God of NBA point guards

Chapter 620: Beat Duncan in the first game of the playoffs
Popovich considered and said: "If you can only average 20+ per game, I don't think they will double-team you without the ball.

But if you average 30+, or even 35+ per game, and your shooting percentage can remain above 55%, then they will definitely double-team you without the ball. "

David Robinson said: "Tim, as long as you play data close to the Iron Fist King, you will pose a great threat to the Sonics, and they will definitely double-team you without the ball.

Popovich nodded and said: "David is right, but I think even if they double-team Tim without the ball, it won't be as intense as double-teaming O'Neal.

O'Neal is too dominant at the basket, so the Sonics double-teamed him like that.And even for O'Neal, the Sonics mainly prevent him from getting close to the basket. When O'Neal is outside the paint area, the intensity of off-ball double teams is still quite loose.

Tim's near two points are better. This is what we can take advantage of. When their off-ball double-teaming on Tim in the near two point area is not so tight, Tim can take decisive shots and the ball holder must also Pass the ball decisively to Tim. "

At this point, he said to Tony Parker: "Tony, what do you want to say?"

Parker looked unhappy and said, "Coach, how about I play as a substitute?"

"what?"

Popovich's eyes widened, startling Tony Parker, and he quickly explained: "Anyway, my task on the offensive end is to contain the Iron Fist King, and I can't guard him. Being a starter seems to have no effect, and it can't help. team."

Popovich exchanged glances with the two assistant coaches, discussed in a low voice and then said: "Tony, what you said is not unreasonable, but you have to know that the Iron Fist King plays a lot of time in the playoffs. In the first three seasons, in key series, we averaged 46 minutes per game. Can you avoid it?"

"Uh……"

Tony Parker was speechless and nodded in frustration.

Popovich scolded: "Tony, you are so disappointing. You don't have the confidence to face the Iron Fist King, and you want to hand over the pressure to others. How can we beat the Sonics like this?"

Seeing Tony Parker being sprayed like a quail, Ginobili laughed secretly in his heart, French boy, if you don't play the main force, I will have to play. Are you planning to trick me?
After finishing his scolding, Popovich said: "Now we are discussing the outside issue. When Tony restrains the Iron Fist King, who will hold the ball and organize the offense?"

He looked at the crowd, and without waiting for anyone to speak, he said to himself: "We don't have that kind of traditional point guard, and neither does Tony, so this problem is not a big problem for us. We can give the ball to Tim from the outside. Let Tim handle the ball, play it himself, or attract double teams and then separate."

……

For the Sonics, a tactical meeting was also held.

The focus of the discussion is Tim Duncan, because he is the leader of the Spurs and the core of offense and defense. If Duncan is strangled to death and no one from the Spurs can stand up, the Sonics will definitely win.

What McMillan meant was to double-team Duncan without the ball just like he double-teamed O'Neal.

But there are risks in doing so. Several of the Spurs' main perimeter players, Tony Parker, Stephen Jackson, and Bowen, all have three-pointers.

Bowen, who was traded, has made great progress this season, and his three-point shooting rate has reached 44.1%, which cannot be missed.

But Zhou Quan thinks it's unnecessary. Duncan's dominance at the basket is not as good as O'Neal's, his scoring explosiveness is not as good as O'Neal's, and his lethality is not as good as O'Neal's. Duncan needs to be treated differently.

And there is David Robinson next to Duncan. Two inside players double-team Duncan. After Duncan pulls out, David Robinson is empty under the basket.

The Spurs' twin towers have a height advantage. They play the twin towers strategy in the low post and only double-team one person, making it very easy for the other person to get an open space under the basket.

What he means is to make a decision based on the situation. If Duncan takes more positions under the basket and uses a low-post twin tower tactic, then implement double-teaming without the ball.

However, when double-teaming, you must pay attention to Duncan's distribution to avoid being opened by David Robinson under the basket. You must also pay attention to Robinson's defense in other positions.

If Duncan takes more position in the near two-point area and uses a high-low double-tower tactic, and David Robinson is in the high post but not in the low post, then he can let it go first and pay attention to the weak side to help defend.

……

On the 19th, the second round of G1 match day.

At eight o'clock, the two sides announced the starting lineup.

Spurs: Tim Duncan, David Robinson, Bowen, Stephen Jackson, Tony Parker
SuperSonics: Ben Wallace, Kurt Thomas, Mike Miller, Corey Maggette, Zhou Quan
In the TNT commentary box, Barkley said: "The Spurs have no one available at the second position. Stephen Jackson, the third-year second-round pick No. 14, has started this season. He only started once last season.

不过他的表现还可以，常规赛场均28分钟，11.8分3.6篮板2.3助攻1.6抢断，命中率43.5%。

In the first round of the series, he was the Spurs' second scoring point, with 16.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.2 steals and 0.7 blocks, with a shooting percentage of 43.2%. His playing time increased by 33 minutes, exceeding his performance in the regular season. Popovich took him He made the right decision by being promoted to the starting lineup. "

Kenny Smith said: "He is now facing Corey Maggette, a swingman with average defensive skills who mainly relies on upper body strength for defense. Maggette and Mike Miller are the defensive shortcomings in the SuperSonics main lineup. I look forward to Jackson continuing to perform well."

Barkley added: "The defense of Maggette and Mike Miller is indeed average. It can only be said to be passing."

Kenny Smith said: "If the Spurs want to win against the SuperSonics, Duncan must perform a very stable and efficient offensive and defensive performance throughout the series, just like the Iron Fist King, who cannot be worse in one game.

Comparing the lineups of both sides, from an offensive point of view, the Sonics only suffer at the fifth position of Duncan. In the other four positions, they all have certain advantages, or at least no disadvantages.

Even Kurt Thomas's scoring ability is no worse than David Robinson.Corey Maggette is no worse than Stephen Jackson.Mike Miller's offense is definitely better than Bowen's. "

Barkley continued: "From the defensive end, the defense of the penalty area formed by the two inside lines on both sides is good. The Spurs have the advantage at the third position. Bowen will definitely limit Mike Miller's scoring. Everyone is about the same at the second position. We won’t talk about the number.

Generally speaking, the SuperSonics are the team that has conceded the fewest points per game in the league this season, and the Spurs are second. It should be said that the SuperSonics' defense is better. "

At this time in the player tunnel, the starting lineups of both sides met.

"Hey, Iron Fist King," David Robinson greeted.

"Hey, Iron Fist King." Duncan and others also greeted.

"Hey, David, welcome to Seattle." Zhou Quan smiled.

Others also greeted each other in a friendly manner.

"Boss."

Bowen came up specially and hugged Zhou Quan.

Zhou Quan asked: "Bruce, are you doing well in the Spurs?"

"It's okay." Bowen smiled.

"Keep up the good work." Zhou Quan encouraged. "Thank you, boss." Bowen said hurriedly.

After Zhou Quan came on the stage, he saw Dayao talking to Daba on the sidelines and went over to say hello.

Daba didn't have much chance with the Spurs. He played the least minutes and scored the least points in the regular season, averaging 3.8 minutes, 0.8 points and 0.8 rebounds per game. He only played in 12 games and did not make the 12-man playoff roster.

Compared with Yao Dazhi, his NBA journey is the most difficult.

At 08:30, the game started. After the jump ball, the Spurs attacked.

After receiving the ball, Tony Parker advanced from the right wing to the frontcourt. After Zhou Quan came up, he immediately released the ball and passed it to Bowen at the top of the arc. Bowen lobbed directly to the left wing.

David Robinson was in the high post and played a high-low twin tower tactic with Duncan. The Sonics did not adopt a double-teaming tactic without the ball.

Duncan missed the basket and was in the low post on the left wing. After receiving the ball, he turned around without any adjustments, put his foot on his right waist and then took off. He stuck his left elbow outside and shot with one hand with his right hand.

"Oh!"

The backboard bounced off the board and fell into the basket.

"Beautiful! Playing the board with one hand, Duncan's technique has reached an unpretentious level, just like Dugu Qiufei's epee, clever but not crafty." Yu Jia couldn't help but praise when he saw the ball.

Zhang Liyi nodded and said: "He plays Big Ben and has an absolute height advantage. His height and wingspan combined are at least [-] centimeters higher than Big Ben, so he didn't even make a fake move. He turned around and shot. Big Ben just barely caught up. The rhythm was good, but he jumped to block the shot in a hurry, and his defensive height was not high enough.”

Yu Jia said: "It should be a confrontation. This is the home court. If there is a physical confrontation, it will definitely affect Duncan's accuracy and reduce his offensive rhythm."

Zhang Liji smiled and said, "That's for sure."

Supersonic attack.

Zhou Quan found that his defender was not Tony Parker or Stephen Jackson, but Bruce Bowen.

"Ouch, are you using the person who knows Zhou Quan best to defend him?" Zhang Lili was surprised.

Yu Jia said: "There is a height difference of 10 centimeters, but the Iron Fist King definitely has an absolute advantage in terms of movement speed. Bowen is good at entangled defense and has a lot of small moves. Let's see how Zhou Quan fights?"

In the middle, as soon as Zhou Quan advanced to the frontcourt, Bowen immediately came up and got close to him, wrapping around him like an octopus.

After pushing forward with his left elbow and using strong force to withstand Bowen, he quickly accelerated his breakthrough. However, when Bowen turned to follow, he suddenly turned around and dribbled past Bowen, then passed Bowen from the left and reached the arc. When reaching the top, stop suddenly and rise.

The Spurs have made a defensive plan for this situation, and shooting guard Stephen Jackson has already stepped in to defend.

Stephen Jackson moved sideways in small steps continuously, and his posture looked weird. When Zhou Quan suddenly stopped and got up, his defense was not in place in time.

"brush!"

Splashes appeared and a three-pointer was hit.

Kenny Smith said with a smile: "Stephen Jackson's defense is a weakness. At 203 centimeters tall, he is a tall shooting guard and his movement speed is too slow. It is obviously inappropriate to use him to defend the Iron Fist King."

Barkley shook his head and said: "He came to cover the defense because the one he just switched to guard was Corey Maggette. Maggette's shooting is not good, so he can let it go for the time being. He is not afraid of the Iron Fist King passing the ball to Maggette. "

"Yeah, Mike Miller can't be left open," Kenny Smith said.

Spurs attack.

Zhou Quan intensified his pressure on Tony Parker in the backcourt. Parker passed the ball to Bowen who was receiving the ball nearby. Bowen then passed the ball to Stephen Jackson in the middle position. Jackson then passed the ball to David Robinson who was receiving the ball in the high post. The ball moves very quickly without any pause.

David Robinson didn't stop when he received the ball, and then passed it to Duncan in the low post on the left wing. Then he didn't stay in the high post. Instead, when Kurt Thomas looked back to observe Duncan, he immediately bypassed the opponent and cut inside to the basket.

"Ouch, Thomas's back door is exposed." Zhang Liji shouted urgently.

After receiving the ball, Duncan raised the ball high, attracting Big Ben's defense and then quickly passed the ball with one hand. David Robinson, who cut inside the basket, received the ball and made a two-step layup, scoring a goal.

"The classic high-low two-tower tactic, David Robinson caught Kurt Thomas' backdoor, and his inside cut was extremely sharp." Barkley said excitedly.

"Let the Admiral catch an open space under the basket. This is a point!" Kenny Smith also said.

Supersonic attack.

Kurt Thomas moved one step to the right waist. When Zhou Quan was near the top of the arc, he suddenly accelerated and passed by. He changed direction and started to break through with the ball from the top of the right arc. Bowen's movement speed was much slower than Zhou Quan's and he was overtaken again.

Kurt Thomas took two steps forward, made a pick-and-roll at the right elbow, and then immediately cut outside. David Robinson chose to cover Zhou Quan.

At this time, Zhou Quan was double-teamed by David Robinson and Bowen, and Tim Duncan was eyeing him under the basket. He quickly distributed the ball.

Kurt Thomas received the ball one step inside the right wing three-point line at [-] degrees.

"Big open seat!" Yu Jia shouted excitedly.

"brush!"

Kurt Thomas made a two-pointer from far away and hit one.

"Beautiful! Kurt Thomas is good at mid-range shots, especially in the open space. When David Robinson puts him in the open space, he will score points." Zhang Liji said happily.

"Now both sides have successfully completed their two attacks without being defended. Coach Zhang, is there something wrong with their defensive tactics?" Yu Jia asked.

Zhang Lili said: "The Spurs' offense focuses on a two-tower tactic, which is very difficult to defend. And they pass a lot of passes, tearing apart the SuperSonics' defense through continuous passes.

The Spurs' defense mainly hopes to guard Zhou Quan, and they only need to guard Zhou Quan. The rest is not important.

But it would be too difficult to guard Zhou Quan.There was no defense against the double team just now. You can stop Zhou Quan's shot, but you can't stop his passing.

But it's only been two rounds, so it's hard to say yet. Offensive and defensive tactics and the players' personal status all still need to be adjusted. "

(End of this chapter)