Kobe’s personal abilities are indeed at their peak, with his physical and technical skills reaching a good state.
However, on a psychological level, Kobe is still lacking, and needs more training and "weaning."
He’s certainly stronger than Little O’Neal, outwardly daring to challenge Ah Gan, trash talking him and scoring over him.
He boasted that Gan Guoyang wouldn’t score more than 2 points, but by halftime, Gan Guoyang had quietly scored 15 points.
Kobe played fervently but only scored 16 points, just one more than Gan Guoyang, with both teams having low scores.
Deep down, could Kobe truly dare to disdain Ah Gan, with the mentality of "giving him a punch" and knocking Ah Gan to the ground?
Kobe himself probably wouldn’t allow himself to do such a thing; Ah Gan is his inner idol.
However, he desperately hopes to topple this idol, which is Kobe’s biggest inner conflict.
What he can do is strive to play, using the game, the competition, and the result to find an answer to the problem.
In the third quarter, the intensity of the game suddenly rose, and the most uncomfortable one was Yao Ming.
The dazzle of his two brilliant first-quarter shots disappeared, as he struggled against the Trail Blazers’ agile and precise interior defense.
The Glory Team’s tactical intention to use Yao Ming to break open the game was thwarted by the Trail Blazers, as Ben Wallace first steadied Yao Ming and then stripped the ball from him.
The second time, Little O’Neal disrupted the external support to Yao Ming by using a three-quarters front crossover, exposing Yao Ming’s inexperience and some problems in initiating offense after receiving the ball.
He has relatively high requirements for the position of attack initiation—too far doesn’t work, too close is hard to penetrate, and the ball must be passed relatively accurately to prevent turnovers.
Against teams of moderate intensity and defensive level, as long as Yao Ming doesn’t get disturbed in receiving the ball, his success rate is quite high.
Including games against Shaquille O’Neal, although O’Neal is strong in low-post defense, he doesn’t interfere with the ball reception due to his strength, preferring to play face-to-face.
In such scenarios, when Yao Ming is energetic, he can hold his ground against O’Neal.
But in this game, facing flexible defensive interiors like Big Ben and Little O, and both at once, it’s overwhelming.
Unable to hold onto the ball steadily, how can you launch attacks?
The Trail Blazers capitalized on these two mistakes to score on counterattacks.
Kobe took Anderson’s pass and scored, and Little O’Neal successfully laid up with his left hand.
The Glory Team immediately altered strategy, turning Yao Ming from a breakthrough point to a support point, with Gan Guoyang taking the lead at the low post to run the team’s offense.
At the low post, the situation was entirely different for Gan Guoyang, with his impressive wingspan and large hands allowing easy ball control.
Moreover, he can demand the ball and initiate offense from any distance, leaving the opponents defensively helpless; as for front coverage, it’s just giving him free points.
However, Little O’Neal at the low post did fend off a bout of Gan Guoyang’s attack, and Big Ben grabbed the rebound while Michael Redd hit a three-pointer from the outside!
The Trail Blazers began the second half with a 7:0 run against the Glory, but they didn’t call for a timeout, and Jordan stemmed the bleeding with a mid-range jump shot.
Then Gan Guoyang blocked Kobe’s breakthrough inside the paint, leading to a Glory Team counterattack as Gerald Wallace drove into the basket, drawing a foul and earning free throws.
Yao Ming was subbed out, replaced by Malik Rose, clearly indicating that Yao Ming’s confrontation and experience temporarily don’t meet the requirements of the League’s highest-level competition.
Staying on the court would only slow down the teammates’ game rhythm and intensity, so Tomjanovich let him experience it, then rest and observe the veterans’ play.
Gerald Wallace split his free throws, Malik Rose grabbed the Offensive Rebound, passed to Gan Guoyang who used a fake move, drove inside, leaned forward for a shot, scored, and drew another foul!
Little O’Neal’s two fouls need some attention. The bonus shot goes in, and the Glory Team scored 4 points this possession, quickly narrowing the gap to 2 points.
Although it’s a Christmas game, which usually should be celebrated happily, the atmosphere became unusually suffocating in the second half, with both sides serious and eager to win.
Kobe and Little O’Neal ran a pick-and-roll, with Little O’Neal heading down, receiving the ball for a dunk, which was deflected by Gan Guoyang! This attempt by Little O’Neal was too rushed.
However, Big Ben snatched the ball back, passed it again to Little O’Neal, who took a jump shot, finally scoring!
Tonight’s first self-initiated field goal by Little O’Neal, even if it’s a second chance, despite the blocked dunk, was some progress.
"Nice shot, Jermaine! Keep playing like that, keep it up!" Kobe encouraged Little O’Neal.
Regarding the halftime talk about "fighting with Ah Gan," neither mentioned it.
If Ah Gan heard, he might beat up these two kids, and they wouldn’t dare protest.
After Malik Rose entered the game, Gan Guoyang returned to his favored position as center and began to lead Glory’s positional offense.
With Arenas replaced by Yao Ming and Jordan joining, one problem Glory faces on the offensive end is the decline in three-point output.
They not only lost Arenas but also had Raja Bell, who could shoot threes, moved to the bench, significantly affecting their three-point production.
Moreover, as Gan Guoyang appeared more often in the center position, his three-point shots also decreased.