warrior godfather

Green looked up at the attack time. With less than 8 seconds left, Jaylen Brown stopped in front of him. Although it was two steps away, it was almost empty, but Green was still not sure about making a three-pointer.

He swiped left and right twice, his eyes lit up, and he passed the ball to McCollum.

After McCollum received the ball, there were only 6 seconds left in the attack time, and he could only single out Curry. He missed a jumper with an emergency stop, and Antetokounmpo grabbed the rebound.

The Warriors immediately turned from defense to offense, Antetokounmpo turned around and strode forward, throwing away Turner beside him.

Green returned to the defense at the first time and stopped in front of Antetokounmpo. Antetokounmpo changed direction twice, but failed to break through, and missed a layup under Green's interference.

Kenny Smith said:
"Beautiful! Antetokounmpo is full of impact, but few people can stop him. Green's confrontation and judgment are too good."

On the court, Green turned around to receive the rebound, looked up to observe his teammates running positions, and wanted to gain strengths, but the Blazers who returned to defense had no sense of counterattack and just stopped. When it hits the target, it immediately retreats without procrastinating, and never gives the Blazers a chance to fight back.

Green looked at his teammates who were walking slowly to the frontcourt, and felt angry, but then he was discouraged and dribbled the ball to the frontcourt helplessly.

He has become accustomed to the Warriors' constant push and counterattack style of play, but he has forgotten that not every team has the Warriors' tactical quality. Stotts' training of the team is far inferior to Zhang Yu's. Far inferior to the Warriors.

Green came to the frontcourt, stopped at the top of the arc, and beckoned to McCollum, wanting to play a hand-to-hand cooperation.

McCollum ran to the top of the arc, Jaylen Brown immediately switched defenses, not giving McCollum room to shoot, and Curry and Green, two old teammates, faced off on the court again.

Green didn't mean to play Curry singles. His desire to attack has decreased year by year in recent years, let alone play singles with the ball, and directly gave the ball to McCollum.

McCollum had no choice but to single out Jaylen Brown. Under the interference of Jaylen Brown's long arm, he made a mid-range shot and the rebound was grabbed by Lopez.

Looking back, Curry and Lopez picked and rolled, Lillard and Nurkic flanked Curry, Curry passed to Lopez, who made an open three-pointer, 5:0.

The Trail Blazers attacked, Lillard held the ball and Nurkic picked and rolled, Lopez squatted, and Jaylen Brown emptied Green to pinch Lillard.

Lillard gave the ball directly to Green, and Green cut to the basket, against Lopez's defense, barely missed a layup, the rebound was picked up by Lopez and passed to Curry.

The Warriors immediately counterattacked, but this time Green yelled "Andy Wan" and flew out of the baseline, unable to retreat. Curry went to the frontcourt, dribbled the ball behind McCollum, and made a layup, 7:0 .

Barkley was dissatisfied:

"Without Green, would the Blazers have no defense? How did they beat the Pelicans?"

The Blazers attacked, Lillard and Green picked and rolled, Jaylen Brown switched defenses, Lillard singled out Jaylen Brown.

Jaylen Brown followed closely and did not give Lillard a good chance. Lillard broke through to the inside with great difficulty, dodged around, and made a layup. 7:2, the Blazers finally broke the scoring drought.

But then, Curry and Antetokounmpo played a pick-and-roll, Green came up and was delayed, and Curry passed the ball to Antetokounmpo who was going down.

Green was too afraid of Curry, rushed too hard, and couldn't return in time. Antetokounmpo cut into the penalty area, attracted Turner to return to the frame, and then gave it to Wiggins in the bottom corner. The latter made a three-point shot after catching the ball. Into the net, 10:2.

Looking back, maybe it was Lillard's layup just now, which successfully attracted the attention of the Warriors. When he and Green picked and rolled again, Jaylen Brown directly flanked Lillard with Curry.

Lillard was overjoyed and gave the ball to Green.

Green felt tears welling up in his eyes. He finally entered the four-on-three link he is most familiar with!
After getting the ball, Green skillfully cuts to the basket, waits for Lopez to come up to defend, and then passes to Nurkic for a lob.

But Lopez stood in the penalty area, stopped in front of Nurkic, looked at Green, and didn't take a step forward.

Green even slowed down deliberately to lure Lopez up, but Lopez was indifferent.

Seeing that he was about to enter the coverage of Lopez's long arm, Green had no choice but to throw the shot ahead of time, but his posture was very stiff. The basketball bizarrely knocked against the front of the basket, bounced lightly, and landed in Lopez's hands.

Barkley said in surprise:

"What is Green doing? You can't make this kind of shot!"

O'Neill laughed and said:

"Haha, guys, let's congratulate Green, his wonderful operation will be selected for this week's Big Embarrassment!"

Seeing that his throw was so outrageous, Green's eyes widened in surprise, but the Warriors' defensive counterattack came immediately, he didn't dare to be distracted, and immediately returned to defense
But this time Green went deep into the basket, and the rest of the Blazers retreated in a mess. Antetokounmpo received a pass from Lopez, and the fast break succeeded in dunking with both hands, 12:2.

At the transition of the round, Lillard turned to pick and roll with Nurkic. Jaylen Brown emptied Green in the corner and came over to pinch. Lillard split the ball to Nurkic.

Nurkic went to the basket after receiving the ball, but he couldn't break through Lopez's defense at all, and could only pass back to Green who was outside the three-point line.

At this time, Jaylen Brown hadn't returned to his position, and Green got a big open opportunity. With a heartbroken, he made a three-pointer.

But this time the shot was outrageous. It didn't even touch the net. It flew directly over the basket and fell into the hands of Wiggins on the other side.

Seeing the basketball flying over, Wiggins was still a little dazed, and subconsciously reached out to catch it.

"Oh my god! What is Green doing? Isn't he awake? Can he make any shots?!" Barkley yelled in disbelief.

O'Neill couldn't stop laughing:
"Chuck, don't get excited, maybe Green can't bear to score on the Warriors, otherwise there is no way to explain why this ball is so outrageous, haha!"

After all, Kenny Smith was more serious, wondering:
"Didn't the Blazers find a way to break the flank attack? Green is best at dealing with four-on-three. How can it not work against the Warriors?"

O'Neill stopped laughing and explained:
"Look who the center of the Warriors is, Lopez! He can completely defend one and two, and Coach Z didn't let Antetokounmpo defend Green, but asked Brown to face Green. Green is not allowed to make three-pointers. Brown can do whatever he wants If you let him go, he won't score!"

Barkley was very dissatisfied with the performance of the Blazers:

"If Gentry also finds a striker to face Green and switch directly when defending the pick-and-roll, the Blazers will definitely not be able to pass the Pelicans."

O'Neill shrugged:

"Not necessarily, maybe Green will start to shoot three-pointers later? The Blazers are playing four-on-five now, and Green is useless on the offensive end. If he can respond to open shots, Lillard and McCollum will not With such a tight defense, the Blazers still have a chance."

O'Neal said the biggest weakness of the Blazers, and Stotts also realized this, but he has nothing to do.

If Green could make a three-pointer, he would have made it long ago, and would he wait until now?
It was because of Green's poor offensive ability that Stotts was forced to try to let him deal the card for half a season in the regular season.

Later, Stotts found that it was really not good to play this way, so he changed back to the pick-and-roll with the ball.

But it is less useful for Green not to deal cards. Stotts can only let Green participate in offensive tactics as much as possible to reduce the drag on the offensive space.

In the first round of the series, the Pelicans' brainless attack created a perfect environment for Green. The outside line was empty and the inside line was empty. Can get several assists per game.

But Zhang Yu let the striker face Green, and the pick-and-roll defense can be directly switched, and the inside line Lopez can also defend two.

As long as Green is on the court, the Blazers' offense is equivalent to four-on-five. Every offense is extremely difficult, and they can only rely on Lillard and McCollum's difficult pull-ups.

Looking back, facing the pick-and-roll of Curry, Lopez, and Antetokounmpo, the Blazers had nothing to do.

The Blazers didn't have Green to target, and Stotts didn't dare to let go of Wiggins and Jaylen Brown, who made nearly 40% of their three-pointers.

The Blazers' double guns in the backcourt are too short, and they dare not switch defenses, otherwise Curry's pass will be a dislocation that is absolutely crushed by size.

The Warriors dared to switch defenses. First, Jaylen Brown and Wiggins did not suffer from defending against the Blazers. Second, Curry did not suffer from defending Green. As an inside player, Green could not beat Curry. Pace is waiting, Antetokounmpo can also help defend at any time, and the inside defense is solid.

The Blazers don't have the defensive resources of the Warriors at all. Green can't stand up to Lopez in the low post. Nurkic is a colander.

Throughout the first half, the Blazers had been under pressure from the Warriors. Stotts was at a loss and called several timeouts, but did not make any decent adjustments to reverse the situation.

Fortunately, Lillard continued his excellent form in the early stage of the first round, and gradually adapted to the Warriors' defense. 16:55 behind by 71 points.

But such a point difference does not reflect the real strength gap between the two teams. The Warriors score very easily. There is no need for Curry and Antetokounmpo to use their personal abilities to attack hard. As long as they run tactics step by step, they will naturally have opportunities. Stable and efficient.

Even if the Warriors failed to attack, there were Antetokounmpo and Lopez fighting for offensive rebounds inside. Wiggins and Jaylen Brown were also very active in fighting for the front board. The Warriors grabbed 5 offensive rebounds in halftime. Using the second offense to get 8 points.

Five front boards may not seem like a lot, but the Warriors have a high success rate in one attack, and there are not many opportunities to fight for the front boards. It is not easy to get so many front boards.

……

During the intermission, Stotts finally stopped hesitating and adjusted his tactics.

No matter how bad his on-the-spot response was, he knew that if he didn't make adjustments in the third quarter, the Blazers would be completely finished.

In the third quarter, players from both sides returned to the court, and the Blazers' lineup became Lillard, McCollum, Maurice Harkless, Green, while the Warriors were still the starting lineup at the beginning of the game.

Barkley's eyes brightened:
"Stotts is in the fifth grade! Green plays the center and then plays a shooter. The Warriors can no longer let Green go. He can participate in the pick-and-roll all the way!"

Afterwards, the game progressed as Barkley expected. Green played at the fifth position, and the Blazers had four shooters. It was impossible for Zhang Yu to short Green again. He chose to short Turner.

Turner's three-pointer is not accurate, but he is different from Green in that he has a certain ability to attack independently. He can hold the ball to a close-range position to complete the finish, and he can also attract the defense and pass the ball to his teammates, revitalizing the Blazers. attack.

Relying on the space advantage of the small lineup on the offensive end, the Blazers succeeded in consecutive offenses and narrowed the point difference to 4 points in 11 minutes.

The atmosphere in the Chase Center has also dropped a lot, and the fans are anxious, fearing that the Blazers will catch up all the way.

At this moment, Zhang Yu finally called a timeout, which made the audience breathe a sigh of relief.

This is a long pause. The usually short 100 seconds seems extremely long at this moment.

Finally, the timeout ended, the two sides returned to the court, and the Warriors' lineup also changed. Lopez went off, Covington came on, and the Warriors also switched to the fifth team.

The fans at the scene were inexplicably excited to see the Warriors' new lineup, and there was a burst of noise in the auditorium, sweeping the audience.

Smaller than Wu, the Warriors are not afraid of anyone!
Stotts had a serious expression on his face. When Zhang Yu called a timeout just now, he guessed that Zhang Yu was going to the fifth elementary school.

In this era of small ball, only the five minors can fight against the five minors. Unless the Warriors' center can kill the Quartet in the low post, staying on the court will definitely do more harm than good, and be targeted to death.

It's just that Stotts has no idea whether the Blazers can resist the Warriors' five juniors.

Soon, basketball gave the answer.

After the Warriors put on the Death Five, they directly switched defenses infinitely. The Trail Blazers' five is too short, Antetokounmpo can go from one defense to five, and Curry is not afraid of Green and Turner. He dismantled the Blazers' offense into After singles, the offensive efficiency plummeted.

Looking back, the Blazers did not dare to defend infinitely, otherwise Antetokounmpo would really be crushed to the basket like a bulldozer again and again, and Collins was just a cash machine in front of Curry.

It is impossible for their defensive resources to take into account Curry and Antetokounmpo at the same time. After painful thinking, Stotts decided to keep the inside, go back to his old job, and let Curry play singles.

No one knows why Stotts did what he did, but when he is Stotts, it all makes sense somehow.

Curry once again exploded in the third quarter, scoring 22 points and making 4 three-pointers. Almost by himself, he opened the point difference to 21 points.

At the end of the third quarter, the Warriors 102:81 the Blazers, and Stotts' "pirated" five juniors lost to Zhang Yu's "genuine" five juniors.