field coach

Chapter 184 Popovich's Way

The Knicks entered the fourth quarter with an 11-point deficit. Their defense in the third quarter did not have any effect, but instead drew a lot of unnecessary fouls.

The Magic's lineup in the third quarter is very flexible. Everyone except O'Neal can shoot suddenly, especially Horry at the fourth position.

Horry has worked hard on three-pointers this season, and he has initially formed the prototype of the big-hearted shooter in the future, but his original face-up breakthrough has not been pulled down. In addition, D'Antoni put Horry more at the fourth position under the suggestion of Davis. Every time he plays, he can cause great trouble to the opponent.

It is said to be the fourth position, but most of the time he is floating on the outside. If you don't follow him out, his three-pointers can really be scored.

If you follow out, he will use his face frame to penetrate your inside line.

After being beaten on the defensive end, if you want to fight back on the offensive end, sorry, O'Neal is standing behind him. . .

Horry performed very well in the third quarter, playing with Oakley between applause, scoring 10 points and 3 rebounds in a single quarter.

After he broke through Oakley, Ewing had to help defend inside, which was undoubtedly a bigger burden on Ewing's physical strength.

D'Antoni encouraged Horry a few words, and then replaced all the main players.

"Everyone performed very well in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, let's take away the opponent directly. Ewing has no energy. After playing, Shaq, you can shoot whatever you want."

What O'Neal waited for was D'Antoni's words.

The Magic played these two games very strategically. They did not allow O'Neal to fight against Ewing when he was physically strong, but relied on the strong firepower of outside players to maintain the situation on the court. After Ewing's physical strength was exhausted, they let the recharged O'Neal start to exert strength in the interior.

In the last game, the Magic relied on this tactic to win the game.

What D'Antoni, including Davis, did not expect was that in this game, the Knicks still let Ewing attack and defend as if they didn't realize that the Magic were consuming Ewing's energy.

"No, it's not that I didn't realize it, but the Knicks can only play this way. Ewing can hold on, and they still have hope of winning. If Ewing is allowed to pull back, the Knicks will collapse directly." Popovich on the sidelines said to David Robinson.

"The Knicks are already very strong. I didn't expect the Magic to push the Knicks to such a level." Robinson sighed.Now even if he is replaced on the court to replace Ewing, he will not do better than Ewing, and now the strength of the Spurs is basically at the same level as the Knicks.

"It's the No. [-] pick this year, the kid named Michael." Popovich pointed to DeWeese and said. DeWeese had just broken through Starks, attracted the defense and then passed the ball to Anderson outside. Anderson made a long two-point shot.

"I watched the videos of the Magic last year and this year, and found that the Magic played differently last year and this year. Maybe the Magic didn't feel it. After this kid came, the Magic started to revolve around him."

"Isn't O'Neal the core of the Magic?"

"O'Neal is just the sharpest sword. In other words, the Magic is like a sword. O'Neal is the sharpest part, and Davis is the hand holding the sword. I saw the shadows of several people in him."

"Several people? For example?" David Robinson felt that Popovich was bragging.

"Erwin Johnson, this kid's passing vision on the field is not much different from Johnson's, and even better than Irwin in some aspects."

Robinson nodded.

"Isaiah Thomas, didn't you notice that this kid's dribbling movements are exactly the same as Isiah's?" Popovich pointed to Davis who dribbled through Starks with his fingertips again, and then layup against Ewing's defensive lever.

"Then there is Michael Jordan. This kid's post-up is very similar to Jordan, but I don't know why he rarely uses this trick, but his three-pointers are much better than Jordan's. In my opinion, there are no more than five three-pointers in the league than him, or even basically none."

"According to what you say, this kid has no weaknesses?"

Popovich smiled and shook his head.

"How can there be no weakness, as strong as Jordan, and the three-point shooting rate is the same as shit? This kid's weakness is actually obvious. Compared with his organization and offense, his defense is a notch lower."

At the same time, on the court, DeWeese was singled by Starks, and Starks' turnaround jump shot was hit steadily, and DeWeese just stretched out his hand symbolically.

"Defense?"

"Yes, this kid's defense is not good. It's just that he plays too smart and relies more on his teammates on the defensive end. Didn't you see that he basically doesn't defend against the opponent's breakthrough? Because behind him are Shaquille O'Neal and Rodman, and most of the opponent's perimeter offensive cores. The Magic handed over to Sprewell to deal with, and Davis defended some perimeter players who are not outstanding in offensive ability."

"Then you say that, isn't the Magic team invincible?"

"No, if the Magic and the Bulls do face off in the next round, I'd still choose the Bulls."

"The Bulls don't have a guy like me or Shaq or Patrick, and they're going to suffer a lot against O'Neal."

"But the Bulls have Jordan. If I were to deal with the Magic, I would use Jordan's rules to deal with Davis and strangle him with his teammates. This is equivalent to cutting off his hand, and his offensive ability is far from that of Jordan. The Magic's starting inside is also lame. Although Rodman has excellent rebounding ability, he has no offensive ability at all. I will resolutely double-team O'Neal inside. If it doesn't work, I have another tactic to deal with O'Neal." Povich said with confidence, but the confident look on his face turned into frustration in the next second.

"But this way, you still can't win the Magic."

"why?"

"The depth of their lineup is really terrible. Even their substitutes are enough to be the main force in our team. I don't know how the Magic found so many potential rookies, and the talents of these rookies are very good. It's like someone knows what direction to train them."

Popovich took a sip of the water in his hand and continued to talk to Robinson.

"Even if we kill the two most threatening points in the Magic team, we have basically exhausted all our defensive capabilities. Facing the rest of the Magic team, there is nothing we can do."

"Give the Magic another two years, no, one year, and I think this team can definitely wrestle with the Bulls."

(End of this chapter)