Chapter 499 The NBA Season Continues 7
Chapter 499 The NBA Season Continues 7
"The first quarter ends with the Los Angeles Lakers team winning with a good point advantage, the Dallas Mavericks team was unable to attack well and defend in that first quarter and the Los Angeles Lakers team dominated."
"Yes, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal played well both in attack and defense and Jake Smith played well too, but in that first quarter he seemed to want to help his teammates score more than he did more points himself."
"We really still have to understand Jake Smith's style of play as PG, we have already seen that he is very skilled at scoring with an average of 80 percent in Field Goal Percentage and an average of 82 percent in 3-Point Field Goal Percentage."
"Just because of that we can see how Jake Smith is an excellent offensive player, in addition, he has an average of 11.7 assists per game in these first 7 games of this season, he is currently the highest average of assists this season and that is making an average 31.4 points per game."
"We could see an average like that maybe if Jake Smith was on a weaker team wherein the entire game he ran his team on almost every point, but Jake Smith plays on the Los Angeles Lakers team that has players like Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant."
"Yes, Magic Johnson got an average of assists like that, but in points, he was nowhere close to what Jake has been getting this season, John Stockton could also get more assists than him."
"We have to note that we are talking about two players who were some of the best PGs of all time and we are putting a rookie on that list."
After Michael Jordan's retirement and the NBA lockout, the media really wanted to find a player to stand out and that basketball fans could really have as an idol, players like Shaquille O'Neal and Karl Malone would always be fans' idols.
Players who were SG like Michael Jordan could only be compared to him, but the media knew they could probably never get over what Michael Jordan represented to the NBA and basketball around the world.
So what they could do was choose a player from another position who also had a great ability to be praised and placed for fans to say that that person could be their new idol and they would not compare much with Michael Jordan for being from another position.
Of course, the sports media and basketball fans didn't think that Jake would maintain this incredible average of points and assists throughout the season, they thought that when the games got tougher and Jake got tired he would start making more mistakes.
The second quarter started with the Los Angeles Lakers team still pressing in the attack, in the first quarter Coach Harris took Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal for a short time, but from that second quarter, he would start to leave them out of court for longer.
Jake advanced to the attack with the ball and passed to Kobe Bryant on the right, Bryant received the ball and tried to deceive Finley, but this time Finley was not deceived and was pressing on defense, so Bryant passed the ball to Fox on the left.
Fox received the ball and Ceballos was pushing in defense, Fox had a good performance in the previous game and was also playing well in that game, he was one of the players who most liked Coach Harris to replace the main players.
Jake did not need to be replaced and he still managed to play longer than the others, even though he was also replaced, Fox tried the move and Ceballos pressed on defense and so Fox had to pass to Jake further back.
Jake received the ball and advanced using his speed, Steve Nash tried to keep up on defense, but Jake was faster, watching Jake move forward Finley approached to do double-team defense on Jake.
Jake realized this and decided to pass the ball to Kobe Bryant who was free, Bryant tried the mid-range shot to make 2 more points for the Los Angeles Lakers team, Bryant was happy to see that Jake was passing the ball more and helping him to make the stitches.
The Dallas Mavericks team went on the attack to try to diminish the advantage in points of the Los Angeles Lakers team, Nash advanced with the ball and passed to Ceballos on the right, Ceballos received the ball and Fox pressed in defense.
Ceballos made a feint and tricked Fox and drive to the basket to make 2 more points for the Dallas Mavericks team, it was a good move by Ceballos taking advantage of an opening in the Los Angeles Lakers defense.
After a few minutes Coach Harris removed Kobe Bryant from the team and added Tyronn Lue, Lue was happy to have more opportunity to play, so the Los Angeles Lakers team went on the attack.
Jake advanced with the ball and passed it to Lue on the right, Lue received the ball from Jake and Finley already pressed in defense, so Lue passed the ball to Travis Knight ahead, Knight received the ball and soon passed to Jake further behind.
Jake received the ball away from the three-point line, even so, he tried the shot from outside to make 3 more points for the Los Angeles Lakers, Jake tried that shot from a distance of 35 feet and Nash did not expect it and nor tried to block.
The Los Angeles Lakers crowd cheered they liked Jake's long-range shots and also liked the three-point shots made when Jake tried the jump shot, the Los Angeles Lakers crowd was enjoying three-point shots more and more that gave the team more advantage on the scoreboard.
What was more interesting was that many sports critics said that Jake only had a great average on three-point shots in the NCAA because the distance from the three-point line was shorter than in the NBA.
The Dallas Mavericks team tried another attack with Nash organizing the play, Nash moved forward and passed the ball to Ceballos on the right, Ceballos received the ball and Fox came to press on defense.
Ceballos passed the ball to Dirk Nowitzki, who was not participating much in the game, Nowitzki received the ball and moved away from Knight's defense to try the mid-range shot and make 2 more points for the Dallas Mavericks team.
The second quarter ended with the Los Angeles Lakers team with the points advantage, Jake played for 12 minutes in that second quarter and had 11 points, 3 assists, 3 rebounds, and 2 steals, Jake attacked more in that second quarter and also tried to help his teammates making assists.
"The second quarter ended and the Los Angeles Lakers team increased the lead even more, even though coach Harris replacing Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal for a few minutes, Jake scored more points and the opponent was unable to press so hard in the attack."
"It's true, it seems that the Dallas Mavericks team's attack is not working very well and the defense too, we can see that in this game Dirk Nowitzki is not even showing up much, Cedric Ceballos and Michael Finley who are the main players in the attack are not getting score so many points in that game."
"In the Los Angeles Lakers team Rick Fox is also playing well and even playing less time Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal are still playing a great game and getting a lot of points, so I think the Los Angeles Lakers team will really win this game."
"We will follow in the second half of the game if the Dallas Mavericks team gets a turnaround and puts even more pressure on the Los Angeles Lakers team to get their second win this season."
The Dallas Mavericks team wanted the victory in that game, but the players knew it would be difficult to beat the Los Angeles Lakers team playing at the Great Western Forum, in addition, all the other teams realized that the Los Angeles Lakers team had become very strong with Jake Smith joining the team.
The third quarter started with the Los Angeles Lakers team in the attack, Jake advanced with the ball and passed to Bryant on the right, Bryant tried a feint and failed to trick Finley, so Bryant passed the ball to Fox on the left.
Fox received the ball and Ceballos arrived to press in defense, Fox made a feint and a step back and tried an outside shot to make 3 more points for the Los Angeles Lakers team, Fox was playing well taking advantage of that Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal were being replaced.
The Dallas Mavericks team soon went for another attack to try to stay in the game, Nash advanced with the ball and passed to Ceballos on the right, Ceballos tried a move to deceive Fox, but failed and passed to Finley on the left.
Finley received the ball and Bryant soon pressed on defense, so Finley passed the ball to Trent further on, Trent received the ball and Knight tried to press on defense, but Trent used his strength to advance and dunk and 2 more points to the Dallas Mavericks team.
Coach Harris continued making substitutions and Jake had to change the pace of the game and who he would pass the ball to when the players on the court changed when Bryant left the game the pressure on defense against him also increased.
In another move by the Los Angeles Lakers team Jake moved forward and passed the ball to Fox on the left, Fox received the ball and passed it to Lue on the right, Lue received the ball and passed it to Jake further back.
Nash was lobbying in defense against Jake and Finley was also observed that he would play what Jake would do, so they could double-team, Jake held the ball a little and saw an opportunity, so he passed the ball to Shaquille O'Neal.
O'Neal had gotten rid of Nowitzki's defense and Jake had realized that and passed the ball on to him, O'Neal received the ball and went forward to make the dunk and 2 more points for the Los Angeles Lakers team.