Basketball boy, starting to shine from the slam dunk

Anderson still plays at the 4th position and Cunningham plays at the 3rd position.

The reason for this arrangement is to improve the team's defense.

Let Cunningham play with Zhuang Yu, Holiday, Anderson, and Lopez. Cunningham is just a defensive player and only needs to focus on defense. Holiday, Zhuang Yu, and Lopez are enough on the offensive end, not to mention that Anderson can also score.

Although his outside shooting is not stable, he has excellent height and wingspan, as well as dribbling ability. After breaking through, he can use rhythm to throw the ball or make a layup, and the finishing effect is pretty good.

Coach Scott does not intend to turn the Lakers into a team like the Warriors that is strong on offense but weak on defense. He still believes that defense is as important as offense.

With a scoring champion like Zhuang Yu and All-Star players like Holiday and Lopez, the team is completely guaranteed on the offensive end. Even if Cunningham and Anderson don't score much, their offense is still sharp enough.

Defense has always been the Lakers' strong point, and it was one of the important reasons why they were able to overcome all obstacles and win the championship in the playoffs last season.

So after some discussion, Coach Scott decided to reuse Cunningham.

Then there is the discussion of the substitute lineup and rotation time...

"Although Holiday and Lopez rotate to lead the bench, I think we can use a pure bench lineup at times." Assistant coach Madsen said: "We have enough lineup depth, even a pure bench lineup is competitive enough. This will allow Holiday and Lopez to get more rest time."

Several people nodded in agreement.

In the past, Zhuang Yu, Holiday and Lopez took turns leading the bench lineup, but now that Zhuang Yu is freed, it is impossible for Holiday and Lopez to take up his playing time.

First of all, this will increase the playing time of Holiday and Lopez.

Secondly, there is no need for that as the Lakers do not lack rotation players.

......

at the same time.

In the training stadium.

Everyone else had left, except Zhuang Yu and Yang Jinsong. He did not let Clarkson, Kuzma and others stay.

Yang Jinsong stood under the basket and passed the ball to Zhuang Yu. After receiving the ball, Zhuang Yu took a step forward, then jumped up and made a fade away jump shot.

Swish!

There was a soft sound and the ball was scored.

Then the second, the third...

Even after he had made his hundredth throw, Zhuang Yu did not stop and continued to attack.

Yang Jinsong frowned slightly, but did not try to persuade him, because he knew Zhuang Yu would not listen, so he had to continue passing the ball to Zhuang Yu.

Shoot again and again, hit again and again...

When another set of shooting was over, Zhuang Yu's hit rate had dropped a lot.

Two hundred consecutive shots may not sound like a lot, but if you really try it you will know how tiring it is, and each shot is a fadeaway jump shot, which makes it even more difficult.

"Zhuang Yu." Yang Jinsong shouted.

"Come again." Zhuang Yu's eyes were firm.

Yang Jinsong smiled bitterly and had to continue passing the ball to Zhuang Yu. Zhuang Yu's movements had slowed down and his rhythm was not so smooth, but he still continued.

Sweat had already soaked his clothes and dripped down his chin.

"boom!"

There was a muffled sound, and the basketball bounced out of the frame.

Then the second, the third...

This time, he missed shots more frequently, but Zhuang Yu did not stop. He continued. He had made 300 consecutive shots, all of which were fadeaway jump shots.

Yang Jinsong's brows furrowed more and more, he was a little worried, why did Zhuang Yu do this?

Of course, he didn't know that Zhuang Yu wanted to push himself to the limit, hoping that his fadeaway jump shot would improve under extreme conditions.

Ever since his three-point shooting ability improved, Zhuang Yu has been working hard to improve his fadeaway jump shot as well. The three-point shot alone is not enough.

It would be nice if his fadeaway jumper could also be improved.

However, so much time has passed and there has been no progress.

After a few months, Zhuang Yu was a little anxious, so he wanted to do this today...

"boom!"

There was another muffled sound, and Zhuang Yu stopped.

He supported his knees with his hands, breathing heavily, and sweat dripped down his face, soon forming a puddle of water under his feet.

All his clothes were soaked, as if they had been washed in water, and he felt as if his lungs were on fire, burning.

"You've consumed too much energy." Yang Jinsong walked over and shook his head helplessly.

Zhuang Yu raised his head and smiled at him, but his smile was a little depressed.

Even though he almost pushed himself to the limit today, his fadeaway jump shot still hasn't completed its transformation. It seems that improving his fadeaway jump shot is more difficult than expected.

"Is it because the fadeaway jump shot is more difficult than the three-point shot, or am I just not talented in this area?" Zhuang Yu said to himself, feeling helpless.

But he quickly adjusted his mentality, perhaps he was a little too impatient.

If you want to speed, you can't reach it.

Sometimes the more anxious you are, the less likely it is that something will get done.

"Forget it, go fuck it."

Zhuang Yu let out a breath and decided to ignore it. Whatever happened would happen, he would just train and compete normally and not worry about it.

In fact, even if his fadeaway jump shot cannot be improved, he is already one of the top players in the league with his current strength.

It’s just that the competition in the Western Conference is too fierce this season. Teams like the Warriors, Rockets, and even the Spurs, Thunder, Clippers, and Nuggets all seem strong and competitive.

The regular season has just started, but the Lakers' record has dropped to sixth in the Western Conference.

The Warriors ranked first, the Rockets ranked second, the Thunder ranked third, the Spurs ranked fourth, the Nuggets ranked fifth, the Lakers ranked sixth, the Clippers ranked seventh, and the Jazz ranked eighth...

Of course, the Lakers have only played three games, and most teams have only played four games. The regular season has just begun, so the current ranking is of little reference value.

But it still gave Zhuang Yu a sense of urgency.

"Drink some water." Yang Jinsong handed over a bottle of water. "Fortunately there is no competition tomorrow, otherwise you might not be able to recover."

"It's okay. I know what I'm doing." Zhuang Yu said with a smile.

The two came to the locker room, Yang Jinsong took out the bottle of medicinal wine and began to give Zhuang Yu a medicinal wine massage.

I was a bit exhausted today, and Zhuang Yu fell asleep while being massaged.

Yang Jinsong stopped, took a blanket and covered Zhuang Yu, then sighed. Others only saw how successful Zhuang Yu was, but they didn't know how much sweat and effort Zhuang Yu had put in behind the success. Success is never a matter of luck.

......

A day later, the Lakers faced the challenge of the Nuggets at home.

Although the Nuggets lost to the Lakers in the preseason, they played really well in the regular season and are currently ahead of the Lakers.

The Nuggets' goal this season is to make the playoffs.

As for how far they can go in the playoffs, they are still unsure, after all, they are still a young team.

Originally, the Nuggets didn't have high expectations for this game, but who can blame the Lakers for having lost two of the past three games?

This gives the Nuggets hope that they may be able to take away a victory at the Lakers' home court and further consolidate their record ranking.

Not only the players think so, head coach Mike Malone also hopes to win this game because it can further boost the team's morale and enhance the players' confidence.

So the Nuggets were very serious about this game, and the expressions of a group of players were very serious during the warm-up.

After a warm-up, the players from both sides returned to the sidelines.

Coach Mike Malone gathered the players and made some arrangements.

As for the Lakers, Coach Scott said: "From today on, our tactical system has been determined. We will play according to my arrangement."

"Yes."

"clear."

Everyone agreed.

The team's lineup rotation and tactical system have been finalized, and Coach Scott announced it to the players yesterday.

So there is no need to say much, and he did not make any targeted arrangements. His first goal was still to verify the lineup.

......

The game officially begins.

Players from both sides come to the field.

The Lakers still have their regular starters.

The Nuggets' starting five are Jamal Murray, Gary Harris, Torrey Craig, Paul Millsap and Nikola Jokic.

The team's guard Will Barton was out due to injury, and last season's starting forward Wilson Chandler left the team. The small forward position was replaced by sophomore player Tori Craig.

Craig is an undrafted player, 198cm tall. He joined the Nuggets last season and played 39 games for the Nuggets last season, averaging 16.1 minutes per game, 4.2 points, 3.3 rebounds and 0.6 assists. His performance can only be described as average.

It is said that the Nuggets are seeking trades to strengthen the small forward position. They have no shortage of players in the backcourt and the inside, with Murray, Barton, and Harris on the outside, and Jokic and Millsap in the inside, but the forward line is a disadvantage.

Originally Harris could play at the No. 3 position.

In this way, Murray plays at position 1, Barton plays at position 2, and Harris plays at position 3, but Barton is still recovering from injury, so Craig can only take over temporarily.

"Snapped!"

First there was a jump ball, Lopez hit the ball to the backcourt, and Jokic didn't even jump. The big white fat guy really couldn't jump.

Holiday controlled the basketball and began to advance. After reaching the frontcourt, he first called for a pick-and-roll, then broke through and passed the ball to Zhuang Yu, who took a three-point shot as soon as he received the ball.

This was a very quick move, and the Nuggets players were a little slow to react. Harris was facing Zhuang Yu, and he just raised his hand subconsciously. Before Zhuang Yu could jump, he had already thrown the ball.

Swish!

There was a soft sound and the ball was scored.

The score is 3:0.

"Wow, Zhuang Yu actually started shooting three-pointers as soon as he arrived today."

"It feels a little different. He didn't play like this in the previous three games."

The fans in the stands had bright eyes.

The Nuggets players also felt something was wrong. They looked at each other and became more cautious.

......

Coming to the frontcourt, Murray first called for a pick-and-roll, but the Lakers' defense was very good and he failed to find an opportunity. He quickly passed the ball back to Jokic and ran away.

Jokic glanced at his teammates and then looked at the basket. He was standing at the top of the arc with Lopez in front of him. He rolled his eyes, raised the ball and pretended to shoot, but he didn't really shoot. It was just a fake move, and then he suddenly accelerated and broke through.

It is common for a big center to break through with the ball outside the three-point line.

But Jokic has this ability. He is a big man with excellent skills. It is said that he played as a guard when he was young. Although his weight is there and his speed is not fast, his aerial skills are good. In addition, he has the ability to shoot from outside. Lopez subconsciously stood on his tiptoes, but was wiped away by Jokic's acceleration...