Reborn as Kobe

Chapter 43: End of regular season

   At the beginning of the second quarter, the bench players from both sides were playing. The Lakers played by Van Exel with Byron Scott, Jerome Corsi, Sean Lukes and Corey Blunt. In fact, the Lakers team can attack only one Van Exel, and Harris values ​​defense.

  Except for Stockton, the Jazz are still on the court, and the others are also substitutes.

   The two teams played defensive tactics, and the two sides kept hitting iron. The scene was ugly.

   After about four and a half minutes, when the main players from both sides played, the score was 28:29, and the home team Lakers only led by one point.

   After Kobe came on the field, he immediately accelerated the passing speed. O'Neal became the Stoudemire of the Suns in the future, and it was still an enhanced version. The two kept pick-and-roll and cut, and the Jazz defense was instantly shattered. Can you imagine a heavy tank running rampant on the track like a sports car? Under the guidance of Kobe, O'Neal flew to the sky and escaped, simply omnipotent.

   In addition to Malone's ability to keep up with O'Neal inside the Jazz, Ostertag is completely abolished. The defense could not be expanded, and O'Neal was knocked into the basket twice, and the shortcomings of Ostertag's slow pace were fully revealed.

   Sloan called two consecutive timeouts and couldn't stop the Lakers. The Lakers team had gone crazy under the organization of Kobe. At the end of the second quarter, the Lakers had opened their gap with the Jazz 49 to 38.

   Harris is quite dissatisfied with the running and bombing tactics led by Kobe, which means that he has lost control of the team. Harris' approach to stability can't be said to be wrong, but Kobe has a different approach from him. One focuses on defense and the other likes offense. But now the Lakers have a good form on the court, Harris is not a brainless person, he can only suppress his unhappiness and try his best to adjust the Lakers' defense.

   Relying on the advantage of running and bombing tactics, the Lakers firmly controlled the situation in the second half. At the end of the third quarter, the score was 58:82, and the Lakers had a big lead.

In the final quarter, O'Neal and Kobe took a rest. The other Lakers players once again formed positions with the Jazz under the command of Harris. The Jazz wanted to chase points but fell into a defensive circle. With two minutes left in the game, the Jazz still trailed by 18 points. , The game also enters garbage time.

   When the whistle sounded at the end of the game, the score was 88:110. The Lakers won two consecutive victories after O'Neal and Kobe returned.

   Van Exel had 29 points, 2 rebounds and 4 assists, and made 4 three-pointers. The Lakers scored the most. O'Neal only played less than 30 minutes, shooting 9 of 16 shots, 2 of 6 free throws, scoring 20 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 blocks. His performance was very efficient.

   Kobe made 8 of 15 shots, 4 of 4 free throws, 3 of 5 three-pointers, 23 points, 4 rebounds and 12 assists.

   For the Jazz, Malone scored a game-high 32 points and 11 rebounds. Stockton had 18 points and 13 assists.

   Magic Johnson said excitedly when summing up the game: "Kobe and O'Neal performed great in the second and third quarters, much like me and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar at their peak. It is simply unstoppable.

   The strong dialogue did not expect it to be like this. The Lakers also used this game to stabilize their first position in the Western Conference. After the game, the Lakers attracted many media interviews.

   At the press conference, the reporter asked O'Neal: "You behaved very differently in the second quarter of this game. How did you feel about that period?"

   "Awesome, this feeling of crushing everything is my favorite way to play."

   The reporter asked Harris: "What made you make such an offensive adjustment? We found that the Lakers actually played a variety of tactics in this game. How did you make the team do it?"

Harris immediately thought of Kobe, which made him feel like he was crushed by a huge stone, but he still squeezed out a smile and said: "My coaching team is great, my players are great, of course I am not bad, all Everything has made today's glory."

   There was a burst of laughter from the audience, and everyone who did not know the reason gave Harris a warm applause.

   Colleagues who are familiar with Harris' style naturally know that everything is not what it says on the surface. For those competitors who are aspiring to the championship, such as Phil Jackson and Sloan, they naturally find ways to give the Lakers eye medicine in the media.

   The next day, many media directed public opinion to Kobe.

   Sloan said to a reporter from the New York Times: "Kobe can be called a conductor on the field, Harris can sleep as long as he is sent to the court. This is a player that any coach can dream of."

Phil Jackson also commented on the Chicago Tribune: "Kobe’s basketball wisdom is not only reflected on the court, but off the court, I think he has also subtly changed the team. He is like Michael now, and he doesn’t need the coach to say anything. Know what to do."

   "I am willing to trade for Kobe with all the Heat players except Mourning. If Jerry wants to talk, I can also catch the first round of next year and the following year." Pat Riley declared.

Kobe is really depressed. He found that the entire league began to be full of malice towards him. In an interview, Kobe said: "I can have today’s achievements, I can’t do without coaches and teammates. The Lakers can have today, and it’s also Del The result of Mr. Harris’ hard work."

   Despite Kobe's many explanations in the media, he has almost stopped communicating with Harris recently.

   Corbiso left his own way, anyway, he tried his best to say what he should do, and there is no way for others to think about him. Unrecruiting is mediocre, and Kobe can now fully understand the meaning of this sentence.

   On April 17, the Lakers beat the Kings 114 to 78 at home.

   O'Neal feels hot, scoring 32 points, 11 rebounds and 2 blocks in 30 minutes.

   Six Lakers scored in double figures. In this game, Kobe scored 18 points and 16 assists. Harris was replaced by Harris with five minutes left in the third quarter. At this time, the game has entered garbage time.

   On April 18th, the Lakers slaughtered their city rivals the Clippers 123 to 90.

   The fast-food outside line was collectively misfired by the Lakers' defense, and the inside line was also very miserable by O'Neal.

   In this game, Kobe scored 14 points and 15 assists.

   Everyone can see that Harris is deliberately targeting Kobe. He thinks that the regular season is about to end. If Kobe cares about the data, he should take the initiative to look for him, so that he can use Kobe and let Kobe play the game according to his ideas.

   Harris always thinks that he trained Kobe, and Kobe is just a rookie no matter how good he plays. As for O'Neal, Harris is afraid to target, after all, O'Neal is already the league's top star. The soaring performance of the Lakers this season has made Harris somewhat airy. UU Reading www.uukanshu.com. He believes that the Lakers must be biased between Kobe and him, and Jerry West, who knows everything in his eyes, has begun to look for a coach for next season.

   On April 20, the last game of the regular season, the Lakers beat the Trail Blazers 102:100 away.

   In this game, Harris still played defensive tactics against opponents in the first quarter. When Kobe started to lead the team in the second quarter, he was replaced by Harris in less than three minutes. When the fourth quarter began, when the Lakers were still unable to effectively launch the offense and were behind by more than ten points, O'Neal finally broke out.

   "Del, I don't care what you think, either replace me or let Bryant play."

  O'Neal's cold eyes at the time almost suffocated Harris. Only then did he realize that the Lakers had begun to get tired of him. This also made him extremely regretful that he should not be treated so rudely to Kobe, but it was done.

   After Kobe played, he first organized the team to play Princeton at the fourth position, and then led the team at the first position. The Blazers were finally destroyed by the Lakers.

   Trailblazers head coach P-J-Callesimo replied to reporters after the game: "I almost thought we were in hell. He (Kobe) is terrible."

   Although Kobe scored only 6 points in this game, he sent 16 assists.

In the final 1996-97 season rankings, in the Eastern Conference, the Bulls ranked first in the Eastern Conference with 69 wins and 13 losses, and the Heat ranked second with 61 wins and 21 losses, followed by the Knicks, Hawks, Pistons, Hornets, Magic and Bullets. In the Western Conference, the Lakers ranked first in the Western Conference with 66 wins and 16 losses. The Jazz ranked second with two losses, followed by the Rockets, Sonics, Trail Blazers, Timberwolves, Suns and Clippers.