: "Yes, Tai Lun, I don't want to give our opponents the opportunity to study us."
Although training is training, games are games.
No matter how good a set of tactics is, it must be refined in actual games.
But for Wang Shuo, who has considerable confidence in the quality of the Lakers' training, if possible, he does plan to use Sloan's pick-and-roll in the finals to surprise the Lakers' opponents in the finals.
In March, during the sprint stage of the regular season, while digesting Sloan's pick-and-roll, the Lakers were also harvesting victory after victory on the court like chopping melons and vegetables.
Before the regular season entered the final stage in April, the Lakers led the league with a record of 60 wins and 14 losses.
In April, the NBA officially announced the winners of the major awards in the East and West in March.
Kobe was once again elected Western Conference Player of the Month.
Curry was elected the Western Conference Rookie of the Month for five consecutive months.
This season, "Hook" has become the biggest winner.
Previously, Kobe, who was scolded by Wang Shuo, did not interfere as if he was angry. After he won the dunk king again after 13 years, "Hook" was designed for his new sneakers.
Then......
With the launch of this sneaker with purple gold trim and purple theme that conforms to public aesthetics, the sneaker market immediately gave the most enthusiastic response.
This sneaker, which became a hit immediately after its release, not only made "Hook" a huge profit, but also made Kobe doubt his life.
But I'm not afraid to hurt Kobe when I speak out.
Historically...until Wang Shuo traveled through time, the sneakers whose designs he had changed were not as popular as those that had not been changed by him.
After all, no matter how much you like Kobe...
In terms of Kobe's unique aesthetic, most Kobes have the same understanding as Kobe.
In addition, Curry, who quickly became popular under Wang Shuo, also made "Hook" feel the charm of the "Chosen One".
Under Wang Shuo's suggestion, Curry's series of boots, officially named "Tianxuan", swept the sneaker market in the first half of this year without any suspense.
Even the explosive sneakers launched by Kobe after the dunk contest can only be ranked behind it.
Although this Curry series of boots is promoted with the slogan "Both the Chosen and the Only", its designs are mostly unremarkable.
But feedback from the sneaker market has once again proven...
The reason why classics are classics is precisely because these unremarkable sneaker styles have gone through enough historical tests.
And if nothing else, Curry's "Chosen" series can make everyone feel like they are the only one after wearing it...
Who wouldn’t want to buy themselves a pair after saving some money?
In April, the NBA officially ushered in the final stage of the annual regular season.
With the Knicks already losing momentum for the regular season, as long as the Lakers can win 4 of the last 8 regular season games, they will lock in the 2009/10 regular season championship in advance.
On the 2nd, the Lakers went to Dallas to challenge the Mavericks.
In this game, Kobe, who had never had a good relationship with Ray Allen, successfully dragged this "gentleman's sword" into the realm of blacksmithing.
The two of them combined for only 8 of 38 shots in the game. If you really do it, I won't feel sorry for you, and you shouldn't even think about it.
After successfully winning the championship last year, the Mavericks obviously failed to gain momentum in the regular season this year.
In the game, facing Kidd, Wang Shuo did not hesitate to use the backcourt partnership of Ellis and Curry for most of the game.
As a result, facing this backcourt combination that is the dream of most defenders in the league, Jibu Gong only took five shots throughout the game and hit two of them.
In the end, with the outstanding performances of Ellis and Curry, who scored 28 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 29 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists respectively, the Lakers defeated the Mavericks 123-110 on the road.
On the 4th, the Lakers returned to their home court to face the Spurs.
Last summer, Parker, who was clamoring to leave the team, finally succeeded in getting a four-year contract extension worth nearly $70 million.
This season, the Spurs are performing well and are expected to return to the playoffs.
However, the reason why the Spurs can return to the playoffs...
It's not that Oden, whom Popovich longs for, has fulfilled his talent, but that "God of Love" Love has played close to "20+10" data this season.
In addition, George Hill, whom the Spurs acquired through a trade in the summer of 2008, has gradually grown up this season. The Spurs, who have successfully retained Parker, are expected to return to the playoffs this season.
In fact, Oden has been recovering from his injury since January this year.
Although before the injury, Oden averaged 14.5 points and 8.8 rebounds per game, but compared to Durant, who had already begun to shine among the players in the 2007 class...
Whether Oden can still fulfill his talent has been marked with a huge question mark.
In this game against the Spurs, the Lakers easily won at home.
And after the game, Wang Shuo shook hands with Popovich and gave him his most sincere blessings, hoping that he and his Spurs could reach the playoffs this year.
Unfortunately, in the eyes of Popovich, who had already developed a deadly feud with Wang Shuo, Wang Shuo's blessing was more like a mockery.
So, maybe Popovich can't compete with Wang Shuo in terms of layout?
Because how could he know...
Does Wang Shuo sincerely hope that the Spurs can make the playoffs?
after all......
The Spurs' ability to reach the playoffs means that the Lakers will not encounter too much trouble in the first round of this year's playoffs.
Since this Lakers team has a group of tough men, Wang Shuo is not worried about Popovich daring to play tricks in the game against the Lakers.
Unless, Sima Bobo hopes that the Spurs will always be targeted by the league in the future.
On the 6th and 7th, after defeating the Suns and Hornets successively, the Lakers also officially locked in the 2009/10 regular season championship four games in advance!
Last season in the Western Conference.
From what "Zen Master" said when he left last season, "Even if Wang Shuo comes, he can't save it."
First in the league this season...
Wang Shuo, the god of coaching, has become the idol of all his peers.
The Los Angeles media praised Wang Shuo that day: "This man has made Los Angeles great again!"
…
