stadium ambition

Chapter 348 The Strongest Celtics in the Vision

In a blink of an eye, the game reached the last 3 minutes and 51 seconds of the first quarter.

Relying on LeBron's strong performance, the East clenched the point difference and fell behind 24 to 31.

East coach Doc Rivers got up and waved, requesting a timeout, and the referee blew his whistle.

Hearing the whistle, the players of the two teams stopped, turned and walked to the bench, the atmosphere was very serious.

Popovich waved with a smile, and the western generals surrounded him, and the whole team stood in a super large arc fan shape.

"Next is the first rotation. According to the All-Star tradition, it should be up and down..." Popovich said slowly, "But this year's situation is quite special. I only plan to replace one player. I hope everyone can understand."

Su Yang and other four starters nodded in response, while Kobe remained expressionless, as if he was thinking about something.

Arranging three players in rotation for the first time on the All-Star Weekend is a practice that has been formed in the NBA for many years. The main reason is that the participating players are all big names, and it is necessary to ensure that the vast majority of players have enough time to show off.

"I did this because Doug told me before the game that he would arrange four players from his team to play at the same time in the first rotation..." Popovich shrugged slightly, "That way the Eastern Conference can form a stronger team." Tactical cooperation, if we don’t target, then we will be at a disadvantage on both ends of the offense and defense, and it will easily lead to the final loss, and we all hope to win.”

The generals in the Western Conference chuckled, knowing that what Popovich said was true. There were news reports before the game that Doc Rivers would use his full strength as the Eastern Conference All-Star head coach to let the Celtics' Big Four appear on the field at the same time. A historical continuation.

"We finally finalized the plan that Dirk Nowitzki will replace Carmelo Anthony..." Popovich said, "This is the most balanced offensive and defensive lineup among our various combinations. A combination of giants."

Popovich's tone was very flat, and he even seemed to deliberately restrain his facial expressions, but no matter how he said it, it meant that Anthony's personal technical strengths and weaknesses were more obvious, and he was not as good as Nowitzki, and he was more compatible with the other four.

Anthony was stunned when he heard the words, but it was the old Jianghu after all, and he soon smiled again.

"OK, that's all about personnel adjustments..." Popovich continued, "Next, let's talk about how to limit the opponent's offense. According to my experience, they should focus on high double screens. After all, they have Garnett and Howard."

Su Yang and other five people nodded in agreement. If the Eastern Conference really sends out a lineup composed of the Celtics and Howard, then in terms of their technical characteristics, playing high double screens is the most perfect tactical choice.

Popovich emphasized several defensive details, his voice suddenly lowered, looked at Su Yang, then looked at Kobe, and said: "I hope we will focus on team offense in the future, and show the fans the charm of basketball as a team sport." Where..."

With such words, it is quite obvious what it means.

With a strong enemy at hand, it is natural to join forces to defeat the enemy first. As for the matter of MVP, there is still a lot of time to deal with it.

Su Yang took the initiative to raise his right hand to call, and Kobe immediately raised his hand and clenched his fist to hit it. All the generals in the Western Conference raised their hands and put them together, and the assistant coaches also gathered around.

At the end of the timeout, the whistle sounded, and the central large screen displayed the battle lineups of the two teams.

There is no accident, the eastern side is arrogantly going up and down, the Celtics' four giants Garnett, Pierce, Ray Allen, and Rondo are on the field at the same time, and they are fighting together with the starter Howard. Suddenly, it looks like the Celtics The whole team.

Since the Celtics won the championship in 08, there have been many hypotheses about the perfect lineup of the Celtics on the Internet. Perkins is the player who is assumed to be replaced the most times, and the replacement is Howard, which can be called the "emperor version" of Perkins .

Compared with Perkins, Howard's offense is two gears higher, and his defense is three gears higher. Coupled with a passing master like Rondo and a defense master like Garnett, only Rondo is left in the hypothetical Celtics lineup. Poor long-range shooting is a disadvantage.

The central big screen followed by a prompt. In the history of the NBA, there have been rare situations in which four players from the same team were selected for the All-Stars. They were the Lakers in 4, the Celtics in 62, and the Celtics in 62. , 75ers in 83…

The last time there were four All-Stars on the same team was the 4 Pistons Five Tigers, except for Prince, and the other four were all selected.

Therefore, in major basketball forums, fans often assume that the peak Pistons All-Star four-man team plus LeBron, and the peak Celtics All-Star four-man team plus Howard, which side can win the series? .

"Wooo..." The audience booed bursts, as if protesting Rivers' private use of public power.

The central large-screen camera was synchronously shown to Rivers. He was sitting on the bench with a smile on his face, his right hand resting on his knees and dragging his chin. .

"Perkins! Perkins!" A fan wearing the Thunder's No. 35 jersey waved the camera excitedly, as if calling his own players, and the central big screen coincidentally displayed rumors: Perkins may be traded to the Thunder.

The booing in the arena exploded again, but the referee blew his whistle to remind the game to start, so he could only calm down temporarily.

Durant followed Su Yang into the arena, and suddenly tilted his head and asked in a low voice, "What are our chances of winning?"

Su Yang chuckled: "Brother, our combination is invincible, fight casually, and follow me later."

Durant nodded in conviction, and the two walked towards the defenders, and the Eastern Conference offense followed.

Kick-off from the right sideline of the frontcourt, Rondo stood out of bounds and waited for the ball, while the rest of the Eastern Conference settled in a four-man gem formation.

Beep!The referee blows his whistle to count down.

Ray Allen immediately started from the short corner on the right, rushed to the elbow area with Howard's cover, and raised the ball at a 45-degree angle.

Kobe bypassed the cover to chase, followed closely like a shadow, and didn't give Ray Allen any room to maneuver.

Garnett hurriedly moved across from the left elbow, set up a wall to block Kobe, and Ray Allen took the opportunity to dribble the ball to the left.

Seeing this situation, Nowitzki stepped forward to delay the grab, Kobe bypassed the cover and continued to chase, and Garnett dismantled the outer shell.

In a hurry, Nowitzki finished the screen and quickly pulled back to defend Garnett, leaving Ray Allen a certain space.

Perhaps because he felt that the opportunity was rare, or perhaps because he felt that the All-Star Game didn't matter, Ray Allen immediately clung to the ball and swooped forward to face Kobe. In a lying-back position, he shot a very difficult three-pointer to the limit.

boom!The basketball was not touched, and it hit the floor out of bounds. The referee whistled and whistled for a violation.

"Ah ha ha..." The audience laughed loudly, and Ray Allen also forced a smile in embarrassment. Who would have thought that the first shot would be a three-point shot? If you compare the wonderful performances before, it is simply a public execution comparison. .

But it is undeniable that Kobe's defensive choices are too good, and Nowitzki's defense is also quite tacit.

At the transition of offense and defense, Su Yang dribbled the ball to the right four or five. Seeing Kobe's back against Ray Allen, he raised his hand and lobbed the pass.

"Wow?" There was an exclamation from the sidelines, followed by an exclamation from the audience, and the audience was dumbfounded.

How did it suddenly turn into teamwork when there was still a fight between dragons and tigers? What happened during the timeout?
Before the audience could think about it, Rondo had already retreated early, and teamed up with Ray Allen to double-team Kobe just landing.

So caught off guard, Bryant was obviously a little difficult to handle, because he didn't find a chance to release the ball or lift it up.

Su Yang strode away immediately, and at the same time bent down to catch the ball, creating an easy pass for Kobe.

Seeing this, Rondo would return to defense, and Kobe immediately got room to operate, and he bent his knees decisively to do a sit-up.

Ray Allen steadied his heels and defended with all his strength. Kobe slapped twice hard to find the rhythm, and suddenly turned around and pulled out.

The jump height was like stepping on a spring bed, and Ray Allen also jumped with all his strength to try to block the shot.

Snapped!The thugs clearly blew up, the basketball hit the basket and the iron was hit, and the referee whistled for a foul.

Kobe landed unsteadily and lay down on the ground with a slap. Su Yang quickly stepped forward and stretched out his hands, but Kobe pulled his hands to stand up without hesitation, making Snoop Dogg sitting on the sideline full of doubts. Shock.

The large central screen showed the footage of the two holding hands in real time, and cheers and applause soon resounded throughout the audience.

In the commentary seat, Weber smiled and said, "It seems that the competition for the All-Star MVP has not affected the relationship between the two of them. I heard that the two of them once had dinner with Jordan. They should have a good relationship in private. What do you think?"

Kenny answered: "That's very common. On the court, you are an opponent, and you put in [-]% effort to kill the opponent. It's very rare to be friends off the court. Even if you compete for the All-Star MVP this time, each of you depends on your own ability. The opponent digs a hole."

"I guess it's a change of goal at this stage..." Barkley said, "They decided to team up to deal with the Celtics."

Between the discussions, Kobe made two free throws on the field, helping the West lead the East 33 to 24.

Offensive and defensive transition, Rondo catches the ball from the bottom line, slowly advances forward, and at the same time raises his hand to direct the position.Seeing his movements, Howard and Garnett stood on the left and right elbows, and Pierce and Ray Allen stood on the left and right corners respectively.

In a blink of an eye, Rondo reached the top of the arc, passed the ball to the right elbow, and Garnett raised the ball to catch it.

Nowitzki chose to stay in place and observe, leaving a relatively large space with Garnett's fingertips.Rondo took the opportunity to pass through the open space, led Su Yang who was chasing him, and ran to the waist on the right side, and made an emergency stop and set up a human wall as a positioning cover.

Ray Allen bowed and started to run out, Kobe stopped on the spot without hesitation, Su Yang tacitly switched defenses and chased after him.

In just three steps, Su Yang relied on the speed advantage of young people to block Ray Allen's receiving route first.

Ray Allen immediately twisted his hips and changed direction, striding towards the paint area, while Garnett raised his hands and prepared to pass.

This kind of cooperation is naturally played by the same team, and that kind of tacit understanding needs to be cultivated for a long time.

Su Yang also twisted his hips and rushed to the paint area, blocking the receiving route again, and Nowitzki also turned sideways to shrink.

Seeing that it was too difficult to pass and catch the ball, Garnett turned and faced to the left, and Pierce ran out to respond almost at the same time.

The defensive focus of the Western Conference shifted to the left half, but Garnett strode across after passing the ball. Together with Howard, he set up a double screen at the top of the arc, completely blocking Durant's possibility of catching up, and nowitzki Hurry up and intercept.

But Pierce is a small forward after all, he skillfully dribbles under the crotch and drags the step, and easily opens up the space.

Nowitzki couldn't catch up for a while, so he simply ran up with his head sullen and raised his hands, choosing to let the shot go.

Pierce glanced at the position under the basket, and found that Su Yang and the others looked fierce like evil spirits, as if they were trying to swallow the ball holder alive, and instantly lost the desire to break through and attack the basket. A three-point shot.

when!The basketball bounced off the hoop.

Su Yang jumped up, grabbed the basketball on top of Ray Allen's head with a snap, landed and rushed forward.

That speed is extremely fast, but the Celtics also have a long-term tradition of letting go of offensive rebounds and returning to defense faster.

The fast break turned into a position. Seeing that the East chose 23 defenses, Su Yang threw the ball to the left wing without hesitation.

Durant received the ball and faced Pierce, who was at a disadvantage in height and wingspan, he directly pulled out a three-pointer.

Boom!The basketball crashed into the net, and Pierce failed to cause any interference.

In the transition between offense and defense, Rondo took a step forward, raised his hand from the center line and made a long pass, and the basketball flew straight to the right sideline.

Ray Allen took off to catch the ball, landed on the ground and crossed strides to exert force, leaving Kobe aside and rushing to the basket.

That speed is also very fast, and the generals in the West have not yet completed the contraction, Howard can even help to make a cover.

In the blink of an eye, Ray Allen rushed to the basket, and Kobe, as he hoped, was stopped by Howard.But who would have thought that at the moment when he took off, put the basket and hit the board, Duncan jumped out like a flying devil and nailed the board with a bang.

Cheers and screams broke out in the arena, and the basketball bounced to the free throw line, and Kobe grabbed it.

Seeing this situation, Su Yang stopped at the center line and turned around to start running. The basketball flew towards him at the same time.

The incident happened suddenly, the generals in the east were unprepared, no one was defending Su Yang for a while, and the basket was empty.

The cheers exploded ahead of time, and Su Yang rushed to the free throw line, kicked off the ground with the ball, and changed hands under his crotch to make dunks.

Boom!The basketball went into the net, 35 to 24.

Su Yang turned around on the ground, and stretched out two fingers to Su Yang from a distance, but Kobe didn't respond.

In the transition between offense and defense, Rondo ran across the center line with the ball, raised his hand and threw it to the left wing, turned and ran to the right.

Ray Allen caught the ball and stood still, beckoning to make a horizontal screen. Pierce saw this and lifted it from the bottom corner.

But it was just a feint, and just as Kobe and Durant brushed each other, Garnett rushed from the top of the arc.

Due to the obstruction of the line of sight, Kobe failed to notice it immediately. When he wanted to squeeze the screen, Ray Allen had already dribbled the ball and ran away.

Seeing that Ray Allen made a strong inward cut, Nowitzki moved laterally to intercept, but fell back as soon as he made contact.

Beep!The referee whistled and called Ray Allen for an offensive foul. The specific action was to raise his elbow to clear the way.

Ray Allen froze for a moment, opened his mouth to say something, but put down the basketball with a smile, and strode back.

Nowitzki took Duncan's hands and got up with a smile, his complacent expression could not be concealed at all.

Many fans who supported the Eastern Conference booed. Su Yang looked up at the replay and found that Ray Allen did raise his elbow, but with Ray Allen's strength, it is difficult to knock down a shout that is over 210 centimeters tall. Dirk Nowitzki Acting a little exaggerated.

In the transition between offense and defense, Su Yang dribbled the ball to the left 45-degree three-point line, and with the help of Nowitzki's cover, he moved to the top of the arc.

Garnett and Rondo decisively resorted to double-teaming, Su Yang immediately pulled the ball back, and then hit the ground from behind to pass the ball.

Seeing the basketball disappear from Su Yang's hands, the Kais duo were a little dazed, and the basketball rebounded and flew to the left wing position. Nowitzki, who had dismantled the outer ball before, just caught the ball and raised his hand to make a wide-open three-pointer. The audience cheered ahead.

bass!The basketball went into the net hollow, 38 to 24.

The central large-screen camera was immediately shown to Rivers, who stared and grinned with shock on his face.

Many Celtics fans wearing retro clover jerseys raised their eyebrows and stared. Finally, they saw that the strongest Celtics in the imagination were defeated, and there was a visible gap between the offensive and defensive ends.

(End of this chapter)