Sixty-Five: Barnes Is Embarrassed Again

Barnes was confused by what Link said just now. He didn't know what trick the kid was playing, but he knew that he couldn't let him get another chance to dunk easily.

The Lakers attack, the core of this second unit's attack is undoubtedly Lamar Odom. As a strong contender for the sixth man of the year, Lamar Odom averaged 14.4 points per game, unmatched by the rest of the Lakers' bench.

Lamar Odom is playing the No. 5 position, and his opponent is Thabeet, who is 2.21 meters tall.

If basketball was a game of height, then Odom would have been crushed. But it is a pity that after so long of development, there are already many basketball players who have proved that the strength on the basketball court has nothing to do with height.

Thabeet was dubbed "Mutombo II" at the time of the draft, but the guy bears no resemblance to Mutombo other than he's also from Africa.

Odom held the ball in the middle distance and passed the 2.21-meter "Big Montenegro" in just a few steps.

"Too slow, Thabeet is just too slow. This is probably the worst draft in Grizzlies history, and Thabeet has guys like Harden, Curry, DeRozan behind him, but they He chose Thabeet. So far, Thabeet has not improved from last season. His most proud defense, it seems that it is nothing more than that.”

Amid the sighs of the local commentator in Los Angeles, Odom easily broke through Thabeet and made a layup.

Phil Jackson actually seldom let Lamar Odom play center. Generally, he will keep one of Gasol and Bynum to play the 5th position, and then use Lamar Odom to play power forward. But today, it was precisely because of the encounter with Thabeet that the "Zen Master" dared to let his championship twin towers rest.

After all, Thabeet is really no threat in the interior, and Sora has his top physical talent.

The score was tied again, and Odom smiled and accepted the cheers of all the home fans. Link secretly regretted that co-authoring his sneak attack just now was in vain.

When he attacked again this time, Barnes looked at Link differently. To be played by an undrafted pick made Barnes very annoyed.

"Your tricks won't work this time, boy!" Before Link caught the ball, Barnes took the initiative to lean on it. His defense is exceptionally fierce, and his physical contact is very frequent.

But Link was not very uncomfortable. Every time he practiced defense with Tony Allen these few days, he would be treated the same way and faced fierce confrontation from defensive players. Link had long been used to it.

Link was still looking for opportunities to attack when he was blocked, and he called Darrell Arthur to help him off the ball. Now this lineup, if you don't attack, you won't have a scorer.

By O.J. Mayo? If that guy can be trusted, he has already become a superstar. After all, at the beginning, it was the Wizards who were rated as the upper limit of Jordan and the lower limit of Kobe.

Arthur's cover and completely blocked Barnes, the guy is now totally a mad dog. However, in the fleeting gap, Link still received the basketball.

Link immediately swooped in with the ball, the Lakers lineup shrank, and Barnes was constantly putting pressure on Link.

"Zen Master" Jackson's mouth twitched slightly. This time the defense of the Lakers was executed very beautifully. If the No. 0 shot, he would only be blocked or ironed.

However, Link suddenly turned around with his left leg as the axis. Barnes chased too hard, but was thrown away by Link because of his inertia.

After getting rid of Barnes, Link, who was standing a step inside the free throw line, threw lightly. A shot that looked very casual, even a little funny. It's like a layman who doesn't know how to play basketball throws the ball into the air at will.

Accustomed to Kobe's picturesque posture, Link's throws are really ugly. However, the media and fans in Los Angeles couldn't laugh at it, because Link's ugly throw was soft and hollow into the net.

In the restricted area away from the basket,

This seemingly random throw is sometimes more accurate than the shot. As an attacking panacea, Grant Hill can also take out this kind of weapon that belongs to a defender. In this case, Link can't waste Hill's ability.

"A small drop shot in the restricted area, Link got rid of Matt Barnes, and his singles ability is stronger than we thought. Indeed, he is a team player. But one-on-one, one-on-one , with the exception of a little less athleticism, there are advantages everywhere.”

The local commentators in Los Angeles were relatively neutral in explaining the game. After all, it is a big city and many people pay attention. If you say the wrong thing, you can easily go wrong.

The basketball went in again, and the smile on Phil Jackson's face disappeared. He thought it was more than enough to use Barnes to guard an undrafted pick, but now Barnes has been scored twice by the opponent.

Barnes couldn't hold his face either. He used too much force just now because he was too angry. He wanted to use a ferocious defense to scare the kid, but he was caught instead.

The Grizzlies took the lead again. Link scored two goals in a row, and both goals were very resolute. No doubt he had taken the responsibility of being an offensive core.

In basketball games, you should be selfless when you should be selfless, but you must be selfish when you should be selfish. Now the Grizzlies have no offensive points in this lineup. If Link chooses to pass the ball again, why would Hollins use him?

So far, Hollins is very satisfied with Link's performance. But the troublesome thing is that if Thabeet's side keeps dropping points, Link's efforts will be meaningless.

This time, the Lakers' ball was still in the hands of Lamar Odom. He and Link played the same role, scoring points for the second team.

Lamar Odom is very self-confident, and he can play whatever he wants for a silly big man like Thabeet. But this time, when Odom broke through Thabeet with the ball, he just took the first step, and Odom felt that the basketball was out of control!

Looking down, Link rushed over at some point, stretched out his arm from the side, and broke the ball!

In the first step of the opponent's dribble, assisting and defending is the easiest way to succeed. Ordinary rookies may not have this kind of experience. As a forward, Hill averaged 2 steals per game in the playoffs at his peak, which is not easy. Even in his twilight years, Hill's steals are a must. Therefore, Link inherited Hill's stealing awareness.

Link is now less mobile than Peak Hill, but the longer wingspan makes up for this disadvantage. What's more, Odom's center of gravity is really high, and it's not too difficult to steal him.

"Lamar made a mistake, he took it too lightly. Thabeet might let him bully him, but Link wouldn't. No. 0 strikes the ball fast, O.J. Mayo makes a fast layup. Nice counter-attack, Grizzlies lead 4 points for the defending champion. Haha, this game is more interesting than people think!"

The moment Mayo made a layup, Tony Allen and Randolph waved the towels in their hands on the Grizzlies bench. But they weren't celebrating Mayo, they were celebrating Link's beautiful steal.

"Damn Lamar, he thought he could do whatever he wanted on offense! Good job Link, should give them some power!"

Randolph shouted and clapped his hands. Link continued to defend diligently. The first quarter was almost over, and if he held on for a while, the team could enter the second quarter with a lead. In this way, as soon as the Grizzlies start, the advantage will be further consolidated.

Beat the defending champion? To be honest, Link didn't think much of it when he first arrived, he just wanted to continue playing his game well. But now, this crazy idea appeared in his mind.

Today, the madman at Staples Center is not the only one Kobe Bryant.

Steve Blake knows that the presence of the No. 0 forward has kept the Grizzlies' second unit from being dead. It is no longer easy to score successfully.

So this time, instead of giving the ball directly to Odom, Blake played it a little more complicatedly. He pick-and-rolls with Luke Walton, then finds Barnes in the open.

Barnes had already got rid of Link and cut to the basket at that time. This guy had long wanted to use a score to suppress the arrogance of this undrafted pick.

Just when Barnes was about to receive the basketball, the basketball was pierced by Link's finger. The pass was destroyed, and Link's long arm worked again!

The wingspan of 2.18 meters is not amazing in the NBA, but it exceeds the height of 15 cm, which is definitely above the average level.

Although Link failed to complete the steal directly this time, it once again destroyed the Lakers' offense.

Off the court, Kobe looked at Phil Jackson, his expression changed from joking to serious, "What am I talking about? He needs to be paid close attention to. This guy is an all-around striker who is both offensive and defensive!"

Kobe was still interested in Link at the beginning, but that was under the premise that the Lakers could win. Now, when Link threatens the Lakers' victory, Bryant just wants to destroy him with his own hands.

"Can you imagine this guy playing back-to-back? He's full of dynamism. He's ruining the Lakers' offense twice in a row, and Phil is definitely not happy."

On the commentary stage, local fans in Los Angeles were also full of praise for Link. Listening to their commentator complimenting an undrafted pick, Los Angeles fans must be very uncomfortable.

Link's long arms and good physical strength were the reasons why he was able to survive in the NCAA in the first place. There's no way he could have spent four years in the NCAA if he was nothing.

Now, Link is only using his strengths on the basis of Hill's abilities. Back-to-back in the second round of the season is not enough for Link, who is very physically fit.

Barnes picked up the basketball, ready to serve the baseline shot. He gritted his teeth, it was obviously his best scoring opportunity just now, but it was destroyed by this damn guy.

So, Barnes planned to use some special methods to embarrass Link. The villain picked up the basketball and suddenly smashed it in front of Link's eyes.

Of course, Barnes didn't actually smash the ball in Link's face, he just pretended to smash it to scare Link.

When a normal person is suddenly so frightened, they will subconsciously dodge or close their eyes. But what about Link? He didn't even blink an eye!

Barnes experienced the embarrassment of trying to play pranks and being snubbed again. The last time Barnes used this trick to frighten him and ended up in the cold, he was still facing Kobe! Barnes does not believe that a rookie can have the mental quality of Kobe!

"Hahahahaha, Matt's prank failed again. Look at the expression on Link's leisurely walk, I said earlier that he is not an ordinary person!" The commentators also found Barnes' embarrassment, and they all laughed .

Link was a little stunned. It wasn't that he wasn't scared, but because he happened to be looking at the sign about him held by the Lakers fans behind Barnes, so he didn't look at Barnes at all.

When Barnes bluffed with the ball, Link was still thinking, "What's wrong with this guy". Never thought that Barnes was frightening himself.

If he stared at the basketball, Bao Buqi would be really startled. But unfortunately, Link just didn't look at him. Invisibly, Link pretended to be a forceful one.

It's not Link's fault, but God wants Barnes to be embarrassed. It feels like you tell a lot of things in front of a person, and then you find out that they didn't listen to you at all.

The embarrassed Barnes finally passed the baseline ball to Walton. The famous player then took the ball for a layup, but was interfered by Thabeet.

Thabeet is indeed not very capable, but the height and wingspan are placed here, and the protection effect of the basket is still there. This guy averaged 1.3 blocks per game in just 13 minutes per game in his rookie season, and he's not for nothing.

The Lakers' offense missed again, Kobe shook his head, and the Lakers' second team never let him "disappointed".

Link made a breakthrough in the transition offense, but actually gave the ball to Darrell Arthur, the space-type 4th position beyond the three-point line.

Arthur's three-pointer hit the ground, instantly turning the field point difference into 7 points. The defending champion is in crisis, and the media and fans in Los Angeles will no longer dare to underestimate the undrafted pick.

Kobe Bryant was about to move at this time, and the only thing Barnes could solve was himself.