Chapter 2183 - 15: Old Turtle
Based on individual performance, the MVP of the 2003-2004 season could have been Kobe’s.
But the impact of the sexual assault case was too severe, causing Kobe to lose the MVP race to Kevin Garnett.
In 2005 and 2006, the sudden rise of Nash again caused Kobe to miss out twice.
The injuries and internal turmoil of the Trail Blazers caused the team’s performance to fall short of top standards.
This season, Kobe is ranked second in the MVP race, behind the German Nowitzki.
Judging from the current team performance and subsequent trends, it’s increasingly difficult for Kobe to win an MVP this season.
The spar of words intensified Kobe’s aggression in the second half, and he started targeting Allen Iverson on both offense and defense.
It seems Allen Iverson hit the mark, Kobe got anxious, and at the start of the third quarter, Kobe used a nimble breakthrough to cut into the basket, faced the towering Yao Ming, made a time-varied float shot, hit the backboard, and scored two points.
Many of Kobe’s moves under the basket are indeed more delicate than Jordan’s, whose under-basket attacks are often wide-ranging and sometimes unimaginable.
Because Jordan’s physical condition was so good, he would jump up regardless, figuring things out in the air, switching hands, or waiting for the opponent to drop before making his move.
Kobe didn’t have such extreme physical attributes as Jordan and had to rely more on delicate footwork and convincing fakes to create shooting space for himself.
Conversely, Allen Iverson was more like Jordan, characterized by speed, sheer speed, and top-level speed and motion rates in the league, making it challenging for opponents to keep up with him.
Or, if a defender tried to match Iverson’s speed, there was a high probability they’d be left eating dust.
The best way to deal with Iverson was still timely prediction, teamwork, and exploiting his physical weaknesses to mitigate his disruption to the defensive system.
In the third quarter, Kobe not only initiated significant offensive possession but also focused relentlessly on Allen Iverson on defense.
Kobe gave Iverson some space, focused on his right hand, with Shawn Marion providing help defense and cleanup, denying Iverson good shooting space.
Gan Guoyang didn’t come over to set screens but watched the two begin one-on-one duels in the second half.
"Come on, Allen, don’t lose to this guy, go!" Gan Guoyang even encouraged Iverson.
This was a common scenario in the NBA’s first decade of the 21st century, where backcourt players would face off in a Knight duel, with others watching.
In an era where high-intensity defense prevailed and total scores were relatively low, perimeter players scoring via isolation plays was a very cost-effective offensive strategy.
One or two ball handlers would score, with a game total of 80 or so points, and the ball handler’s scoring contribution (field goals + assists) would account for more than half, with the rest mainly for support, conserving stamina for defense.
This was the logic of resource allocation in the defensive era, where the offensive end required significant resource investment, and the input-output ratio was slightly less advantageous than in defense, making one or two elite perimeter attackers sufficient to support team scoring.
It’s the perimeter players, as they could make plays with the ball immediately, unlike interior players who needed coordinated feeding strategies.
Last year, a third-year Dwyane Wade, relying on his divine-like ball-handling performance, defeated the Dallas Mavericks, helping the Heat miraculously capture the championship.
After Iverson joined the Glory, Gan Guoyang voluntarily relinquished some shot opportunities to Iverson, focusing more on defense.
That game with 50 points was Gan Guoyang’s last high note of his career, meant to tell Iverson that giving up possession wasn’t due to incapability but to shift focus to defense for the team’s benefit.
In terms of scoring efficiency, Iverson was not as good as Kobe. In the first four minutes of the third quarter, Kobe hit shots continuously, racking up 9 points.
In contrast, with the same number of attempts, Iverson only scored 4 points, missing too often and being targeted by the Trail Blazers’ defense.
Porter called a timeout, contemplating letting Ah Gan or Yao Ming take over the next offensive assignments.
Gan Guoyang disagreed, saying, "Allen, you need to take on more responsibility. We will support you, but you have to make those shots. Try every way, give it your all."
Iverson nodded. Recently, Gan Guoyang had been reminding Iverson to find more ways to score on the offensive end and to improve efficiency.
With the 76ers, Iverson had unlimited shoot privileges, playing however he liked, fully staying within his comfort zone without considering from a team and victory perspective how his plays could benefit the team more.
For a small player like Iverson, if his offensive efficiency dropped on the court, it could harm the team.
This is the harsh side of basketball: small players are naturally disadvantaged, so their role is to score.
If they can’t score or their scoring efficiency is too low, they become a detriment because they can’t contribute much in defense or rebounds.
Like Jordan and Kobe, when offense wasn’t going well, they would fiercely defend and rebound—both would turn hyper-aggressive if their shots were off, ensuring their opponents wouldn’t score either, even grabbing rebounds furiously to help protect the paint.
Iverson lacked in these areas; even if he had awareness and positivity, his height and form limited what he could do. When offense stumbled, his defensive issues would be magnified.