new lord of the rings

Chapter 483 The Hesitant Leonard
The game officially begins.

Popovich's lineup is: LaMarcus Aldridge, Kawhi Leonard, Danny Green, Patrick Mills, Dejounte Murray.

The starting lineup for the Suns is: Zhang Xin, Devin Booker, Rajon Rondo, Paul Gasol, PJ Tucker.

"The game is about to start. There are still many things to watch today. Needless to say, the Suns, the best record in the history of the regular season is enough to explain everything, and the Spurs are not as weak as they seem. Although they are ranked eighth in the Western Conference, their strength But more than that, the reason why their record is so poor this season is because the main lineup was injured in turn in the early part of the season, which led to such poor results, but in the latter part of the season, they began to exert their strength and squeezed the Timberwolves out of the season at the last minute. In the playoffs, if you really play the Spurs as the eighth in the West, you will suffer a lot!" Wang Meng introduced.

"First of all, the matchups are very interesting: Aldridge vs. Gasol, Leonard vs. Zhang Xin, Mills vs. Rondo. These three matchups are very interesting in themselves, and the Spurs have always attracted people's attention. Popovich, I guess everyone will guess what countermeasures Popovich will take to limit Zhang Xin. It can be said that in the previous match between the Spurs and Zhang Xin, Popovich has never been able to limit Zhang Xin. I wonder if there will be a breakthrough this year after so many attempts?" Yang Yi said.

In the voice of the two commentators, Gasol and Aldridge jumped the ball in the middle circle. The heights of the two were about the same, but Aldridge's speed was still faster. After all, he was young. Aldridge passed the ball to Renner De, Leonard gave the ball to Mills, and Mills dribbled the ball quickly across half court.

Popovich, a stubborn old man, has never been a stickler. His stubbornness is a requirement for players, but never a stickler for tactics:

From 98 to 2002, at this time, the Spurs' defensive system was dominated by the twin towers and large-area cross defense. They used the slow movement of the general and Duncan and the terrifying defensive ability of the two to attack the penalty area and the mid-range area. The sweeping defense is implemented, and the outside line adopts match-up defense in a satisfactory manner.

The offensive end is divided into two stages. When the generals are still there, the general organization is dominated by small generals, and the slow-paced two-tower attack mode is the main mode; Vicky began to try a new attack method, he adopted the method of combining internal and external attacks.

But in the next two years, the Spurs' offense was completely based on Duncan as the main offensive starting point. During this period of time, there was only one offensive core, and that was Duncan.

In 2004, the general retired, and Duncan's tactical status changed again. Popovich put Manu on the starting lineup, and the Spurs' GDP combination was formally formed. Relying on the stable defense of big and small forwards, a regular offensive and defensive system was formed.

In 08, Duncan's state began to decline slightly, and the Spurs' defensive system that had been forged for nearly eight years was also lax.Therefore, both the fans and the media at the time believed that the Spurs were old and would inevitably decline.

Popovich finally showed the courage of a great coach. On the offensive end, he completely abandoned the style of play that used Duncan as the core of the regular offense, and he used Parker as the core of the offensive organization. On the defensive end, he rebuilt the symbol of the Spurs dynasty. defense.

In 2016, Duncan was finally completely old. In the playoff matchup with the Thunder, watching the young Adams and Kanter endlessly ravage the basket in front of him, Duncan's 18-year-old basket completely collapsed.

But Popovich introduced Aldridge and Gasol, and trained Leonard as the core on the outside, with a group of shooters on the outside, and he played well. This is Popovich, a stubborn but unconventional player. The great legendary coach!
Popovich's tactics are constantly changing with the change of players, but there are two points that will never change, one is to pass the ball, and the other is defense.

These two points were vividly reflected in the game. The first is to pass the ball. When Mills passed halftime, Danny Green immediately went up to catch the ball. After receiving the ball, he used Aldridge's screen to break through, and then passed the ball to Murray. Murray broke through and gave the ball to Leonard. In fact, Leonard was the final finisher. Leonard avoided Zhang Xin and pressed Booker for a layup.

Back on the defensive end, Leonard kept pestering Zhang Xin, entangled Zhang Xin with his frighteningly long arms, even though Zhang Xin was just running without the ball, Leonard did not dare to leave for a moment, before the game Popovich Qi told Leonard that whether Zhang Xin catches the ball or not, in the Suns team, the ultimate core must be Zhang Xin. As long as Zhang Xin can be blocked, the Spurs will have the hope of winning.

Faced with the Spurs' strategy, Zhang Xin is not in a hurry. It is useless to lock him up alone in the current sunlight, let alone when Zhang Xin will be blocked by himself?
The strength of Zhang Xin is that he has too many choices. Since Leonard's defense against him is to prevent him from holding the ball, then he should not hold the ball. Anyway, he is playing off the ball. He is too proficient.

Zhang Xin began to run and set screens for Devin Booker and Rajon Rondo, so Leonard encountered a problem: After Devin Booker was screened, did he switch or not?
If you don't switch defenses, with Devin Booker's three-point shooting percentage, it will hurt the Spurs;
If you switch defenses... Danny Green is indeed a great striker, but to deal with Zhang Xin... that is too difficult for him. Danny Green is 198cm tall and weighs 98kg. There is a height difference of nearly 8cm and a weight difference of 10kg. Danny Green can deal with it. Other big men can block with their footsteps, but they really can't deal with Zhang Xin. Zhang Xin can push Danny Green to the basket for a dunk, he can back Danny Green and then go to the basket for a dunk, he can kill Danny Green, Danny Green can't do anything about it.

So, to switch or not to switch?
When Leonard was told the answer by Popovich, Popovich had already stopped the game because Devin Booker hit two [-]-pointers, and Zhang Xin also made two shots over the head of Danny Green. Mid-range shot.

In the first quarter, the two sides still played back and forth. After all, this is the first quarter of the first game. Both the Spurs and the Suns did not go all out to fight, but tested each other. Under this intensity, it is difficult for both sides to restrain opponent's attack.

Zhang Xin didn't work hard, and it's still early. He mainly helped Rondo to sort out the team's offense, and then occasionally made a shot when there was an open spot. Even so, he scored 12 points in one quarter. This is due to his excellent off-the-ball running ability. As long as Leonard hesitates, he can have a chance and make a shot.

(End of this chapter)