Coach: Coaching the Grizzlies at the beginning, playing the bantam

Chapter 155 Attack Master VS Attack Master?

On May 5, Lu Yong was surrounded by reporters at the entrance of the arena, asking him to talk about his views on the Nuggets in the semifinals.

Without even thinking about it, Lu Yong smiled and said, "I don't have any opinion, because the result of this round of the series is already doomed. The Nuggets are not the opponent of the Supersonics. We have never lost in the offensive."

Like the Mavericks in the first round, the Denver Nuggets are also a strong offensive team. Coach George Karl's offense-defense ratio is the most extreme in league history. He is like a lunatic who never relies on defense to win.

When Lu Yong was the assistant coach of the Grizzlies, he was in charge of offense. Since then, George Karl has observed him, and he has seen the shadow of his youth from Lu Yong.The coaching styles of the two are very similar, but the Sonics have a better lineup, and it is a bit difficult for Anthony to lead the team to an upset.

The reporter asked again: "The media thinks this round of the series is a contest between you and George Karl. What do you think of this old coach?"

"George is a very good coach. He was able to lead the team to score 110 offensive firepower in the past eight years. He no longer needs to prove himself to the outside world. But this round of the Sonics will go all out, nothing else , the team must kill all opponents if they want to compete for the championship." Lu Yong did not belittle George Karl, but only expressed the confidence that the Sonics are eager to win.

Even though the old man George Karl has an annoying temper and countless shortcomings, he has no hostility towards Lu Yong, and he has publicly supported him. Naturally, Lu Yong will not bite anyone he sees like a mad dog.

If the opponent of this round of the series becomes another "offensive master" Adelman, Lu Yong's attitude will not be so polite, and he will definitely lead the team to fight to the death.

At seven o'clock in the evening, players from both sides played on time.

Lu Yong greeted George Karl on the sidelines. After a brief exchange of greetings, the two returned to the bench. There is no friendship in sports competition. When the game starts, the two sides are opponents.

Barkley commented on the game, saw the two coaches hugging each other before the game, and said with a smile: "Sure enough, two people with the same hobbies are more likely to become friends. Lu Shuai and George Karl are both top offensive masters in the league. It will definitely be interesting to see the teams compete, and the game will be very exciting.”

Kenny Smith nodded and said: "It's not easy for the Nuggets to win this round of the series. The Sonics have a better lineup and have a huge advantage in the rotation stage. Coach Carl has to find a way to withstand the firepower of the Sonics second team." Otherwise, it will be very difficult for the team to win.”

The Sonics starting lineup is still the same: Francis, Jackson, Durant, Szczerbiak, Noah.

Five Nuggets: Billups, Dengtai-Jones, Anthony, Kenyon Martin, "Birdman" Anderson.

As soon as they came up, the two teams showed off their offense without reservation, and Durant and Anthony took turns in singles to push the game to an early climax.

Neither the Nuggets nor the Sonics are good at defense, but Durant's teammates are better configured. With sharp teamwork, his shooting efficiency is slightly higher than Anthony's.

The Nuggets' starting scoring depends entirely on Anthony and Billups. Jones is a standard 3D.

Before the game, Lu Yong arranged pseudo-zone defense tactics to limit Anthony's singles. As long as he holds the ball and goes inside, at least two people on the weak side will attack him, forcing Anthony to take more jump shots.

Anthony's shooting percentage this season is not high, only 44.3% in the regular season, he can't kill the game with jump shots, Lu Yong is not worried.

When attacking, the Supersonic players opened up a wide space around them. Durant was much more comfortable with the ball in singles than Anthony. The two mid-range pull-up jumpers had good chances and were hardly disturbed.

Five minutes later, other players in the Supersonics also found their senses one after another, taking over from Durant to prop up the team's offense.

"Martial Saint" Jackson didn't have much pressure against Deng Tai-Jones. He easily scored a breakthrough layup and a pull-up three-pointer, showing his versatility.

Francis did not have an advantage in a one-on-one match against Billups, but he was able to play a role in the counterattack. The two points after attracting the defense both assisted his teammates to score, and brought out his experience advantage.

In order to improve the offense, George Karl had to replace Jones and "Birdman" Anderson early, let the two sixth men JR-Smith and Linus Kleiza debut, and Kenyon Martin topped the fifth position to play center.

After this substitution, the Nuggets' offensive firepower has indeed increased significantly, but their defensive strength has declined and become more extreme.

Durant and "Wu Sheng" Jackson attracted the defense and then scored the ball. Taylor Tovic, who came off the bench with an assist, scored two three-pointers in a row and pierced the Nuggets' defense.

The Nuggets' offensive firepower is good, but the Supersonics' offense is even more fierce, and the score has been falling behind.

After the first quarter, 34 to 27, the Sonics led by 7 points.

Durant played the entire quarter, scored 11 points, 2 rebounds and 1 assist, and made 7 of 4 shots. He played well.

"Little Melon" Anthony also played 12 minutes, made 8 of 4 shots, scored 10 points and 3 rebounds, and teamed up with Adu to stage a passionate mutual explosion.

"Birdman" Anderson, as the league's block leader this year, was replaced after only playing for 5 and a half minutes.He can protect the penalty area by staying on the court, but his offensive level is too poor. When the Sonics don't break into the basket and score, he is a burden. This round of the series is destined to be frozen, not as good as Kleiza.

Barkley commented with a smile: "The Nuggets scored 27 points in the first quarter, which is already very high, but their opponent is the league's No. 7 Sonics. This performance is still [-] points behind their opponents. It is definitely a clear stream in the league. .”

Kenny Smith said: "On the surface, the Supersonics don't have many stars, but in fact everyone in their team can score, and everyone is very strong in the tactical system. Perhaps this is the most troublesome thing about the Supersonics. Place. The depth of the lineup allows the Sonics to play the smoothest offense in the league at any time, which is unmatched by the Mavericks, Nuggets and other offensive teams."

In the second quarter, the Supersonics Neal and Taylor Tovic played, the small forward was "Martial Saint" Jackson who had a 3-minute rest, point guard Dragic, and center Gasol Jr.

The Nuggets sent Anthony Carter, JR-Smith, and Balkman to the backcourt, with Kleiza and Nene inside.

Seeing Nene and Kleiza appearing at the same time, Lu Yong heaved a sigh of relief and sat on the sidelines to drink a drink.

Nene and Kleiza's lateral movement speed is very slow, and the pick-and-roll speed can't keep up. Without Martin and "Birdman", the Sonics can easily create opportunities through weak-side cross-screening, which is easier than starting to score .

The Sonics did not relax their vigilance on the defensive end. They strictly guarded the penalty area and prevented the Nuggets players from entering. Except for the close confrontation with JR-Smith, the others shot as much as they wanted, and they could not shoot continuous firepower output at all.

The Sonics did a good job on both offense and defense tonight. With the offense of the second team, the point difference continued to widen, and they were heading for double digits.

(End of this chapter)