Stephen Jackson came with a mission.

This battle between Lake and Horse was highly valued by Popovich.

In fact, before the start of the season, Popovich was not particularly optimistic about the Lakers.

When the Lakers robbed Gasol, Popovich was furious and complained loudly to the media, believing that the Lakers were violating the rules and robbery, and the league should investigate.

Sure enough, the Lakers, who got Gasol, rose rapidly and pressed the Spurs to the ground to rub against each other in 2008.

But this summer, after the Lakers exchanged Nash and Howard, Popovich was quite calm and did not express his opinion on this "robbery" deal.

Logically speaking, the Spurs have been dormant for four or five years since 2008, and have slowed down step by step and started to compete for the championship again.

After their old rival, the Lakers, became older, relied on robbing others' inside line to reorganize the super lineup. Popovich should be furious.

As a result, it was very quiet and said nothing.

The reason is very simple. As the Emperor of Understanding Football, Popovich does not think that the Lakers who are pieced together in this way will have any combat effectiveness.

But Popovich, who has rarely missed his mark in his life, was wrong this time. The Lakers won seven consecutive games at the beginning of the season, and they felt like they were blocking the Spurs again and were blocking the road.

In the last few days before the season started, I finally saw the Thunder destroying the Great Wall, and Popovich was still secretly happy.

But I knew that the Lakers had really achieved good results. His incompetent apprentice Mike Brown was undefeated.

After carefully studying the video of several Lakers' games, Popovich suddenly discovered the key point.

In this somewhat messy lineup of the Lakers, there is one of the team eyes that plays an important role, that is, the No. 28 rookie, Bruce Lee.

It was him who made up for the Lakers' dilapidated outside defense loopholes, it was him who used three-pointers to expand the Lakers' offensive space, and it was him who provided young and enthusiastic firepower, injecting fresh blood into this gorgeous old zombie.

The Spurs actually did the same thing last year. They focused on San Diego State University's Kawyne Leonard, George Hill, who was trained with hard work, exchanged the Pacers for the No. 15 pick and chose the small forward.

This is a carefully designed move by Popovich and Spurs, which is related to the rise and fall of the Spurs for many years in the future.

Why did the Lakers do the same thing? And the cost is terrible and the effect is surprisingly fast.

Is it the Lakers' luck or Kupchek did it intentionally? Popovich didn't know where this kid came from.

Duncan has been watching TWC TV's "Behind the Scenes" program in the past few days. He has been enjoying it and is almost a fan of Bruce Lee.

What's this called?

So in today's game, at the pre-match preparation meeting, Popovich specifically instructed Stephen Jackson to take care of this young man on the defensive end.

Jackson has been in the league for more than ten years, won the championship with the Spurs, played fans with the Pacers, and blacked the Eight Mavericks in the Warriors. His lifelong basketball career is rich and worth it.

In the late stage of his career, Jackson was told to target a rookie player on the opposite side in a regular season game, and he felt a little lost.

There is also his old accomplice Ron Artest on the other side - no, now it is called charity world peace. It is said that he likes this kid very much. If he did it for him a few times, I wonder if he would fight with Ci Shi.

No matter what, Jackson still followed Popovich's instructions and began to compete with Li Liang after the suspension.

At the beginning, Li Liang didn't feel anything. Parker was taken down by Howard with a nail-down hat from the basket by a big hat from the Spurs.

Then the Lakers pushed the counterattack, Du Hong pushed the ball with the ball, and rushed into the inside from the left, attracting most of the Spurs' defensive attention.

Kobe was completely empty on the outside, with 45 degrees on the right, and no one was watching him.

Du Hong made a big diagonal pass, and Kobe took the open space outside the three-point line after receiving the ball!

The ball is in! A stable batch!

21:14, the score difference widened to 7 points.

In this ball, Li Liang stood at the top of the arc, and Jackson had the opportunity to make up for Kobe's defense.

But he would rather watch Li Liang than make up for Kobe, which made Li Liang feel alert.

"Can I say that my defensive appeal is already stronger than Kobe?" Li Liang is even more beautiful.

Don't be complacent, you're all targeted!

Then, the Spurs missed the attack again, and the Lakers failed to hit the counterattack. The Spurs made a counterattack, and Parker made a layup at the basket.

Li Liang followed him back and forth twice, and it was obvious that the offensive rhythm was slowly driven by the Spurs.

Gasol missed a jump shot from a zero angle because Howard was in the inside and he had to always end the attack with a jump shot.

It was Parker who took the ball and then made a fake pick-and-roll with Duncan, and easily hit a middle distance in the bottom corner.

18:21, the Spurs pulled the gap into the gap.

Li Liang was very dissatisfied with the team's offensive rhythm of following the Spurs, and shouted at Kobe: "Slow down, why are you running around?"

Jackson, who was close to Li Liang, was a little confused. What's going on? How dare this kid yell at Kobe?

Kobe hadn't spoken back yet, and he really dribbled the ball slowly over the half, and then handed the ball to Li Liang at the top of the arc, and the Lakers attacked a position.

Jackson studied Li Liang's video before the game and knew that he did not have the ability to hold the ball, so he directly touched his body to defend.

Stance, straighten half of your body, stretch your hands back, and use your torso to push Li Liang's torso.

This is the most annoying close-fitting defense method in one-on-one defense. It compresses the space of the ball holder, which makes people feel very uncomfortable.

Li Liang didn't expect that he would receive such treatment, so he had to pass the ball back to Kobe.

Gasol suddenly hit the outside line, received Kobe's pass, and shot at a mid-range distance of 45 degrees.

The Spurs directly put the ball in, and Popovich called a timeout.

The Spurs' lineup made a slight adjustment, replaced Duncan and Parker, replaced Blair and Neal, and played in the last two minutes of the first quarter.

After returning from the suspension, Li Liang found that he was really targeted, and Jackson was simply unfamiliar with him.

This is the same as when the Spurs use Leonard to stare at Li Liang in the summer league. Knowing that he does not have the ability to attack with the ball, he is always putting someone in front of you.

The Lakers are not the kind of team that is good at running short-handed and has continuous double-screen covers in the interior, and can use tactics to give shooters space to run.

The Lakers have always used the defensive attraction of superstars to attract double-teams to create space for shooters.

In this game, the Spurs do not double-team against Kobe and Howard, and will only assist in defense when necessary.

Not only did Li Liang not have the opportunity to make three-pointers at a free space, when he wanted to support the ball at the top of the arc, Jackson came up to defend himself, which made Li Liang feel very uncomfortable.

After more than three minutes of playing, Li Liang did nothing, but he just took a rebound on the defensive end.

Li Liang quickly realized that it would be a tough game for him.

When performing role players often rely on the pressure from the core of the team.

The core players withstand the pressure and can give role players room to play.

Therefore, a role player scores 20 points in a game and 20 points in a core player, which has a different meaning.

Character players often use fewer shots, but if they are allowed to exchange positions, the results will be absolutely different.

Li Liang's performance in the previous games was somewhat based on Kobe's strong defensive appeal and his opponent's contempt for him.

In this game, the experienced Spurs and Popovich began to pay attention to Li Liang and gave Li Liang eye medicine.

Not only this game, as the Lakers win more and more, the attention is getting higher and higher, Li Liang is becoming more and more famous, and more people are studying him, and he will be targeted more and more times.

But will Li Liang be afraid?

I'm afraid of a hammer!

It doesn’t matter if you don’t shoot three-pointers in close proximity, it doesn’t matter. This is like a defensive end to lose a supporting defense point.

Then, Li Liang can still play his value on the defensive end.

Many players, especially those who have slightly improved offense, will also affect the mood on the defensive end if the offense is not smooth in a certain game.

But Li Liang doesn't, he is very calm.

In the last minute of the first quarter, both Fangbang made irons to each other.

Kobe missed a jump shot, Hill still missed a tip-in after grabbing the frontcourt rebound, and Dio won the backcourt rebound.

At this time, Dior was no longer the slim French magician in the Sun, but a fat No. 4 position.

Maybe those who call it magicians will eventually take this path.

But Dior did not lose his skills. After taking the rebound, he saw Jackson in the frontcourt, and Dior made an accurate long pass!

The ball was about to pass to Jackson, but Li Liang jumped up and intercepted the ball in the air!

Finally I touched the ball again!

In the first quarter, Brown urged him to make his appearance, but he didn't touch the ball, let alone shoot.

Kobe signaled Li Liang to pass the ball to him. There was not much time left in the first quarter, and there were more than 30 seconds left to play one quickly. Then after the Spurs played, they could play one more.

As a result, Li Liang ignored him and did not have the ball in front of him. He dribbled through half the game.

Li Liang's dribble is a bit trembling. In fact, if he is in normal condition, his dribble is better than most amateur players.

But at the NBA stadium, even if there is no one in front of you, the pressure is still very high.

The ball in your hand means the core of the stadium, with the focus on you, your opponents, teammates, and the audience staring at you.

You have to think about what to do next, beware of your opponent's every move, and observe and direct your teammates' next moves.

Therefore, a simple ball possession is not as simple as a few balls.
To be continued...