The Golden Age of Basketball

No one expected that in the game between the Rockets and the Trail Blazers, in the last 3 minutes of the first quarter, the situation changed suddenly.

After Drexler steals the fast break, the Rockets serve to reorganize the offense.

The Blazers' man-to-man marking is no longer so urgent. If the Rockets' opponents go out, the Blazers' players will not follow, but if you want to go in, there is no way.

They made a retracted defense, five people formed a circle around the three-second zone, just to stick to the penalty area.

The Rockets' ball was directed back and forth on the outside, but it couldn't pass inside, because Gan Guoyang was inseparable from Olajuwon. At that time, Olajuwon was not as good as later, and his positioning skills were perfect. At this time, he faced Gan Guoyang Strong power is also at a disadvantage.

If the old champion John Lucas was five or six years ago, he would have rushed in alone against the explosives, but the years have destroyed his knees, and he has been unable to break through the Blazers' Phalanx.

The ball can't go in, and you can't play inside and outside cooperation. You can only throw the ball to the outside pitcher and rely on some small screen cooperation for mid-range strikes.

But I have to say that Sagittarius sometimes depends on the sky for food. If you can't feel it, it's useless if you really have an empty sea in front of you.

Wiggins, who just came off the bench, got an offensive opportunity. He relied on McGregor's screen on the right wing to get a gap, and after receiving the ball, he shot a jumper from a distance of 18 feet. [

"Boom!" The ball hit the basket, and the accuracy was obviously off by a lot. It should be that the sight has not been adjusted properly just before the game.

The Blazers players immediately gathered under the basket like fish waiting to be fed in a pond, just waiting for the ball to drop.

Gan Guoyang blocked Olajuwon from coming in to grab rebounds. At the same time, Ralph Sampson was not there, and the ball collapsed not far away. They had no chance.

Kenny Carr solidly grabbed the backboard and quickly handed the ball to Drexler.

Kenny Kargon

When he got the rebound, Drexler had already started, and when he received a pass from Kenny Carr, he was almost running across the center line.

Drexler, running with his head down, was unstoppable, and McGregor and John Lucas, who ran back to the backcourt, were like wooden stakes around him.

One step inside the free throw line, Drexler grabbed the ball with one hand and took off directly. He didn't care that there was still a Wiggins standing in the three-second zone.

"Kuuuuuuuuuuuu!" A snappy one-handed snap, Wiggins didn't even realize what happened, and Drexler had already landed and turned to leave.

At 28:25, the Blazers took the lead in widening the difference between the two sides to more than one point in less than ten seconds.

The gap of one point between the two sides has been maintained for a long time.

Drexler's performance changed the situation on the court, disrupting the Rockets' tactical arrangement during the timeout, and then continuously used quick counterattacks to score points.

Compared with the previous game, Drexler's attack at this time is obviously more determined, and he doesn't need to bother to observe the wings, just pay attention to the front and the side.

The Rockets were obviously caught off guard by the changes in the Blazers. After Ralph Sampson left the court, the height of the Rockets' inside line dropped sharply, and Wiggins on the outside line obviously did not have the panacea ability like Royd.

Facing the Blazers' defense, the Rockets couldn't get inside. If they shot outside, the starters began to get tired, and the substitute players didn't feel like shooting. As a result, they missed three consecutive offenses. [

Olajuwon was so stuck by Gan Guoyang that he couldn't even catch the ball. The two were exhausted in the first quarter, and each only scored 4 points. They wanted to strangle their opponents on the defensive end.

Gan Guoyang’s somewhat empty inside line in order to deal with Olajuwon was well supplemented by other players. Everyone did their best to protect the inside line and prevented the Rockets players from easily shooting in the three-second zone.

If the Rockets players want to shoot from the outside, that's up to you. If you make a shot, it's up to you. If you can't make a shot, the Blazers players nestled near the three-second zone will try their best to get backboards, and then start a fast break.

The Spurs also like to use this defensive strategy, but the Spurs use it because they are too old to run, while the Blazers use it to run faster.

The reason why Ramzi kept Gan Guoyang on the court was because he had a good first pass after grabbing the rebound, and secondly, he was young and able to run, and he was able to keep up with Drexler's footsteps in the fast break and participate in the offense.

In comparison, Mitchell Sampson is slightly inferior in defense, speed and control of backcourt rebounds, and he should take a rest when he is older.

This set of changes allowed the Blazers to establish an 8-point lead at the end of the first quarter. It was useless for the Rockets' head coach to call a 20-second timeout. Golf Sampson get it back on.

In 3 minutes, Drexler scored 6 points, 1 steal, 2 rebounds and 1 assist. Like a powerful assist, he helped the Blazers get rid of the Rockets.

第一节比赛结束，开拓者以34：26领先了火箭8分，火箭在最后3分钟仅仅依靠奥拉朱旺的两罚一中蹭到了1分。

"Very good, played very well, very good, great boys." Ramsey loudly encouraged every player, and at the same time he was quite proud of his successful tactical adjustment.

He has rehearsed this offensive strategy many times in his usual training, and players will also use it in counterattacks in normal games, but this has not been a fixed routine for the Blazers.

Facing the Rockets this time, Ramsey knew that the Rockets just like to grab offensive rebounds and expand their defense, so I simply shrink into a ball when defending, and press into a knife when attacking, so that you can't grab or defend.

But after the start of the second quarter, Rockets coach Bill Fitch also made corresponding changes. He first put Ralph Sampson back on the field, replaced Olajuwon, and then replaced Royd Off McGregor and Allen Levell in place of John Lucas Sr.

The main purpose of this change is to clear the inside of the Rockets. Since you, the Blazers, are hiding inside and cannot come out, then I simply won't go in.

Although Ralph Sampson is 7 feet 3 tall, much taller than most centers, he is an out-and-out striker in his style of play.

In the second quarter, the Rockets attacked for the first time. Before the Blazers, Vandeweghe made a mid-range shot, further pulling the point difference to 10 points.

On the defensive end, Gan Guoyang changed to deal with Ralph Sampson in the second quarter, but he obviously felt uncomfortable.

Ralph Sampson was half a head taller than him. Gan Guoyang wanted to use force to deal with him and prevent him from going in, but he didn't want to go in at all.

Ralph Sampson was standing low on the right and looked like he wanted to get in. As a result, he suddenly moved laterally to the left, and then relying on a screen by Mikos, he circled to the left corner.

Due to the congestion near the three-second zone, Gan Guoyang failed to keep up with Sampson's footsteps. Ralph Sampson received a pass from Lloyd at the corner and directly shot a mid-range shot from a distance of 15 feet.

"Shua!" The ball went in!A beautiful &s, complete with a 7'3 giant!

For such a ball, any defender would feel helpless. There is really no way to defend it. I can only pray that this guy will not make it.

Coming to the offense again, the Blazers did not make adjustments in personnel. Although Ralph Sampson made a shot with the ball just now, it does not mean that the Blazers’ offensive speed will slow down. They will not play against the Rockets. of.

"Run! Run! Run!" Ramsey yelled at the sidelines to run quickly, and Gan Guoyang, who was serving from the baseline, had already thrown the ball to the frontcourt.

The Blazers want to play fast offensive and defensive transitions, because Paxson is not on the court, the Blazers lack a stable outside shooting point, Mitchell Sampson is not on the court, and there is no experienced inside attacker, so Ramsey thinks , It is naturally the best choice to gain a foothold.

But the Rockets are not slow here, especially the 6-foot-1 point guard Allen Levier and Royd's playing, which slowed down the Blazers' progress to a certain extent.

After receiving the ball and rushing to the frontcourt, Colter found that the Rockets' defensive position was basically not a big problem, and the fast offense was impossible to play, so he slowed down and prepared to play positions.

But at this time, Gan Guoyang, who was running from the backcourt, suddenly inserted from the middle. Colter understood it, and before Ralph Sampson posted it, a through ball was passed to Gan Guoyang.

Gan Guoyang didn't even dribble the ball. After catching the ball with his left hand, he directly held the basketball with one hand and made a layup.

Because Sampson is very tight, this 7-foot-3 giant is also trying to interfere with Gan Guoyang, but Gan Guoyang has the advantage of strength, and he is stuck in his position when laying up, not being suppressed by Ralph Sampson, and his left hand is low. Successful layup!

Nice quick cut!Gan Guoyang also showed the fans his gradually proficient left-handed skills.

At 38:28, the point difference came to 10 points again.

But later on, the Blazers' offense was not so smooth.

As the Rockets can also continue to score goals, the Blazers' quick offense lacks one of the most powerful weapons-backcourt rebounds.

Without backcourt rebounds, there is no way to launch a quick counterattack before the opponent returns to defense. Serving and fast break from the baseline is always much slower than fast break after grabbing the rebound.

Without a quick counterattack, the effect of this lineup on playing positions is obviously not good, which slows down the Blazers' points increase and makes the Rockets gradually start to drive the score back.

Ramsey knows that this style of play should not continue. The Blazers are not the Los Angeles Lakers. He does not have Magic Johnson who "can create opportunities without opportunities".

Ramsey called a timeout when Royd made a mid-range shot to tie the score to 39:42.

"Okay, we have some problems, and now we have to solve these problems, but we did a good job before. Our defense, the opponent's touch has recovered, and we can no longer stay in the three-second zone passively like this ’” Ramsay said.

Such a turtle-style defense is sometimes a gamble, betting that the opponent will not make a shot and then fight back.

The most important thing to gamble is to close when you see a good one. Now that the Rockets' shooting touch has begun to recover, if they continue to defend like this, they will kill themselves.

"Let our defense return to normal. We still hold the lead and maintain this advantage, so you must put a certain amount of pressure on the opponent on the defensive end. But what is more important is our offense, our offensive position, and reduce transmission. The number of times, increase the autonomous attack." Ramsey said.

This highlights the difference between nb and college basketball. In college basketball, the coach often says after calling a timeout: "Let's play a tactic."

Then I started to make tactical adjustments, drawing and drawing on the tactical board, telling the players what routines to follow and what to pay attention to.

And a professional league like nb sometimes seems very unprofessional.

After a timeout, the coach sometimes tells everyone, "Play well, you guys are playing very well, keep it up."

Or say, "You guys can't play well, you have to cheer up, concentrate, strengthen your defense, and fight to the death!"

These words give people the impression that saying them is the same as not saying them, but the truth is that they are almost the same as not saying them.

Because in regular time, a team has only a few sets of fixed tactical routines, and a few offensive and defensive ideas. Although there are countless specific tactical moves, these things are taught to the players by the coach during normal training. Constantly practiced.

It would be useless to teach the players how to run and how to run when they are on the field.

It is really necessary to arrange a tactical move, and it is often not until the last moment of the game, at a critical moment, that a long timeout is used for detailed tactical arrangement.

The timeout at other times is sometimes just to cheer up the players and let everyone rest.

Ramsey is already considered a tactical fanatic among nb coaches, and there are specific arrangements for each timeout.

And the "reduce the number of transmissions and increase the number of independent offenses" he arranged during the timeout is actually to ask players to play more singles.

Because the Rockets' defense is wide open, it is easy to make mistakes in multiple passes, and mistakes will be counterattacked.

And because the Rockets' defense can expand, it is more difficult for defenders to respond to each other and help each other, and the Blazers have more one-on-one opportunities, so it is better to play singles instead of strenuous running tactics.

"Gan, take a good rest for a while." Ramsey said to Gan Guoyang, now it's time for him to rest.

Gan Guoyang can be said to be a very good team player during the ten minutes he played, and he did his duty as a center forward.

But he only scored 4 points, which made him a little depressed, a miss and a mid-range shot.

The main reason is that Ramsey did not allow him to attack with all his strength, but also that he scored 33 points against the Rockets in the last game, which attracted the attention of Bill Fitch, so that the opposing players did not relax for a moment against Gan Guoyang.

For this reason, Olajuwon exchanged with him as a exchange, and only scored 4 points.

"When can I start scoring?" Gan Guoyang asked suddenly.

"A center forward, don't always think about scoring." Ramsey said without even looking at Gan Guoyang.

"..." Gan Guoyang stopped talking immediately. He knew that if he wanted to push him again, Ramsey would definitely use the same rhetoric he used when he coached Wharton to teach him a lesson.

At that time, Walton was the absolute core of the team, but he was not the scoring leader. His scoring average never exceeded 20 points per game, whether in the playoffs or the regular season.

But Walton definitely has the strength to average 25 points per game, but he puts more energy on other aspects.

"In the future, I will not only do what Wharton did, but also what he couldn't do!" Gan Guoyang thought while sitting on the bench.