My Name is Kobe Bryant

Chapter 22 Starter and Substitute?

After warm-ups and drills with the ball, Harris assembled the players.

"Guys, now we are divided into two teams and play a 2-quarter training game. Pay attention to the movement scale and don't get injured." The confrontation between the starter and the substitute is a common training method in the NBA.

Usually by comparing the pros and cons of the opposing players, the coach will determine the player's playing time.

Silver Fox Harris already has a starting candidate in mind. First of all, the back line is last year's starting two generals, Nick Van Exel and Eddie Jones. Both players are 25 years old. Nick Van Exel is a 15+7 dribbling and shooting point guard who can make 1.9 three-pointers with a 35.7% shooting rate. Eddie Jones is a 1.98-meter swingman with a stat of 13+3+3 last year.

The small forward is Cedric Ceballos, and Harris' plan is to let him act as the second core of attack besides O'Neal.

Inside position, power forward and center, because O'Neal has not returned to the team yet. Served by Corey Blunt and Eldon Campbell. When O'Neal returns, Corey Blunt will be downgraded, and Campbell and O'Neal will form the twin towers.

This is Silver Fox Harris' favorite starting candidate. All four players started last year and have the experience of winning 53 games in the season. With the addition of an MVP-level player Shaq O'Neal, the paper lineup is perfect.

The back line of the backup lineup consists of two rookies, Fisher and Kobe. Byron Scott is too old. After experiencing the SHOWTIME era, he is about to retire. He is more of a glue in the team. He also intends to develop as an assistant coach.

The backup small forward is Bruce Bowen, who has returned from the European League. He is looking forward to this player who is strongly recommended by Rambis and has a strong immediate combat power.

The substitute insiders will compete among Ben Wallace, Tyrese Knight, and Sean Lukes. The inside competition in this era is fierce, and under intense confrontation, there is a high chance of injury, so Jerry West has stocked up a lot of substitute insiders.

"Beep! The game begins." The assistant coach, Kurt Rambis, acted as the referee.

Eldon Campbell eased past Tyrese Knight for the ball. This well-conditioned insider leads the team's salary, which is second only to O'Neal, at $7 million.

Van Exel held the ball, he firmly controlled the ball and took it across the half. Handed the ball to Eddie Jones at the top of the arc.

Kobe posted it, not wanting to give the versatile shooting guard too much room to attack.

Seeing this, Eddie Jones didn't make a strong hit, and simply stuffed the ball to Ceballos, who was in a low position.

"Haha, it's time for you to see how good I am." Ceballos was a little excited. After catching the ball, he quickly leaned hard, but he didn't feel the force. These newcomers are soft! Turn around and layup.

Wait, where did the ball go?

Ceballos, who had already jumped high, found that the ball in his hand was missing.

It turned out that at the moment of turning his back, Bowen made way sideways and poked the ball out with one hand.

Excellent defense, super anticipation, Silver Fox Harris saw Bowen's defensive quality from this ball.

Kobe kept staring at Ceballos, and he was about to defend against the flanking attack, and he just picked up the ball poked by Bowen. Taking advantage of the trend, he took a step and killed towards the basket on the other side.

Eddie Jones stopped Kobe at the halfway line, and Kobe didn't stick the ball. He raised his hand and passed it to Fisher, who was following up. Fisher was unguarded and made a steady three-step layup to put the ball into the basket.

Nick Van Exel stared at Ceballos, blaming this guy for being intercepted, which made him miss the defensive end. Received the ball, stood at the top of the arc, and called Campbell to step forward for a pick-and-roll.

Van Exel seized the space left by Fisher, made a three-pointer, and the ball crashed into the frame.

Is this the NBA starting level point guard? Fisher was a little upset. The space created by his defense was already very small, but he was still caught.

And in this short moment, Van Exel hit the shot.

"Old fish, post it and force him to break through!" After two rounds, Kobe had found a loophole in the starting team and began to order defensive tactics.

"Their offensive blind spot is Corey Blunt, the 2.06 power forward!"

"Bruce, Ceballos is in your hands. Tyrese, guard the basket. Ben, you have a tough job. I need you to move, get away from Corey Blunt, and start double-teaming opponents in the middle distance. Ball man!"

"Fingering, they don't have players who can organize with the ball, and Divac is gone!" Kobe intends to let Corey Blunt attack, defend the opponent's shots, force them to break through, and drive them to Ben Wallace's flanking attack .

In one-on-one offense and defense, Kobe has many weak points on one side, but when the team's defense rotates, the disadvantage of the opponent's lack of organizational points will be exposed.

Offensive and defensive transition, substitute attack.

Fisher dribbles the ball at the top of the arc, Kobe runs off the ball, they practiced a lot of off-ball moves in the summer, Kobe easily runs out of the open, takes the pass, jumps up, sets the ball out, hits a long shot Mid-range shot.

"Hehehe, cheer up, have you been beaten by these boys?" Ceballos was dissatisfied with his teammates' effortless defense.

Eddie Jones spread his hands, saying that he would take good precautions.

After Van Exel dribbled halfway, he ignored Ceballos, who was yelling at him, and gave the ball to Eddie Jones.

"Eddie, give this high school kid another one."

Kobe lowered his center of gravity and pressed directly against his body. Eddie Jones was forced to stop the ball and pass back to Van Exel to reorganize.

Van Exel knew that there was not much time to attack, so he didn't call a block, and in a disguised form, he had to forcibly break through Fisher.

Fisher followed closely, and Ben Wallace came up on defense. Van Exel had to pass the ball to Eddie Jones, and Eddie Jones forced a jumper under Kobe's defense.

Kobe seized the opportunity to counterattack and scored with one-handed dunks.

"Damn, the defense of these rookies is really disgusting." Van Exel was limited in height, and after double-teaming, he was completely unable to find open players and passed high-quality balls.

The consecutive misses made the players a little impatient, and Van Exel passed the ball to the yelling Ceballos.

Ceballos' turnaround jumper was once again interfered by Bowen and missed!

The substitute team hit consecutive defensive counterattacks, and they, who fell into position, could also rely on Kobe's off-ball movement to maintain a good shooting rate.

The starting lineup looks luxurious, but it is defended to death. Van Exel was stuck close to Fisher and couldn't get a comfortable shooting space at all. After breaking through, facing Ben Wallace's double-team, passing or forcing shots were extremely inefficient.

Under Kobe's defense, Eddie Jones couldn't guarantee his shooting percentage at all. He made 1 of 4 shots and also contributed a turnover.

Ceballos is the worst. Originally, he only had the basket in his eyes, and he made consecutive mistakes after facing the defense of Bowen and Ben Wallace. He just finished his holiday, and his physical condition is extremely poor, and his fat body seems to be wriggling on the offensive end.

The inside starters are dominant here, but the ball is all controlled by the outside teammates. Elden Campbell and Corey Blunt only got a handful of offensive opportunities.

After the first quarter, 24:19. The bench led by Kobe took a 5-point advantage.

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