James Posey was stunned!
He thought he could defend against Li Ao's mediocre basket attack, but instead the opponent took an unusual approach, pulling onions from dry land and hitting the frame directly.
At that moment, he felt unparalleled power, and his pressure and defense seemed to cheer up the opponent.
Not to mention the opponents, even the teammates didn't expect their Spider-Man to be so powerful.
Odom, who got the assist easily, celebrated excitedly with Li Ao who rushed out.
Li Ao was also very excited. The skill 'Shark' was finally used in actual combat.
If he relies on this to become a higher threat in the interior, it will be of great help to his main scoring method and the team's offense.
Offensive and defensive transition, the Clippers' defensive enthusiasm is overwhelming!
Such a dunk is much more effective in boosting morale than the 'Pumper Level 1', and it's a 'goal', so the two effects are superimposed!
McDyess attacked O'Neal from close range, but O'Neal interfered with his one-on-one defense!
McDyess was very surprised. It had only been a month, and this high school student's defense had improved so much!
It has been a month since the last time the two met. With more than a dozen games of actual combat training, O'Neal Jr. has made great progress on the defensive end, mainly in terms of actual combat experience.
Not many people paid attention to this in the first 6 games, because in the first 6 games, the opponents were either Malone and O'Neal who could not be guarded, or Mutombo who was not responsible for offense. They beat the Grizzlies and Rockets. The team's defensive performance is excellent, but the two opponents Olajuwon and Bryant Levis are now old and useless, and no one thinks they are very good at defending.
Now it is no longer possible for McDyess to dunk past Jermaine O'Neal with a fake move like in the first game of the preseason.
Odom collected the defensive rebound and switched offense and defense. Li Ao repeated his old tricks and wanted to have another fun, but after using the screen on the wing, he was flanked by James Posey and LaFrentz.
Cursing, "This top pick actually gets this kind of treatment", Li Ao passed the ball to O'Neal who moved one step inside the free throw line. LaFrentz moved quickly...back to the basket, O'Neal made a close jump shot from the front of the basket!
Li Ao was a little dumbfounded. He didn't notice it during the last match, but now he discovered that LaFrentz is indeed the third most efficient player in blocking shots. He is really a talent in the field of blocking shots. How can he not leave the basket without leaving it?
The Clippers had a smooth start tonight, and Li Ao unexpectedly opened up the situation with a dunk that was beyond everyone's expectations.
Although LaFrentz doesn't care if the team can defend him, he doesn't want the basket he protects to be dunked like that. He is determined not to let Li Ao get into the basket and have a one-on-one with the outside. Playing with Li Ao and telling stories inside.
This makes the Nuggets' defensive cooperation around McDyess, James Posey, and Woshan Leonard completely unplayable.
The Nuggets also encountered difficulties on the offensive end. O'Neal's one-on-one defense intensity in the low post area was beyond the Nuggets' expectations, and the regular offense launched by McDyess was frustrated.
If it weren't for Van Exel's mid-to-long-range shot, the Nuggets almost collapsed at the start!
Van Exel is a player who, although his shooting percentage is not very good, dares to throw.
Moreover, breakthroughs require both speed and skill. Li Ao couldn't prevent the breakthrough. McGinnis and Big Q, who came on the bench, were able to limit Van Exel's breakthrough. However, Van Exel's outside retreat jumper, lateral jumper, emergency Both stop and jump shots are excellent.
As long as Van Exel feels good, Payton will be autistic.
The key is that he is not stingy about passing the ball. He will take out the ball when he is flanked. His ball holding rate is not as excessive as his style of play seems. Although 28% is not low, it is already low compared with players who are really sticky to the ball. Yes.
Random shot selection and poor defense are his fatal flaws. The Lakers would rather use veteran Ron Harper and Fisher, who has no independent scoring ability, than him, but he is really good when he is soaring.
At the end of the first quarter, the Clippers scored 29 points. Li Ao and O'Neal opened the situation at close range. O'Neal scored the second-highest 8 points in the game. The Clippers rotated 8 players in the first quarter, and everyone scored.
The Nuggets relied on Van Exel's 11 points and 3 assists to score 23 points in a single quarter and bite the score.
In the second quarter, the Clippers made great progress, scoring 30-24, leading the Nuggets by 12 points 59-47 entering the second half.
Just when the Clippers thought they had a chance to win, the Nuggets showed what they should be like as a playoff-level team.
In the third quarter, the Nuggets head coach boldly abandoned LaFrentz, who had blocked 5 shots in the half but turned the close range into the opponent's back garden, and used Gion Clark to protect the frame.
McDyess no longer guards Odom, but stays in the mid-range and short range. The one to guard Odom becomes James Posey, and the 33-year-old veteran and former three-point champion George McLeod guards Li Ao. .
The Nuggets' defense was similar to a zone defense, catching the Clippers off guard.
The Clippers' three-point shooting was not good to begin with. Piakowsky's performance fell apart after he stepped up his defensive intensity, and Big Q had nothing to do with him.
The Clippers were defended and only scored 20 points in the third quarter!
Fortunately, the Nuggets made such major adjustments to their play style and their offense slowed down, scoring only 21 points. The Clippers still entered the final quarter with an 11-point lead.
In the last quarter, the Nuggets took the lead in finding their offensive rhythm. They scored 15 to 9 in the first half of the quarter, narrowing the point difference to 5 points in one fell swoop!
In the second half of the final quarter, the Nuggets continued to show off their offensive power, but Li Ao scored two consecutive mid-range shots for the Clippers to open up the situation. Under Li Ao's restraint, Odom continuously entered the inside and caused damage.
During this period, the two teams were inseparable, with the Nuggets scoring 12 points and the Clippers scoring 10 points.
At 11 minutes and 11 seconds, the Clippers led the Nuggets by 3 points, 98-95.
At the critical moment, O'Neal Jr. first gave a big block to Van Exel who rushed in. McDyess, who grabbed the offensive rebound, made a second attack and was blocked by the shrinking Li Ao.
This time Big Q protected the defensive rebound.
In the transition between offense and defense, Greg Anthony and Odom broke through the pick-and-roll to launch an attack. Odom split the ball and cut in to receive the ball. He passed the ball to Li Ao on the right side of the three-second zone. Li Ao suddenly stopped to catch the ball and turned around to face the defender. James Posey's mid-range shot...hit!
The point difference widened to 5 points, with 17 seconds left, and the Clippers secured the victory!
In the Nuggets' last attack, Li Ao went to the top of the arc to guard against Axel.
Crazy Fan broke through and Li Ao couldn't guard it, but he was sure that Van Exel would catch the ball and throw it directly. He seized the opportunity and made a big shot to end the game.
O'Neal Jr. scored 24 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 blocks, Li Ao had 18 points, 3 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals and 4 blocks, Odom had 16 points, 13 rebounds and 6 assists, beating McDyess with 19 points and 13 rebounds, and 12 points and 8 rebounds. LaFrentz had 5 blocks, and Van Exel had 36 points and 7 assists.
100 to 95, the Clippers defeated the Nuggets and improved their record to 5 wins and 2 losses!
…
O'Neal Jr. scored a career-high 24 points against the Nuggets Twin Towers, which was very surprising.
The last time he scored 20+ in a single game was in the 1997-98 season.
That game was very interesting. That year the Trail Blazers were not a 'center graveyard', but a 'peripheral hell'. In that game, the Trail Blazers had only 3 players left in three positions on the outside due to injuries, and only 8 players in the team could play. Rasheed Wallace was pulled to play small forward, and O'Neal Jr. got his first starting opportunity in his career.
Tianzun made 4 of 6 three-pointers that night. Sabonis assisted at the free throw line, leaving a big basket for O'Neal. He went crazy and scored 21 points on 9 of 12 shots.
But good luck doesn't come often. In the next two years, O'Neal had no chance to perform at all. The shortened season was the worst. His highest score in a single game that season was 9 points.
The media's reporting style remains the same.
When Malone, O'Neal, and Mutombo were beaten in front of him, O'Neal Jr. was ridiculed.
Now he has 24+10, and he praised O'Neal Jr. for his talent. Although he wasted several years, he still succeeded.
Li Ao read the newspaper purely for fun.
But thinking about O'Neal being submissive to Ma Long and punching an opponent who is thinner and shorter than him... it seems a bit bullying.
Technical aspects can be corrected by finding ways, and mentality can also be adjusted.
But there is no problem with O'Neal's technical development. Although he is not strong enough, he can play hard inside, shoot at mid-range and short range, he is also active in offensive rebounds, and his defense is tough enough.
There is nothing wrong with his mentality. It can be seen that O'Neal is very ambitious and wants to compete for the core position of the team. He plays actively and trains hard.
But O'Neal's character problem is really unsolvable.
But Li Ao didn't dwell on this matter. Teammates always have advantages and disadvantages. Even players like O'Neal and Kobe have many shortcomings.
He just has very high expectations for O'Neal, a talented high school student, so he pays extra attention.
After playing the Nuggets, the Clippers flew back to Los Angeles early the next morning, rested all afternoon, and faced the challenge of the Mavericks in back-to-back home games at 9 p.m.
Li Ao finally realized the feeling of a weak team having no human rights.
Back-to-back home and away games, first a fringe playoff opponent, and then another 50-win opponent.
Moreover, this is a back-to-back series of 4 games in 5 days!
Although most of their players are young and had no problems yesterday, the Clippers and Nuggets fought hard until the last moment last night, which was a lot of consumption and hard work, plus the original strength gap is huge...
Li Ao made 9 of 24 shots tonight and scored 23 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks.
Odom also only scored 10 points, 8 rebounds and 2 assists on 4 of 12 shots.
However, O'Neal Jr. became more assertive again. Facing Sean Bradley and Nowitzki, he frequently made tip-ins and scored 18 points and 14 rebounds.
But apart from the three of them, no one else on the Clippers scored more than 5 points.
Gentry tried every player, and in the last game of 4 games in 5 days, no one worked.
In the end, the Clippers defeated the Mavericks 79-100.
Nowitzki scored a game-high 26 points, and Nash scored 13 points and 9 assists.
This season, Nowitzki and Nash have both evolved.
Nowitzki has jumped from averaging 17+ per game last season to becoming a first-line scorer averaging 20+ per game.
After Nash seized the opportunity to average 12+6 per game in the second half of last season, he was reused this season and secured his starting position, averaging 14+7 per game.
These two people gave Li Ao a reminder - if you want to be strong, you must first be able to endure it!
However, his idea of getting to know the future superstar who looked exactly like the Supreme Laojun boy came to nothing.
After losing, and losing so miserably, it was a bit embarrassing to get to know the opponent's star player at this time.
However, Gentry is quite satisfied with Li Ao's performance.
Just throw it away!
And he can see that Li Ao has been looking for better shooting opportunities and has been improving.
As for the record of 5 wins and 2 losses turning into 5 wins and 3 losses, he didn't think he could stay in the top eight in the Western Conference for a long time.
They won 15 games last season. If they can win 30 games this season, it will be considered a success.
…
After playing four games in five days, the Clippers got two days of valuable rest.
The Clippers have not scheduled training for the past two days to allow the players to have a good rest.
Li Ao was not idle. Early the next morning, he came to the Memorial Stadium to train with his old teammates.
He also participated in the Trojans' morning preparations the next day.
In the evening, at 6 o'clock in the evening on November 15, 2000, Li Ao, Vivian, Liam, Dean Teng and others came to the main stadium of the Memorial Stadium and participated in the championship flag-raising ceremony.
But he came here tonight not just to attend the flag-raising ceremony.
After the flag-raising ceremony, Dean Teng raised the No. 0 jersey for Li Ao on behalf of the USC Board of Trustees!
The No. 0 jersey Li Ao wore during his college basketball career will fly over the home court of the Trojans together with the championship flag!
(End of chapter)
