Mountain Peak System: a Path to NBA-Chapter 570 - 189 He Has Already Entered "The Zone" (Only 1 update today!)_2
However...
This skill has long been James’ weakness.
James is very convinced that he can completely use his speed and physical advantage to overpower Odom like Qin Yue does.
But he cannot punish the Lakers’ defense with a stable stop-and-pop jumper like Qin Yue can.
James knows very well that, except for those nights when he seems divinely inspired, his pull-up jump shots have always punished his teammates.
Contrary to what many of his critics imagine.
In fact, James has always been a player who is very good at summarizing his own strengths and weaknesses.
After all, if James really didn’t know about his shortcomings in pull-up shooting, how could he often opt to jump and pass halfway through a drive?
In later years, as a representative figure of pragmatic basketball and utilitarianism, capitalizing on strengths, avoiding weaknesses, or traveling off-peak...
In short, you can question everything about James.
But you cannot question that James is a player who is good at utilizing his strengths and creating easy scoring opportunities for himself to earn those so-called simple points.
Back to Lakers’ possession.
Kobe, who specifically practiced his three-point shooting before the game, raised his hand and hit a shot against Wallace’s defense.
Kobe’s three-point shooting has always been famously unstable.
But on this night, Kobe’s assertive shooting from the outside revived Qin Yue’s long-dead memories.
If Qin Yue remembers correctly, historically, this season, Kobe had quite a decent three-point shooting percentage right until the Finals.
Especially in that Western Conference Finals series against the Phoenix Suns.
Kobe, with a three-point shooting percentage of 43%, was not only incredibly accurate but also averaged more than 7 attempts per game.
Qin Yue knows that to effectively lower Kobe’s three-point shooting percentage, the Warriors must first switch from zone defense to man-to-man.
Because in the zone defense system, with Big Gasol orchestrating from the center, the Lakers always found opportunities to create three-point shots for their perimeter players.
The reason why the Warriors insisted on zone defense in the previous three games was because, apart from Battier, the Lakers didn’t have other stable three-point shooters.
But now, as Kobe hit another three in the next possession, this Mamba, the first to strike, has brought the Warriors to the point where they need to change their defense.
Seeing this, Qin Yue immediately signaled to the other players on court with his eyes.
Qin Yue understands his old rival.
He won’t gamble on Kobe missing those threes. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢
Nor will he gamble on Kobe not daring to shoot from the perimeter against the Warriors’ zone defense all night long.
Because since he could break the NBA single-game three-point record in the regular season against Garnett’s sagging defense, the equally stubborn Kobe can naturally do the same.
On the court, it’s the Lakers’ offensive possession again.
Realizing the Warriors chose to respect him, Kobe called for the ball, lowered his center of gravity to shake off Wallace, and assisted Big Gasol, who got open near the free-throw line, for a successful Dian Tou shot.
Different from the previous three games.
On this night, Kobe was noticeably more active at the start.
Iso plays, drives, assists.
Kobe, who actively drove the Lakers’ offense in every possession, looked to Qin Yue more like a more athletic version of Luka Doncic than a successor to Jordan.
This was a Kobe that Qin Yue had never seen before.
He dominated most of the Lakers’ possessions in the first quarter and attempted to exert a court influence that matched his own.
Although Kobe had never approved of Qin Yue’s all-encompassing style of play.
But as the Lakers were forced to the brink by the Warriors...
Kobe, understanding Qin Yue amid skepticism, chose to turn into Qin Yue, already treading a path he had never taken before under Qin Yue’s subtle influence.
At the end of the first quarter, 34 to 34.
Kobe scored 14 points, got 5 rebounds, and 5 assists in a single quarter.
In the first quarter, Kobe, who grabbed scores, organized plays, and rebounded as if entering a whole new realm.
But the more he tried to exert greater influence on the game, the more Kobe realized that as a pioneer big playmaker, Qin Yue had already left all the players of this era far behind.
Kobe witnessed Michael Jordan in his prime with his own eyes.
The extraordinarily dominant Jordan who would score until you yielded if you dared to challenge him.
And to become the next Jordan...
Kobe had studied Jordan’s playing style day and night and imitated it.
Yet in this Western Conference Finals, when Qin Yue, back from injury, dominated the game with his unparalleled court influence, even though Kobe didn’t want to admit it, he had to acknowledge that Qin Yue had shown an unprecedented mode of domination to all the superstar players of this era.
This mode of domination was unlike that of Jordan back in the day.
But Qin Yue indeed proved through this mode of domination that his influence on the game had surpassed Jordan’s.
Kobe wouldn’t doubt that if Qin Yue and he swapped teams, Qin Yue could still lead the Lakers to defeat the Warriors.
So in order to defeat the Warriors in this Western Conference Finals, Kobe more than anyone understands that first, he must try to narrow the gap between the Lakers and Warriors in terms of star quality.
Kobe has never denied that Qin Yue is a player more outstanding than himself.
But beating such a Qin Yue is also one of Kobe’s motivations for playing basketball.
Just like when he studied Jordan in hopes of becoming and surpassing Jordan.
Although Kobe is no longer young at this moment.
