no shortcuts in basketball

Chapter 163 Teaching the King to Break the Net

热火队以57胜排名第二，詹姆斯场均26.3分7.7板7助攻，韦德场均25.6分6.4板4.8助攻，波什场均19.1分8.3板1.9助攻；

The Celtics rank third in the Eastern Conference with 56 wins;
The Magic are fourth with 52 wins;
The Pacers, Hawks, Knicks and Digital Man ranked 5th to 8th respectively.

Because of the early rise of the Pacers after joining Boozer, the Eastern Conference's first-round matchup and the history known to Xu Yong have undergone very big changes.

The Magic's opponent in the first round changed from the Hawks to the Pacers, while the Hawks' opponent became the Celtics.

As for the Heat, they will face the Knicks in the first round and the Banana Boat brothers will face each other early. This will be the most watched matchup in the Eastern Conference.

The Bulls encountered the Numbers Team a season ahead of schedule.

In the words of history, in the next season because of Rose's injury, the digital man completed another black eight.

It’s time to introduce this team of digital people.

They missed the playoffs last season and are back in the playoffs this season under new head coach Doug Collins.

Collins is a digital legend. He was the No. 1973 pick in 1977. He was selected to the All-Star three times in his career and led the team to the Finals with 400 and "Dr. J" Irving. Unfortunately, he failed to win the championship. Later, he suffered serious injuries and only played. He retired hastily after playing more than [-] games.

He is a coach who pursues team basketball. Under his coaching this season, Brand, the team's highest scorer, only averaged 15 points per game, but 6 players on the team scored in double figures.

Although the team's record is not particularly outstanding, the 76ers' lineup is not weak.

Starting outside Jrue Holiday and Jordan Meeks, forwards Iguodala and "Old Captain" Brand, center Spencer Hawes.

On the bench, there are also strong players such as Lou Williams, Evan Turner, Thaddeus Young, Nocioni, Marlis Speights, etc.

This is a young and impactful team. In a sense, they are very similar to the Bulls last season.

As in previous years, before the official start of the playoffs, the league announced the first batch of awards for the season, including the Best Sixth Man Award, Most Improved Award and Best Coach.

The most improved award went to Love of the Timberwolves. Love averaged 20.2 points, 15.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game this season. He averaged 3 three-pointers per game and had a 41.7% three-point shooting percentage.

As a 2 meter insider, this data is crazy enough.

The Best Sixth Man Award went to Harden of the Thunder.

History has gone awry here. Harden improved himself faster and won this honor earlier.

On social media, some fans posted a video of the game between Arizona State University and UCLA three years ago. Love, Harden, Xu Yong, and Westbrook made people watch with gusto.

The best coach was undoubtedly given to Thibodeau, who was at the peak of his career.

Although the Bulls were already a team that completed eight games last season, the Bulls also signed a series of powerful players such as Yao Ming in the summer.

But Thibodeau really contributed a lot to the fact that the Bulls can produce the current data.

The first is the establishment of a tactical system, which created the Bulls' defensive counterattack style with one large and four small players, and then the use and protection of veterans, which did not cause the Bulls to have the kind of injury problems predicted by ESPN.

After the award was announced, after the Bulls training session ended that day, when Thibodeau came to the locker room, the players suddenly yelled and picked up the mineral water bottle, gave Thibodeau a mineral water bath, and expressed their respect for this The affirmation and support of the team’s head coach.

Thibodeau also accepted it all with a smile on his face. It was also a blessing for him to be able to coach such a strong team when he became the head coach for the first time.

"I hope you can use champagne in June." After wiping his face, he also said something quite powerful to his players.

These words immediately caused cheers from the locker room.

Xu Yong also laughed at this time. Unexpectedly, Thibodeau, who usually only focused on basketball, had a sullen side.

After the "celebration" was over, Xu Yong returned to the training hall that night to practice shooting.

When the practice was almost done, he found Thibodeau coming in. It seemed that he should have been busy in the office before.

The two of them were very used to this kind of scene, and they chatted wordlessly after sitting down.

What we were talking about was, of course, the first round of the numbers game.

"I played against Jrue Holiday when I was in college, and he has very strong perimeter defense capabilities," Xu Yong said.

He was talking about his sophomore year. At that time, UCLA's overall strength was no longer as good as Arizona State University, but Holiday still restricted Harden's performance. Although Rose was stronger than Harden, his performance would also be affected. limit.

This means that he is likely to need to take on more offensive tasks in the game.

"They still have Andre Iguodala," Thibodeau continued.

Xu Yong nodded. Although the game hadn't started yet, the tone of the defensive battle in this series could be seen.

"That Hawes, although he doesn't shoot much, he has a three-point range." Xu Yong then reminded.

A center like Hawes with outside shooting ability is also the type to restrain Yao Ming.

Thibodeau nodded. Although it was No. [-] versus No. [-], this series will not be as easy as it looks.

The Bulls must be prepared for a tough battle.

……

Two days later, the playoffs officially begin, and the games for the first and fourth teams in both divisions will begin.

In the East, the game between the Bulls and the Digital Man is the first to start.

The United Center was packed to capacity tonight, and the fans' enthusiasm was at an all-time high.

Although it was only the first round, it could not hold back the expectations of Chicago fans. This was the first time Jordan had seen the dawn of a championship. How could he not be excited.

Miami, private beachfront mansion.

James was alone in his custom king ottoman, ready to watch the game.

Because of the Arroyo incident, he is now very dissatisfied with the management and coaching staff, so he doesn't care about the first round now, he only focuses on the Bulls.

To put it bluntly, it is difficult for the Heat to lose against other teams, but it is also difficult to win against the Bulls.

He must seize every possible winning angle.

The warm-up at the United Center is over and it’s time to enter the opening ceremony. The starting lineups for both sides are also coming out one after another.

On the numbers team, Holiday, Meeks, Iguodala, Brand, Hawes.

For the Bulls, Rose, Xu Yong, Artest, O'Neal Jr., and Yao Ming.

Both sides used the regular starting lineup.

Amid the cheers of the fans, Yao Ming moved the ball back to half court, officially kicking off the game.

The Bulls started with Rose and Yao Ming's pick-and-roll, but as Xu Yong expected, Holiday's defensive ability was strong and he didn't take the pick-and-roll.

Yao Ming finally pulled to the free throw line, leaving the basket empty for Rose to burst directly.

Rose changed directions and broke through to the basket without slowing down, but Holiday shrank early and released the shot to prevent the breakthrough. Rose's final emergency stop throw failed to score.

In the transition between offense and defense, the digital ball was hoisted to the basket and hit Brand.

However, the Bulls have already responded. The person guarding Brand is Yao Ming.

This is also Thibodeau's response to Hawes' outside shooting ability proposed by Xu Yong.

If it were Brand who was at his peak, this matchup would be similar to when Yao Ming defended Boozer in the Rockets.

However, Brand was already 32 years old at this time, and his condition was declining rapidly. He had already changed from an All-Star power forward to an ordinary starter.He tried to hit one, but under Yao Ming's defense, the shot finally bounced out of the frame, and the rebound was protected by O'Neal Jr.

The Bulls got the rebound, but they couldn't produce the defensive counterattack they are good at.

Because the digital people have retreated immediately.

It was similar to Xu Yongxibodu’s exchange two days ago. The two teams were engaged in a defensive battle.

The game lasted 5 minutes, and the score on the field was 4 to 6. Every score on the field was very difficult.

In Miami, James smiled happily after seeing this.

For this starter on the digital court, Holiday is the defensive gate on the outside, and Meeks' defense is also online, coupled with Iguodala, a sweeping defender, and Hawes, who is 2 meters under the basket. , This is also a standard defensive iron net.

He was tortured so miserably by the Bulls' iron net before, and now he wants the Bulls to have a good taste of it.

Moreover, even if the numbers man's style of play cannot defeat the Bulls, it can still make the Bulls shed a layer of skin.

When the Bulls are exhausted and come to the Heat, the Heat's chances will naturally increase.

During the Bulls' offensive round, Xu Yong reached out to Rose and then took the initiative to move to the high position on the strong side.

Now that the Bulls can't open up the situation, it's time to find a breakthrough from his position.

In fact, when communicating with Thibodeau before, there was one thing he didn't mention, and that was the issue of starting numbers.

If the digital man removes Meeks and uses Thaddeus Young as the starter, the position battle will really not be easy to fight.

However, the digital man did not choose to do that. It was not a problem with Collins' coaching ability, but a problem with the offensive space in positional warfare.

Both Holiday and Iguodala's outside shooting is unstable. If Young, who is also unstable, is allowed to start, the Bulls can set up a 2-3 zone defense without having to play.

This is actually the reason why Thibodeau values ​​Allen, but after playing in the regular lineup, he was unable to use Allen as a starter, and even excluded him from the rotation for a time.

As basketball continues to develop, space for positional battles has become more and more important.

Going back to the present, although Meeks' defense is online, he is only just over 1 meters tall with bare feet, which is a big gap in size from Xu Yong.

Therefore, this set of matchups on the court is the best breakthrough point.

Rose fed the ball to Xu Yong, and then moved him to the weak side in a tacit understanding, leaving room for Xu Yong to play in singles.

The numbers guy reacted pretty quickly. Brand had already let O'Neal, who was guarding him, come over to attack.

However, Xu Yong moved faster. He turned left and made a fake move that forced Meeks to lower his weight. He turned right and quickly opened the distance between Meeks and shot backward.

Meeks was already at an absolute disadvantage due to his height. After being pressed this time, he had to guard against falling back. He had no chance at all. He could only extend his hand to defend in a symbolic way.

"Shh!"

Xu Yong showed his shooting stability and hit the ball steadily with his backward shot.

Different from the various physical confrontations between the two sides before, Xu Yong's goal highlights a relaxed and freehand style, with a sudden change in style.

But this is the benefit of mastering the turn-back technique. It is the most lethal offensive weapon in high-confrontation games.

Numbers head coach Collins was beaten so much that he stood up from the bench.

In fact, he has been worried about this, and even Brand's assisting defense was an arrangement he made before the game.

But Xu Yong's choice was too decisive. He was so decisive that he didn't leave any time for the digital man to help defend. He was so decisive that he seemed to have been prepared to fight like that.

In Miami, James was so angry that he clenched the armrest of the soft chair.

Damn Xu Yong, what method did he use to turn around and fall back like this in less than one season?

Obviously he...

Others may not know it. As a fan of Jordan, how could he not have practiced this trick before?

But eight years later, he still hasn't mastered it.

Really more popular than dead people!

In the digital man's offense, Holiday scored a breakthrough point to Hawes.

Hawes' mid-range shot against Rose's defense was still an iron shot.

This digital team's defense is top-notch, but it failed to achieve a top-notch record because of its offense. What stands out is an inefficiency.

So they can only hope to defend.

Under the signal of Collins, Iguodala switched to Xu Yong.

Xu Yong was also very straightforward, directly choosing the face frame, and then let Artest sink to the low position.

When the ball was fed in, Meeks had no choice but to foul early.

Compared to guarding Xu Yong, he is more difficult to guard against Artest.

Collins had no choice but to turn around and call Thaddeus Young up.

Young came on to replace Meeks.

Collins' choice at this time is not a problem. Anyway, the offensive in positional warfare has become so bad, and it will be admitted if it is even worse, but if the defense is successful, there is a chance to play a defensive counterattack.

And this idea is correct. Fighting against the Bulls with Yao Ming is a slow death, but there is still a chance to defend and counterattack.

The Bulls' frontcourt ball, Xu Yong continued to receive the ball.

He directly stretched out his hand to signal Yao Ming to pull to the high pick-and-roll.

Yao Ming's pick-and-roll caught someone, and Xu Yong took advantage of the pick-and-roll to make a mid-range pull-up jumper.

"Shh!"

The clear sound of entering the net came out, and Xu Yong's dry jumper hit again.

This is actually the difference between Xu Yong and Rose. Although Rose practiced shooting during the offseason, his ultimate move is still a breakthrough.

When encountering this kind of iron net, his and James' effects are actually not much different.

But as for Xu Yong, he relies on mid-to-long-range shooting.

As long as the hand feels good, such an iron net can still be easily broken.

If not for three-pointers and dunks in the regular season, mid-range kills would be the focus of the playoffs.

In Miami, James couldn't hold back and punched his arm directly.

It's obviously an iron net, so why is it so vulnerable in front of Xu Yong? !

Xu Yong: Isn’t this very simple?Just pick and roll and shoot, just shoot and it will be there!

James: You are really Michael Xu, right?

　What should I say?I hope CBA can be reformed a little bit. We can’t always have a planned economy. If we want a market economy, we need to be more thorough, right?

　　
　
(End of this chapter)