Versatile Point Forward

Chapter 297 Fighting alone
What is a teammate?
In team sports, teammates are the people you can count on during the toughest moments. In the history of the NBA, even superstars as powerful as Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Jordan, without the support of their teammates, they could not reach their ultimate heights.After all, basketball is a sport of five people. One strong person cannot make the whole team achieve high achievements. Of course, players must be divided into primary and secondary players, but this does not mean that the "secondary" is not helpful to the "primary". .

Now Ye Feng is in a situation where there is no helper. Camby and Aldridge can only play second offense at the basket. Miller and Batum simply cannot find any shots from the outside. It was on Ye Feng alone.McMillan knew how difficult it was, so during the intermission, he specially told the team doctor to give Ye Feng a massage first, so as to reduce his physical fatigue as soon as possible.This is also the practice of every team. During the halftime break, not only energy needs to be replenished, but also physical strength must be restored. Food and massage are essential, and Ye Feng is obviously qualified to be the first player to receive a massage .

McMillan had nothing to say about Ye Feng's performance, even with 32 points in the half, he couldn't pick a thorn.Although the shooting rate is a bit low, it is also caused by the strong defense of the Celtics, and the team needs his scoring, so it is already good to stand out.

He glanced at Ye Feng, turned his head and said to the others: "I know everyone played very hard in the first half, but 12 points is not a hopeless gap. Ye has played very well, I can't ask him Do more. In the second half, I hope you will run more actively to create space for yourself and your teammates to shoot. Don’t let Ye Gujun fight anymore. He lasted the first half, will he continue the second half? The same It's the Blazers players, and each of us has to take responsibility."

In fact, Ye Feng wanted to say these words a long time ago. It's cool to score alone, but it's really tiring, especially against the Celtics who are known for their defense.However, as a player, it's not good for him to speak so bluntly, even if he is already the team's actual tactical core and number one star.Now that the head coach said these words himself, he was greatly relieved on the sidelines, and he must have a rest in the second half.

But he obviously underestimated the strength of the Celtics.At the beginning of the second half, they were indeed confused by the Blazers' running, but they quickly recovered and re-launched a highly targeted defense that was almost the same as the first half.Originally, the Trail Blazers played an 8-0 spurt against their opponents and wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to narrow the score, but the Celtics didn't give them a chance, and still adopted the strategy of letting Ye Feng play alone and defending against the death of others.

In order to prevent the Blazers' running from bringing the offensive and defensive rhythm of the game, Rivers replaced a very athletic lineup.Forget about the inside, the Celtics are the ones who come and go inside. It is more reliable to have Garnett and Wallace on the court at the same time. As for the outside, after playing with the Big Three for half a quarter, Rivers changed It was Nate Robinson and Marquese Daniels, plus the master Rondo who did not end.The athletic ability of this combination is very strong. Daniels and Rondo are responsible for the perimeter defense together, and Robinson uses his chaotic characteristics to grab points frantically.

Faced with a nobody like Daniels, Ye Feng felt rather uncomfortable.Pierce is indeed experienced, but this guy is a star no matter what, and he is destined to enter the Hall of Fame. In other words, he has "idol baggage" on him, and it is impossible to pester him close to him.Daniels doesn't have this kind of burden. For him, defense is the foundation of his foothold. If he can defend Ye Feng, it doesn't matter if he fouls a few more times. Anyway, he is just an insignificant person.But it was such a small person that Ye Feng had nowhere to vent his anger. Once he got angry, it might be a technical foul.

In the second half of the third quarter, Ye Feng only made 6 of 2 shots. This kind of firepower is obviously not enough to support the Blazers' offense, but another person on the team became active, that is Batum.Robinson Garlando is obviously a two-point guard lineup. As a shooting guard, Batum has a huge height advantage. He frequently asks for the ball from the outside to play singles, and his shooting percentage is not low.But the Blazers still lost by 3 points throughout the third quarter. The reason is very simple. Batum does not have the explosive scoring ability like Robinson.

Robinson on the Celtics side became the scoring leader in a single quarter. I don't know how he has such a huge amount of energy in such a small body.The offensive and defensive rhythm of the Blazers is actually Robinson's favorite. He is a master of chaotic warfare. The more happy the two sides are fighting each other, the more opportunities he has.Moreover, Robinson's skills have no obvious shortcomings. Whether it is a breakthrough or a three-pointer, he has two brushes. The only shortcoming is that he likes to do it alone and does not like to pass the ball.However, it was Rondo who joined him in the backcourt, which made up for his shortcomings to a certain extent.

In desperation, Ye Feng continued to play individual singles in the fourth quarter, but his efforts were insignificant to the Celtics.While insisting on defending Ye Feng one-on-one, they continue to cut off Ye Feng's passing route. It doesn't matter even if the opposing defender is blown up by Ye Feng. Anyway, they just don't help defend or double-team, and they don't let you bring your teammates up. .Generally speaking, when leading by nearly 20 points in the fourth quarter, most teams will start to slack off, and the coach will replace the bench to play the rest of the time, but the Celtics are different. They underestimate any opponent. They know that as long as they give the Blazers a chance, this point difference may be evened out, so no matter how tired they are now, they must do their best to prevent their opponents from dying in the fourth quarter, and put their physical strength aside first!

In the end, Ye Feng scored 47 points, which was also his highest score in a single game in the playoffs. 90 behind.The Celtics' defensive strategy is outstanding. Except for Ye Feng, only Batum and Miller scored in double figures. Aldridge's 112 points scored the most. How could the Blazers not lose?

It is true that none of the Celtics scored more than 20 points, but all nine of their players scored in double figures, and six of them scored in double figures. Pierce scored a team-high 18 points. Ray Allen, Robinson, Wallace and Rondo, it can be said that they played a high level of team offense and defense.Perhaps the Trail Blazers have come to an end this season.

(End of this chapter)