The Lakers' Big Three Still Have a Long Way to Go

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Kobe has never partnered with a superstar point guard in his career. The point guard he has played with the longest is Derek Fisher. Although he did team up with the best point guard, Jason Kidd, in the past two years, by then, Kidd was nearing the end of his career, and his tactical state and peak period were completely different.

But Chris Paul is different. Even at Kidd's best, he never had a ball possession rate as high as Paul's. It's not that Kidd couldn't organize and coordinate his teammates' offense; his own offensive abilities were simply quite limited. He essentially had no independent offensive capability.

Paul, on the other hand, was different. Before coming to the Lakers, Paul averaged 20+10 points per game for two seasons. Last season, he averaged 18.7 points and 10.7 assists per game, which wasn't low either.

To capture both offensive scoring and organizational support, it's inevitable to concentrate the ball rights in his hands. In other words, Paul has a "big-core, ball-dominant" playstyle, which is a style James excels at as well.

Although Paul's ball possession rate isn't as exaggerated as James's, it is certainly not low. Among all point guards, he is one of the best in this regard.

But in this way, Kobe felt a bit uncomfortable. After all, his playstyle also requires the ball.

In the previous triangle offense system, Kobe, as the finishing point of the offense, didn't need to hold the ball, as long as he took the last shot.

But, in reality, Kobe was more accustomed to holding the ball and working alone, rather than running the triangle offense as per the script.

Here's a small trivia: in recent years, Kobe's usage rate has been at the forefront of the league. Last season, he ranked second in the league after Wang Chong. So, there's no doubt that Kobe is a player who doesn't need the ball to make an impact.

However, Paul and Howard had just arrived, and although Kobe felt a little uncomfortable, the two worked together very effectively. They had a tough battle with the Bulls, so Kobe didn't have to take over the offense.

However, as the game progressed, the Bulls' powerful offensive force began to overwhelm the Lakers.

No matter how successful the pick-and-roll tactics were, their efficiency had limitations. Usually, teams that mainly rely on pick-and-roll offense will use absolute defensive intensity to ensure victory—this is the well-known devastating double combo of Utah.

Of course, Howard and Paul's defense wasn't bad. Both are defensive masters who have been selected to the All-Defensive Team for several consecutive years. However, the offensive firepower of the Bulls came mainly from Wang Chong, who was truly impossible to defend. And Gasol, too, had the ability to hit mid-range shots when stepping out, forcing Howard to follow him to avoid giving up open shots.

This is also the disadvantage of the super centers in the small-ball era. No matter how strong your defensive skills in the paint are, what's the point? As long as there's a great interior player who can shoot, your defensive dominance in the paint will be significantly weakened.

Seeing that Paul and Howard's pick-and-roll style seemed incapable of taking the initiative on the court, Kobe couldn't just stand by.

"Alright, if not, I'll do it!"

In the following possessions, Kobe started playing his own style: holding the ball and working solo.

At that moment, the Bulls' starting shooting guard, Billups, had been substituted, and Danny Green entered.

In his third season, Danny Green had made significant progress in strength. After all, the 2011-12 season was Danny Green's breakout year. After joining the Spurs, he averaged 9 points and 3.5 rebounds per game, becoming an important rotational player for the Spurs.

In the Bulls, Danny Green was also re-utilized in the first two seasons, and his rate of growth far surpassed his former self.

As soon as they made contact, Kobe felt a slight chill in his heart.

"This kid has some defensive skills…"

Experts will know immediately when they take action.

Kobe could clearly feel the defensive pressure from Green. The opponent was no ordinary player.

But... so what?

Not to mention Danny Green, even if it were Jordan in front of him, Kobe never backed down, and he even embraced the challenge.

Dribbling to the free-throw line, Kobe faked and took a jumper.

Green's defense was timely, but Kobe had a great touch and consistently scored against Green's defense.

It was a pity… This was the only successful shot Kobe made after several attempts. On subsequent attacks, everyone heard the sound of the ball clanging off the rim.

Paul watched helplessly from the side, his face turning green.

As the point guard—the brain and engine of the team—it was more uncomfortable for Paul to watch someone shoot so uselessly than if they had just lost.

But this is Kobe. He's one of those players who, the harder it gets, the more he feels the need to shoot. When he was younger, he could make his shots smoother. After missing 10 straight field goals, he could still turn it around and hit 8 out of 18 field goals, changing the course of the game.

But at the end of his career, Kobe often fought until the end without a way back.

Kobe continued to attack, but the Bulls wouldn't go easy on him. The classic pick-and-roll cooperation between Wang Chong and Curry resulted in consecutive scores, expanding the point difference to over 15 points.

The Lakers had to call a timeout.

The local Lakers fans were a bit confused.

What's happening? This isn't how the storyline should go. With their Big Three, the Lakers should have taken the initiative on the court, easily beating the Bulls and announcing their arrival to the whole league.

Why were the Bulls already suppressing the team unilaterally before halftime?

Basketball commentators had a much clearer view.

In the TNT TV studio, Barkley shook his head. "The Lakers are facing the same problem as the Heat last season. This is a completely new team. There is no tacit understanding between the key players, and the team hasn't adapted to the Big Three's system. They basically play independently. On the court, to fight, they rely on individual skills to score."

"It's true that the individual skills of the Big Three alone are enough to defeat more than 80% of the teams in the league, but that definitely doesn't include the Bulls. Wang Chong and his Bulls are just too strong."

"Shaq, what do you think?"

This year, TNT introduced a new commentator—recently retired superstar Shaquille O'Neal.

As a player who played for both the Bulls and the Lakers and won championships with both teams, O'Neal had a lot to say.

"The first thing the Lakers need to solve now is who will be the core of the team. Howard doesn't need to think about that, but it should be determined whether Kobe or Paul will be the core. Right now, the two are basically in a 'no cooperation' situation. Paul can still cooperate with other players with his ability to organize and pass, but Kobe is completely alone."

The animosity between O'Neal and Kobe is no secret in the league. Although Stern once planned a wave of laughs and hate in a previous All-Star Game, allowing O'Neal and Kobe to share the All-Star MVP trophy, it became a scandal in the league. It was a cute moment, but everyone knew it was just a joke. How can such a grudge be resolved so easily?

So O'Neal didn't hold back and said directly: "If I were Kobe, I'd delegate the power to Paul, because he's younger, more energetic, and has more development potential. Even when considering the Lakers' future development, it's obvious that Paul is more suitable."

"Also, the failures in the finals in recent years have fully proven that Kobe will never defeat Wang Chong in terms of scoring positioning. If they continue to use the same old style of play from the past, what awaits the Lakers is still failure."

Barkley smirked and asked without taking it too seriously: "Kobe now has four championships, and you now have six. Do you think with the current Lakers lineup, Kobe has a chance of winning two more championships before retiring? Will he catch up to me?"

O'Neal made a face.

"Catch up to me? When did player strength start to be measured only by the number of championships? Then Robert Horry still has seven championships. Does that mean Horry is better than Jordan? When did Kobe get his own FMVP in the Finals? Let's say that again."

Hoo! Very aggressive.

The story in the studio is just an interlude; back to the game.

After the timeout, Kobe calmed down a little. Although he was very upset, Kobe also understood that winning the game was more important.

After all, people change, and even someone as paranoid as Kobe Bryant will change.

Kobe's current situation is really different from his original situation. Because of Wang Chong, the two consecutive championships that once marked the peak of his career were wiped away, replaced by three consecutive losses in the finals.

You can imagine how unwilling and humiliating it must have been for someone as proud and arrogant as Kobe to lose miserably to Wang Chong three times in a row in the finals.

Unknowingly, Kobe also celebrated his 33rd birthday. He had reached the end of his career, but so far, aside from a regular-season MVP, he still hadn't won any other major honors.

Though he has four championships, all of those were won with O'Neal, and at best, he was just second in command.

Now, he was eager to win a championship as the leader and earn an FMVP, and he could bear it even if he had to make some concessions.

After returning to the court, Kobe no longer played solo; instead, he handed the ball to Paul. The Lakers' offense finally began to run smoothly, but due to the large point difference, the Lakers were still at a disadvantage and had to work hard to catch up.

However, the ball possession by Paul only brought the Lakers' offense back to normal, and that didn't mean the Bulls' offense had stalled.

With both sides constantly improving their scores, the point difference of 15 never came down.

Whenever the Lakers had a little momentum to catch up, the Bulls immediately counterattacked fiercely and regained their point advantage.

The point difference lasted until the final quarter and never recovered.

107:98, the Bulls finally won the game on the Lakers' home court with a 9-point lead, giving the Big Three of the Lakers their first loss of the season.

The Big Three of the Lakers actually played very well—Paul scored 18 points and 12 assists, Howard scored 21 points and 14 rebounds. Kobe Bryant had a slightly worse performance, hitting 7 of 19 shots for only 36.8%. He made 8 out of 9 free throws, finally scoring 22 points.

Obviously, this kind of performance wasn't enough to help the Lakers beat the Bulls.

For the Bulls, only Wang Chong scored 42 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 assists. Although no one else scored more than 20 points except Wang Chong, Curry, Garnett, Gasol, and others averaged double figures, winning the game was naturally easy.

Local Lakers fans were somewhat disappointed with the result. After all, they had been waiting for the Big Three of the Lakers for a long time. They didn't expect to lose in the first regular-season game. Their opponents were the Bulls, the team that had won four consecutive championships.

Because this also meant that the Lakers, just like the Heat last season, even if they had a Big Three lineup, still needed time to gel and find an appropriate set of tactics for their current roster.

At the same time, Kobe finally seemed to be at a disadvantage in his competition with Wang Chong.

In recent years, although Wang Chong had always dominated the league's leading scorer, the gap between Kobe and Wang Chong wasn't that big. Kobe had always ranked among the top five, or even top three, in scoring.

But at least in this game, Kobe and Wang Chong seemed to be players from completely different levels. Compared to Wang Chong, who had explosive scoring ability and was unstoppable, Kobe showed fatigue on the court and struggled even against Danny Green on the offensive end.

At this moment, Lakers fans still didn't know that Green was no longer the transparent player he had been for the Bulls in the past two seasons. Even if his defensive capabilities weren't at the top of the league, he was definitely at the forefront. He was no longer so easy to deal with.

The Bulls, after defeating the Lakers, continued their super dominance in the regular season in recent years.

On December 26, they defeated the Golden State Warriors 112:99 in an away game.

On December 29, they defeated the Sacramento Kings 108:101 in another away game.

On January 1, they defeated the Memphis Grizzlies 104:64 at home, winning 40 points and marking the first five consecutive victories, leading the league in record.

This wasn't over. The Bulls' early-season opponents were generally of average strength. Aside from the Lakers in the season opener, there were hardly any playoff-caliber teams.

On January 3, the Bulls started their second string of playoff teams, defeating the Atlanta Hawks 97:74 away, followed by two consecutive away games against the Detroit Pistons and Orlando Magic.

The Pistons were no longer the same Pistons as before, so they weren't even worth mentioning.

After losing Howard, the Magic instantly fell from one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference to last place. Although they did get another promising center, Andrew Bynum, and two first-round picks, Bynum and Howard just weren't good enough. They couldn't dominate the defensive wing like Howard did in the paint.

This directly led to the collapse of the Magic's tactical system, and their strength plummeted. Before the game against the Bulls, they had a record of just 1 win and 6 losses, ranking at the bottom of the Eastern Conference, alongside the Cavaliers, Bobcats, and Wizards.

Defeating the Magic gave the Bulls an 8-game winning streak. Then, on January 7, they lost to the Hawks in an away game, suffering their first loss of the new season.

The Bulls had just defeated the Hawks a few days ago. Their opponent could not organize an effective counterattack against the Bulls. However, within just a few days, the Bulls suffered another loss.

What worried Wang Chong the most happened.

Injuries are coming!

End of this chapter

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