NBA: I have 3, no D, and I can't dribble

Chapter 166 [166] Lin Fei leads the team, the peak shooting guard showdown!
"Kidney Warrior" Alonzo Mourning, who was also standing on the sidelines of the Heat, was not qualified to receive the championship ring with the Heat players. While applauding, the smile on his face was inexplicably emotional.

The Miami Heat's championship last season, especially their 16-[-] victory in the playoffs, shocked Mourning, a veteran Heat player.

The current Heat are indeed much stronger than the 90s Heat led by him and Hardaway.

After all, there is O'Neal, a top-five super center in history, Dwayne Wade, a young regular season MVP, and Lin Fei, the most amazing 3D player in NBA history.

In this comparison, the overall lineup of the Heat team in the 90s was far behind.

Now that Mourning is 36 years old, this season may be his last chance. He must devote all the energy left in his tank to the Heat and strive to get a championship ring for himself.

The time soon came to seven o'clock, and at the referee's whistle, the game officially started.

The Miami Heat's starting five are:

Point Guard (PG): Jason Williams,

Shooting guard (SG): Lin Fei,

Small Forward (SF): Shane Battier,

Power Forward (PF): Udonis Haslem,

Center (C): Shaquille O'Neal.

Wade continues to sit out, and Jason Williams returns to the starting point guard position.

The starting five of the Los Angeles Lakers are:

Point Guard (PG): Smush Parker,

Shooting Guard (SG): Kobe Bryant,

Small forward (SF): Brian Cook,

Power Forward (PF): Lamar Odom,

Center (C): Chris Mihm.

After sending away Caron Butler, the Lakers' lineup has a clear focus, which is to surround Kobe, add shooters, and give absolute unlimited firing rights to the Black Mamba.

On the bench of the Lakers, the returning "Zen Master" Phil Jackson's eyes were shining, still looking enigmatic.

Although the Lakers' lineup is configured, no matter how well Kobe plays, it may be difficult to reach the playoffs, but the return of "Zen Master" can at least make the team more united and suppress Kobe's arbitrary actions.

"Snapped!"

Chris Mihm took the lead in flying the basketball over O'Neal's head, Smush Parker advanced with the ball, and the Lakers took the lead in attacking in the opening game.

Smush Parker was undrafted in 2002. His performance in the first three seasons of his career was very poor, averaging only 4 points and 1 assist per game, and he was close to being abandoned by the NBA.

The Lakers signed Smush Parker for only two years and $150 million, and also made him the starting point guard, directly partnering with Kobe Bryant in the backcourt.

Coming to Los Angeles to play and partner with one of the top three shooting guards in the league is a dream come true for a water cooler keeper.

But Parker is so lucky. In the original world, he even played all 05 games for the Lakers in the 06-82 season, and started every game.

From this point, it can be seen that the Lakers management has no intention of strengthening this season and is purely chasing the No. [-] pick.

But the man named Kobe Bryant never gave up in every game.

"Whoosh!"

Coming to the frontcourt, Kobe quickly asked Smush Parker for the ball, facing Lin Fei's focused defense.

After Smush Parker handed the ball to Kobe, he quickly retreated to the corner to take away Williams' defense.

Partnering with Kobe in the backcourt does not require much ability. You can dribble the ball across half the court and open up space to catch and shoot three-pointers. This is enough.

As soon as Kobe came up, he faced Lin Fei with the ball at the top of the key. Heat fans in the American Airlines Arena cheered and booed, looking forward to the peak showdown between the two shooting guards.

"Lin's current defense is already at the highest level among defenders in the league, right? Even Kobe, it's very difficult to play in isolation!"

"In the two duels between the Heat and the Lakers last season, Kobe didn't get much advantage from Lin's defense, and it's even more impossible now!"

"Facts have proven that Kobe's three championships are clearly due to Shaquille. Without Shaquille, his current achievements are definitely not as good as Allen's, or at best the level of McGrady!"

On the court, Kobe played very rationally in the first attack of the game. With the help of Odom's pick-and-roll, he broke through Haslem in a misplaced position and made a mid-range jumper with a sudden stop and sideways movement.

"Shh!"

After hard training in the offseason, Kobe has made greater progress in the comprehensiveness of his personal skills, and his fadeaway jumper skills are also rapidly improving.

Looking back at the Heat's offense, Lin Fei also asked Williams for the ball from outside the three-point line at the top of the arc, and Kobe's defense quickly caught up.

Everyone knows that Lin Fei only has one way to score in sports games, and that is three-pointers, so the best option to defend him from the outside is to focus on bursts and not on shots.

Of course, Kobe didn't just give up on Lin Fei's breakthrough. After all, this guy also had an amazing rebounding and assisting ability.

"Lin, the new season is finally here, and I can't wait to beat you!"

Facing Kobe Bryant's fierce defense, Lin Fei did not panic. He protected the ball sideways with steady steps, and his waist and horse were solid and stable.

"Kobe, I'm afraid the Heat and I will let you down again!"

Before he finished speaking, Lin Fei suddenly lowered his center and turned over to break through. His first step was as fast as lightning.

While mobilizing Kobe's defensive focus, Lin Fei made an emergency stop and changed direction with his crotch. After retreating and hesitating, he lowered his shoulders and pretended to break through to the right, but suddenly he pulled his crotch horizontally again.
Then he took another step back to create a shooting space. Facing the rushing Kobe, he quickly took off and took a lightning shot.

Lin Fei's series of dribbling changes were so smooth that even Kobe, who was experienced in defense, was almost knocked out of his mind.

But in the end, Kobe's defense was still very fast, showing the qualities of a top perimeter defender.

However, Lin Fei's attack was still one step faster.

"Shh!"

The basketball flew past Kobe's fingertips at high speed, going straight to the net without leaning to one side.

Lin Fei hit his first three-pointer of the new season as soon as he came up, and he was still competing with Kobe Bryant in a one-on-one, which was a good sign for the 05-06 season.

After landing, Kobe pursed his lips and frowned, shaking his head. He was shocked inside. It seemed that Lin Fei's dribbling skills had improved again.This skillful change of direction and rhythm, the realistic feint and the lightning step back, all the movements are seamlessly connected.

When it comes to ball control alone, Kobe believes that Lin Fei is no longer inferior to him.

In last season's finals, Lin Fei's dribbling attribute had been improved to 93.

After a whole offseason of accumulation, Lin Fei's dribbling attribute has now reached a high level of 98.

Just level up a little more and you'll start to unlock passing attributes.

With the passing of the ball, Lin Fei is no longer afraid of being targeted and double-teamed.

"Lin's ball control seems to have improved significantly. This is almost a historical level of dribbling. His ability to combine man and ball is so strong!"

In the TNT live broadcast room, Kenny Smith praised Lin Fei's performance, and Charles Barkley next to him was obviously even more excited:
"Kenny, you must know that the person guarding Lin is Kobe. In front of Kobe, he can complete this series of smooth ball-handling actions, and finally hit a three-pointer with a step back!"

"What does this mean? In my opinion, this has reached the level of Allen Iverson, surpassing the other three of the four major shooting guards!"

"But we must understand that Lin's height is only 197, while Iverson is only 183. With such a high center of gravity, he can still have such smooth and smooth ball control. Lin is indeed the most amazing basketball player I have ever seen!"

Lin Fei challenged Kobe Bryant in the opening game and hit a step-back three-pointer, which instantly lit up the American Airlines Arena.

The Heat fans in the audience shouted "MVP" and looked forward to the Heat creating more miracles in the new season.

Although Lin Fei has no regular season MVP or finals MVP, in the eyes of some loyal fans, Lin Fei deserved the MVP last season more than Wade and the FMVP more than O'Neal.

But no means no. The new season is here, and Lin Fei finally has a chance to make up for it.

"I just said, Kobe is still a bit weak. He can't even make the playoffs when leading a team by himself. Isn't it because he was so popular back then because he had O'Neal as his backer?"

"Kobe is indeed a little crazy. He forced Shaquille away in order to become the boss, but now he is nothing!"

"In my opinion, although Lin and Dwayne have only played in the league for two seasons, their current strength is no weaker than Kobe and Iverson, and even better than Carter and McGrady!"

Kobe's fighting spirit was quickly aroused. After coming to the offensive end, he held the ball and hit Lin Fei. He used the screen to break through the basket and forcefully shot against O'Neal who was defending.

"Bang!"

The basketball hit the side of the rim and missed, but when O'Neal turned over and jumped to grab the rebound, he accidentally twisted his right ankle when he landed, and a look of pain suddenly appeared on his face.

The Heat quickly called a timeout, and head coach Stan Van Gundy quickly replaced O'Neal and asked the team doctor to check the ankle.

Wade, who was wearing a suit and leather tie on the sidelines, also felt something bad at this time. Only two minutes into the game, O'Neal was also injured. Is it possible that Lin Fei should be allowed to lead the team by himself?
Van Gundy frowned. Although the team doctor checked that O'Neal's ankle injury was not serious, of course O'Neal could not be used in tonight's inconsequential regular season.

Moreover, they are facing the Lakers led by Kobe Bryant. Even if Lin Fei is the only one left, he may not be unable to beat them.

Without Wade and O'Neal, Stan Van Gundy also wants to see what level Lin Fei can achieve by leading the team alone.

Kobe can't lead the team to the playoffs on his own, but Lin Fei leads the team on his own. Van Gundy believes that his ceiling should be higher than Kobe's.

"Shaquille, take care of your ankle first. Let Lin lead the team alone tonight to beat Kobe Bryant's Lakers!"

O'Neal was very carefree, raised his eyebrows and said with a smile: "Having Lin is enough, he will definitely beat Kobe!"

After the timeout, the game continued, with this side roughly replacing the injured O'Neal.

Although Lin Fei is not necessarily worse than Kobe now, without O'Neal, the Heat's inside strength may not be as good as the current Lakers.

In the luxury box on the roof of the stadium, Pat Riley frowned, but he had a different view on O'Neal's injury.

This offseason, O'Neal not only slacked off in training, but was also equally poor in personal diet and weight control.

Originally, O'Neal had already begun to indulge in the late period of the OK group. His weight once soared from 147 kilograms to more than 170 kilograms, close to 350 kilograms, and his body fat rate was as high as 17%.

Excessive weight and body fat rate seriously affected O'Neal's running, jumping and speed. This is why Kobe Bryant said that if O'Neal could be more self-disciplined...

When he came to the Heat last season, Pat Riley formulated a strict body fat rate plan for every player on the team, and O'Neal was naturally the top priority.

In order to prove that he can still lead the team to win the championship after leaving Kobe, O'Neal teamed up with Lin Fei and Wade for the first time last season and was also more active in training.
His weight has also dropped to 150 kilograms, and although his body fat rate has not reached the 10% or so that Pat Riley said for a center, it has dropped to 12%.

These changes, coupled with a healthy regular season, allowed O'Neal to maintain his peak dominance in the playoffs and help the Heat easily win the championship.

But after all, Aopang is still a person with low self-discipline. There is no way to compare with paranoid people like Lin Fei and Kobe.

Therefore, in the offseason after winning the championship again, O'Neal's weight once soared to 160 kilograms, and his body fat rate exceeded 15%.

This made Pat Riley very dissatisfied. He reminded and warned O'Neal many times, but it still had no much effect.

In Pat Riley's view, O'Neal's excess weight will inevitably increase his chances of injury.

And the ankle sprained without confrontation at the start of tonight's game is the best proof.

Wade's knee injury has not fully recovered, and O'Neal is not listening to discipline. Only Lin Fei is still improving perfectly, but he does not promise to renew his contract with the Heat in advance.

On the surface, the Heat are the defending champions in full swing, but in fact, they have begun to suffer from the syndrome after winning the championship, and many problems are waiting for Pat Riley to solve.

On the court, during the Heat's attack, Lin Fei quickly switched to off-ball mode. He made a fake hand-to-hand pass with Williams at the top of the arc, and accelerated his reverse run with the help of double screens.
He successfully got away from Kobe Bryant, received Williams' long pass, and shot from outside the three-point line at a 30-degree angle on the left.

"Shh!"

the second.

Kobe came back and took advantage of the screen to break through to the basket. Facing the defense, he pulled the lever in the air and switched to a layup to score the ball.

"Shh!"

Heat (6): (4) Lakers.

In the opening game, both Lin Fei and Kobe showed their own characteristics, refusing to give in to each other on both offense and defense.

"It's not bad without Dwayne and Shaquille. Let them have a good rest. Lin can still defeat the Lakers by himself!"

"I still don't know what level Lin can perform leading the team by himself. There is no problem in beating Kobe, right?"

"Don't underestimate Kobe. This offseason, Kobe is one of the hardest-working players in the league!"

"Which of Lin or Kobe's double team is more valuable? We will see the difference in tonight's opening game!"

(End of this chapter)