Legendary star

Chapter 435

On Christmas Eve, December 2002, 12, the annual Christmas War is about to kick off. This year's Christmas War is different from previous years. Compared with previous years, the number of Christmas Wars this year has increased from two to three. The Lakers played against the Kings at home, the Spurs played against the Pacers at home, and the Nets played against the Pistons at home. These six teams happened to be the six teams with the best record this season. The Kings ranked in the West with a record of 25 wins and 22 losses. First, the Lakers followed closely with a record of 8 wins and 22 losses, and the Spurs ranked third in the Western Conference with 9 wins and 20 losses.The Pacers rank first in the league with a record of 10 wins and 25 losses, far ahead of the Nets with 5 wins and 20 losses, and the Pistons with 10 wins and 19 losses.The Kings and the Lakers, the Pistons and the Nets, there is no need to repeat the grievances between these teams, so whether it is the battle between the Kings and the Lakers for the first place in the Western Conference, or the civil war between Duncan and Meng Xu's "Wake Forest duo", Or the battle between the Nets and the Pistons for the second place in the Eastern Conference is a matchup full of highlights. Therefore, this year's Christmas game is also called by the media to make it the most difficult for fans to choose a Christmas game.

"Meng, welcome back to San Antonio!" At 8 o'clock in the evening, when Meng Xu walked out of the player tunnel of the SBC Center, instead of being booed by the Spurs fans like other Pacers players, he was also cheered by the fans And applause, and even many Spurs fans who had been waiting on both sides of the player tunnel, wearing the Spurs No. 5 jersey that once belonged to Meng Xu, took out the banners prepared in advance to welcome Meng Xu who returned to the SBC Center again, thus It can also be seen that although Meng Xu has left the Spurs, many Spurs fans still regard Meng Xu as their own.

"Thank you, thank you..." Looking at the fans in front of him, the corners of Meng Xu's eyes were a little wet. After waving to them, Meng Xu quickened his pace, followed behind his teammates, Go to the bench on the sidelines.

"Meng is still as popular here as ever! I'm a little jealous." Looking at the Spurs fans applauding Meng Xu, today's special guest commentator, Sean, who has been teammates with Meng Xu for two years Elliott said with a smile on his face, Sean Elliott has played for the Spurs for more than a dozen seasons, helped the Spurs win two championship trophies, and the Spurs also retired his jersey. Sean Elliott's popularity in San Antonio has never been as good as Meng Xu, who has only played for the Spurs for two seasons. At least in the current SBC center, there is no fan wearing the No. 32 jersey. There are many fans of the No. 5 jersey with Meng Xu's name on it. Not only that, although Meng Xu has left the Spurs for two seasons, the No. 5 worn by Meng Xu is still empty until now.

"Haha, Sean, you'd better accept your fate. Who told you that you are not as handsome as Meng, and your playing style is not as chic and elegant as Meng." After hearing Sean Elliott's words, Michaels laughed outright. , and by the way, sarcasm Sean Elliott.

"Erwin, do you think Meng and Tim will have a chance to face each other tonight?" With the audience bursting into cheers and shouts of MVP, Tim Duncan, the head of the Spurs, Waving his hand, he walked out of the player channel.

"I think it will." After Michaels asked, Magic Johnson replied with certainty that the Wake Forest matchup between Meng Xu and Duncan was the biggest highlight of the game. The position on the field is not the same, one is a power forward and the other is a small forward, but Meng Xu's offense this season is more and more biased towards the basket, and the average number of 3-point shots per game has dropped sharply to 5.5 times. His scoring methods have changed from last season's 3-point shooting and fast break scoring to this season's post-up singles supplemented by mid-range and long-range shooting, and this change has also made Meng Xu's scoring efficiency soar. The season is basically the same, and the average number of shots per game is 3 times less than last season. Therefore, as long as Meng Xu still plays like he did in the previous games of this season, then Meng Xu and Duncan will definitely have the opportunity to face each other directly. .

"Tonight, the Spurs' starting lineup is center David Robinson, power forward Tim Duncan, small forward Bruce Bowen, shooting guard Stephen Jackson, and point guard Tony Parker. After LaFrentz was robbed by the Mavericks, The old David has to take on more responsibilities this season, and his average playing time has risen directly from 24 minutes last season to 30 minutes this season." After reading the Spurs' starting list, Sean Ely Ott couldn't help shaking his head. David Robinson is now 38 years old. For him, 30 minutes of playing time has reached the limit of his current physical fitness. The schedule of this season has not yet passed halfway. David Robinson Already showing fatigue.Perhaps it is also because of David Robinson that the Spurs' game pace this season has reached an outrageous level. The average number of shots per game is only 76, ranking last among all 29 teams in the league.

After seeing Sean Elliott's expression, Magic Johnson also nodded. He was going to take David Robinson's class, but in the end he could only watch others wave his checkbook and take him away. David Robinson, who was already on the verge of retirement, was about to be pulled out to fuck him again.

After two consecutive seasons where the main players have left, the Spurs this season is also extremely miserable. Except for Duncan who is at the peak, the rest of the players are either Parker, Ginobili, or Jackson, who have just entered the league. Either David Robinson, Steve Smith, Anthony Goldwyer, these old guys who are almost unable to play the ball, are based on the current situation of the Spurs, although the Spurs' record is only ranked among the best in the entire league. Fourth place, but Tim Duncan has been firmly in the top two of the MVP rankings.

"The Pacers' starting lineup for this game is center Mutombo, power forward Jermaine O'Neal, small forward Meng Xu, shooting guard Hamilton, and point guard Jamal Tinsley. The Pacers this season, it can be said It is the team with the most balanced offense and defense in the league, ranking in the top 5 in terms of points per game and opponents’ points per game.” After Sean Elliott introduced the starting lineup of the Spurs, Michaels Then began to introduce the Pacers' starting lineup.

The Spurs and Pacers are the two teams with the best defense and the fewest points conceded this season. However, the defensive systems of the two teams are completely different. The Spurs' defensive system is built from the inside out with Duncan as the core. At the same time, relying on the super game control ability, the overall oppressive defense is used to compress the rhythm of the game.

The Pacers' defensive system is from the outside to the inside, relying on a group of swingmen with excellent defense. When individuals are on the court at the same time, some teams with weaker perimeter strength may even have difficulty organizing offense.In the last Pacers away game against the Mavericks, the Mavericks, who had the most powerful offensive firepower in the entire league, collapsed in the fourth quarter when facing the Pacers' full-court pressure. The Mavericks' two The outside core Finley and Nash did not score a point in the fourth quarter. The Mavericks led by 9 points at the end of the three quarters. In the end, they lost to the Pacers by 7 points. The lowest score in a single quarter since the season.Mavericks owner Cuban, who was watching the game on the spot, threw his sleeves and left angrily before the game was over.

After Michaels and Sean Elliott introduced both sides' starting lineups, Duncan and Jermaine O'Neal walked into the middle circle, ready to start the jump ball, which eventually won the title of "jump ball finisher" last season. Jermaine O'Neal beat Tim Duncan and won the first offensive opportunity of the game for the Pacers. When Jermaine O'Neal pushed the basketball to the backcourt, it was picked up by Jamal Tinsley And when he started to dribble forward, today's game officially started.

"In today's game, if the Spurs want to win, the first thing to do is to defend Meng Xu, keep him as far away from the basket as possible, and cut off the connection between him and Jermaine and Richard. The outside players of the Spurs must break the blockade of the Pacers outside and give Tim enough help. As long as the above two points can be done well, the Spurs will be very close to victory."

"Sean, how to defend Meng is a difficult problem that the entire league is considering. Although Bruce's single defense is very good, it may be difficult to complete the task you set for him." When the game started, as the Spurs After the famous Sean Elliott set the preconditions for the Spurs to win, Magic Johnson shook his head immediately, and he didn't seem to agree with Sean Elliott's statement.Sean Elliott's statement is actually simple. In the final analysis, it is still the defense against Meng Xu. As long as Meng Xu is restrained, the Pacers have already lost half.However, in fact, all the current head coaches in the league know that restricting Meng Xu is the key to dealing with the Pacers, but has any team really done it?No, Meng Xu is currently the strongest outside player in the league with the most comprehensive offensive means. It is not so easy to limit him.As for cutting off the connection between Meng Xu, Jermaine O'Neal and Hamilton, this is even more unrealistic. The current Pacers are not the Bulls of the year. Apart from Jordan, there is no stable offensive point. O'Neal and Hamilton are both players who can contribute 20+ per game.

"It's really not easy." Seeing Meng Xu easily squeezed away from Bowen's close defense and received a pass from Jamal Tinsley, Sean Elliott really has no bottom, just like the magic As Johnson said, although Bowen's defense is good, it is not enough to restrain Meng Xu. What Sean Elliott can expect now is how much trouble Bowen can cause Meng Xu in this game. up.

"The Pacers players on the field have all been pulled away. Meng Xu played Bruce Bowen with a post-up single. The Spurs did not double-team. Meng Xu pushed Bowen away, turned around and made a jumper. Duncan's unique way, hit the first ball after the opening." Now the Pacers, the offensive tactics are getting simpler, Meng Xu holds the ball and plays singles. If the opponent double-teams, Meng Xu will pass the ball. Without double-teaming, with Meng Xu's post-up singles ability, it can be said that he has an absolute chance to face any outside player in the league.

"Coach, is this really okay?" Seeing Popovich sitting next to him without saying a word, Spurs assistant coach Steve Kerr couldn't sit still, he had to follow Kerr's thinking Regardless of whether there will be defensive loopholes or whether there will be leakage, as long as Meng Xu holds the ball, he must be double-teamed. After all, among the remaining Pacers players, no matter which one they are, they have the highest scoring efficiency. There is no way to compare with Meng Xu.

"Steve, hold your breath, it's only the first quarter, don't worry." Steve Kerr's words also pulled Popovich back from his thoughts, watching the ongoing game on the field, Popovich The frown was also slightly relaxed.

"Parker and Duncan's pick-and-roll, very good pick-and-roll cooperation, Parker handed over the basketball to Duncan, but when Duncan got rid of Jamal Tinsley just now, it was obviously procrastinating, Mutombo has already made up the defense in place in time "The Spurs used Parker and Duncan's pick-and-roll to successfully create a chance for Duncan to dislocate Jamal Tinsley in singles, but Duncan did not use his height advantage to shoot directly over Jamal Tinsley's head, but chose to hold The ball swayed past Jamal Tinsley, and it was only a second of lag, and Mutombo under the basket appeared in front of Duncan.

After being blocked by Mutombo, Duncan directly changed his ball-holding posture. While protecting the basketball, he leaned sideways against Mutombo. Looking at this posture, Duncan was going to play Mutombo with his back.Unlike Meng Xu who relies on his own strength and pushes back directly against the defender, Duncan's post-up singles are textbook-style post-up singles by inside players. It is a perfect combination of physical fitness and footwork.Take Duncan's back-to-back singles against Mutombo as an example. Duncan stood sideways against Mutombo, ground his left foot on the ground, pushed back a bit, and immediately turned halfway around, making a fake shot ready to shoot. At the same time, he crossed his left heel. Although Mutombo was not deceived by Duncan's fake action, Duncan took advantage of the distance of half a body and the time difference of 0. a few seconds to take the shot calmly.

"The same position, the same post-up singles, and the exact same hit on the board, this is the exclusive skill of the Wake Forest duo." When Duncan used almost the same offensive method as Meng Xu, Meng Xu just made a similar shot. At the same time, Meng Xu hit back with a hit from the board and evened the score on the court. Magic Johnson, Michaels, and Sean Elliott in the commentary were all caught by the special opening of Duncan and Meng Xu. way amused.

Not only Michaels and the others, even Meng Xu, who was at the other end of the court, laughed after seeing this scene on the court, especially when Duncan turned to look at him, Meng Xu even had a thought The urge to rush over and give him a high five.

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(End of this chapter)