Chapter 352: Chapter 224 I Don’t Know, Nor Do I Care

Sprewell tightly guarded Kobe, his defensive pressure was as significant as that of Mutombo, but Ray Allen and Yu Fei would not let him struggle alone.

Ray Allen allowed Payton, whose outside shooting was off, a large cushion, always ready to double-team Kobe.

Though Yu Fei was out of reach, he used his athletic ability and long arms to squeeze O’Neal’s interior space, disrupt Fox, limit Kobe’s passing, and clog up the lanes.

Karl rarely admired his players, but Yu Fei was someone who increasingly surprised him the longer he coached.

Though they had never specifically trained for the Pistons Iron Barrel Formation, Yu Fei naturally found his role in the Bucks’ version of the Iron Bucket Formation–he was the Bucks’ Tayshaun Prince.

Generally, the Pistons would have Prince guard Kobe, but Karl didn’t do that because Yu Fei had not yet proven his defense against top-notch wing stars.

Now, at least from a strategic and game sense perspective, Yu Fei showed great promise on the defensive end.

In the Lakers’ first offensive possession of the second half, they displayed exactly what the Bucks wanted to see.

The connection between the core players and role players was severed, and after Kobe forced a drive, he found himself deep in a crowd, forced to pass the ball out.

Payton attempted a three-pointer, but missed.

The Lakers’ game started to look wrong.

Because although the Bucks were making it difficult for them on the defensive end, they were not like the Pistons, who often struggled to find the right way to attack.

The absence of an interior shooting threat meant they couldn’t employ their favorite pick-and-roll strategy to punish O’Neal, but Ray Allen and Sprewell were still there.

As long as Yu Fei temporarily put aside his focus on O’Neal, their offensive plays could still work, and more effectively at that.

Payton, having missed on the offensive end, naturally thought about making up for it on defense.

But he was no longer his former self, and even if he had been, the physical disparity with Yu Fei would have left him feeling inadequate defensively.

Because Yu Fei didn’t employ a brutish style of physically bulldozing his way through mismatches, he preferred to showcase his skills.

Against O’Neal, he tormented him with a variety of face-up, half-basket floaters.

When facing Payton, Yu Fei skipped other unnecessary steps, calling for a pick-and-roll, driving to the free-throw line, and finishing with a stop-and-pop jumper that Payton struggled to contest.

This shot was as difficult as a practice drill, with Payton’s defense barely making an impact.

“You could ask Kobe to help you,”

Yu Fei suggested in a friendly manner, which sounded more like an insult to Payton.

When had he ever needed a teammate’s help on defense?

The Lakers’ next offensive possession found the Bucks’ four men sinking near the free-throw line.

This created a good isolation opportunity for Payton beyond the three-point line.

Ray Allen was never considered an outstanding defender, which is why the old Payton felt he could try his chances with him.

It was also to make up for the last offensive and defensive sequence.

But Ray Allen did share some similarities with Yu Fei in terms of defensive habits.

Normally treating defense as a grunt work, he would perform symbolically and consider it done. But once he raised his standards for himself and increased his effort on the defensive end, the effect of his defense underwent a qualitative change.

Payton confidently dribbled between his legs, attempting to shake Ray Allen with a crossover, but he didn’t manage his center of gravity well and almost stumbled on his own.

For him, the biggest problem in offense wasn’t getting past Ray Allen but what to do after that.

Sprewell didn’t much respect Kobe’s perimeter shooting.

After all, Kobe’s three-point shooting percentage was below 33%, which was definitely in the category of players whose shots could be risked.

If Sprewell didn’t respect Kobe’s perimeter shooting, then Yu Fei had even less reason to respect Fox’s.

Fox’s three-point percentage for the season was only 25%, a level where even casting a glance at him from the perimeter would be considered a defensive mistake.

But the essence of the Iron Bucket Formation was to play loose yet tight defense against poor shooters.

On one hand, they could use their low shooting accuracy to collapse the defense and compress the space, while on the other hand, they didn’t completely leave them open.

Payton finally broke through Ray Allen’s defense, only to face Yu Fei’s help defense.

His only option was to pass to Fox.

Then Fox missed a three-pointer.

Ray Allen scored on the fast break.

The Bucks once again closed the gap to 1 point, but this time, on the Lakers’ side, both O.K. were on the court, and it was just the beginning of the second half when everyone had plenty of energy. The Lakers were showing strong discomfort facing the Bucks’ lineup change and the Pistons Iron Bucket Formation tactic.

Phil Jackson did not recognize that the Bucks’ defensive system was derived from the Detroit Pistons.

Because their two encounters with the Pistons during the season happened in early November and within a week of each other. The Lakers came out with one win and one loss, but the Pistons did not leave a lasting impression on them.

They didn’t feel like that style of play was a natural counter to them.

Jackson believed that as long as they could make their open shots, they would be able to break the Bucks’ defense.

This was the difference between the Big Ball Era and the Small Ball Era.

Even if their perimeter shooting was abysmal, coaches from the Big Ball Era still believed they just needed to make those shots.

The problem was, precisely because of that inefficient three-point shooting that the Bucks had enough margin for error to implement the Iron Bucket Formation defense.

Kobe’s way of solving this problem was to not shoot threes.

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Knowing his touch was off, he gave up the open look, drove in a few steps, and took a mid-range jumper.

Though he gave up on the three-point shot, Kobe’s long two went in.

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