NBA's King of Talking

Chapter 666 Offense 36, Defense 63

The Lakers' head coach is Frank Vogel, the former Pacers' legendary coach.

Vogel is a defensive coach whose greatest strength lies in utilizing big men. Interestingly, his Pacers nearly defeated the Heat, the team that starred the "Running Man" (a popular Chinese basketball player), and Paul George was his strongest player at the time.

Under Vogel's guidance, Gao Yuanyuan, whose stats were consistently zero, became a pillar of the interior defense. With Gao Yuanyuan in charge, players like the "Running Man" and the "9-point big man" dared not enter the paint, and the "Long-necked Dragon King" was completely overwhelmed. This wasn't solely due to Gao Yuanyuan's efforts; Vogel's role in building the defensive system was crucial.

So even though the Lakers' outside offense was inconsistent last season, their defense remained consistently strong. This allowed them to easily make the Western Conference playoffs despite injuries to Dwight Howard; defense was the cornerstone.

Vogel has never been a particularly outstanding coach in developing offense, which is one of his weaknesses. However, you can't be too harsh on him, since many NBA head coaches have their own strengths and specialize in one area. Specialization isn't necessarily a bad thing. If your offense is weak, I'll find an assistant coach who excels at offense; if your defense is weak, I'll find an assistant coach who excels at defense. This way, the coaching won't be too one-sided.

What's truly worrisome is someone who's bad at both offense and defense, only good at mystical theories and empty platitudes, who's a complete mess on the court and whose pre-game strategy is sloppy—that would be a tragedy...

However, for some teams aiming to win the top draft pick, this kind of mediocre coach is quite good. They can develop rookies, let them grow in a low-key manner, and since they don't care about winning, losing is sometimes a good thing.

It's obvious that the Lakers aren't good at offense, but that doesn't mean their offense is a complete mess. After all, they have three superstars. If their offense lacks a system, they can just play superstar basketball.

Davis received the ball in the low post, and the Clippers double-teamed him. Instead of passing, he attacked directly, drawing a foul from Grant!

When Anthony Davis plays the power forward position, he basically dominates the power forward position in today's small-ball era.

The Lakers continued their offensive onslaught, Davis received the ball and was double-teamed, resulting in a pass to Davis with a blank expression!

With a blank expression, he dribbled the ball, leaned against Paul George, turned around and hit a mid-range shot, making a clean score!

"Frame-by-Frame Jordan," that's really solid!

He's not weak; on the contrary, he's incredibly skilled. He just doesn't play much, which is sometimes frustrating. His overall ability is stronger than Paul George's, but his attendance rate is just too low. Who can stand that?

Clippers on offense, Olynyk still missed a three-pointer!

Long rebound!

Bridges got it!

Bridges wouldn't normally have gotten the ball, but the defender guarding him had already launched a fast break, so... he couldn't very well not take it...

As for why Running Man would start their fast break early, it's simply because he's getting older and needs to start earlier to keep up with the pace...

Sometimes it's like this: offensively, he's 36; fast-break, he's 26; defensively, he's 63...

The Running Man actor has a strong obsession with padding stats. He didn't when he was younger, especially during his time with the Heat; sometimes he genuinely wanted to score 40 points easily. But now that he's older, he knows that without padding, it's hard to achieve those stats. To surpass Jordan's scoring record, he'll seize every opportunity to score. Fast break dunks are the easiest, but the potential risk is that the defense might leave him open…

Bridges was open and took a three-pointer—but missed!

Anthony Davis grabbed the rebound, and the Running Man team was already frantically calling for the ball!

In the NBA, there's no offside rule. If the ball is passed to an open player, the receiver gets an uncontested score – the temptation is simply too great. That's why so many star players can't resist taking those "tough two-pointers" – the sheer allure of scoring when you're unguarded is just too strong!

Anthony Davis makes a long pass to Running Man!

However, Davis's passing accuracy was still somewhat lacking, and Jia Fei anticipated the pass perfectly and intercepted the ball!

The Running Man member shook his head, looking dejected, making him seem quite old; it's surprising he's already needing to achieve such a score. And to be so disappointed at not getting it...

Jia Fei brings the ball over and then distributes it to Richie!

While the Running Man was still slowly getting back on defense, Bridges finally tapped in an open three-pointer!

4-9, the Clippers hit the first three-pointer of the game for both teams!

The referee blew the whistle, and the Lakers called a timeout!

"Teacher Su, Jia Fei played really well as a point guard!" Wang Zixing exclaimed with a smile.

“Yes, he organized the offense very well and controlled his turnovers very well. Sometimes when we evaluate a playmaker, the number of assists is one standard, but we also need to consider the assist-to-turnover ratio. Only a high assist-to-turnover ratio can truly show that he is a steady and experienced playmaker,” Su Qun said.

After the timeout, the Lakers returned to the game and added pick-and-roll plays between the running man and Davis.

The Clippers opted to switch on defense. However, both Davis and the fast break player can attack the basket, and Gasol's presence draws Olynyk out, which to some extent increases the Clippers' risk in protecting the rim.

Gasol's role is tactically crucial for the Lakers. She doesn't need to score a lot of points in a game; she just needs to focus on rim protection and occasional screens. On offense, she can kite the opposing center from the top of the key, drawing them out, without needing to dominate in the low post.

The Clippers' offense was not fluid, and the opposing team's inside and outside defense was very strong. It was really difficult to attack when their outside shooting wasn't falling.

Anthony Davis's presence makes it difficult for the Clippers to easily defeat Gasol; his help defense area is too large. Anthony Davis's defense is also top-notch, and AB is a defensive stalwart. While the Clippers' star player is older, his defensive awareness is excellent, his help defense is solid, and he can draw fouls. Although Gasol is older and slower, his defense in the paint is still outstanding, and he's very reliable on the rim and rebounds.

Although the Clippers were in the lead, the point difference remained within 5 points.

Grant played very well in the first quarter, scoring baskets efficiently, but he still picked up his second foul with a little over six minutes left in the first quarter and was substituted by Lee Kyle.

Anthony Davis's attacks on the paint were too intense, and Grant struggled too much to defend him.

The Lakers' rotation strategy is to first bench the starting lineup and then bring them back in at the end of the first quarter to lead the team's second unit.

The Clippers' second unit was entirely led by Brunson, while stars Jia Fei and Paul George rested during the transitional periods of the game.

Coach Buden had previously considered having Jia Fei or Paul George lead the second unit, but after discussing it with Jia Fei, he decided to give Brunson the ball during that period, giving him the greatest possible autonomy to control the ball, so that having a star player next to him wouldn't make him hesitant.

The two teams entered a battle of rotation lineups, with the Clippers using a 10-man rotation and a five-man bench consisting of Brunson, Hart, Dillon, Lee Kyle, and Hartenstein.

Hartenstein has officially entered the rotation this season, strengthening the team's rebounding and rim protection.