no shortcuts in basketball

Chapter 21 The Real Hell

While speaking, the game on the field has already started.

Amidst the cheers of the home fans, Ailes beat Love and gave the home team the chance to attack first.

After Glasser advanced to the frontcourt, the Devils first tried a wave of off-ball screen tactics, and Harden used the screen to catch the ball.

However, he didn't get a chance to make a phone call, because Westbrook, who was defending him, posted it immediately.

Xu Yong quickly put up the pick-and-roll, opened it and bounced outside.

The Bruins directly chose to switch defenses, with Mbah a Moute on Harden and Westbrook on Xu Yong.

Harden hit Mbah a Moute in a misplaced position, and after breaking through the penalty area, his shot was missed by interference.

Mbah a Moute has both confrontation and speed, Harden is not necessarily easier to play him than Westbrook.

After Love stuck Ayers at the basket, he took off the defensive rebound, and then he made a quarterback-style long throw pass.

Westbrook has "teleported" past midfield.

The ball led the way, and Westbrook's fast break after receiving the ball couldn't catch up with the Devils.

In the eyes of the fans, Westbrook soared into the air, his body arched like a full moon scimitar.

"Oh!"

Then, there is the iconic violent abuse frame.

A huge muffled sound came out through the loudspeaker, and there was a lot of exclamation on the scene.

His dunks are so violent that even his opponents can't help but admire him.

After landing, Westbrook also roared at the away fans, just as Harden said before.

The Bruins gave the Devils a blow at the beginning!

And more important than this disarming power is the situation on the court.

The Bruins did not study the Devils too much as Xu Yong said.

But that doesn't affect their play, because other teams have at most one defensive line team, but the Bruins have two, and they are both excellent.

This allows them to switch defenses without double-teaming when facing Xu Yong and Harden's pick-and-roll.

Xu Yong won't get the open opportunities he had when he played at the University of Arizona, and it's hard for Harden to play that kind of destructive power against Mbah a Moute.

Sandek made a gesture on the sidelines. After the Devils advanced to the frontcourt, Xu Yong and Glasser played off the ball on the weak side.

At this time, Mbah a Moute showed excellent defensive sense. His attention was always on Xu Yong, and he seized the opportunity to directly steal Harden's pass.

The Bruins made another defensive counterattack. This time the Devils had retreated early, but Collison cut through the defense like a knife and scored two more points with a flying layup.

Fast, too fast.

Not only is Collison fast, but the Bruins' defensive counterattack is too fast.

"I like the two guards from UCLA." In the stands, Nash's attention has been attracted by Collison and Westbrook.

Stoudemire and Marion nodded one after another. This kind of guard who can push and switch quickly is also very professional for the Suns.

"when!"

Harden tried to attack Westbrook in the frontcourt, but the latter was familiar with him and successfully interfered with his shot.

The Devils' offense still failed to score.

Love protected the defensive rebound, and the Bruins made another defensive counterattack.

This time, after passing the ball a few times, Love hit a three-pointer at the top of the arc.

7 is better than 0!

The Devils got kicked out in the beginning.

There was constant commotion at the scene, and Sandek also shouted at the players on the field; "Be patient, play more patiently!"

After shouting, he looked up at the time.

At this time, it was less than 3 minutes before the start of the game. It was too early to call a timeout, and it would not have much effect.

He then turned his gaze to the players on the field.

He had vaccinated the players before the game, and now he can only see the players' own adjustments.

At the critical moment, Xu Yong stood up. He received Harden's pass in an air cut and faced Love's tough layup, which caused the latter's defensive foul and got two free throw opportunities.

Xu Yong stretched out his hand and was pulled up by Harden and Ayers, moving his shoulders.

He had a head-on collision with Le Fu just now, and Le Fu was like a mountain of meat that couldn't be hit at all.

It seems that his previous feeling is not all wrong. At least Love, like Jokic, looks fat, but his foot is very stable.

He even remembered that he had seen a video of Love fighting a sumo wrestler before. Love could directly knock away a sumo wrestler weighing 158 kilograms.

Xu Yong went to the free throw line, the first free throw did not fully recover from his shoulder and missed, but the second free throw was adjusted and hit, which finally helped the Devils break the scoring shortage.

It was this free throw that finally allowed the Devils to fight back against the Bruins instead of being hit defensively.

Westbrook advanced to the frontcourt with the ball, and the UCLA system officially started.

John Wooden invented this tactic in the 70s and [-]s, but it was this tactic that allowed UCLA to win seven championships ten years ago, and even Jerry Sloan's pick-and-roll tactics were inspired by the UCLA system.

Xu Yong is no stranger to this tactic. Before his rebirth, the UCLA tactic was no longer an advanced tactic, but it still has a place in basketball tactics because it is really classic and full of variability.

After Collison reached the top of the arc, Love mentioned the high position on the left, and Collison and Mbah a Moute moved to the right side of the half to form the weak side.

On the left side of the half, Westbrook, Josh Shipp, and Love formed a strong side.

Westbrook handed the ball to Shipp at a 45-degree angle from the left three-point line, and then quickly inserted into the basket with Love's pick-and-roll cover.

This is the most basic starting move of UCLA pass and cut.

Sandek targeted before the game, Glasser retracted early, and the Bruins' first attempt to cut in was unsuccessful.

But the Bruins' offense did not stagnate, and Hipp returned the ball to Love upon seeing this.

At this time, Mbah a Moute on the weak side quickly cut to the basket.

This is the second cut in the UCLA system, but Xu Yong successfully predicted this point and reached out in advance to block Love's pass.

That's when the unstoppable cut in came.

Shipp cuts to the basket and sets a pick-and-roll screen for Westbrook. After Westbrook cuts out, he receives a pass from Love and gets a shot.

But at the moment when Ailes jumped out to defend, Westbrook stuffed the ball to Shipp who cut in after the teardown.

Josh Shipp scored an easy two-point layup, and the Bruins scored two more points!
Sandek watched helplessly from the sidelines.

The Devils' defense was not bad at all this round, but the UCLA pass was really hard to defend against.

Especially for the Bruins, Love has a stable outside ability, so that Ayers can only defend out, and Westbrook's ability to hit the basket makes them have to shrink and switch defenses.

Coupled with the NCAA's 35-second attack time for one round, the defensive pressure you need to face in one round is unprecedented.

The greatness of John Wooden can be seen in the fact that the John Wooden Award is the most valuable award for college students in the United States.

The game lasted more than 9 minutes, and the score on the court was already 20 to 4!

The Devils had their most difficult game since the start of the season.

Sandek's remarks before the start of the regular season made the Devils realize that the pac10 league they were in was "hell."

But the three consecutive victories after the start of the game made that feeling stay in the imagination stage.

But tonight, facing the Bruins, the existence of the Pac10 league's outage level, these "devils" really felt it!
(End of this chapter)