God's hand behind the scenes

Chapter 464 French Magician

It wasn't Carlisle's intention to get Thomas off, especially since he lost Artest because of it.If it was really his instruction, he would not let Artest do it, but use an insignificant substitute player to redeem the son.But now that things have turned into this way, he has to think about how to play well in the next game.

In Carlisle's view, Thomas is still very important to the Pistons. As the tallest one in the Pistons' starting lineup, he has greatly made up for the lack of big Ben in terms of interior offense and defense. More importantly, he can also pull Outside shot.During the regular season this season, Thomas averaged 16.1 points and 8.2 rebounds per game, and his three-point shooting percentage reached 36.1%.

As for Diaw, who replaced Thomas, Carlisle didn't have a deep impression of him. In fact, this was also caused by Dior's positioning in the substitute lineup.Most of the time, Diaw played with substitute players, and on the Pistons' bench, Wade and Crawford scored, and Simmons and Haywood defended. He still played a connecting role.

Carlisle thought he had seen through Diaw's weakness, because the latter played power forward with the body of a small forward. Carlisle believed that it would be difficult for him to withstand any of O'Neal and Foster in the interior. If this is the case, the strength of the interior The damaged piston may not be able to block the Pacers' impact. Is there a chance to win this game?

Carlisle is very ambitious here, and Brown is not too worried. Diaw is also partnered with Haywood, a defensive center, in the rotation lineup.Moreover, Thomas' defense can only be regarded as not lagging behind among the starting five. After Dior replaces him, it should not decline much, and the offense may still improve.

Carlisle's prediction was only half right. Diaw was really struggling on the defensive end. Facing O'Neal and Foster's singles with the ball in turn, he could only grit his teeth and stand behind his back until the teammates who helped defend him were in place. .But on the offensive end, Diaw can be said to be like a fish in water. His mid-range shooting is very accurate, and his ability to support in the high post is very good.

Billups simply handed the ball to Diaw after halftime. He can break through with the ball from a high position, and can also seize the opportunity to send assists to his teammates. The team's offense is better than before Thomas was injured. And nothing less.Whether it was Big Ben on the inside or Billups and Hamilton on the outside, they all got a lot of easy scoring opportunities. The Pacers' defensive system was pulled to pieces, which surprised Carlisle. Thinking that Dior can actually play such a basketball.

At the beginning, Brown didn't intend to let Dior play power forward, but under Chang Wei's repeated suggestions, he still reluctantly accepted this suggestion, but he didn't expect that Dior, who was not tepid when he came off the bench before, could be so quick. Chang Wei once again proved his correctness and authority in player training.

In fact, Chang Wei was still a little apprehensive at the beginning. In his previous life, Dior switched to power forward at the end of his career largely because he had become a flexible and fat man at that time. It was not suitable for him to continue playing small forward.And now he is just a slender, flexible young man, it is understandable that Brown is not optimistic about him playing the four position.

But now that Dior played with the main players, he undoubtedly maximized his ability to support high positions and shoot from mid-to-long distances. This surprised Chang Wei, but it seems reasonable after thinking about it.The two major scorers of the Pistons' bench lineup, Wade and Crawford, still prefer to attack with the ball, while Billups, Hamilton and Prince prefer to catch and shoot or cut layups, although Diaw does not score. There are many, and there are very few assists, but anyone with a discerning eye can see his role on the court.

This made Carlisle feel very helpless. He originally thought that the Pistons without Thomas would have some chaos, so that the Pacers could seize the opportunity, but he didn't expect Diaw to be seamlessly connected, and even made the Pistons' offense sharper. .Instead, they lost Artest, who can make great contributions on both offense and defense, and gradually fell into a disadvantage.

At the end of the first half, the Pistons once again led 52 to 42 by 10 points. Diaw only scored 4 points in the second quarter, but sent 6 assists to organize the Pistons' offense in an orderly manner.When Carlisle saw him, he felt that he saw Divac. Although the styles of the two looked very different, it gave him a similar feeling.

When Diaw left the field, the Pistons players swarmed up and congratulated the rookie in various ways, celebrating that he helped the team establish an advantage in the game just now.Seeing that everyone surrounded Diao and walked into the player tunnel, Brown smiled at Chang Wei and followed. He had to hurry up and arrange the tactics for the second half of the team.

Moreover, in addition to tactics, the player rotation also needs to undergo some changes, and Dior cannot be allowed to play the entire second half.However, the veteran Manning barely took a basic salary to play the last year under the persuasion of Brown. It is unrealistic to expect him to fight on the court for a long time. Just go down and take a rest.

Although Billups also performed well in the first half, Brown still hopes that after the second half starts, he can hand over the ball to Diaw as before.Of course, this is not to say that Billups didn't handle it well enough, but that if Diaw is supported in a high position, the offensive firepower of the main players can be drawn to the maximum, so that the impact of Thomas' injury on the offense will no longer exist.

At the same time, Brown also regretted that Daben had to work harder on the inside, because Dior was flexible but not very good at strength, and it was impossible to talk about protecting the basket.If it's against a power forward with three-point ability like Lewis, it's okay to say that the Pacers' main insiders O'Neal and Foster are both accustomed to low-post operations. Diaw encountered a lot of pressure on the defensive end, which made Ben have to bear the burden. take more responsibility.Fortunately, Big Ben has always been more considerate of rookies, and defense is what he is good at, so when Brown clarified the matter with him, he agreed without hesitation.

However, this also requires Diaw to perform better on the offensive end, otherwise his plus-minus value on the court is estimated to be negative, which is not what Brown wants to see.Since there are deficiencies on the defensive end, try to make up for them on the offensive end. Only in this way can a player prove his worth in the game.

(End of this chapter)