basketball pope

Chapter 177 [Fatigued Ewing, a key veteran]

After the start of the game, the young players were obviously a little nervous, and their shots were not firm enough. In addition, the Knicks returned to the defense quickly and failed to play a sharp fast break. It was not until 3 minutes before Carter scored a layup.

The Knicks players also had a poor feel. Ewing and Sprewell continued to strike, and only Houston scored 3 points, so the game was not one-sided.

Ewing faced Carter's three misplaced shots and missed the basket. Yang Rui smiled and said to Thibodeau next to him, "Tom, our chance is here."

Thibodeau nodded.

Ewing played 47 games in the regular season. In this series, he played more than 35 minutes in each game. The season was shortened, and many young people couldn't hold it, not to mention the veteran who was plagued by knee injuries?

Van Gundy let Ewing play the full quarter, scoring only 7 points and 2 rebounds on 4 of 3 shots.

Billups is the best player for the Raptors. He ate Ward twice on the counterattack, made 5 of 4 shots in a single quarter, and 1 of 1 three-pointer, scoring 9 points and 1 assist.

Relying on tenacious defense, the Knicks did not let the score open, and the Raptors led 18-16.

In the second quarter, Yang Rui sent an unexpected lineup, Billups, Di Brown, Carter, McGrady, Willis, no power forward.

Yang Rui doesn't think there will be loopholes in defense. Larry Johnson's height is short for small forwards. Although he is heavy, Carter's strength is not a vegetarian, and he will definitely be able to withstand it.

Four three-point shooting points, the formation opened, Billups and Di Brown both stood in the bottom corner, Carter was on the side, and McGrady held the ball frame in the middle.

Johnson defended McGrady, with a size disadvantage and a speed disadvantage. However, McGrady hadn't played singles yet. According to the coach's arrangement, he waited for Willis to pull out the pick-and-roll, get rid of Johnson with the ball, and make a breakthrough on the left.

McGrady's first step was astonishingly fast and misplaced again, easily getting rid of Johnson, and Knicks backup center Ben Wallace hurriedly switched defenses.

McGrady brought it to 45 degrees, jumped up and passed the ball from Ben Wallace's head to the basket, Willis cut the ball to catch the ball, leaned against Johnson from close range, and hit a small hook in the middle. 20 to 16.

The Knicks bench is still the same, double guard, Sprewell, Johnson and Ben Wallace inside.

In a positional attack, the two point guards have poor scoring ability and cannot open space on the inside. The Raptors don’t need to switch defenses quickly, as long as they block the penalty area and force them to shoot from the mid-to-long range.

Johnson singled out Carter, and the inside line was double-teamed. Ben Wallace couldn't shoot, and missed the opportunity to move to the basket.The ball was passed back and forth, and it was about to run out for 24 seconds. Sprewell forced a shot, missed it under the interference of McGrady, and Willis grabbed the rebound.

Zhang He understood: "The Knicks players are very fast in returning to defense. In the past few games, they used double guards to limit the Raptors' fast break, but today the Raptors have slowed down and the positional battle has opened."

Sun Zhengping said: "Yang Rui said he found a way to deal with the Knicks and would blow up the Knicks' bench. It really adjusted today. Carter is probably a power forward today, but when the Knicks defended, Johnson and McGrady."

McGrady held the ball in the middle and then played the pick-and-roll. He dribbled two steps from the left to score the ball to his teammates. Willis received the ball in the middle and leaned on Johnson to turn to the right and hit a hook. 22 to 16.

Once Big Ben breaks through the switch, the Knicks' protection of the restricted area is not good enough.Johnson is not tall, has been injured many times, and his jumping ability is not as good as before.

On the offensive end, Johnson couldn't single out Carter, and he averaged only 43.3 percent from the field in the playoffs.

Sprewell and Ben Wallace played a pick-and-roll and were double-teamed by Willis and McGrady. This time Sprewell took the ball to find an empty space and passed it to the middle.Before Big Ben could take off, he was hugged by Billups.

Daben hit one of two free throws, and this round was basically defended. 22 to 17.

Yang Rui took out a bag of potato chips and ate it on the sidelines. He was full of confidence in the players. He knew that the Knicks would never be able to defend without substitutions.

In this series, he did not let Cato play, increasing the veteran's playing time, and no longer had any reservations.Willis and Detrev started to give full play.

McGrady played a pick-and-roll with Willis again. This time, Big Ben was not so resolute in his defense. McGrady directly broke through and scored a layup. 24 to 17.

Van Gundy couldn't help thinking of what Yang Rui said after the game, and the ominous premonition became stronger and stronger.It seems that the Knicks really can't guard against the Raptors' bench, and the offense is just as bad.

In the next round, Big Ben was emptied again. This time Sprewell’s pass was too casual. Di Brown directly stole the empty cut Ward and launched a quick counterattack.

Carter sprinted at full speed to get rid of Johnson, received the ball and scored a single fast break with a Tomahawk dunk! 26 to 17.

Van Gundy didn't see it, he replaced Ward with Ewing, and Johnson moved to the small forward position.

Yang Rui smiled even more and said to Xibodu, "I think this game is won, why do you think it is?"

His questions were like a test. Thibodeau was not angry at all. He liked to discuss tactics with Yang Rui and he could learn things.

"Jeff's purpose is to prevent Willis from hitting the basket and McGrady's breakthrough, but at the expense of the team's offense. And Wallace and Ewing are not suitable to play together, they can't open space."

"That's right, and it's not necessarily safe to do so," Yang Rui said with a smile.

Only when Ben Wallace was on the court, Yang Rui dared to take the big and the four small, because it was too easy to defend against the big Ben.

Van Gundy only needs to replace Big Ben to take a break, and the Raptors' defense may have problems, but Van Gundy's substitutions often depend on the time, not the opponent's lineup.

The Raptors had the upper hand, and the two-guard combination was not responsible for breakthroughs. When they brought it to the frontcourt, they handed the ball to McGrady and opened up to attract defense.

McGrady and Willis played a pick-and-roll, Ewing switched defense, and Big Ben was ready to dislocate to deal with Willis, but McGrady did not pass, but dribbled the ball from his hip and dribbled the ball behind his back and opened a position with Ewing on the left side. , 50-degree pull-up jump shot.

Ewing was half a beat slower, and by the time he jumped, the ball had already flown to the basket. 28 to 17.

Van Gundy was immediately stunned, thinking of asking Yang Rui on the other side: "You're not going to the inside line, are you?"

Yang Rui would tell him, "Well, I'm afraid. I'm afraid the old man will be covered."

Ewing and Sprewell's pick-and-roll threat is not big. Ewing dislocated to McGrady and supported the pass to the bottom line. The Raptors are now using Di Bron to guard the big money, which is ridiculous.

As soon as Big Ben received the ball, Di Brown immediately took a foul.

With the height of Big Ben, unless he dunks directly, the opponent has the opportunity to foul.It's just that his offensive threat is too small, and few people use foul tactics against him throughout the game.

The foul caused a dead ball, and Yang Rui replaced Di Bron and Detrev.

Even if he doesn't arrange it deliberately, the two veterans know what they should do. This is the importance of playoff experience.

Detrev started to cover Carter without the ball from the side, Billups attracted defense in the bottom corner, and the pick-and-roll routine of McGrady and Willis in the middle remained unchanged.

Ewing defending the middle pick-and-roll against McGrady and defending the side screen against Carter are all opportunities for dislocation breakthroughs.Attacking Ewing will consume more of his stamina.

(End of this chapter)