no shortcuts in basketball

Chapter 154 Attack of the Little Titans
The Christmas game was in Miami, and the Bulls flew there the day before the game.

"What do you think of what he said?" Yao Ming and Xu Yong were sitting together chatting.

"What do you think?" Xu Yong knew he was talking about James, and asked back with a smile.

"The more a person lacks something, the more he will emphasize it." Yao Ming replied seriously.

Xu Yong was immediately happy after hearing this.

In fact, what James said will be more familiar to him, because during the playoffs last year, James once said to him in the game, "This is the last time you disrespect me." On the lips, it shows that he really lacks the respect of others.

Because it's hard for you to imagine Jordan or Kobe saying similar things.

And he now understood Grover's original theory of passive, competitor, and ruler better.

"Passives rely on others to judge their success."

James, in that category, should be classified as a passive player.

Therefore, this classification should not only refer to strength, but also mentality.

That mentality may not necessarily determine a player's career, but it will determine his final evaluation from fans.

When all is said and done, it's basically true.

So if we distinguish as before, the Heat's Big Three, one passive and two competitors, this is indeed a point that can be exploited in the game.

"Xu, I'm going to live in the city center." When they got off the plane in Miami, O'Neill suddenly found Xu Yong and said.

"Traffic jams are really exhausting," O'Neill went on to explain.

Xu Yong laughed after hearing this, but he didn't expect that it was O'Neill who couldn't stand it first.

But that's right, Yao Ming's character is still very tolerant, but at this stage of O'Neal's career, he just wants to be comfortable, so it is really difficult for him to be stuck in traffic every day.

……

Miami is a port city with a long coastline and its palm-sand beaches, making it a world-famous resort.

Especially during holidays like Christmas, Miami's beaches are very lively.

Of course, for the members of the Bulls, because of the Christmas game, they spent this Christmas Eve on the plane, so they have no time to appreciate the beautiful scenery of Miami for the time being.

On this night, the American Airlines Arena, located on the seaside and surrounded by water on both sides, was bustling with activity, and the fans' festive enthusiasm was completely brimming on their faces.

Although the outside world has many doubts about the Heat, the mood of Miami fans must be very beautiful recently. The record of 11 consecutive victories indicates that the team is officially on the right track after running in completely. They have reason to believe that the Big Three can beat any team. Team.

There were also many stars in the front row of the auditorium.

In addition to being a vacation destination, Miami is also a popular city for wealthy people from around the world to move to.

Why do you think Beckham wants to take a stake in the Miami team, why boss May wants to join the Miami team, there are reasons for all of this.

When Xu Yong came out of the player tunnel, he saw Swift again in the front row of the auditorium.

And when she saw him, Swift was still there reaching out to him to say hello.

It gave him the illusion that Swift had come to Miami just to see him play.

Xu Yong just responded with a smile, and then put his focus on the field.

As the saying goes, despise the opponent strategically, but pay attention to the opponent tactically.

Although there are reasons for the welfare of the East, the Heat's 11-game winning streak shows that they are no longer a team from the beginning of the season.

If you underestimate your opponents because of their experience in the opening game, then tonight they will become the last stepping stone for the Heat to reach the top.

And James's seemingly slightly funny remarks will also become a big capital for the Jamies to brag about.

In competitive sports, the winner always takes all.

So before the end of the game, he didn't have the mind to think too much about other things.

The warm-up on the court ended quickly, and the scene entered the opening ceremony, and the starting lineups of both sides were also released one after another.

Bulls: Rose, Xu Yong, Artest, O'Neal, Yao Ming.

Heat: Arroyo, Wade, James, Bosh, Joel Anthony.

For the Bulls, tonight O'Neal wore a suit and hung up the exemption card.

The game is about to start, James walked to the technical stage and continued to find the camera to throw chalk, and also deliberately added a chest-beating and roaring action, full of presence before the game.

As the courtside whistle sounded, Anthony moved the ball back to the Heat's half, officially kicking off the Christmas Day game.

After the Heat advanced to the frontcourt, James held the ball at the top of the arc, but the team's tactics were launched around Wade.

Obviously, as Xu Yong analyzed before, the key to the Heat's victory is to clarify Wade's offensive core position.

Xu Yong was trying to keep up with Wade, but he soon discovered one thing. Although he could bypass the pick-and-roll, it was difficult to keep up with Wade's speed.

Wade was at his peak at this time, and the "Flash" was really as fast as lightning.

When Wade moved to the right side of the free throw line through the screen, James' pass was given immediately, and Wade made a quick throw after receiving the ball.

At this time, Xu Yong went through the cover and rushed forward to interfere.

But Wade made the shot before then.

"Shh!"

Accurate pocketing of the basketball.

After Wade scored a goal, he glanced at Xu Yong. From his eyes, Xu Yong felt the raging fighting spirit.

Yes, when James has attracted most of the outside world's attention with his words and actions, few people will notice Wade's revenge tonight.

"The next time we play against each other, we will be stronger."

That's what Wade said after the opener, and as a contender, he's actually doing it now.

The Bulls fell to the ground, Rose and Yao Ming played a pick-and-roll, and the Heat directly chose to pinch Rose to interfere with his play.

This strategy was very successful. Rose's passing ability is not very strong, and Anthony moves faster than Ilgauskas, giving Rose a lot of pressure on the ball.

Just when Rose thought he found a passing angle and hit the ground to pass the ball to Yao Ming, Wade suddenly came out from the side and directly intercepted his pass.

After the steal, Wade was flying like lightning, throwing off the Bulls' defense and dunking for another 2 points.

The scene burst into bursts of cheers from the Miami fans.

0:4.

The Heat swept away the haze of the opening game, and they gave the Bulls a blow when they came up.

And from the previous round, we can see the Heat's defensive changes. They took advantage of the rotation of the Big Three to exert defensive pressure on the ball holder.

Judging from the results, Spoelstra's ability to create a suitable tactical system based on the characteristics of the Big Three is quite impressive.As a result, the pressure on the Bulls' ball holders will become very high.

But next to Thibodeau, Malone saw through the weakness of the Heat's tactics at a glance. After whispering to Thibodeau, Thibodeau immediately made a tactical gesture towards Rose.

After the Bulls advanced to the frontcourt, they also immediately showed tactical changes.

The ball was in Xu Yong's hands, but Xu Yong did not engage in pick-and-roll tactics with Yao Ming. Instead, he waited for Yao Ming to seize the position in the low post and then directly fed the ball in.

That's right, Malone keenly discovered the weak point inside after the Heat started with Anthony.

Compared with Ilgauskas, Anthony's short, black and tough is at the cash machine level for Yao Ming.

Facts also quickly proved that although Malone is only an assistant coach, his tactical ability is very good.

After Yao Ming received the ball, he directly hit a small hook from aerial work.

Anthony couldn't stop him from taking action.

Moreover, Yao Ming played in the low post all the year round, and his shot speed was very fast, so he never gave the Heat any chance to attack.

Spoelstra's expression was a little serious at this time. He didn't expect the Bulls coaching staff to react so quickly.

However, he did not adjust the lineup, because the Heat have relied on this style of play to reverse their decline in the past month. If he gives up and returns to the opening game, the Heat still have no chance of winning.

Wade quickly proved the correctness of his choice. After another ball-free movement to catch the ball, he went inside and successfully caused a foul on O'Neal, winning two free throws.

During the 11-game winning streak, Wade averaged close to 30 points per game and was in hot form.

Thibodeau turned his head and glanced at Allen at this time, but still did not change.

Although Allen can keep up with Wade's speed, the defensive effect will be better, but the Heat have now adjusted their style of play. If Allen plays, Yao Ming will inevitably be flanked in advance, and the loss outweighs the gain.

So at this stage, it depends on who Yao Ming or Wade will penetrate the opponent's defense first.

Wade adjusted his breathing and made two free throws. He scored all 6 points of the Heat's opening game.

The fans cheered loudly.

Wade is the one who helped the Heat win the first championship in team history and is the real king of Miami.

The Bulls' offense, Xu Yong continued to feed the ball in.

Anthony lowered his focus this time to push Yao Ming out, but Yao Ming took advantage of the situation and turned around to get to the basket. He scored the ball with an easy little throw, which also caused Anthony's pulling foul.

What is relaxed and happy.

Yao Ming was able to beat Howard with ease. This bankrupt version of Anthony really shouldn't take it easy.

Xu Yong, who did not forget to pass the ball after Yao Ming scored, pointed at him.

Xu Yong also smiled happily on the outside line, and he can be regarded as experiencing the joy of what is called assisting.

And speaking of it, in the history he knows, Hibbert averaged 2013 points and 22 rebounds per game against the Heat in the 10 Eastern Conference Finals.

The Heat at that time were not much different from their current style of play. It was Spoelstra's set that weakened the inside effect and increased the rotation speed to pinch the ball holder.

If Stern hadn't later discovered that no one could support him but James, and introduced some vertical jump rules, the Heat might not even be able to get out of the Eastern Conference.

But this season, the Heat have no whistle, and what the Bulls have is not "Black Yao Ming", but Yao Ming himself.

Judging from the smile on Yao Ming's face when he went to the free throw line, he probably didn't expect that he would suddenly play so easily in the second round.

Yao Ming also hit the extra penalty steadily, and the score came to 5-6.

In the transition between offense and defense, Xu Yong adjusted his defensive strategy. He no longer ran with Wade, but focused on James' passing route to limit Wade's reception.

Because James' passing is different from point guards like Nash and Rondo. Although he occasionally makes brilliant passes, they are more tactical passes, so they are easier to cut off.

This strategy worked very well. Wade ran to James twice in a row, but James didn't dare to pass the ball twice because there was a great risk of being intercepted and turned into a turnover.

There was not much offensive time left. James held the ball and attacked on his own. Facing Artest's defense, he chose to make a layup.

In terms of confrontation, James after gaining weight is much stronger than Artest, but Artest has a lot of defensive experience. He knows that James will not turn his back to make an emergency stop and is unstable, so he has enough strength not to give James accelerate.

So although James broke through to the three-second zone, he did not have a good shooting angle.

And if he goes forward, he will most likely be blocked by Yao Ming. In a blink of an eye, he throws the ball to Bosh on the baseline.

After Bosh received the ball, the attack time was only 2 seconds, and there was no time to make any offensive actions. After receiving the ball, he could only make a slight adjustment to O'Neal and force the shot.

O'Neal Jr.'s long arms interfered enough, and Bosh could only raise the arc as much as possible, and the shot was like a super high throw.

"Shh!"

But Bosh threw the ball in a daze!
James waved his arms excitedly, but Bosh, who scored the goal, was expressionless.

There is really no pleasure in scoring this kind of goal.

But this is also a good thing for the Heat, after all, they don't have to face the Bulls' defensive counterattack.

The Bulls were forced to continue grinding their positions.

But in this situation tonight, the positional battle is actually easier for the Bulls.

This time, the Heat flanked Yao Ming in advance under Spoelstra's signal. However, Yao Ming was flanked every day during his Rocket days and reacted quickly to return the ball to Xu Yong on the outside.

The Heat rotated defensively, James defended Xu Yong, and Xu Yong seized the opportunity to pass the ball to Artest at the top of the key.

Artest made a decisive three-pointer.

The ball was shot well, but unfortunately, the force was a bit too strong, and the ball hit the back edge of the basket and popped out.

Just when the Miami fans rejoiced that the team finally defended a round, Yao Ming judged the basketball's landing point and grabbed an offensive rebound.

Because Anthony had already committed a foul, he didn't dare to make big defensive moves, so he could only get stuck underneath Yao Ming's second attack.

And at the same time, James quickly retreated to the basket, ready to block Yao Ming's shot at the right time.

Yao Ming originally planned to end with a hook, but changed his mind when he saw James. He first gave Anthony a hard fight and knocked him away, and then used his strength...

"Oh!"

James hit the ball directly into the basket before he could take off!
After completing the dunk, Yao Ming waved his arms and enthusiastically gave James a tomato.

Respect, right?Come on, this is the most direct respect!
The live footage was given to Spoelstra for the first time.

The Heat coach looked constipated at this time.

He had thought of the threat that Yao Ming might bring to the Heat's inside line, but he didn't expect it to come so fast and so swiftly.

The Miami fans at the scene were also restless.

In the opening game, Yao Ming played fairly well. They almost forgot that the 2-meter tall man in front of them was the top two center forward in the league, nicknamed Little Giant.

If the Heat fight like this, there really won't be enough insiders to fill Yao Ming's teeth!
(End of this chapter)