the great gatsby

Chapter 277 Middle Distance Master!
Pause ends.

Ross dribbled the ball for halftime, and Noah came up with a high pick-and-roll. After the pick-and-roll, Ross rushed in, but he didn't force it. Instead, he attracted the help defense and gave it to Luol Deng in the bottom corner. Luol Deng made a three-pointer from the bottom corner. This is his third three-pointer in this field. Today's Luol Deng's hands are very hot!

After Rose took the ball, he immediately returned to the backcourt to prepare for defense, and the rest of the Bulls also quickly returned to defense to prevent the Knicks from playing a transition attack.

Gatsby dribbled the ball halfway, Chandler immediately came up to the pick-and-roll, Gatsby immediately found that the Bulls' defense had changed, Noah did not pounce, but stepped on the three-point line and raised his hand to interfere, but away from Gates One step ahead, ready to defend against Gatsby's breakthrough.

Gatsby knew what he knew. He took a step back and passed the ball to Chandler. He got into the crowd and ran around the baseline with the help of Stoudemire's low screen. Chandler received the ball at the free throw line. Not in a hurry, he held the ball high and observed the movement inside. When he saw Gatsby breaking away from the defense and running to the bottom corner, he quickly passed the ball over.

Rose's follow-up defense was very timely. The moment Gatsby caught the ball, he was already in front of him. Gatsby made a three-point shot. Rose couldn't help jumping up.
Return!

Thibodeau gasped: This is troublesome. When Gates is threatening three-pointers, the CIC is so accurate. How to defend next?
Gatsby's style of play is already very difficult to defend. Next, he constantly uses three-point shots as bait to lure the defender's center of gravity and then breaks through a step or two before shooting mid-range shots. If the defender doesn't jump up, he will directly Three-point shot, there is really no chance to hold the ball around the screen and make a mid-range shot.

With one more mid-range shot, Gatsby has a lot more options to choose from. The difficulty for the Bulls' defense has increased several times. Gatsby can shoot suddenly and pass. The offensive threat is even greater than Kobe's peak period. Although Kobe has a strong shooting ability, his efficiency is low, and Gatsby's efficiency is too high!

In about 8 minutes, Gatsby scored 18 points, 10 of 6 mid-range shots and 3 of 2 three-pointers. When Gatsby was off the court, the Knicks overtook the score, 26:22!

The ESPN trio watched dumbfounded.

Jeff Van Gundy, who has always been eloquent and loud like a bell, said:

"What else does Gatsby have in his arsenal, such as moving without the ball, passing, three-pointers, breakthroughs, layups under the basket, and now the various skills of mid-range shooting are also becoming mature. Let me see, catch Shoot, hold the ball around the screen and make a jump shot, whether it is the top of the arc or the wings, he has a mid-range hit. It can be said that his shooting has almost no dead ends. He plays like Larry Bird. No, his shooting percentage is higher than Larry Bird! How should such a player defend?"

Jeff Van Gundy's eyes were a little erratic.

Mike Brin is not a person who is obsessed with defense like Jeff Van Gundy. Because Jeff Van Gundy has coaching experience and is a defensive coach like Thibodeau, he brings himself into Thibodeau's perspective to consider how to defend Gatsby. , Mike Brin simply commented on Gatsby.

"Unbelievable. From a point guard, Gatsby's comprehensiveness in offense is unbelievable. Before that, his three-point ability was at the historical level. Now it can be said that his shooting ability is at the historical level. , Whether it is three-pointers or mid-range, he has achieved a state of proficiency.

What's more terrifying is that his passing ability is top-notch, and his off-ball positioning is also top-notch. He can seamlessly switch between holding the ball and off the ball at any time, which makes his offense even more elusive, because His offensive threat is too great. When he moves without the ball, the opponent's defensive lineup will be torn apart, and teammates often get the opportunity to cut to the basket for a layup.

Such a point guard can no longer be viewed simply from the perspective of a traditional point guard. There is no such template in the history of the NBA. It was said before that his template was Nash, but now it seems that it is not accurate, because even Nash , and there is no offensive ability like Gatsby that shocked the past and the present! ——Gatsby is the unique Gatsby! " Mike Breen praised.

Not to mention that ESPN and others were shocked, even D'Antoni was also very surprised, because he didn't see Gatsby practice targeted mid-range shots during training. He practiced more three-pointers, but three-pointers and mid-range shots Shooting is not the same, accurate three-pointers may not be accurate in mid-range shots, and accurate three-pointers in mid-range shots may not be able to do it.

Because the release posture of these two shots may be fundamentally different.

As we all know, single-action shooting is faster, smoother, and easier to control the arc, but the release point is low. Because the mid-range shot is in a place with higher defensive intensity and density, it requires a higher release point and more confrontation.

Using a double-motion shooting posture (two-motion-shoot) has a higher hit rate, and the three-point distance is farther. The release point is not very demanding, so single-action and double-action are both possible. The more representative one is Stephen Curry. .

In order to avoid being blocked, Curry always used one-motion shoots for three-pointers in pursuit of more speed. In the early stage, he also used one-motion shoots for mid-range shots, but his hit rate was only unsatisfactory. Because of this, at 15- When they met the Cavaliers in the 16 Finals, the Cavaliers blocked Curry's three-pointer and forced Curry to use mid-range to solve the problem. But the result was known. LeBron led the team to win the Cavaliers' first championship in franchise history.

After learning from the pain, Curry used a small jump and a one-motion shoot method to shoot the ball. Therefore, in the 16-17 season, Curry made 59% of his mid-range shots, the first in the league, and the second is Unsolvable Death Du 52% of the rand.

Even a shooter of Curry's level has to change his posture to make a breakthrough in shooting percentage, which shows that mid-range shots and three-pointers are not the same at all. Iverson is accurate in mid-range shots, but not three-pointers. Larry Brown It has something to do with not liking three-pointers, but it also shows that whether it is three-pointers or mid-range shots, you must practice specifically to achieve success.

And D'Antoni has never seen Gatsby practice mid-range shots. Could it be that he practiced during the offseason?
D'Antoni walked over and asked Gatsby quietly: "When did you practice this hand shot?"

Gatsby smiled and said: "It's the offseason. I don't want to be forced to use the middle distance to solve problems. Although the middle distance is inefficient, it should be used. They force me to use the middle distance. I have to use it." Just punish them at mid-range!"

D'Antoni admired him. Gatsby is a very thoughtful young man. If he won the regular season MVP in his rookie season, he would be self-inflated if he were replaced by anyone. But Gatsby immediately reflected on himself during the offseason. And use actions to make up for your own shortcomings and make yourself stronger. If such a young man cannot reach the peak, it would be a strange thing!
(End of this chapter)