The Lakers coaching staff has confirmed the 15-man lineup for the new season, and Fisher, who is recovering from injury, also occupied a place.

Center: Shackle O'Neal, Greg Foster.

Power forwards: Mark Madson, Horez Grant, Robert Hory, Medvedenko.

Small forwards: Rick Fox, Devin George.

Scoring guards: Kobe Bryant, Brian Shaw, Isaiah Ledell, Mike Panpessi.

Point guards: Guo Xu, Ron Harper, Derek Fisher.

The media collectively looked at the Lakers, and ESPN pointed out their three major flaws.

First, the Lakers are old at the No. 4 position, with few and insufficient athletic ability. Robert Horry was injured in the preseason and will miss the opening game against the Trail Blazers away.

Second, he relies too much on Kobe on the offensive end. O'Neal plays singles and lacks a third attacker. Isaiah Ledel is not suitable for triangular offense, and the substitute offense is particularly weak.

Third, the Lakers have fatal weaknesses in the No. 1 position. Apart from two veteran point guards who are guest-starring No. 1 and are not good at defending breakthroughs, only the last rookie Jason Guo is left. He seems to be unable to adapt to the pace of the NBA. Small guards are easily targeted on the court, just like Tyrone Lou back then.

Now the media generally believe that Guo Xu's strength is overestimated, and the good performance in the summer league is because of the poor overall level this year and the low defensive intensity. On the official NBA website, fans also don't have much hope for Guo Xu.

If he has the strength, why have he been a marginalist in the preseason?

Everyone likes to think about the bad side that he may have unstable offense, perform poorly during training, or his defense is too poor, and he will be beaten up when he comes on the court. No one expected that it was because of Leider, a messenger who was dissatisfied with the ball, that Jackson hid Guo Xu and was preparing to let him be the secret weapon for the opening game.

A reporter from Charlotte specifically interviewed the Hornets general manager Bob Bass. This time he did not say bad things about Guo Xu. The old man is 70 years old this year and has poor psychological tolerance. He doesn't want to fall twice in the same place.

What you know best is not your friends, but your enemies.

Bob Buss really wanted to watch Guo Xu jokes, but he felt that things were not that simple. If someone who could break the summer league score record would definitely have to focus on training in the Hornets, he would never be the marginal one.

Negative comments indirectly helped Guo Xu. Jackson has decided to reuse him in the second quarter and speed up the offensive rhythm. The Lakers are really not able to attack by relying on OK combinations. Others must stand up.

The Bulls have won three consecutive championships in two consecutive times. Jordan and Pippen have a lot of playing time, but the performance of role players is also key. Jackson likes to let the core play more, and other players share their playing time. On the surface, their data are very ordinary, but in fact, the data of the playing time is not as good as that of the opponent's stars.

Jackson at No. 1 has no choice but to use Guo Xu. Fisher is absent for a long time, and Harper and Brian Shaw's offensive data may not be as good as an ordinary starter on the other side.

Guo Xu was hidden in the preseason. Jackson usually trained him to give full play to his strengths.

As long as Guo Xu, Leidel, George, Horry, and Madson appear together, the substitute attack is good, and can not only counterattack quickly, but also open up space to play pick-and-roll attacks. On the defensive end, they have a good breakthrough in the outside line and will not be easily beaten.

After three weeks of running-in, Leidel stopped making trouble. He admitted that Guo Xu was more suitable to hold the ball than himself. When he counterattacked, he could attack with a strong pass. The positional battle opened and waited for an opportunity to cut. Although the number of shots was small, the shooting rate was guaranteed.

Jackson also tried to let veteran Foster serve as the substitute center, and the pick-and-roll effect was better, but his speed, confrontation, and rebounding ability was not as good as Madson.

Foster is a famous "soft egg" inside player in the NBA. He has been a substitute since joining the league in 1990, averaging 12 minutes per game.

He is 211CM tall and weighs 109 kilograms. He has entered the finals twice with the Jazz and is experienced. He is good at helping his teammates cover and create opportunities. He has good shooting percentage from the middle to catch and shoot, and occasionally shows three-pointers. Last season, he made 5 three-pointers and made 2 of 5 three-pointers in the playoffs.

After the training ended on the afternoon of the 29th, Jackson asked Guo Xu to talk alone.

"I plan to increase your playing time in the regular season. How long does it take depends on your performance, control the rhythm on the offensive end, and make a firm breakthrough. I don't need you to make up for defense and assist in defense on the defensive end, try to keep an eye on the point guard, especially to catch up after covering and defending quickly. I hope you can share the pressure at the core, do you understand?"

"I understand, I promise to complete the task." Guo Xu saluted Jackson.

Jackson was amused and patted him on the back. "Don't practice more tomorrow. We'll catch a plane tonight, so don't be late."

"Okay, thank you coach."

The Lakers challenged the Trail Blazers in the first away game. In this era, David Stern has already had a gimmick of rivalry. The Trail Blazers were eliminated by the Lakers in the last quarter last season, and the players were eager to take revenge.

On the evening of the 30th, Guo Xu rushed to the airport after dinner and boarded the team's "Sky One" special plane with his teammates.

The benefits of players playing in big cities are not only exposure, but also much more comfortable when flying away games. You should know that NBA games often have to fly across several time zones. If players don’t have a good rest, it will affect their performance. Not all teams have special planes, and most teams use charter flights to fly away games.

The Lakers' black aircraft is modified and the seats are spacious and comfortable. After the power inside the aircraft is powered up, the seats are golden and colorful, which is very gorgeous, just corresponding to the Purple and Gold Legion.

The special plane adopts a circular seating design, so there is no problem with eating a boxed lunch on the table and placing a cup. Spread the folded part and lay it into a large table for players to play poker and other things.

There is a small storage cabinet between the sofa and the compartment template behind it, which contains toilet paper, Walkman and other things can be temporarily placed inside. On the other side is a first aid kit, which is well prepared by the staff.

Guo Xu and the mad dog Madsen sat together and talked about the game all the way.

The scouts sent the information of opponent players to the players before boarding the plane. The coaching staff hopes that everyone can understand their opponents, and even if they are substitutes, they must read the information carefully. It is best to watch the game video.

Madson looked excited and muttered: "I hope I can fight for a while longer, so don't let me be strong and have no place to use it. I think I can deal with Rashid Wallace."

Madson is eager to play and fight. Guo Xu found that this man is really a lunatic. When training in the team, he is often arranged to defend O'Neal alone. He is so excited about this. He goes around and keeps defending himself, and dares to be tough on the team boss.

His style of playing is very similar to that of the Rockets' 198CM center Chuck Hayes in Guo Xu's previous life, and he is taller than Hayes. Madson, a blue-collar who does not attack, can spend 9 seasons in the league, which has to be said to be a miracle. He is not as good as Hayes on the offensive end. Hai Ye can occasionally show his throws and free throws, and he will support the pass at the peak and score a triple-double.
Chapter completed!