The glory of the basketball gods

Chapter 42
The sound of the end of the first quarter sounded, and the Cavaliers at home ended the first quarter with a slight lead of 24-22.

To Yuan's surprise, Alonzo Key, who came off the bench for himself, played very well. He played for about 4 minutes and scored 4 points on 3 of 6 shots.

You must know that in the Cavaliers' training games, whether he played small forward or shooting guard, Alonzo Key's performance was relatively mediocre. The only thing he was good at was the ability to switch offenses and fast breaks after a successful defense. .

With a height of 1.98 meters, Ji is the standard height of a shooting guard. He can play small forward and he does not have the advantage of height in the third position, but he can be competent in these two positions and stay in the team smoothly, relying on Ji's long legs , The running speed is one of the best in the team.

If it wasn't for playing basketball, maybe Ki was also a sprinter who was buried by basketball.

After Scott's instructions, Yuan Man found some problems through careful observation off the court.

Garcia's defense is indeed strong, but there are loopholes.

The strong aspect lies in the marking and positioning defense during 1v1. It is very predictable and has a fast reaction speed in face-to-face situations. It is a very strong and smart defender. Sometimes I dare not do too much dribbling.

The only shot Key missed was in a 1v1 against Garcia's defense.

But no matter how strong the defense is, there are loopholes.Garcia's athletic ability is not strong, so once the opponent runs up to play, Garcia's defensive effect will be greatly reduced immediately. This can be clearly seen from the performance of Ji after playing. All three hit goals come from fast Sports game goals, two of which were fast break layups after the transition from offense to defense, and one goal was a catch and dunk after an air cut.

Yuan Man finally realized his mistake, that is to use his own spear to specialize in Garcia's shield, but currently his own spear is not enough to penetrate Garcia's shield.

In layman's terms, Yuan Man thinks that he is good at singles, which is an advantage and can challenge Garcia's defense, but in fact, singles is Garcia's strongest defense, and Yuan Man's current offensive ability is not enough to break through. Garcia is best at defending this one.

And Ji's performance in the first quarter reminded Yuan Man, that is to move and play, don't be obsessed with the 1v1 victory with Garcia, and use other ways to score.

As long as he can score, it doesn't matter whether he can blow up Garcia's defense!
"Even if I can't beat you 1v1 now, I still want to win this victory!"

Yuan Man came to his senses.

Evans sat on the bench, sulking with anger. Facing Anthony Parker's defense in the first quarter, he only made 7 of 2 shots, and his shooting percentage was too low.

"Add more jump shots in the second quarter, and I feel that the touch is coming back." Evans took a sip of his sports drink and decided the way to play in the second quarter.

At the beginning of the second quarter, Scott really replaced Yuan Man and replaced Alonzo Kee.

Paul Westphal, who originally planned to replace Garcia, immediately changed his substitution strategy and continued to keep Garcia on the field.

In this way, at the beginning of the second quarter, the Cavaliers lineup is center: Ryan Hollins, power forward: JJ Hickson, small forward: Yuan Man, shooting guard: Mo Williams, point guard: Daniel Gibson .

In addition to Yuan Man being replaced, Williams also remained on the court to maintain the team's offensive firepower.

The Kings also made substitutions, center DeMarcus Cousins, power forward: Jason Thompson, small forward: Garcia, shooting guard: Omi Casspi, point guard: Eugene Jeter.

After playing again, Garcia stood beside Yuan Man confidently.

"This guy is just a rookie after all." Garcia decided to completely shut down the rookie player in the first half.

On the sidelines of the court, the bearded man and the middle-aged man who watched the game together began to discuss the situation on the court.

"Hey, man, I think that number 23 in the Cavaliers is a bit bad. The guy guarding him is pretty strong."

"Of course, that's Francisco, an expert on perimeter defense."

The two shook their heads at the same time. It might be too difficult for a rookie player to face such a defensive expert.

In the first quarter, Yuan Man only made 3 of 0 shots, did not score, and had 1 turnover.

At the beginning of the second quarter, the Kings focused on Cousins ​​in the absence of Evans. Facing Hollins' defense, Cousins ​​turned around and dunked at the basket, tying the score!
"Roar~~~" After scoring the goal, Cousins ​​vented his grievances. In the first quarter, Evans did not pass the ball, Varejao kept falling down, and his own performance was still unable to start. This dunk was finally complete. Let out the breath that was suffocating in my heart!

After Cousins ​​roared at the camera and looked back, there was no one around him.

A gust of air-conditioning came from nowhere, and Cousins ​​was so alert that he almost sneezed.

The Cavaliers over there have already completed the pass quickly and launched a fast break. Yuan Man dribbled the ball and rushed into the basket with great strides. Facing Garcia who was struggling to take off in the air, he knocked the opponent away in the air and dunked the ball into the basket with one hand. In the basket!
exploded!

The Quicken Loans Center, which was dull in the first quarter, immediately boiled over!
Garcia, who was knocked away by Yuan Man, fell to the ground from the air and slid backwards for a certain distance.

After Yuan Man dunked, he hung on the basket with one hand, and his body circled in the air before getting down from the basket.

This ball also completely vented the resentment in Yuan Man's heart in the first quarter.

"Did you see, buddy, that dunk, just now, my God!" The middle-aged man was almost unable to control his words, and excitedly pointed at Yuan Man who was hanging on the basket.

"Unexpectedly, I didn't know that the Cavaliers had such a rookie!" The bearded man who hadn't paid attention to the Cavaliers for a long time was completely shocked. Through the dictation of the middle-aged man before, the bearded man only produced the number 23 in his impression It's not the concept of an ordinary rookie, but when Yuan Man made the buckle just now, the bearded man finally realized that the original rookie was completely beyond his imagination.

Garcia stood up with the support of his teammates. It seemed that there was no problem, but the biggest impact of this ball was not Garcia's body, but his spirit!

In the second quarter, Yuan Man broke out, completely different from his style of play in the first quarter. In this quarter, Yuan Man actively started to cut the ball without the ball and participate in fast breaks in transition from offense to defense, and actively rushed forward. He played rebounds and fully utilized his athletic advantages.

This is not only Yuan Man's strength, but also Garcia's weakness.

"Yuan's future is limitless, and he has the potential to become a superstar." Scott found that a bright star has gradually risen in his team.

At the end of the first half, the Cavaliers hit a climax with Yuan Man's excellent performance in the second quarter. They scored 29-18 in a single quarter and ended the first half 52-40.

(End of this chapter)