the great gatsby

Chapter 458 Difficult opening, the mighty Gatsby.

This season, the Knicks won one less game than the Spurs in the regular season, so it was the home of the Spurs at first, and the Knicks arrived in San Antonio ahead of schedule to prepare for the finals.

Lin Yu also came to San Antonio to cheer up Gatsby. He had nothing to do anyway, so of course he would come and join in the fun if there was such a fun thing.

But Gatsby can't help with the tickets. This is an away game. It is natural for Gatsby to ask Duncan for a ticket, but the big game is coming, and Gatsby doesn't want to do such a thing.

Fortunately, Lin Yu had a lot of channels. Not only did he get the tickets, but he was also in the front row. Although it was not on the sidelines, the location was very good.

Under the leadership of Gatsby, the Knicks have entered the finals for the third time. The first time they played against the Dallas Mavericks, the second time they played against the Oklahoma City Thunder, and now they are against the San Antonio Spurs. If the Spurs win the championship this season, they will achieve three consecutive championships, which means they will become a dynasty team that everyone unanimously recognizes!

However, in the pre-match predictions, the Knicks are not sure of winning. Although the probability of winning the two sides is very close, the probability of the Spurs winning the championship is 52%, while the probability of winning the Knicks is 48%. The difference is only 4%. It shows that most experts are still more optimistic about the Spurs winning the championship.

Naturally, they have their reasons for such predictions.

First of all, the Spurs have the Big Three in GDP. Although Duncan is old, the Spurs have been said to be old for so many years. Aren't they still close to the finals?In the Western Conference Finals, facing the black and white bears of the Memphis Grizzlies, Duncan still scored 24+10 in the third game. Although he is no longer the core offensive role, Duncan's role has never been in scoring. Still the core of the team.

The second is that the Spurs have a more stable style. During their more than ten years of running-in, they have long honed their teamwork to be as hard and bright as diamonds.Although the Knicks are also the best team in the league, their core players are too young after all. Facing the older and more skilled Spurs, this may not only not be an advantage, but may also be targeted!It's better to use youthful vigor like Thunder to crush the old Spurs.

Finally, there are factors above the head coach. Although D'Antoni has won the title of the best head coach, Popovich is a recognized tactical master. Popovich has always been known for being good at forming troops and discovering the potential of players. , even if D'Antoni has the crown of the best head coach, but facing Popovich, I am afraid that he will still fall behind.

Combining these factors, the Spurs' winning percentage is higher than that of the Knicks.

AT&T Arena is still filled with a large number of Spurs fans. They are wearing white jerseys. The game is full of enthusiasm before the game starts. The Spurs' style of playing is not an obsessive style. It seems that their game is dull and dull.But once fans like the Spurs, the Spurs are their beliefs, and the Spurs' playing style should not be too gorgeous!
Most of the fans in the arena are diehard fans. When the Spurs players came out with stern faces, they greeted their heroes with the warmest cheers. When the Knicks came out, there were only a lot of boos. This is unavoidable, this is the case in away games, the young Knicks have long been used to this kind of scene, but there are still things that make Gatsby laugh bitterly.

Tobias Harris was so nervous going into the Finals that he even vomited in the locker room with stomach cramps.Green looked much calmer, but he was holding a string of Buddhist beads in his hand. Gatsby asked curiously. It turned out that Green's mother gave it to him, saying it would bring good luck. Gatsby couldn't laugh or cry.

In fact, Americans are not as scientific and civilized as we imagined. Among many Americans, mysticism is still full of them, especially some black people with a relatively low education level.

Leonard and Thompson have entered the finals for the second time. They seem to be much calmer. On the contrary, coach D'Antoni seems to encourage the players with enthusiasm, but the blood on his face and the obvious speed of speech prove that His heart must have been agitated and highly tense.

Gatsby has entered the finals for the third time, and he has seen such big scenes a lot. Not only did he show no signs of nervousness, but he also appeared calm and at ease. Even when talking to other teammates, he was relaxed and at ease, and he didn't have to make his teammates excited. However, it keeps cooling down the team. Moderately tense players during the game are beneficial to the performance on the court, but excessive excitement may cause many unnecessary mistakes. The key to playing against a team like the Spurs is whether they can control their performance. Good mistake.

The game begins after various necessary ceremonies.

The Spurs' starting lineup is: Tony Parker, Tim Duncan, Splitter, Danny Green and Matt Bonner. Leonard was cut off by Gatsby, so they were present with Red Mamba Matt. Bonner.

The starting lineup for the Knicks is: Gatsby, Thompson, Leonard, Green and Bogut.

Popovich watched Leonard making preparations with a blank face, and he felt a twinge of pain in his heart: He is an out-and-out Spurs man, look at his calm expression, look at his unpretentious Action!
Gatsby seemed to sense something, and glanced in Popovich's direction, seeing him staring at Leonard, couldn't help but smile knowingly.

Bogut and Split jumped the ball in the middle circle, and Split first helped the Spurs get the ball.

Tony Parker, a small French sports car, trotted across the half court, used Duncan's pick-and-roll to get rid of Gatsby, then suddenly accelerated to the basket, attracted the help defense, then hit the ground and passed to Splitter for a successful throw.

The Spurs and the Knicks seldom play against each other, and they met in the regular season only two games a season. Both sides are too unfamiliar, but they are not unfamiliar. As a two-time champion, the Spurs will not miss it if they want to win the championship. Research the Knicks.

The Knicks are being chased by the entire league as prey. Except for Gatsby who knows that the Spurs will enter the Finals this year, the others do not know. Breakout in the West?

Therefore, the Spurs are very familiar with the Knicks, but the Knicks are not too familiar with the Spurs. In this way, the situation was a little tilted from the beginning, whether they were mentally calculating or not.

Gatsby dribbled the ball halfway, and the Spurs immediately implemented a pincer attack on Gatsby, forcing Gatsby to take the ball. Popovich counted the Knicks' dead spot. He let Duncan guard the basket, and then besieged Gatsby. , put Green and Leonard.

Gatsby passed the ball to Green, and Green stood at the top of the arc trying to find Thompson. Thompson was already closely followed. Bogut helped Thompson with several screens but couldn't find an open space. Green could only do it by himself. He rushed in and wanted to attract Duncan's defense. Duncan's greatness was shown. He followed Green's footsteps not too far away. If Green chooses to pass, he can interfere with Green's pass or even if Green passes in to Bogut. He can also make up defense!

Seeing that the pass couldn't pass, Green had to force himself to layup, but was slapped down by Duncan. Parker launched a counterattack and rushed to the basket to pass to Matt Bonner on the three-point line. The Red Mamba made a three-pointer!

0: 5!

Gatsby dribbled the ball for half the court and beckoned for Bogut to come up to cover, but Duncan ignored Bogut and directly pinched Gatsby with Parker. Gatsby was naturally easy to throw the ball, but when the ball reached Bogut, he Still can't handle it, Thompson and Leonard have been entangled, Green has made an air cut, but Splitter is guarding the basket, Bogut can only take a step inside by himself, and then throws...Miss !
Splitter protected the rebound and gave it to Parker. Parker gave it to Duncan after halftime. Duncan and Parker handed each other in the high post. Parker caught the ball and broke through the net. A change of direction turned and threw Green to one side for a layup!
0: 7!

D'Antoni hurriedly called a timeout, and encountered such a situation at the beginning of the game. This was a scene he had rarely seen. He was very surprised. Popovich was so resolute in attacking Gatsby. The old man's mind was hard to guess. : Let others beat us, Gatsby, absolutely impossible when you want to!
It’s not that Popovich’s team has thought about this method, but every time Gatsby hit him with hemiplegia, because Gatsby’s ability to play the ball is too strong, but Popovich has his own considerations, The Spurs claim to be second in terms of tactical execution, and no one dares to claim the first, and neither can the Knicks. At most, they think they are second or even third.

Popovich dared to flank Gatsby like this because he trusted the players' execution ability. They could let Green go, then watch Thompson and Leonard, and let Bogut and Green attack. Once the Knicks were forced to let Green and Bogut went to attack, and his strategy has more than half succeeded.

D'Antoni is also a famous coach, and Xiao Jiujiu knows this in his heart, but it really hits the Knicks' weakness. Now there are only two ways, either let Gatsby hit hard when being flanked, or It is to make substitutions and replace them with more threatening pitchers. Once they are free, they can punish the Spurs' double attack.

But Green's defense is what the Knicks need. Green is the Knicks' defensive core. When Green is off the court, the Knicks' defense is at least half weaker. This is where D'Antoni worries.

Seeing that D'Antoni was silent, Gatsby walked over and said to D'Antoni: "Let me attack first, play Parker in the low post, and pass the ball as soon as I pinch, and then increase the pass and try to play more patiently. Chance."

D'Antoni nodded, grabbed the tactical board and began to set Gatsby's low-post tactics.

Pause ends.

Knicks possession.

Gatsby dribbled the ball across the half court to Green, got into the inside, caught Parker and asked for the ball. Poor Parker was only 188cm tall and weighed 84kg. Green lobbed the ball in. Sitting, Parker was knocked away, chasing one side to try to pinch Gatsby, Gatsby turned around and shot a jumper with a fadeaway, Parker could only watch helplessly as the ball fell into the basket.

D'Antoni breathed a sigh of relief—it's finally open!

2: 7!

The Spurs found Duncan by conducting the ball, and Duncan turned and hit Bogut in a low single.Gates made another low post hit.

4: 9!

In the next round, Parker used the pick-and-roll and then missed the mid-range shot. Green got the rebound and dribbled for half court. Gatsby still played low.

Gatsby saw that Green couldn't make the pass, so he rushed out to respond. Parker followed. Gatsby rushed in single-handedly, attracting Splitter's defense. Gatsby threw the ball into the sky, and Bogut lightly threw the ball Dunk into the basket.

6: 9!

The Spurs passed the ball to Bonner, Bonner missed a three-pointer, the ball bounced high, Gatsby rushed in, grabbed the rebound and ran wildly, facing Parker for a three-pointer, Parker's jumping interference only reached Gatsby's Elbow, Gatsby hit a three-pointer!

9: 9!

Popovich called a timeout.

Gatsby scored 7 points and 1 assist!

"It's really wonderful, so-called you have a good plan, I have a wall ladder, Popovich of the Spurs used a trick to pinch Gatsby, forcing Green and Bogut to take shots, allowing the Spurs to play a small climax, forcing D'Antoni A timeout was called, and after the timeout, Gatsby started to attack. Three singles and a chasing three-pointer instantly equalized the point difference, forcing Popovich to call a timeout.

Before that, the Spurs and Knicks were both the top two team teams in the league. The Knicks may be slightly inferior, but they are considered teams of the same level, but it is obvious that the Spurs are more fully prepared. They all seemed very well-planned, but the Knicks were clearly underprepared. If Gatsby's personal abilities were not strong enough, the Knicks would be in crisis from the very beginning. "Yang Yi said.

"Hey, Gatsby's personal ability is really strong. After the rest of the team was restricted, he stood up. Under the targeted defense of the Spurs, he still helped the team equalize the score.

In fact, the current situation reminds me of Gatsby’s rookie season. At that time, the Knicks only had Gatsby as the core. Gatsby was both a father and a mother. At that time, he was really alone. That season they only reached the Eastern Conference Finals and then they came to an abrupt end. This season they are very close to the Finals.

However, the Spurs are not easy to mess with. What they are best at is dealing with teams with only one core. If the rest of the Knicks don't step up, today's game will be in doubt! "Director Zhang commented.

"Tim, let go of Green, leave him alone, Gatsby is the key! Others watch their own people, Thiago (Split), you don't have to go out with Bogut, you just watch At the basket, Green comes in and you block him! Danny, Parker, pinch Gatsby if you have a chance, don’t hesitate! Also, I’d rather let them hit mid-range shots than give them a three-pointer at the basket! Remember it!” Popovich exhorted loudly.

(End of this chapter)