NBA: I have 3, no D, and I can't dribble

Chapter 69 [69] Heaven and Hell, Kassel's line of fire goes to Tianwang Mountain!

The team's offensive tactics deployed by Philip Sanders tonight have completely revolved around the Wolf King.

Not only will Lin Fei reduce his shot rights, but so will the team's second scoring point "Madman".

As the Timberwolves coach, Philip Saunders knows very well that the Wolf King is always the soul and absolute core of this team.

After the first two finals, the Wolf King indirectly revealed some ideas in front of the coaching team, suggesting that offensive tactics should be more inclined to him.

Although Philip Sanders didn't say anything, he was still thinking about the Wolf King. After all, no matter how much he liked Lin Fei, Lin Fei couldn't keep him, and the Wolf King was the cornerstone for the Timberwolves to win the championship and even establish a dynasty.

So the change in offensive tactics tonight also has a little selfishness of Philip Sanders, so that the Wolf King can play better data, and get the coveted finals MVP, so that he can be more willing to die for the Timberwolves.

Timberwolves general manager McHale reminded Philip Sanders of this before the finals, and the MVP of the finals must be won by the Wolves.

Even "Madman" is also an outsider, and this FMVP cannot be allowed to him, unless he really played against the sky in the finals.

Of course, the premise of everything is that the Timberwolves want to win the championship.

Philip Sanders naturally didn't listen to McHale's advice at the beginning, and always put winning first.

But now that the Timberwolves have a 2:0 lead, Philip Sanders is also thinking about it, and on the premise that it is beneficial to the team's offense, he will give the Wolves more ball rights.

In fact, judging from the situation in the first two finals, the Wolf King has always been the superstar with the most possessions by the Timberwolves. In the two games, he took 42 shots in total, but his shooting percentage was less than 43%.

And the wolf king who started tonight, even though he is in the away game, obviously feels a little more up-to-date.

After the entire first quarter, the Wolf King made 8 of 6 shots and 3 of 2 free throws. He scored 14 points, 5 rebounds and 1 block in a single quarter. It really showed the demeanor of the new MVP.

The offensive end is good, and the defensive end is also working harder. The wolf king's physical talent is too outstanding, and the defensive end fully demonstrates DPOY's super high level.

Timberwolves (26): (21) Pistons.

It also led by 5 points in the first quarter.

This made Philip Sanders even more convinced that his tactical adjustment tonight was very worthwhile.

It’s just that Lin Fei’s side was a bit miserable. Not only did he not take a single shot on the offensive end in a single quarter, but he was also hit by Hamilton on 4-for-3 in a single quarter and lost another foul.
The overall opening performance was quite different from the previous one.

So Philip Sanders let Lin Fei play only 9 minutes in the first quarter, and then asked Trenton Hassel to replace him to adjust his mentality.

Lin Fei also knew the Timberwolves' offensive strategy tonight before the game. Even if he didn't say it in name, Lin Fei, who had a clear mind, knew that it was obviously because he was afraid that he would steal the Wolves' finals MVP.

Lin Fei didn't have any objection to this. He just tried to play his role well, obeyed the head coach's arrangement, and put himself in the right position.

To be honest, Lin Fei really never thought that he would be able to win the FMVP this year.

The Timberwolves are not Lin Fei's team. There is actually not much difference between winning the FMVP and not winning the FMVP. An extra "Iguodala Award" may seem a bit embarrassing.

Lin Fei's only goal in the game is to do his best to help the team win.

If Lin Fei is a master at holding the ball, then he will be very uncomfortable if he loses possession of the ball.

But he is now an off-ball player, and he is not yet the core player of the team. If the boss does not pass you, you have no other way.

Moreover, Lin Fei is a rational person. Even if the offensive strategy arranged by Philip Sanders tonight has the intention of taking care of the wolf king, it is definitely a very good change.

With the five Pistons on the court at the same time and with plenty of physical strength, even if Lin Fei wanted to catch the ball and shoot more, the whole team would make him a wedding dress, and it would be difficult to get a chance.

On this point, the reason why Lin Fei didn't fight or snatch,
One is that he can put himself in the right place, and he won't be overjoyed because of a 29-point lore, thinking that he is a superstar.

The second is that Lin Fei can clearly realize that his catching and three-point characteristics do not have much advantage in the face of the unlimited rotation of the Pistons' five tigers.

Mike Breen in front of the commentary on the sidelines praised the Wolf King's tough performance in the first quarter, and believed that if the Pistons did not limit the Wolf King's next performance, it would be difficult to win at home.

As guest commentators, Reggie Miller and Ray Allen can only follow the wolf king and analyze the characteristics of Billups and "Madman".

But as the two most famous three-point shooters in the league, they were invited by ESPN tonight to analyze Lin Fei's three-pointers?

But Lin Fei not only didn't score a point in the first quarter tonight, he didn't even take a single shot. How can this be explained?

"Tonight's Pistons' five tigers' defense restrictions are too good for Lin, and the Timberwolves seem to give more offense to the Wolf King!"

Listening to Nowitzki's words, Nash sitting next to him has piercing eyes. As a top point guard, he has insight into the current situation:

"There are at least three chances in the first quarter. The Wolf King and 'Madman' can pass the ball to Lin Fei. With Lin's ability, there is definitely time to make a shot!"

"But this opportunity is too secretive, let alone them, even Jason Kidd and I, it is difficult to grasp!"

"If you don't take a risk and try, how will you know the result? The unlimited rotation of the five Pistons is indeed too terrifying. They really deserve their name to reach the final!"

After the start of the second quarter, the Pistons quickly increased their defensive strength. The pick-and-rolls of Wolf King and Lin Fei were not effective, and their shooting touch gradually declined.

Taking advantage of the home court, the Pistons launched a wave of crazy counterattacks to chase points, blasting a wave of 27:15 in a single quarter, and overtook the Timberwolves by 7 points at halftime.

The Palace of Auburn Hills was full of cheers, and the enthusiasm of the Pistons fans was insane, disrupting the rhythm and state of the Timberwolves' main players.

Lin Fei got a chance to catch the ball at the end of the second quarter, but the quality of the pass from "Madman" was not good, and Hamilton also completely blocked it.
Lin Fei could only choose a difficult and strong shot for this ball, and he missed the basketball.

"Bang!"

Throughout the second quarter, Lin Fei only scored 1 point through one technical foul penalty.

defensive end,
In the second quarter, the Pistons used more pick-and-roll dislocations against Lin Fei. In response to the gap that the Timberwolves could not catch up with, Billups and Prince both hit shots in front of Lin Fei.

Although his mentality was considered good, Lin Fei was naturally not in a good mood during the intermission after playing so frustrated in the first half.

Even though the defensive attribute has increased from 46 to 52 compared with the previous game, this defensive attribute is still vulnerable to the Pistons' targeted play.

You know, this is the finals where the bayonet hits the spot.

Reality has poured cold water on Lin Fei's head. It seems that the decent defensive performance in G2 in the finals is really just luck.

During the intermission, Mike Breen's commentary was merciless and hit the nail on the head:

"I have to admit that Lin's defensive performance is far from reaching the level of the finals. His physical fitness and defensive skills still need to be greatly improved!"

"Especially in terms of confrontation, Lin can hardly take advantage of it, and the attributes of the defensive colander are once again highlighted!"

"If the offensive end can't catch the ball and hit a three-pointer through running tactics, Lin has really lost the role of staying on the court!"

"Let's leave it to Flip Saunders and see how he plays in the second half!"

At halftime, Flip Saunders' coaching staff was deeply divided over his second-half employment,

One side advocated that the suspect should not be used, and Lin Fei should continue to stay on the court.

The other side advocated abandoning Lin Fei in the second half, strengthening the overall defense, and chasing points steadily.

Philip Sanders knew very well that the Pistons' offensive was too fierce tonight, and the presence or absence of Lin Fei was not the key reason why the team fell behind.

But he is constantly being targeted on the defensive end, and it does affect the team's defensive confidence.

Now Philip Sanders understands how powerful the Detroit Pistons are. G2 in the finals was a victory stolen from God.

Before the start of the third quarter, Philip Sanders adopted the method of using Lin Fei in the Western Conference Finals, often on the offensive end and off the defensive end.

In addition to the timeout, the frequent substitutions in the middle are to create dead balls at the expense of cutting Ben Wallace.

This method did not achieve the desired effect. The high-position pick-and-rolls of Lin Fei and Wolf King on the offensive end have been thoroughly studied by the Pistons.

Even with two consecutive elevator door screens, Lin Fei still failed to get the chance to catch the ball.

Instead, the Wolf King and the "Madman" both made mistakes in the two passes, and were intercepted by the Pistons and turned into a fast break.

On the defensive end, replacing Lin Fei with Trenton Hassell did have an obvious effect. The strange thing is that Hamilton did not actively run off the ball when Hassell was on the court.

Instead, the number of shots was reduced.

In this way, the most intuitive feeling for the Timberwolves coaching team is,
Trenton Hassell's defensive effect is obviously better than Lin Fei's, because Lin Fei's best defensive advantage of chasing players without the ball is completely useless.

Under pressure, Philip Sanders could only completely replace Lin Fei in the second half of the third quarter and put him on the bench.

The Detroit Pistons, who were lore in G2 of the finals, broke out in full swing. In the third quarter, the defensive end was infinitely switched and turned into an iron bucket, forcing the Timberwolves to make 7 turnovers in a single quarter, and scored 12 points in the counterattack and fast break.

At 3 minutes and 12 seconds of the third quarter, the Pistons attacked, Billups called Ben Wallace's pick-and-roll screen in the high position,

In the dislocation breakthrough, Olowokandi sent a high throw ball, and assisted Ben Wallace, who was walking down quickly, to complete a flying dunk.

"Boom!"

After the goal, Ben Wallace beat his chest and roared, shouting at the Timberwolves bench:
"Guys, this is our home field, you are destined to die!"

Seeing that Lin Fei was pushed to the bench and abandoned, Hamilton, who had almost no desire to attack, suddenly broke out in the third quarter.

Facing Trenton Hassel, who is inexperienced in chasing the ball, he made three consecutive offensive moves to catch the ball and made all 3 shots, including an outside three-pointer.

Philip Sanders had no choice but to call two timeouts in a row but couldn't contain Hamilton's outburst. If Lin Fei was replaced, there would still be no good results. The Pistons would immediately change their offensive tactics.

Throughout the third quarter, the Pistons once again blasted a crazy 29:15, winning the Timberwolves by 14 points in a single quarter.

Three quarters are over.

Timberwolves (52): (73) Pistons, 21 points behind their opponents.

In the final quarter, the Timberwolves had no way to recover. Lin Fei only took the opportunity to hit a three-pointer during the interval when Rasheed Wallace was replaced, and there was nothing else to gain.

In the end, driven by Hamilton's 31 points, 2 assists and 2 steals, Ben Ben's 10 points, 15 rebounds and 4 blocks, Billups' 16 points and 10 assists, and all the five Pistons scored in double figures,
The Detroit Pistons beat the Timberwolves 92:69 at home, rewriting the big score of the finals to 1:2.

“狼王”凯文·加内特空砍30分13篮板4助攻2封盖1抢断，林飞全场2投1中，罚球1中1，只拿到了4分。

When the fourth quarter entered garbage time, Mike Breen also asked the two commentators for their guidance regarding Lin Fei's cliff-like performance tonight.

"Reggie, Ray, as defenders who are also good at three-point shooting, as two experienced seniors, what advice do you have for Lin?"

"Or when the two of you face the Detroit Pistons tonight, how will you break the curse of not being able to score with unlimited defenses?"

Reggie Miller was the first to speak: "I'm not surprised by Lin's abnormal performance tonight, because he is a rookie and undrafted after all, and we can't give him too high expectations!"

"But it must be admitted that Lin's off-the-ball running position and three-point catch level alone have surpassed my peak!"

"But such a single style of play has great limitations. After being thoroughly studied by the opponent, it will fall into the isolated and helpless situation tonight!"

"If it were me, I would properly try to attack with the ball, or cut into the basket, grab rebounds and create opportunities for a second attack, but Lin obviously doesn't have this ability yet!"

Ray Allen went on to say: "I very much agree with Reggie's opinion. Lin's off-ball three-pointer has been superb, but his scoring ability in other aspects is almost zero!"

"On a high-level stage like the finals, with a four-out-of-seven system, players with a single offensive method are the most likely to be targeted and their state plummets. Lin's predicament tonight is exactly like this!"

"As a qualified shooting guard, in addition to the scoring methods he is good at, he must have a comprehensive scoring method that at least passes the passing line, otherwise he cannot become a first-class NBA guard!"

After losing G3 in the finals, the Timberwolves' odds of winning the championship quickly dropped to 52%. More and more experts and neutral fans are more optimistic about the Detroit Pistons' counterattack to win the championship.

And the Timberwolves also had some conflicts. General manager Mike Hale strongly suggested that Lin Fei should return to the bench, so that the Timberwolves could return to traditional offensive and defensive tactics.

Philip Sanders also felt a dilemma. Facing a team like the Pistons, Lin Fei's off-ball characteristics had been targeted and he had no advantage.

Two days later, in the fourth game of the finals, Lin Fei didn't get a minute of playing time, but the Timberwolves and Pistons played inseparable.

In the end, after two overtimes, the big-hearted Billups completed the lore and lost by 1 point.

The away game lost two games in a row, and the big score in the finals also came to a 2:2 tie.

In G3, where Lin Fei played, the Timberwolves lost 20+. In G4, where Lin Fei did not play, the Timberwolves also lost, but they fought hard against the Pistons in two overtime games.
Under such a comparison, fans of the American traditional faction pointed their finger at Lin Fei one after another, thinking that he had become a drag on the Timberwolves in the finals.

Playing against a team like the Pistons, a player with Lin Fei's style is really not suitable to stay on the court.

26 points in the first game, 29 points in the second game, 4 points in the third game, and did not play in the fourth game.

The huge contrast between Lin Fei's performance before and after the finals aroused frenzied discussions in the entire Mimi.

Many NBA teams pursuing Lin Fei also began to hesitate and became cautious in contract quotations.

Qin Dongmei, who was already negotiating with the Heat in Miami, also took the initiative to call Lin Fei in Detroit to encourage him to cheer up and not have negative emotions.

"Lin Fei, I believe you will be able to bounce back in the next game!"

The fans on the Chinese side also felt flustered, angry and uneasy.

"Mad, why did the Timberwolves target Fei Ge? They didn't even give him a minute of playing time in the fourth game? The ungrateful guys, without Fei Ge's 1-second lore, the Timberwolves are now 1.3:1 behind!"

"You are wrong, without Brother Fei, the Timberwolves would have been eliminated by the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals 1:4!"

"The five tigers of the Pistons' unlimited defenses really made it difficult for Lin Fei to catch the ball. People in G1 didn't value you so much, and Rasheed Wallace was sent off at the last moment of G2. As a result, after the Pistons were completely targeted in G3 and G4, Lin Fei really had no chance to perform!"

"Let's be content. I feel like the Timberwolves can't beat the Pistons. After all, Lin Fei is our Asian point guard. His outstanding performance in the previous few games is enough for him to sign a good contract during the offseason!"

"Will the Timberwolves let Brother Fei play in the next Tianwangshan battle?"

6 month 15 day.

The battle of Tianwangshan in the finals will continue to be played at the Palace of Auburn Hills in Detroit.

For this crucial Tianwangshan battle, whether or not Lin Fei should be allowed to play, and what role to play in, has become an urgent issue for the Timberwolves coaching team.

The Westin Hotel, Detroit, in the meeting room.

Philip Sanders and the teaching assistant team were discussing urgently. At this moment, a call came in. Sanders picked up the phone and found that it was Sam Cassell.

The phone was connected, and Cassel's steady voice quickly came from the other end, as if he had considered for a long time before making up his mind:

"Coach Sanders, please allow me to play closed games in G5. Both the Timberwolves and I need this championship!"

"If Lin and I are partnered together, I believe he can still get the chance to catch the ball under the tight defense of the Pistons!"

(End of this chapter)