From today on is the king

Chapter 970 969. The Spurs' defensive paradox
9 to 4, the Spurs called a timeout!
In 2 minutes, three three-pointers were scored!
McGrady took the lead to open the situation for the Eagles.

But Bunch Wells is still a headache. Use Kwame Brown to defend, the flexibility can't keep up, use Rasheed Wallace to defend, the speed can't keep up, and there is no way to go forward.

Coach Kruger took advantage of the timeout called by the Spurs, replaced Rasheed Wallace with Josh Smith, changed the lineup, and arranged a defensive strategy.

The overall tactics have not changed, except that Rasheed Wallace was replaced in advance.

The Spurs' personnel adjustment at the beginning made the Hawks really unexpected. Although McGrady scored three three-pointers, it was a non-tactical play. The opponent called a timeout and there must be a defensive change against McGrady. What coach Kruger needs to adjust at this time is the defense against the opponent's offensive strengths.

……

After a timeout, Liu Mang took McGrady, Prince, Josh Smith, and Kwame Brown on the field.

The Spurs did not make any substitutions. Parker, Ginobili, Horry, Bunche Wells, and Duncan continued to play.

The Spurs attack.

After Parker advanced to the frontcourt, Bunch Wells continued to look for opportunities in the low post.

The Spurs originally thought that the Eagles replaced Josh Smith to use speed and mobility to go around the front and defend. They were ready to use Duncan to block Kwame Brown and hang Bunche Wells instead. Unexpectedly, Josh Smith used a normal defensive method.

In this case, Bunch Wells chose to continue the low position, and the rest of the Spurs continued to help Bunch Wells open up space.

Parker moves to the left 45 degrees and lobs the ball to Bunche Wells.

Just when Bunche Wells received the ball and was about to make an action, Liu Mang double-teamed Bunche Wells, preferring to let go of Parker's mid-range shot.

Bunch Wells immediately gave it to Parker. Parker received the ball without hesitation, caught the ball and shot it. It was too late when Prince rushed over.

Even if he can't shoot from outside, Parker has to make a decisive shot at this time, otherwise the opponent will attack Bunche Wells unscrupulously.

The iron tree will also bloom. This season's playoffs averaged 2 three-point shots per game, and the average hit was 0.2. Parker, who only made three three-pointers in this season's playoffs, made his first three-point shot!

7 to 9, Parker's three-pointer will narrow the difference to two points!

Both Liu Mang and Prince couldn't do anything about it. To defend this thing, when the opponent had an extremely advantageous singles point, they could only choose to flank and let go of the opponent's weakest link. Parker was obviously the weakness of the Spurs' outside shooting.

Offensive and defensive transition, the Eagles attack.

After receiving the serve, Liu Mang advances to the frontcourt, passes the ball to Tracy McGrady, and then leads Manu Ginobili to make an empty cut to the inside. Prince leads Parker to the right corner, and Josh Smith screens and rolls for Liu Mang from the middle distance on the left.

McGrady received the ball from outside the 45-degree three-point line on the right side, which is the strong side, and then feinted.

At this time, Liu Mang used Josh Smith’s pick-and-roll to force Ginobili and Bunche Wells to switch defenses. After Ginobili was blocked by Josh Smith, he immediately made up for the breakthrough McGrady. It will pass to the left three-point line, and Liu Mang has already run to the best position at a 45-degree angle!

Liu Mang receives the ball and shoots a three-pointer...

"Ding... Marksman level 5 trigger..."

Liu Mang had a perfect shooting opportunity, but unfortunately he missed.

Liu Mang felt that it was a pity. McGrady's offensive threat sent a pass, using Josh Smith's physical fitness to completely contain the opponent's defense at the basket, but he missed the shot in the final shot.

Duncan defended the defensive rebound steadily, and the Eagles retreated quickly. During the retreat, McGrady waved his hand at Liu Mang to signal that he shouldn't care. Although he didn't make the goal, it was just Liu Mang's bad touch, and the overall tactics were played out completely.

There is a player on both sides who plays an absolute threat, McGrady on one side, and Bunch Wells on the other. McGrady's face-to-face breakthrough pass and Bunch Wells, a low-post passer who averaged 3.4 assists per game this season, led his teammates to compete at the beginning.

The Spurs' defense is very good. Horry blocks McGrady for three-pointers, and others quickly rotate to defend the inside. Role players basically have no chance to score.

The key is that the Spurs' game is characterized by big confrontation and many small moves. The Eagles don't have a good way to score.

The Spurs also didn't have a good chance to score. After Bunch Wells scored 4 points, he was flanked by Liu Mang. The Eagles' defensive rotation also started. Prince or Tracy McGrady would switch defenses if they were closer to Parker.

The two teams played fiercely in the first 2 minutes, and they played hard for the next 3 minutes. The two teams hit the 4th and 10th minute, and the score only improved from 7 to 9 to 10 to 12. The Eagles took advantage of Tracy McGrady's 3 three-pointers at the beginning, and Liu Mang rushed to the basket after receiving the ball and hit a layup, and Kwame Brown made a free throw that Duncan defended for three seconds.

The game was tense from the start.

It was the Eagles offense again. Liu Mang failed to break through and passed to McGrady. McGrady faced Ginobili, who was switching defenses, and used his height and mid-range jumper to make a shot...

The start seemed to run out of touch, and McGrady missed two consecutive mid-range shots.

Kwame Brown seized the space under the basket that was exposed when Duncan went to defend Liu Mang this time, and firmly stuck Duncan behind him. When the ball fell, Kwame Brown was about to grab an offensive rebound and dunk inside directly. However, an arm stretched out from behind his head!
With his long arms and big hands, Duncan jumped up and flicked the ball with his fingertips, and then used his physical fitness to jump up again to pick the ball from Kwame Brown's head!

Duncan's static physical fitness is too good!Also at [-] meters, Duncan's [-]-meter wingspan is even more exaggerated than Kwame Brown's [-]-meter wingspan!
Seeing this scene, Liu Mang felt that he had nothing to say, so he retreated immediately, thinking about a player with such a height in his national team with a wingspan of [-] meters...

The Spurs chose to advance quickly this time!
Duncan grabbed the ball and immediately turned around and dribbled away. His basic skills were quite solid. When Kwame Brown returned to the defense, he reached out and dunked. Duncan dribbled behind his back and passed it to Horry at the center line.

Horry received the ball and continued to attack, rushing into the three-point line, McGrady blocked it.

At this time, Duncan inserted from the middle. This guy was too threatening. Kwame Brown was next to him, and Josh Smith and Liu Mang were guarding the basket.

At the same time, Parker gave Ginobili a pick-and-roll from outside the three-point line on the other side, Horry quickly distributed the ball to Ginobili, and Ginobili stepped on the three-point line to shoot a jumper...

hit!

12 flats!
Ginobili kept telling the referee that he was shooting a three-pointer, but the referee had sharp eyes and decisively gestured for a two-pointer. The fans in front of the TV watched the slow-motion replay, and Ginobili did step on the three-point line when he took off.

The Eagles are lucky, otherwise they will be overtaken by the opponent!

The Spurs suddenly accelerated their offensive speed and brought the rhythm up. Although they scored a goal, Coach Popovich on the sidelines was roaring.

Because just after Ginobili made the ball, Liu Mang picked up the dropped ball and immediately sent it to Josh Smith, and then ran towards the frontcourt. Josh Smith immediately passed the ball back to Liu Mang.
Liu Mang advanced to the frontcourt, and the Spurs retreated quickly, but they were messy. When Liu Mang rushed to the three-point line, a group of people blocked him in disorder. Liu Mang distributed the ball to the center, and McGrady took a step inside the free throw line. The two attracted four defenses. McGrady hoisted the ball to the basket.

14 to 12, the Eagles continued to maintain a weak lead.

The rhythm was brought up unconsciously!

From the extremely slow offense and defense of positional warfare to the rapid transition of offense and defense, it was useless for Popovich to shout from the sidelines, and the players were already excited.

The Spurs attacked, and after Kwame Brown scored a dunk, Ginobili sent out the ball quickly and Parker advanced quickly.

In the frontcourt, Parker took advantage of the trend and broke through to the inside, attracted the defense and passed it to Duncan. Duncan jumped and dunked and scored two points.

The two teams played chaotically because of the quick offensive and defensive transitions.

The Eagles love things like disruptive battles!
After Liu Mang advanced to the frontcourt, he used McGrady to block Ginobili, and Rao made a pick-and-roll mid-range jumper...

This time Liu Mang didn't think about rebounding and passing the ball at all, he was quite focused on shooting the ball, he just wanted to throw it!

"Ding... the pick-and-roll master is triggered at level 5, and the host's speed +8 and strength +5 within two seconds."

Liu Mang's jump height was very high, and it was useless for Duncan to jump up. Liu Mang made a decisive mid-range shot, hit the backboard and bounced into the basket!
16 to 14, the scoring speed of the two teams suddenly accelerated!
After half a quarter of the game, Liu Mang found that if he played against the Spurs, if he didn't focus all his attention on shooting, he would have no chance to make himself a real threat to attract double-teams. But if he focused on shooting, he didn't have much energy to think about splitting the ball. It was the same with McGrady. It was too difficult to win the ball against the Spurs!
This feeling is very awkward, a complete paradox. The Spurs' defense is to give the players who organize the offense an uncomfortable feeling.

Liu Mang understood why the Suns played against the Spurs. Nash and Stoudemire averaged almost 65 points per game, but the two scored more games and assisted less each game. When watching the game, Liu Mang thought that the Suns were blocked by the Spurs and couldn't pass the ball.

Now I find that it's not that the Suns' pass was blocked to death, but that Nash and Stoudemire didn't take shooting as their first choice, and they couldn't even maintain their scoring efficiency!The Spurs' defense is too strong!

The Eagles played more than 5 minutes at the start and scored 16 points. Except for a dunk by Kwame Brown and a free throw, the remaining 13 points were all scored by Liu Mang and Madison.

It's too difficult to cooperate, and the Spurs seem to expect two people to pass the ball, which makes it easier to prevent others from dying.

Liu Mang thought of the Western Conference Finals in 01. The Lakers averaged 100 points per game, Kobe Bryant averaged 33 points per game, O'Neal averaged 27 points per game, Fisher averaged 18 points per game, and all three of them averaged 78 points per game, that is... they didn't play any tactics at all!It's the star!
Against an opponent like the Spurs, it is impossible to rely on tactical cooperation!

(End of this chapter)