Legendary star

Chapter 690 First Victory
"Josh, you defended well, but it wasn't enough."

Josh Howard's defensive awareness is very good, his wingspan, movement speed, etc. are all top-notch. It is no exaggeration to say that his defensive strength is not far behind Tayshaun Prince, but Teshaw En Prince has the weakness that Josh Howard also has, that is, his strength is not good enough. If you want to defend Meng Xu one-on-one, it is not only enough to have good wingspan, good speed, and good defensive awareness. In this defense, Josh Howard suffered from insufficient strength. After predicting Meng Xu's breakthrough route and blocking it in advance, Josh-Howard Howard, but when he almost occupied the defensive position, was knocked away by Meng Xu.

"Avery, should we double-team him? It seems that Josh alone can't restrain him."

After Meng Xu knocked away Josh Howard and made a mid-range shot, the assistant coach Popeye Jones standing next to Avery Johnson began to remind Avery Johnson whether to double-team Meng Xu , One-on-one defense doesn't seem to work at all.

After hearing Popeye Jones' suggestion, Avery Johnson did not respond to Popeye Jones. Instead, he crossed his arms and watched the scene quietly. Xu used to be a teammate. Since coaching the Mavericks for the past two seasons, Avery Johnson has studied the two former teammates Tim Duncan and Meng Xu the most. Therefore, regarding Meng Xu's ability, Avery Johnson It is very clear. As for how to deal with Meng Xu, after studying Meng Xu for so long, Avery Johnson can somehow come up with some solutions, but the Mavericks did not have the conditions to implement this kind of defense. With Meng Xu's physical fitness , It’s best to double-team Meng Xu one by one, and the Mavericks have candidates for the double-team, Josh Howard is fine, but where can Avery Johnson find an outside player who can withstand Meng Xu?That's why Avery Johnson made a very bold decision today not to double-team Meng Xu, since he couldn't cover him anyway, so he didn't double-team him at all.

After seeing his suggestion being noncommittal by Avery Johnson, Popeye Jones did not continue to speak, but stood beside Avery Johnson, quietly watching what happened on the court.

Originally, when formulating the tactics for this game before the game, Popeye Jones suggested double-teaming Meng Xu and releasing the No. 42 Pacers guard Tony Allen, but this suggestion was given by Avery Johnson. Rejected, Avery Johnson's reason is also very reasonable, asking Jason Terry and Devin Harris, who are generally defensive, to cooperate with Josh Howard to double-team Meng Xu, it is purely a waste of manpower, but The Mavericks have only one Josh Howard again, and this is the situation Avery Johnson is now facing.

The finals are different from other series in the playoffs. After a month of fighting, the two teams that reached the finals basically have no secrets or cards to speak of, and as long as it is not the extreme lack of Young teams with experience in the playoffs and teams that have reached the finals will adjust their game state to the best before entering the finals, so even if it is the first game of the finals, the two sides will not be like They tested each other like they did at the beginning of the playoffs, but they will show their full strength at the beginning of the game.

For Avery Johnson, he knows exactly what the outcome of the finals is. For the Mavericks, if they want to win, they must first play their own offense and try to drag the Pacers into their own. In terms of the rhythm of the game, just like the series that defeated the Spurs in the Western Conference semifinals, they used their sharp spears to destroy the Pacers' shield and fight for defense. The Mavericks will never be opponents of teams like the Spurs and Pacers.

Therefore, on the issue of whether to double-team Meng Xu, Avery Johnson has an indifferent attitude. Numerous series have proved that Meng Xu cannot be guarded. The team couldn't handle Meng Xu, let alone a team with the worst defense like the Mavericks.

"Beautiful, Meng Xu got rid of Josh Howard's defense, and made a jump ball from mid-range."

"The Mavericks have a big defensive problem. Their rotation speed on the defensive end is too slow. After Meng Xu got rid of Josh Howard's defense, there is no one to defend. If the Mavericks have this defensive strength throughout the game If so, I think Meng Xu can score at least 50 points today."

After Meng Xu hit the first goal after the opening game, Michaels on the sidelines commentary began to joke about the Mavericks' defense. The team that was double-teaming had poor defense. They couldn't find players who could limit Meng Xu one-on-one.

"El, the Mavericks' ability to reach the Finals is not based on defense, but on their offense. I think Avery Johnson made this arrangement because he knew this. After all, they don't have the Spurs." And the strong overall defense of the Pistons, and there is no player like Kevin Garnett who can help defend Meng Xu at any time."

"Offense, only offense is their only hope." After laughing, Magic Johnson turned his attention to the field. Under the impetus of Jason Terry, the Mavericks' offense has already begun.

"Hey, the Pacers didn't press the Mavericks all over the court?" In the Mavericks' first attack, Jason Terry dribbled the ball into the frontcourt very easily, which made the press box on the sidelines The people eating melons on the Internet were a little surprised. The Pacers defeated the Heat with full-court pressing tactics. Therefore, before the start of the finals, many experts expected that the Pacers would do the same to make this almost unsolvable defense The tactics were applied to the Mavericks and established a huge advantage in the first quarter of the game, thus establishing the trend of the whole game in one fell swoop. However, after the game started, the Pacers did not do this, but resumed their regular defense tactics.

Avery Johnson on the sidelines, after seeing the scene on the field, felt somewhat disappointed after a long sigh of relief. After all, in the Western Conference Finals against the Suns, Avery Yue and his team were ambiguous. I'm already thinking about how to deal with the Pacers' full-court pressing tactics, and I also risked being killed by the Suns. In the battle of Tianwangshan, I tried a lineup of two point guards, but now that the finals have begun, I said yes What about the full-court press?The Mavericks thought hard and prepared a new lineup day and night. They planned to press the Pacers in the finals, but now the Pacers suddenly told themselves, we don’t play like this anymore. Obviously playing tricks?

Originally, Avery Johnson sent two point guards, Jason Terry and Devin Harris, hoping to rely on their excellent ball-handling ability and Josh Howard with excellent maneuverability to break through. The Pacers pressed the audience, but after the Pacers resumed their normal style of play, the Mavericks' two-point guard lineup has a lot of flaws. The first is height. Jason Terry's registered height is 1 meters. , actually not even 88 meters. Devin Harris’ registered height is 1 meters, which is actually about 85 meters. The two guards of the Pacers, one is 1 meters, and the other is more than two meters, so Whether it is on the offensive or defensive end, the Mavericks' two guards are too disadvantaged.

Moreover, although the two point guards of the Mavericks have excellent speed and excellent ball handling, both of them have various problems. One plays the position of No. 1, but has a No. 2 guard Xin, a player with passion and good at breakthroughs, but not very suitable for playing positional warfare, and has no basket. The most important thing is that the passing ability of these two point guards is very average.

"Tony Allen is so strong, plus speed and wingspan are very good, let him defend the 1 position is simply too easy."

Jason Terry couldn't move an inch under Tony Allen's defense. He had no choice but to call Dirk Nowitzki's pick-and-roll cover, trying to disrupt the Pacers' defense through the pick-and-roll coordination, and took the opportunity to find a suitable player. offensive opportunities.

But just when Jason Terry and Dirk Nowitzki were about to complete the pick-and-roll, Jason Terry found another Pacers player in front of him, who was supposed to defend Devin Harris' Teshaw En Prince actually double-teamed himself, and Jason Terry, who got the double-team treatment, was also surprised. Shouldn't he also double-team Dirk if he wants to double-team?Xiao Xiami, who is not even an All-Star, was treated like a superstar in the finals.

After encountering the Pacers' local three defenses and two defenses, the pick-and-roll cooperation between Jason Terry and Dirk Nowitzki had no chance and space to complete. In desperation, Jason Terry had to retreat He took two steps, and then took the opportunity to pass the basketball in his hand to Devin Harris, who was beyond the three-point line on the right.

Devin Harris, who was completely open, did not make a shot after receiving the ball, but was like holding a hot potato, not knowing what to do, and on the Pacers side, no one ran over to defend Germany. Wen-Harris, it seems that he is ready to let Devin-Harris open to shoot.

"Devin, shoot!" Seeing this scene, Avery Johnson on the sidelines also started yelling at Devin Harris. A guard dared not shoot outside the three-point line, and he was still unguarded. Under the wide open space, this is simply unreasonable. In Avery Johnson's view, even if you can't make a shot, you can't lose the courage to shoot.

Not to mention, Devin Harris is really afraid to shoot now. A player who made 20% of his three-pointers in a season and made 9 of 0 three-pointers in the playoffs, you let him shoot three-pointers in the finals?As long as a player with a slightly weaker mental quality will be the same as Devin Harris, he will not dare to shoot when no one is defending.

"Rick, your prediction is very accurate." Watching Devin Harris on the court barely make a shot when 24 seconds were about to run out, Lester Conor, who was sitting on the Pacers' bench, He quietly complimented head coach Rick Carlisle.

The pick-and-roll tactic is considered a common tactic of the Mavericks. When Steve Nash was still in the Mavericks, the pick-and-roll cooperation between him and Dirk Nowitzki was even said to be comparable to that of Stockton and Karl. - Malone's pick-and-roll, although Steve Nash is no longer in the Mavericks, but the Mavericks' tradition of playing pick-and-roll has not been left behind, with a power forward who can shoot beyond the three-point line, don't play pick-and-roll It's simply exorbitant.

So before the Western Conference Finals, Rick Carlisle began to study how to defend the pick-and-roll, because the two teams that reached the Western Conference Finals this year, the Mavericks and the Suns, are the kind of teams that play very slippery pick-and-roll, After the final opponent was announced, Rick Carlisle decided to use partial three defenses and two defenses to defend the Mavericks' pick-and-roll.

The Mavericks began to experiment with the Pacers' lineup in the Western Conference Finals. Naturally, they couldn't escape the eyes of Rick Carlisle, so after conducting targeted research on the Mavericks, Rick Carlisle found Devin- Harris is a shortcoming, a point guard with no blues, as long as he doesn't break through, he is free to play, especially his "shocking" three-point shooting rate, which makes Rick Carlisle feel at ease and bold. To use the way of double-teaming the ball holder to defend the Mavericks' pick-and-roll, because in Rick Carlisle's view, as long as the Pacers don't use the full-court press, the Mavericks' dual point guard tactics are useless The place of strength, maybe the Pacers waited until the Mavericks replaced Devin Harris, and then used a full-court press.

"It seems that today's game is not so easy for the Mavericks to win."

"In today's game, they couldn't find their familiar rhythm at all. If Avery Johnson couldn't make adjustments and changes, not only this game, but the Mavericks' entire trip to the finals, I'm afraid they won't be able to. Optimistic." Seeing the Mavericks playing in a mess on both ends of the offense and defense, Michaels and Magic Johnson in the commentary booth began to feel sorry for the Mavericks, although they played in the finals two seasons ago, But their finals experience is obviously not as good as the Pacers, and they simply find their own game rhythm on the court.

At the end of the first quarter, the Mavericks in the away game fell behind the Pacers by 15 points 24 to 9. The game only lasted one quarter. The 9-point difference will not make people desperate. What makes people desperate is , the Mavericks can neither defend the Pacers' offense nor break the Pacers' defense. After the pick-and-roll tactics completely fail, the Mavericks can only rely on Dirk Nowitzki's personal ability to play singles tactics. Dirk Nowitzki also played very uncomfortable under James Posey's defense. In this case, no one can see that the Mavericks have any hope of winning.

The trend of the next game also proved the predictions of Michaels and Magic Johnson. The Mavericks, who fell behind by a large score in the first quarter, soon fell into a quagmire and couldn't extricate themselves. Avery Johnson's various adjustments , There is no way to help the Mavericks recover from the decline. From the beginning to the end, the Mavericks are led by the nose by the Pacers, and there is no chance to lead the score.

In the end, when the game ended, 103 to 85, looking at the bloody score on the scoreboard, Avery Johnson standing on the sidelines really didn't know what to say.

(End of this chapter)