God of NBA point guards

Chapter 232 The power of the three top defensive champions

At this time, Zhou Quan advanced two steps beyond the three-point line, suddenly exerted force, accelerated his stride, and wanted to force his opponent.

As John Starks moved sideways, the two of them hung together by their shoulders for an instant. With a muffled grunt, he was almost brought over to the ground, while Zhou Quan rushed past and rushed into the flank.

"Beautiful!" Zhang Lili shouted.

Seeing Zhou Quan attacking, Doc Rivers, who was defending Joe Dumars on the right wing, could only supplement the defense and build a second line of defense.

But Zhou Quan quickly passed the ball to Joe Dumars, then bypassed Joe Dumars and Rivers, and ran to the right elbow.

Joe Dumars received the ball without a pause, and passed it back to Zhou Quan who cut inside across Rivers. Zhou Quan received the ball and reached the right elbow area in one step.

Polynice and Charles Smith were up high, and Smith stepped in to set up a third line of defense.

Seeing that Smith made up the defense in time, Oakley, who was in the low post on the right wing, did not come up, and the same was true for Ewing, who was in the low post on the left wing.

Zhou Quan's pass was too threatening, and they didn't dare to throw away their own people to defend, otherwise Sekali and Rodman would cut inside to the basket, and with Zhou Quan's passing ability, it would be a fatal blow. .

The next moment, Zhou Quan exerted his strength again, speeding up and striding past others, and then easily rushed into the relatively slow-moving Smith, entering the paint area and flying up in one step.

This time, Ewing and Oakley were caught off guard. They didn't expect Zhou Quan to break through Smith so easily, and they were half a beat behind in returning to defense.

But they all tried their best to return to the defense, forming a close attack before the basket.

"boom!"

The tomahawk-style dunk broke the closed-door defense of Ewing and Oakley, and Zhou Quan blasted the Knicks' basket for the second time.

"Thank you both for your cooperation. The cooperation is just perfect. You are definitely worthy of the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor."

After completing the dunk, Zhou Quan also dropped a trash talk, Oakley was so angry that he gritted his teeth, and Ewing also put on a diamond face.

The Knicks were attacking, and Zhou Quan was defending and retreating in the backcourt. The strong defensive momentum shocked Doc Rivers, who was advancing with the ball, and made him feel that the basketball in his hand was a hot potato. go out.

"Rivers, the ball in your hand is mine, you'd better give it back to me." Zhou Quan also spat some trash talk.

"what?"

Rivers was taken aback.

"Chance!"

In an instant, Zhou Quan made the fastest stealing reaction, stepped forward to poke the ball, slapped it, and the moment he poked the ball away, he rushed over, stretched out his big hand, and under the precise strike, he pulled the ball up with a quick blast , successfully completed the steal.

"Oh, damn it, Rivers' ball was broken again! Is he sleepwalking?" an on-site commentator roared angrily.

John Starks pursued with all his strength from the left wing, but his speed was not fast. This is his talent defect, otherwise he would not have lost the selection and did not catch up.

"boom!"

Zhou Quan blasted the Knicks' basket three times.

"Oh hoo!"

Hundreds of Pistons fans cheered heartily, and a large number of stars and celebrities sitting in the front row applauded and cheered.

Spike Lee, the number one die-hard Knicks fan, saw Zhou Kwon dunking three goals in a row, with two steals in the opening game, he jumped up in anger.

"This is the main point guard that coach Pat Riley traded for Mark Jackson from the Clippers?" Another live commentator said in a mocking tone.

6:2, the Knicks attacked and called a timeout after serving.

Pat Riley's expression was extremely severe, even the villain Oakley lowered his head in front of him, not daring to do any stabbing actions.

He stared at Doc Rivers and reprimanded severely: "Doc Rivers, where is your focus on the game? You were intercepted twice in less than 2 minutes. Up to ten steals data?"

Doc Rivers kept his mouth shut, feeling like he was going to be substituted.

Sure enough, the next moment, Pat Riley said to Blackman: "Rolando, you go."

"Yes, coach." Blackman nodded calmly.

The Knicks have no absolute main force on the back line. Even John Starks only started 51 games, Doc Rivers only started 45 games, and Blackman is also an important rotation guard, starting 33 games.

He is an 81-year veteran and a four-time All-Star backup guard. He averaged 20+ per game in three seasons during his peak period. He has averaged 18.5 points per game so far in his career. He mainly plays the second position. He has a shoe height of 198 cm and weighs 86 kg. Old, already facing retirement.

The reason why Pat Riley replaced him was mainly to use his experience to push the ball across the half court. He warned: "Rolando, Iron Fist has a strong stealing ability. You can't be careless. Our possession of the ball cannot Lose it again."

"I understand." Blackman nodded.

Riley is still very worried. He thinks that Blackman can't handle Iron Fist. Iron Fist is too powerful in the first position, and can even compete with Jordan. Such a powerful top offensive and defensive point guard, he has nothing in his hands to compete. candidates.

If the No. [-] position is suppressed to death by Iron Fist and Joe Dumars, how will the Knicks fight?No matter how strong the inside line is, it also needs the outside line to control the ball.

The timeout ends and the game restarts.

Zhou Quan couldn't help smiling when he saw Blackman playing.

In an important series like the Eastern Conference Finals, the Knicks are the team with the number one regular season record in the Eastern Conference. He is the Pistons' old rival. He knows the Knicks lineup very well, and of course he knows Blackman very well.

He didn't understand why Pat Riley sent such a veteran up. Can experience really make up for degraded athleticism?
The Knicks serve from the left line of the frontcourt.

On the left wing, Blackman ran back continuously, but Zhou Quan was much faster than him, not a little faster, he couldn't get rid of Zhou Quan at all, and he couldn't get the chance to catch the ball.

Charles Smith, who finally served, passed the ball to John Starks who retreated to the center line, but Joe Dumars immediately chased him and blocked him at the center line.

Facing the Knicks with the strongest defense in the league, Chuck Daly's tactical strategy is very simple.

On the defensive end, use the Pistons' stronger back line to lock the Knicks' perimeter and disrupt the opponent's offense.

On the offensive end, play more fast breaks and more defensive counterattacks, so that it is too late for the opponent to establish a strong defensive system.

So far, all executed well.

This time, seeing Joe Dumars controlling John Starks on the center line, Zhou Quan rushed over without any hesitation.

"here."

Blackman is indeed experienced. After all, he is a four-time All-Star guard. As soon as Zhou Kwon left, he shouted for the ball and ran to the center line.

It's a pity that Joe Dumars' defense is so good, and Zhou Quan's position also cut off the passing and receiving route when he was attacking, forcing John Starks to fail to pass the ball, and then Zhou Quan pounced. When he got to the side, he could only pass the ball to Oakley who dropped back to the center line on the right wing.

Oakley received the ball, but he didn't have the ability to hold the ball. After Sekali defended in front, he could only stop in place, holding the ball high with both hands, ready to transfer the ball.

Pat Riley yelled angrily, "Go and respond."

John Starks ran over quickly, and Oakley quickly threw out the hot potato, but as soon as John Starks received the ball, Joe Dumas and Zhou Quan who caught up made dumplings for him.

"Snapped!"

Zhou Quan stretched out his hand and knocked the ball out of John Starks' hands accurately. The three of them rushed into a ball, and finally Joe Dumars grabbed the ball, and the two cooperated to complete a steal.

In the next moment, he immediately turned around and went down quickly, crossing the center line in one step, Joe Dumars passed the ball, and he caught the ball and strode towards the basket.

The counterattack initiated from the center line, except for John Starks who lost the ball, the rest of the Knicks have given up returning to the defense.

"boom!"

Zhou Quan took off after killing the free throw line, made a 360-degree turn, and then made a strong one-handed dunk, smashing the Knicks' basket for the fourth time.

"Clap clap clap..."

This time, there was warm applause at Madison Square Garden.

Zhou Quan took a look. This time, not only the Pistons fans and those Chinese fans, but also many Knicks fans applauded him.

Pat Riley didn't expect his team to start like this. In the opening game, he was intercepted three times, allowing the opponent to counterattack consecutively. He stopped roaring because it was meaningless and made the players more nervous.

In the TNT commentary seat, Robert Guida said: "Ringer, I now realize a problem. If the Knicks can't solve the problem of the outside line, that is, if they can't solve the defense of Joe Dumars and Iron Fist, their balls will pass continuously. There will be no opportunities for the insiders, so in this series, they are likely to face a more difficult situation than the Bulls."

Ringo Wilson nodded in agreement and said: "Two wins and two losses in the regular season, this record can no longer be used as evidence to evaluate the strength comparison between the two teams in the Eastern Conference Finals series.

When Iron Fist and Joe Dumars burst out with strong defensive energy, the Pistons will be able to form a force that can kill the Knicks outside in a local area, and I'm talking about the outside.

And if the Knicks can't cope, they may indeed be worse than the Bulls. After all, the Bulls hit the tiebreaker, and the Knicks probably won't even have a chance to tie the tiebreaker. "

Robert Guida said: "The Knicks' defense is strong as a whole, but they only have one defensive second team, while the Pistons have two defensive first teams and one second team. In fact, if it weren't for the Iron Fist, Joe Dumars would also be selected for the defensive first team again. , so the Pistons should be regarded as three defensive teams, and the Pistons do have the strength to locally form a strong defensive pressure on the Knicks."

Ringer Wilson said: "I think the Knicks should look for a breakthrough and stare at Sekaly and Polynice to play. These two positions are the defensive weaknesses of the Pistons, which is why the Pistons' overall defense is not as good as the Knicks."

But at this point, he smiled wryly: "But now the Pistons have locked the Knicks' outside line, so that the Knicks have no chance to focus on their weaknesses."

"It's still a tactical problem. It's not that the Pistons are necessarily stronger than the Knicks. Pat Riley should find a solution. He still needs to observe, it takes time, and the players also need to adapt." Robert Guida said.

The game continued on the court, and the Pistons still formed a strong defensive pressure on the Knicks from the outside, trying to destroy the opponent's offense from the outside, prevent the ball from entering the inside, and then try to find opportunities to play fast breaks.

The Knicks made a lot of turnovers. There were 5 turnovers in half a quarter, including two pass errors and three steals. In the 6th minute, the Pistons led away to double digits at 19:8. Terry called a second timeout.

Zhou Quan made 6 of 5 shots, 4 of which were fast breaks after a defensive counterattack.

The Pistons made 14 of 9 shots and shot 64% from the field.

The Knicks took only 9 shots and hit 4 goals, with a shooting percentage of 44.4%.

尤因4投2中，约翰斯塔克斯3投1中，史密斯2投1中。

Zhang Lili said excitedly: "On the perimeter, regardless of the offensive and defensive ends, the Pistons have an absolute advantage. The advantage is too great. It has already made the Knicks' offense impossible. The team took 14 shots and made 7 of 3 shots in positional battles. Six out of 7 fast breaks, the fast break ratio is too big, so big that the Knicks defense has no chance to play."

Sun Zhenping said excitedly: "Director Zhang, I think the Knicks are far inferior to the Bulls. Aren't they the best defensive team in the league?"

Zhang reasonably analyzed: "Their defense is strong as a whole. Ewing, Oakley, John Starks, Rivers, Mason, these guys have good defense, plus the strong team established in two seasons. The defensive system and defensive awareness are the most powerful defensive quality in the league.

But individually, they are not as good as the Pistons. The reason why the Pistons' defense is too obvious this season is that Sekali is a defensive black hole, as is the third position, which seriously drags down the overall defense of the Pistons.

In fact, the Pistons' defense this season is similar to that of the Bulls, both strong on the outside and weak on the inside.

But just now the Pistons put a lot of effort into the perimeter defense, staring at the Knicks' perimeter play, and formed an almost overwhelming advantage locally, severely disrupting the Knicks' passing, and finally disrupting their offense, so they can be big. The score is leading. "

In front of the Knicks' bench, Pat Riley's expression was so serious that even Jeff Van Gundy, an assistant coach, was a little afraid to speak.

"From now on, strengthen the pick-and-roll, Oakley and Smith both pull out to cover the outside line, we strengthen the transfer of the ball, and avoid the defense of Iron Fist and Joe Dumars..."

He replaced the veteran Blackman. In the past few minutes, Blackman's performance under the iron fist's defense was average, and he made two pass errors.

He sent the last point guard, Greg Anthony. Anthony is 183 cm tall and weighs 80 kg. Although his speed is not much faster than Iron Fist, he is sensitive enough and has good ball-handling skills.

Anthony was the 91th pick in the first round of 12, and Iron Fist was the 91th pick in the first round of 17. The two were in the same year. Now he regrets it very much. You must know that Zhou Quan came to the Knicks for a trial training, but he actually liked it. Anthony, ignoring the mediocre Iron Fist at the time.

He exhorted: "Greg, don't go to the middle, you push on the flank, use your speed and agility, or your teammates' pick-and-roll, get rid of the iron fist, try not to match him, be flexible, and give the ball to the frontcourt Patrick or John."

"Yes, coach."

Anthony was both nervous and excited.

Against Iron Fist, this is a person who can kill Jordan. He is very nervous, but if he has a good performance in front of Iron Fist, he will undoubtedly be very excited and looking forward to it.

Pat Riley added: "Also, when you call a pick-and-roll, call Oakley, don't play a pick-and-roll with Smith, Rodman can defend from position one to position five, understand? You have to keep an eye on Seka Let's fight."

"Yes."

Greg Anthony said nervously.

Pat Riley told John Starks again: "John, you are on the other wing, keep a distance from Greg, so that Joe Dumars and Iron Fist cannot form a pincer attack, understand?"

"Understood." John Starks said in a deep voice.

The timeout ends and the players enter the field.

"Hey, Greg."

"Hey, Iron Fist."

As the show of the same year, Zhou Quan and Greg Anthony knew each other. They met in the official training camp, and also met in the trial training of several teams such as the Knicks. They greeted each other after playing.

Greg Anthony actually played well. He started 35 games as a point guard this season. He has a good assist ability. He averaged 24 assists per game in 5.5 minutes, but this achievement is nothing in front of Zhou Quan, so he said with emotion : "Tekken, I didn't expect you to become a superstar in just two years. You are the best rookie in 91."

"Thank you! You are not bad, let's work hard together." Zhou Quan said with a smile.

"Di!"

The referee blows his whistle and the game begins.

Although it was the same year's show, Zhou Quan was not polite. He followed Anthony very closely and did not give his opponent a chance to catch the ball.

However, Anthony used the pick-and-roll with Oakley to get rid of Zhou Quan and received the ball, then easily bypassed Sekali, and rushed to the paint with the ball.

Rodman quickly made up from the basket to the left waist and established a second line of defense in time. Anthony wanted to pass the ball to Ewing, but Ewing cut inside to the basket at this time and was surrounded by Polynes. He couldn't pass. In the past, the jumper had to be forced to stop.

"boom!"

Missed, Rodman turned around and grabbed the backcourt rebound that rebounded.

At this time Zhou Quan had already turned around and hurried down, how could Oakley catch up with him?

"Whoosh!"

Rodman passed the ball, Zhou Quan received the ball across the center line, and quickly rushed to the Knicks' basket.

"It's another fast break. This is the eighth fast break for the Pistons in the first quarter, and 8 of the 8 fast breaks were successful." Zhang rationally shouted excitedly.

"boom!"

He only spoke half of his words, and Zhou Quan completed another dunk.

"Oh hoo!"

The cheers at Madison Square Garden are getting louder, and more and more Knicks fans are turning against the water.

Pat Riley yelled at the field: "Greg Anthony, pass the ball, do you hear me? I let you go up to pass the ball, not to force you to attack. Do you think you are Iron Fist or Michael Jordan?"

Greg Anthony shivered with fright and kept nodding.

In the TNT commentary seat, Robert Guida shook his head and said: "Compared to the Knicks, the Bulls are much weaker on the perimeter. Iron Fist and Joe Dumars faced Jordan and Pippen, and they couldn't play such a defense and counterattack at all. Now look at it. Come on, the Knicks probably won't be able to solve the perimeter problem."

Ringo Wilson asked with some concern: "Robert, do you think there will be a one-sided situation?"

"possible."

Robert Jeddah nodded heavily.

The two are not biased toward the Knicks, but because of the ratings problem, a one-sided game will reduce viewing and expectations, resulting in a sharp drop in ratings.

Robert Guida opened his mouth, but closed it again.

Bystanders know that he actually has a way to solve the Knicks' current predicament. The solution is very simple, that is, the outside line facing the Iron Fist only plays without the ball, does not hold the ball, and then pulls all three outside lines away, and does not allow the Pistons to pinch the outside line. Chance.

Although Joe Dumars' defense is also good, but in terms of defensive initiative and aggressiveness, it is far inferior to Iron Fist.

One minute later, Pat Riley called a timeout again.

(End of this chapter)