Fu Zhenghao: McGrady + O Neal can t win three consecutive championships, with up to one championship, Big Big joins Huqian and Yao Ming in the same grade

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Facing the Trail Blazers' forward meat grinder, Kobe, who was under 22 years old at the time, averaged 20.4 points, 4.8 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 1.6 steals and 2 blocks in the 2000 Westpac final. Kobe's most classic game in this round of the series is the tiebreak battle. The Lakers have been behind since halftime and were once 15 points behind in the fourth quarter. Kobe stepped forward to take over the game. He made consecutive jump shots, freezing Pippen while continuing to score. The Trail Blazers made 0 consecutive 13 shots in the final quarter. Kobe also gave O'Neal an all-match dunk at the last moment, and the Lakers narrowly won 89-84.

Kobe scored 25 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists and 4 blocks in the whole game, with the highest score in all four categories, almost reversing the game with his own strength. Kobe's scoring at a critical moment in that game and the blocking of the Trail Blazers' pass line were impressive. If McGrady were the same, could his defense freeze Pippen?

In the 2001 Western Conference Finals, facing its long-time rival Spurs, Kobe averaged 33.5 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists per game, with a shooting percentage of 51.1%. The Spurs were the strongest team in the Western Conference defense at that time, but Kobe directly entered the ZONE, leading the team to sweep the Spurs, and convincing Popovich after the game. At the same time, McGrady stopped in the first round of the Magic. Although she could score high scores, her efficiency was not high, and the Magic stopped in the first round of the Magic.

You should know that there were basically no strong teams in the East at that time. McGrady was eliminated by the three Bucks Musketeers led by Ray Allen in the first round of the 2001 playoffs. The Bucks were the running team of that era, and they basically did not defend. McGrady averaged 33.8 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 8.3 assists per game, but the shooting percentage was only 41.5%. The opponent's Ray Allen averaged 24.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 5.3 assists, and 2.5 steals per game, with a shooting percentage of up to 55%, and a three-point shooting percentage of 57.1%. Therefore, it is difficult to judge whether McGrady can play Kobe's attacking firepower under high-intensity defense during this period.

Overall, the challenges faced by the Lakers in the 2000-2001 season are not particularly great. If McGrady beats the substitute for Kobe, and looks at the Lakers' playoff journey from the perspective of hindsight, there will be a chance to win the championship.

In the 2002 Western Conference Finals, the Lakers played against the Kings, whose system had been perfected. In that round of the series, the Lakers were in a catching up state, falling behind 1-2 to 2-3, and one foot was already on the edge of the cliff that was eliminated. Kobe's offense and defense played a life-suffering role in the last two games of this round of the series.

The Kings were the first in the regular season, and the West Finals showed their advantage in strong attacking firepower against the Lakers. They led 2-1 in the first three games. If Kobe had not scored consecutive points in the final quarter and Robert Horry hit a magical three-pointer in the last moment, the Kings would have led 3-1 with a big score. Kobe not only scored 31 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists and 30 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists in G6 and G7, but also replaced Fisher to personally mark Mike Bibby, successfully winning two consecutive games, helping the Lakers escape from death 4-3.

It must be admitted that this is the most difficult series in the Lakers' three-point winning streak. If it weren't for Horry's G4's three-point winning streak, Kobe's magical performance and the help of the referee in the last two games, the OK combination would not have won three consecutive championships. The value and dominance of this combination would be greatly reduced. You should know that in NBA history, only four teams have completed three consecutive championships. If McGrady had no choice, his defense might not be able to suppress Bibi, and the Lakers would definitely not be able to pass the Kings level.

Overall, McGrady's physical talent is better than Kobe, but his competitive spirit, physical health, tenacity at critical moments, and defensive focus are all significantly different from Kobe. If he was replaced by Kobe to partner with O'Neal, he might have won one championship by chance (2001), but it is certainly impossible to win three consecutive championships.

McDy, on many levels, reminds people of another talented defender who has really partnered with O'Neal, "Penny" Hardaway, who also passed the Magic No. 1. Although O'Neal and Hardaway joined hands to enter the NBA Finals in 1995, their complementary attributes were still lacking (Hardaway was thin and had average defensive ability). At that time, O'Neal had already exploded with Olajuwon. The young Magic actually missed the last four free throws and was overturned in overtime when G1 led the finals most of the time, and was swept away. The "Penny" series also exposed its defensive shortcomings and was shot by the Rockets' shooters. Although "penny" is known as the combination of Jordan and the magician, it ultimately failed to continue its glory due to frequent injuries.

McDy's most regrettable thing is that his physical and mental aspects are too fragile, which has led to his inability to break through the first round of the playoffs most of his career (it was only to break the curse as a water dispenser administrator in 2013), rather than always lamenting that he has never partnered with O'Neal. If Kobe hadn't broken up with Shaq, he might have been questioned for his whole life that his superstars were not of good quality. In fact, Kobe immediately won three championships and two consecutive championships after joining Gasol, while McGrady and Yao Ming were unable to break through in the first round of the playoffs in the Western Conference, and the gap between them was actually very significant.

Before partnering with Kobe, Gasol and Yao Ming were regarded as players of the same level. Both international insiders with a soft style. At that time, Yao Ming was selected for the second team in a row. Gasol did not even have three teams of the best team when he was with the Grizzlies, and was only selected for the All-Star Game (2006). Overall, Yao Ming and Gasol could be called players of the same level. However, after Gasol met Kobe, his achievements and historical status were greatly improved. The Lakers once wanted to chase Yao Ming through Tom Janovic, but unfortunately Yao Ming chose to stay in Houston. If Yao Ming had joined the Lakers back then, it might have been more clear that the real gap between McGrady and Kobe would have been compared.

Of course, injuries are the number one enemy that prevents McGrady from becoming a great superstar. Not only does he have frequent back injuries, but Grant Hill and Yao Ming, who were his partner at the peak, are injured frequently from time to time. He and his teammates are always defeated by injuries, which is the regret that McGrady should sigh the most.