God's hand behind the scenes

Chapter 243
In the first half, Thomas didn't go outside to shoot at all. This was Karl's tactical arrangement. It is well known that the 76ers are empty inside. Since the four major centers have aged, there are not many strong insiders left in the league. There are still Duncan, Garnett and O'Neal in the West, but there are basically no such talents in the East. Look at the whole During the star game, the comparison of the inside strength between the east and the west is known. Even a defensive center like Mutombo can be selected as the starting lineup, so what is impossible?

However, in the second half, Thomas also did not plan to shoot outside. He has fallen in love with the feeling of fighting opponents inside, and Karl hopes that he will continue to score inside. It is best to hand over the outside to Ray Allen.While Thomas still has some complaints about Carr's distrust of his outside shot, he's happy to continue serving as the team's primary firepower.

Brown is also very afraid of Thomas' performance in the first half, so he hopes to impose certain restrictions on him, at least not to make his scoring look so simple.So in the second half, he unexpectedly put Hill on the field, and his main task was to defend. He didn't believe that Thomas could continue to score points under the double-teaming of Mutombo and Hill.

Although it has to pay the price of weakened outside firepower, it is worthwhile as long as Thomas can be restrained.Besides, Hill is not completely unable to score. His mid-range jumper is still somewhat accurate, and his second offense at the basket is also good. However, in the tasks Brown gave him, scoring is just icing on the cake, and defense is the top priority. .

But what Brown didn't expect was that neither Hill nor Mutombo could restrain Thomas.As early as in Villanova, he developed a high-post organization ability. Although the current position is a low-post position, he can still find the space in the outside line in time, and then pass the ball out. After all, it is outside the basket. The Bucks are in a 4-on-3 numerical advantage.

No matter how the 76ers defended, there was always one missing, and Thomas always found the open guy.Although he has no room to score, his assists are soaring, which revitalizes the Bucks' offense to a large extent.You must know that their previous routine was Thomas' inside singles, and the others could only be spectators.

Seeing that the Bucks' outside shooting was about to take off, Brown had no choice but to replace Hill with Lewis again. The latter looked frustrated when he left the court. He thought he hadn't defended Thomas well.Brown patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile: "Tiron, don't pay too much attention to it. It's not your fault. Thomas is really strong. We can't prevent his pass. Instead of letting him ignite the touch of his teammates, we should It’s better to continue to let him score at the basket by himself, so at least it’s easier to defend.”

Without Hill, Thomas became active again, and he couldn’t help but be inactive. After Lewis came on the court, the Bucks’ defensive loopholes in the mid-range and beyond the three-point line were filled, and Thomas’s passing route was basically cut off. , He can only attack with the ball again.More importantly, he still has enough physical strength to perform physically demanding singles.

Seeing Thomas being so brave, the Bucks fans burst into a tsunami of cheers every time he caught the ball, and some people even began to shout "MVP" sporadically, which is a treatment Thomas has never enjoyed.Encouraged by the fans, Thomas used all kinds of martial arts inside, and Mutombo suddenly felt the pressure increased.

Fortunately, the 76ers' outside shooting was not affected in any way. Amidst the waves of home fans' calls, they maintained a high level of shooting, which prevented the Bucks from tying the score.Despite this, the Bucks still put a lot of pressure on the 76ers. The point difference between the two sides has been hovering around 5 points, and it may be equalized at any time.

This time it was Iverson who stood up, but he didn't shoot from the outside, but kept rushing to the basket in order to cause Thomas' personal foul.In the first half, Thomas didn't work hard on the defensive end, which also led to his personal fouls only 2 times. In Iverson's view, it would be great if Thomas could be killed directly.Even if there's no way to get him fouled out, it's good to let him play on both ends of the floor.

Because Karl persistently used a lineup of one big and four small, Thomas was the last barrier for the Bucks under the basket. Iverson's breakthrough caused him a lot of trouble.Although Thomas' defense was good, facing the deliberate targeting of the league's top breakthrough master like Iverson, he was fouled twice within 3 minutes and had to rest.As a player with four fouls, staying on the court will undoubtedly leave a loophole for opponents to target.

In the remaining five minutes of the third quarter, the Bucks were opened up by the 76ers without Thomas. Karl knew that replacing Thomas would bring a great improvement to the team's offense, but In order to ensure that he can continue to stay on the court at the decisive moment, Carl must suppress the inner prehistoric force and push Thomas to the bench.

Less than 2 minutes into the fourth quarter, Karl quickly replaced Thomas on the court. If he didn't play again, the point difference between the two sides would be widened to more than 15 points.It's a pity that no matter how brave Thomas is, he can't help the team win the game. The 76-pointers that the [-]ers pay attention to are after all an extra point bonus. There is no advantage in offense at the basket when the shooting percentage is similar.

Although the Bucks eventually lost the game and the big score became 1 to 3, Thomas showed his strength. He scored 32 points and 22 rebounds in the game. With 7 assists and 2 blocks, it can be said that he played very well on both offense and defense.Although he has never shot outside the three-point line, such personal data and shooting percentage have proved that he can be called one of the top power forwards in the East and even in the league.

But Thomas still feels very sorry, because he failed to help the team win. In his opinion, as long as he fails to win the game, there is nothing exciting about a large double-double.After the game, he even just nodded with Chang Wei and left from the player tunnel. Looking at his back, Chang Wei smiled. Thomas was only limited by the overall strength of the team. On the one hand, it is a powerful party in the east, but it has not been able to display its full strength.

Although the team lost, he personally won. If he continues to maintain this level, then the next contract may still be a maximum salary. You must know that there are not many inside players like this in the league.

(End of this chapter)