The No.1 Anti-Fans in Basketball
Chapter 316 - 175 Hansen Behaves Unreasonably

Chapter 316: Chapter 175 Hansen Behaves Unreasonably

"You’re just on a better team!" Paul retorted.

"Oh, so the Grizzlies are the better team," Hansen smirked. How come he remembered that before he joined, the Grizzlies hadn’t won a single playoff game?

Paul turned away and stopped talking.

"Cough cough, don’t be angry," Hansen said, not expecting Paul’s tolerance to be so low. This showed he hadn’t properly made friends with James.

"How about we talk about the 121 to 63 game?" Hansen continued.

Paul didn’t catch on at first.

"Fuck!" When he realized what Hansen meant, he lost it and pushed Hansen hard.

The referee’s whistle blew, and Hansen raised his hands to indicate he hadn’t done anything.

Paul got called for a defensive foul.

Hansen couldn’t believe it, that didn’t warrant a technical foul? Talk about home court bias!

He turned to the referee in front of Paul and said, "Even though he’s shorter than me, not as handsome, and not as popular with the ladies, you can’t pity him like that!"

Hansen browsed through hateful comments about him daily, naturally learning a thing or two.

Paul was truly flustered. Hansen didn’t say much, but each phrase precisely hit where it hurt.

He cursed under his breath, and the referee, who initially intended to give Hansen a warning whistle, turned around and issued Paul a technical foul instead.

Finally, Hansen just shrugged at Paul.

See, you brought this on yourself, trying to out-trash talk me.

At that moment, Kobe pulled Paul aside for a chat.

"Don’t get tangled up in words with that guy, it’s tough to get the upper hand," said Kobe, a veteran in the field, who had learned his lesson from Hansen.

Paul snapped back to reality, sweating coldly.

He intended to trash talk to provoke Hansen into one-on-one play, but unexpectedly, Hansen’s few words made him lose his composure.

He viewed himself as an emotionally intelligent player, but fell for Hansen’s bait too easily. Hansen was tougher to handle than he thought.

When the starters’ time ended, the Grizzlies and Lakers were tied at 20 apiece.

Hansen had only taken two shots for 2 points, provided 2 assists, and made 2 steals.

Resting on the bench with that 222 stat line, he then noticed something different about the Lakers compared to the regular season, or rather, their adjustments.

Brown didn’t have Kobe, but instead let Paul lead the bench during the transition.

This was somewhat illogical since Paul had been aggressive in the first quarter; doing this would speed up his energy consumption.

However, as a smaller player, Paul’s stamina was plentiful, and he didn’t continue to push offense but focused on playmaking during the bench transition.

His pairing with Dunleavy produced good results.

It had to be said, the Lakers’ adjustment was spot on.

But it also had to be acknowledged that Paul was in great form tonight, showcasing his point guard prowess both in offense and playmaking.

Despite the trash talk, Paul’s performance before critical moments was commendable.

Or rather, while the Lakers players didn’t need much integration, Brown took almost half a season to find the right instruction manual for the team.

O’Neal was right; this Lakers team was significantly stronger than in the regular season.

At halftime, the teams were tied again at 58.

Paul had a brilliant first half with 18 points and 5 assists.

During the break, Joerger emphasized defending against Paul.

Hansen listened intently.

Joerger planned to have Randolph shrink back and weak side support to deny Paul mid-range opportunities.

The strategy wasn’t wrong, considering Paul’s first-half scoring mainly came from mid-range shots after pick-and-rolls with Big Gasol.

But after listening, Hansen felt Joerger’s strategy might not be effective enough.

Because Paul wasn’t limited to just pick-and-roll mid-ranges.

In fact, more than scoring, Paul’s organization was his real strength.

Which was his bread and butter.

Should the defense focus more on him, Kobe and Gasol would become unmanageable, creating a more troublesome situation than letting Paul score.

Hansen didn’t voice criticism directly but discussed his concerns with Joerger before the coach left.

"Do you have a better idea?" Joerger was open to suggestions.

"I can give it a try," Hansen was someone who wouldn’t offer recommendations without a solution.

Coming back for the second half, the Lakers made a change in the starting lineup, substituting Turiaf for Hill as the starting center.

Though shorter, Turiaf’s defense was clearly stronger than Hill’s.

The Lakers began the second half on offense.

Paul advanced the ball, then discovered that his defender had switched to Hansen.

Furthermore, upon turning to see who was guarding Kobe, Hansen once again politely began, "I’ll allow you to pass the ball to Kobe."

Paul looked at Hansen affectionately; did he think such low-level trash talk would work on him?

He had misjudged Hansen in the first half, but Hansen was underestimating him now, right?

Paul passed to Kobe, and Hansen didn’t switch but stuck with Paul to prevent him from roaming freely.

Guy was the one defending Kobe in the second half.

After getting the ball, Kobe managed to get past Guy with footwork, but his shot was still challenged by Guy’s defense, and the ball veered off the basket.

Guy’s defensive ability might not match Hansen’s, but thanks to his superb athletic talent, it was certainly not below par.

The "history" Hansen knew showed that later in his career, once his athletic abilities declined, he moved to the Spurs and transformed into a 3D player.