basketball boulder

Chapter 393 Without You, I Can't Do Anything

Popovich directly called a long timeout. First, he wanted to cool down Li Lei's hand, and second, he wanted to pour chicken soup on his disciple.

When returning from the timeout, Popovich also fine-tuned the lineup:

Duncan, Oberto, Finley, Barry, Parker.

Replacing Bowen with Finley is not because Finley's defense is better than Bowen's.

But Bowen can't prevent it anyway, so it's better to let others try.

It is also a wheel battle, but Popovich's mentality is different from the previous two games.

In the first two games, Popovich caught Li Lei's weakness and was confident and confident.

But now, Popovich has a question in his mind: can the wheel fight against Li Lei?

The game restarts.

Parker broke through to the mid-range jumper, but he still couldn't make it under Lowry's stalking.

The Spurs really fell into a scoring drought.

Li Lei grabbed the rebound by himself, made a long-distance attack, and jumped into the air directly in the frontcourt, smashing the ball into the basket hard against Barry.

boom!
9: 14.

Li Lei scored 12 points in a row.

Back from the timeout, Li Lei's scoring continued.

The atmosphere at the FedEx Center continued to heat up, and the enthusiasm of the Memphis fans brought the summer forward.

At the critical moment, Duncan forced Milicic under the basket, turned and dunked and scored.

boom!
11: 14.

The sports car in good times and the Buddha in adversity, Duncan is still the most reliable at this time.

Duncan's goal also reassured the Spurs players a lot.

"They have Li Lei, we have Duncan, who is afraid of whom?"

The Grizzlies attack.

Facing Finley, Li Lei changed direction continuously, took a step-back jumper, and pulled up directly.

Finley defended very seriously, but his defensive ability was obviously inferior to Bowen's, leaving Li Lei with a lot of space.

Coupled with Li Lei's height advantage (205cm to Finley's 201cm), Li Lei did not receive too much interference.

Swish!
An arrow through the heart, and more!Li Lei scored another two points.

11: 16.

Hahahaha!

Zhang Weiping and Su Qun in the broadcast booth laughed.

"Hohohoho! Tonight's hoop is as wide as the sea, and the stones are really thrown in!"

"Bowen can't! Finley can't! I think the only way for the Spurs to guard against the stone is to sign Michael Jordan from the sidelines!"

Zhang Weiping and Su Qun were particularly relaxed and happy, and they all started joking.

But what they said was right. It turned out that Finley couldn't guard against Li Lei who was in full swing.

In the second half, Li Lei continued to play efficiently, ignoring Finley.

In the first quarter, Li Lei scored 21 points, leading the Grizzlies 32:23 ahead of the Spurs by 9 points.

This is still when Duncan performed exceptionally and scored 10 points and 3 rebounds in the first quarter.

There's no other way, Li Lei is too strong tonight, his personal score is close to that of the entire Spurs team.

……

Back in the second quarter, Popovich adjusted his tactics.

Double-team Li Lei!

In this round of the series, Popovich is actually not the first time to double-team Li Lei.

That time, the Grizzlies' shooters cost the Spurs dearly.

Because of that game, Popovich was actually unwilling to double-team Li Lei again.

But tonight, he really couldn't help it.

Li Lei tonight is so strong that he can do anything.Whether it was Bowen or Finley, they were all directly beaten by Li Lei.

The Spurs couldn't find anyone who could defend Li Lei one-on-one.No!It's because they can't even find anyone who restricts Li Lei.

Under such circumstances, Popovich was forced to use double-team tactics again.

He's betting: A bet that the Grizzlies' role players won't be in good shape tonight.

Of course, this is not casual talk.

At the beginning of tonight's game, Li Lei asked his teammates to play first. As a result, his teammates couldn't make all kinds of shots, and they were directly beaten to a 2-7 start.

The main reason is that the Grizzlies have too many young players and are easily influenced by the outside world.The Grizzlies lost two more games before, and the sluggish state of the young players can also be explained.

Then, Popovich won the bet.

These young players of the Grizzlies did not disappoint Popovich. In the second quarter, they made 6 of 0 three-pointers alone.

But Li Lei was double-teamed and "only" scored 8 points in a single quarter.

After halftime, Li Lei scored 29 points.

But the Grizzlies fell behind by 52 points at 55:3.

Except for Li Lei, the rest of the Grizzlies only scored 23 points.

Zhang Weiping and Su Qun watched the game impatiently, and cried out anxiously in the broadcast booth.

"Lowry is a very good young player. He is good at breakthroughs and three-pointers. He received the pass from the stone, it was open, and he made a shot... Bang! Oh, why didn't it go in, what a pity! Lowry is still a rookie after all. Ah, understandable."

"Milicic is a talented big man from Europe. He has a three-point shot that is not inferior to a guard. He is very accurate. He ran out of the open, he caught the ball, he shot... Bang! Oh, how come again Didn’t make it? It’s understandable, understandable, Milicic has been delayed in the Pistons for more than two years, his offensive ability has degraded, and it will take time to get back.”

"Eddie Jones is Li Lei's teammate who has worked together for the longest time. He and Li Lei have a very good understanding. Li Lei passes the ball and Jones shoots. They have played this kind of cooperation countless times. There is no problem... Bang! Uh..."

"What's going on here, I just can't understand. You all scored one! Can't you score any shots? What kind of ball is this?"

……

Zhang Weiping and Su Qun were originally full of confidence, but just watching the game, they almost saw high blood pressure, myocardial infarction, diabetes... The performance of the role players of the Grizzlies was too irritating.

During the intermission, Popovich was interviewed by the media.

"Everyone knows what a good player Stone is. But he alone can't beat us. I think I have found a way to deal with the Grizzlies."

Popovich's implication: Except for Li Lei, the Grizzlies have no one who can play!
Li Lei was strong, but the rest of the Grizzlies held him back.

This is not Popovich's deliberate provocation, but that he hopes to use his own words to continue to put pressure on the Grizzlies' role players.

Newcomers are the most likely to be disturbed.

Sure enough, during the intermission, the Grizzlies' home locker room was particularly depressing.

Lowry, Guy, and Warrick all bowed their heads in silence.

They felt ashamed that they had dragged Li Lei back.

Li Lei thought for a while, and clapped everyone together.

"Guys, remember what our goal was at the beginning of the season?"

"Playoffs!"

someone answered.

On the first open day of the training camp, Li Lei clearly told everyone that the goal of the Grizzlies this season is the playoffs.

"That's right!"

Li Lei said, and then asked another question.

"So now, what game are we playing?"

"Western Finals."

Lowry said tentatively.

Li Lei nodded: "Very good! What does this mean? We have exceeded the game. This season, I have no regrets. Every next game will be earned."

Li Lei nodded to himself: "I earned it!"

Nodding to Lowry again: "You've earned it too, you made it to the conference finals in your rookie season."

Then nod to Gasol: "You also made money, and finally passed the first round."

Then nod to Milicic: "You also earned, you became the starter of a strong team in the West."

"All of us made money. Oh! Except Eddie. The old man must be tired from running and want to go fishing."

Li Lei made a joke at the right time.

All the Grizzlies laughed, and the atmosphere relaxed a lot.

Old Jones held Li Lei in his arms, and directly "locked his throat", and laughed himself up and down.

Then Li Lei continued: "Speaking of this, I just want to tell you that we have already made money. We will make money in every next game, even every minute, so why do we have to be sad? What is there to be afraid of? What? Is there anything I can't get past?"

The atmosphere in the locker room changed again, and the expressions of the young players changed.

Li Lei continued: "Brothers, I also want to thank you. Without you, without any of you, the Grizzlies would not be here. Each of you is unique and indispensable."

"I can't do anything without you!"

"Every minute of the next, I want you to stand with me. So now, who is going to kill the San Antonio Spurs with me?"

Li Lei raised his fist.

"I!"

Zhu Fangyu was the first to stand up, stretched out her fist, and bumped fists with Li Lei.

"And I!"

Then there's Lowry.

"Add me one!"

Then came Guy.

"I!"

"I!"

"I!"

……

Every player on the Grizzlies.

At this moment, the Grizzlies are united and motivated.

Young people are indeed vulnerable to unfavorable factors, but they are also the easiest to be encouraged and motivated.

Outside the locker room, old man Jerry West and coach Rick Carlisle put their ears on the door and smiled at each other.

I can't do anything without you guys.

"That's a beautiful statement! Rick, it looks like you don't need to bother cooking chicken soup."

West said.

Carlisle shook his head: "Stone is so good, he can do anything. I think in a few years, I will be out of class."

Carlisle was clearly joking.

But West still patted Carlisle on the shoulder: "As long as I'm still in the Grizzlies, you won't dismiss get out of class."

The old man gave Carlisle a guarantee.

Jerry West's guarantee is still very valuable.

……

When the Grizzlies came out of the tunnel again, Popovich's eyes changed.

The group of young people with their heads down were all full of energy and fighting spirit, and they were completely different from the first half.

Popovich was very surprised and looked at Carlisle: This young head coach is so capable?
The head coach not only needs to be able to adjust tactics and deploy troops, but also to adjust the atmosphere of the team is also a big problem.

Carlisle had shown his ability at the tactical level before, and now he has shown his ability to adjust the team's atmosphere, which surprised Popovich.

Popovich took Carlisle up another notch.

Carlisle didn't know what Popovich was thinking, and he certainly didn't care.

Next, it was the battle between the Spurs and the Grizzlies, and it was also the battle between Carlisle and Popovich.

ps: Thanks to the book friend 20181222204728205 for the 100 starting point coin reward.

(End of this chapter)