warrior godfather

Chapter 612 Is it still worth saving in the finals?
The Warriors played pass and cut for 5 minutes, but the effect was not good, but Zhang Yu saw Stevens' determination.

The Bulls, like the Warriors, are a tactically rich team with lots of screen runs and off-ball play.

When facing the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Bulls also focused on tactical cooperation in the first half to save energy, and then started to attack in the second half.

This is also an important reason why the Bulls did not decline in physical fitness as the series progressed, and they won two games in a row in G6 and G7.

But today, the Bulls started with star pick-and-rolls and singles. The tactics were simple and aimed at establishing a lead as soon as possible. Vince's caution, and the Bulls' determination to win the game.

Stevens made a move ahead of time, and Zhang Yu no longer held back. After the timeout ended, he replaced Antetokounmpo and Asik, and sacrificed the five dead in the first quarter.

In the Tencent live broadcast room, Duan Ran's tone was still calm:

"The Warriors have changed their letters. This means they are going to play the Fifth Elementary School. It is quite rare in the playoffs to play the Fifth Elementary School in the first quarter. Mr. Su, how effective do you think the Warriors' Fifth Elementary School will be?"

Su Qun thought for a while and said:

"The Bulls won the Cavaliers' five players in the Eastern Conference finals, but the Warriors' five players are different from the Cavaliers. The Cavaliers use the inside to open up the space, and James mainly breaks through. The Warriors use water to open up the space. Same, let's see how the bulls defend..."

He spoke very conservatively, just stated the difference between the Warriors and the Cavaliers' five small lineups, and did not make predictions.

In the past few years, Su Qun has grown older, his energy has gradually declined, and his professional ability has gradually deteriorated. Many tactics and changes cannot be seen, and he dare not say more.

On the court, the Warriors attacked, Curry dribbled the ball across half court, and played a pick-and-roll with Antetokounmpo.

Noah followed, but he didn't jump directly to delay, but stayed one step inside the three-point line, guarding against Antetokounmpo's pass, and handed over the task of defending Curry to Rose, who squeezed the screen.

In this attack, the Bulls only left a gap for Curry, that is, to shoot a three-pointer directly through the screen. At this time, Rose had not squeezed through the screen, and Noah stayed inside the three-point line, so no one could interfere with Curry.

Curry didn't hesitate, took a step across the screen to the left, and shot a three-pointer directly. Rose squeezed the screen and was a step slower, unable to interfere, but Curry's three-pointer didn't hit the front of the basket, and the rebound was added. Saul accepted.

The Bulls immediately launched a counterattack. Rose and Butler both rushed forward, but the Warriors, who had suffered a loss in the opening game, retreated quickly, which slowed down the pace of the Bulls' advancement, and the Bulls could only fall to the ground.

Rose and Noah played a pick-and-roll, the Warriors switched defenses directly, Green faced Rose, let Rose take a step, and mainly defended his breakthrough.

This is the choice that all teams will make when facing the Bulls. Rose is also used to being left empty. He dribbled the ball forward, adjusted his rhythm, stepped on the three-point line and pulled out his hand dryly, throwing a long two point.

Green only rushed forward at this time, and could only cause a slight disturbance to Rose. Rose was not affected, and his shot was very steady. The basketball went into the net hollow, 17:8.

"Good shot, Curry missed a three-pointer, Rose turned around and made a long two-pointer, but unfortunately stepped on the three-point line." Duan Ran said.

"Green's shot is a bit too big. Although Rose's long-range shots are average, he can shoot three-pointers with a good touch." Su Qun said.

Turning round, Curry turned to pick and roll with Green. Gasol, like Noah, mentioned the position of the three-point line and gave Curry half a step away. Rose struggled to squeeze through the screen, trying to catch up with Curry. pace.

Curry was not affected by the last three-pointer at all. He took a small step back under the cover, opened the distance with Gasol, and raised his hand to throw a three-pointer one step outside the three-point line. .

brush!
Gasol couldn't interfere in time, and Rose's pursuit was also a step slower, with a three-pointer hollow into the net, 17:11.

The Bulls attacked, Rose passed the ball to Gasol, Gasol played a low post single, Antetokounmpo defended hard, Green came up to pinch, Leonard and Klay also shrank to the penalty area, and the Warriors were instantly crowded inside Man, Gasol can only throw the ball out.

But his speed of the ball was not fast, and the Warriors' defensive formation immediately bounced away. Clay, Leonard, and Green rushed to the outside line. The Warriors' perimeter defense, which was originally full of loopholes, instantly became tight.

This is the advantage of the five minors in terms of mobility. The Warriors' defense is extremely flexible. They can deploy heavy troops in local areas, force the opponent to play the ball, and then quickly return to their positions, without leaking space like the regular lineup.

The Bulls insisted on looking for Gasol. Dunleavy gave Gasol a lob, but his pass was a little bit weak. Antetokounmpo squeezed past Gasol, stretched out his long arms, and broke the ball. .

He took a staggering step, avoided Gasol's press, controlled his center of gravity, and then immediately took a big stride, rushing to the front field, leaving Gasol far behind.

Clay and Curry fly on both wings, Leonard and Green are in the penalty area and the other is in the bottom corner, and the follow-up speed is slower.

The Warriors made a fast break on the third line. Rose followed Curry closely. Dunleavy chased Clay at first, but when he saw that Antetokounmpo was not following him, he immediately recovered from the penalty area and stopped in front of Antetokounmpo. .

Antetokounmpo didn't mean to slow down at all, he took a diagonal step to the left, trying to rush past Dunleavy.

Dunleavy was in a hurry, and he stretched out his arms to hug Antetokounmpo, trying to stop him, but Antetokounmpo made a sudden effort, broke away from Dunleavy's hand abruptly, rushed to the basket, flew up, left Slam the ball into the basket, 17:13.

"Di!"

The referee blew the whistle, 2+1!

"Beautiful! The letters are unstoppable, even Dunrivera can't stop them!" Su Qun said loudly.

"For a good shot, after stealing the letter, complete a counterattack layup. Many people said that Zhang Yu's choice of letter is not worth it. Looking at this ball, can you still say it is not worth it?" Duan Ran said.

Antetokounmpo stood on the free throw line, dribbled a few times, looked up at the basket, took a deep breath, and then sent the free throw.

Bang!

The long adjustment did not bring good luck to Antetokounmpo, the basketball went out of the frame and was protected by Noah.

"Oh……"

There was a long sigh of disappointment in the audience. Antetokounmpo's free throws have always been his weakness. His free throw percentage was only 75.6%, and he often wasted 2+1 opportunities.

Antetokounmpo's dunk was too exciting, which greatly boosted the morale of the Warriors. After a brief disappointment, the fans also gave him warm applause.

This dunk blew the horn of the Warriors' counterattack. The Warriors' defense became more active, they strengthened the strength of shrinking the frame, and the rate of rotation defense was very high.

This is the tactic that Zhang Yu arranged during the timeout. The Bulls' tactic is to hit the inside with the ball, compress the Warriors' defense, and drive the team's overall offense. Don't let the Bulls hit the inside, and don't give the Bulls a chance to open outside.

There is no doubt that this will greatly consume the physical strength of the Warriors players, but at the same time, the physical consumption of Rose, Butler, and Gasol is also increasing.

In the rest of the first quarter, the Warriors gradually gained the upper hand relying on the mobility advantage of the five small lineups.

Under the relentless contraction of the death five, the Bulls' defense is difficult to score inside, but the Warriors pay too much attention to the protection of the basket under the condition of insufficient height, and it is inevitable to miss the outside line. Butler and Dunleavy each made a shot An open three-pointer.

Rose also felt very good today. The Warriors let him go. He made a three-pointer and two long two-pointers, which punished the Warriors' defensive strategy.

The Warriors' offense mainly came from the pick-and-roll with the ball initiated by Curry. The Bulls' defense insisted on letting Curry half a step, giving him a little shooting space, and mainly guarding against Antetokounmpo and Green's roll.

And it was this quasi-transient gap, which was caught by Curry 3 times. In the first quarter, he made 5 of 3 three-pointers and added a horseback archery throw. He scored 11 points and 2 assists, leading the Warriors to 27 points. :24 leading the Bulls by 3 points.

During the break between festivals, Zhang Yu turned his head and glanced at the Bulls bench, a little puzzled.

Stevens knows Curry so well, how could he make such a mistake?

This kind of three-pointer seems to be extremely difficult, with a long distance and no room for adjustment. It is still the most difficult shot with the ball, but for Curry, it is no different from an open position.

Unless Gasol and Noah post up to delay, or directly switch defenses, as long as Curry is given a little space, he can make a three-pointer, no matter how far away, how difficult it is, or whether there is rhythm.

On the other side of the technical table, Stevens didn't notice Zhang Yu's gaze. He high-fived the players who were leaving the field one by one, with a dignified expression.

Of course he knows how terrifying Curry's shooting skills are, but compared to letting Antetokounmpo and Green go inside, it's better to bet that Curry doesn't feel good.

In the first quarter, Stevens lost the bet, but he will not make adjustments immediately, otherwise the Bulls players will only be at a loss.

The most important thing is that Rose feels very good today, cracking the Warriors' defensive strategy. The Bulls are not at a disadvantage in offense. Stevens wants to wait a little longer to see if there will be a turnaround.

……

In the second quarter, Zhang Yu and Stevens continued to replace players on the bench.

From 3 minutes into the first quarter, the two made adjustments one after another. Zhang Yu replaced Olynik and Danny Green, Green and Clay to prepare for the transition, and Stevens replaced him. Off Gasol and Dunleavy, replaced by Gibson and Hinrich.

It was also after the substitute players from both sides came on the court that Curry sent an assist to Olynyk and Danny Green each, and the stalemate score was opened a little bit.

In the second quarter, the Warriors Dinwiddie, Klay, Middleton, Green, and Asik formed a transitional lineup against the Bulls' Aaron Brooks, Hinrich, Gibson, Mirotic, and Gasol. Rotate the lineup and continue to expand the lead.

Middleton's singles and Clay's off-the-ball movement both made it difficult for the Bulls to parry. Dinwiddie couldn't score like he did in the regular season in the finals, but his steady handling of the ball can still bring a lot of help to the team .

The Bulls' offense can only rely on Gasol's low-post singles, but Zhang Yu specially arranged for him a top-level package of Asik's top defense + Green's flanking. It was even more difficult for Gasol to score than in the first quarter.

Just 2 minutes into the second quarter, relying on Middleton's mid-range pull-up, Clay's strong three-pointer and Asik's pass from Dinwiddie, the Warriors will take the lead The advantage expanded to 8 points.

Stevens had no choice but to replace Butler, who played all the first quarters, in advance. With the outside ball holding point, the situation on the Bulls field improved.

Relying on Butler and Gasol's internal and external linkage, the Bulls gradually narrowed the point difference, but Zhang Yu remained on the sidelines until 6 minutes and 15 seconds, when Stevens returned to the starting lineup, he then replaced the main force.

At this time, the Bulls have narrowed the point difference to 1 point, and the lead established by the Warriors has been eroded.

Stevens made persistent efforts. Except for Gasol to take a break, the other four starters stayed on the court, and with Gibson, they wanted to overtake the score in one go.

Zhang Yu still followed the regular rotation arrangement, replacing Clay and Green with Danny Green and Olynyk, with Curry, Leonard and Asik, and continued to fight with a mixed lineup of starters and substitutes.

This quickly cost the Warriors. Danny Green is a high-quality 3D engineer with good defense and three-pointers, but he is far behind Clay. It is much easier for Rose to break through Danny Green's defense .

Olynyk is worse than Green except that he is more accurate on three-pointers. The Warriors' defensive hardness and frame protection have declined a bit, and it is easier for the Bulls to hit the inside.

It wasn't until 3 minutes and 12 seconds into the second quarter that Zhang Yu switched back to Clay, Green and Antetokounmpo, and the dead five reappeared.

But this caused dissatisfaction among the fans. In the Tencent live broadcast room, the barrage began to point the finger at Zhang Yu:

"No, why did you go so early? They were all behind by 6 points before going to the finals, so why not use it?"

"There was something wrong in the first quarter. I kept playing pass and cut. I made adjustments when I fell behind. The fifth child was also late. Today's adjustments are always a step behind..."

"Before Zhang Yu said that the Bulls would be dealt with within six games. Could it be that he didn't take the Bulls seriously and played the finals as a regular season?" It's starting to mess around, don't make trouble, Brother Yu!"

The Warriors fans panicked, but the Warriors players will not panic because of these lags behind. After the death five came on the field, the Warriors quickly stabilized the situation.

The Bulls still put Curry half a step away, and Curry immediately picked and rolled Green and made a super long pull-up three-pointer, narrowing the point difference to 3 points.

In the next round, Rose singled out Clay, broke through to the inside, attracted the defense and then distributed it to Gibson who followed up. Gibson directly started to attack the frame. Antetokounmpo fouled the thug.

Looking back, Curry and Antetokounmpo picked and rolled, Noah stepped on the three-point line to defend, Curry took a step back and made a three-point shot, Rose's interference was a hair's breadth away, the basketball was hollow into the net, and the Warriors were only 2 points away from chasing .

Subsequently, the Bulls and Warriors missed several consecutive attacks. Curry also hit the iron with his fourth three-pointer with the ball. In the last minute, neither side scored.

At the end of the first half, the Bulls led the Warriors by 53 points 51:2 and entered the intermission.

When Su Qun analyzed the game situation, he said:

"This first half is very similar to the Bulls' Eastern Conference Finals against the Cavaliers. The score is almost the same. The situation is anxious. No one can play an advantage. The second half is the most important thing."

(End of this chapter)