basketball hero

Chapter 545 Fans' Faith

On February 2, the Raptors played back-to-back home games against the Memphis Grizzlies.The Air Canada Center was full early, which shows how hot the ball market is.

In this game, the starting lineup of the Raptors at home is: center - Valanciunas, power forward - Amir Johnson, small forward - DeRozan, shooting guard - Ying Xiong, point guard - — Jeremy Lin.Since Bargnani returned to the team due to injury, his state has not been adjusted to the best, so his starting position has always been occupied by teammate Amir Johnson.

The starting lineup of the Grizzlies in the away game is: center-Marc Gasol, power forward-Zach Randolph, small forward-Tysha Ann Prince, shooting guard-Tony Allen, point guard- Mike Conley.

Gay and Ed Davis from both teams exchanged pleasantries with former teammates before the game. NBA is a business field. Except for a few superstars, few players can play for a team for a long time.

Two European centers, Marc Gasol and Valanciunas, prepare to jump the ball near the middle circle, and the game is about to start.

This game is a strong dialogue, and the previous game where the Raptors played the Wizards away is obviously two levels of difficulty.

At the beginning of the game, Valanciunas jumped the ball and beat Xiaojia, and Jeremy Lin slowly dribbled the ball over.

It was not the old prince Prince who defended Yingxiong, but defensive expert Tony Allen.

For Xiong, Tony Allen is already an old rival, and they are no strangers to each other.Tony Allen's offensive ability is not outstanding, but his defense is particularly good. At 193cm, he can defend Kevin Durant, who is nearly 210cm tall.

The Raptors team, even with a star of Yingxiong's level, does not rely on him to play superstar basketball.Their team building idea is very clear, which is to build a lineup around Yingxiong.On the offensive end, let Jeremy Lin or Lowry initiate, play tactics first, and then find Yingxiong if the tactics can't be played.In other words, Ying Xiong is a player who solves conflicts, similar to a bomb in poker, and the team will not easily rough him up.After the playoffs with the Heat last season, the team has firmly established this principle, which is to use various methods to save Yingxiong's physical fitness until the end.Facts have proved that with sufficient physical fitness and full firepower, even if he is alone, he is still unstoppable.

Ying Xiong set up an off-ball screen, received the ball at 45 degrees from the right wing, faced Tony Allen, used the screen to walk in the middle, and scored Amir Johnson near the bottom line on the right.

Amir Johnson misses mid-range jumper!

"Black Bear" Zach Randolph held Valanciunas with his big butt, accepted the rebound, and handed it to Conley to advance.

Because the Grizzlies have a double bear, their offensive speed is not fast, and the average number of offensive rounds per game ranks last among all 30 teams.However, due to their strong defense, the number of offensive rounds of their opponents will also decrease.

Conley is a well-behaved guard, which doesn't mean he is not good, he just has a more restrained personality and a low-key style of play.After half court, he handed the ball to the old prince on the wing, and the old prince hit the ball to the black bear Randolph.

Randolph played Bargnani very easily, but it was not easy to play Amir Johnson.Regardless of strength or defensive skills, Amir Johnson is stronger than Bargnani.Not to mention that Amir Johnson can put all his energy on defense, while Bargnani will focus on offense.

Randolph goes in with his big ass and makes a fadeaway jump shot - miss!
Ying Xiong accepted the rebound and handed it to Jeremy Lin to advance.

Jeremy Lin dribbled the ball and started the offense at the top of the pick-and-roll. Seeing Ying Xiong who copied the back door, he sent a through ball to the position.After Ying Xiong received the ball, he threw a shot with his right hand-missed!
Tony Allen's defense is really fierce. Even though he has been thrown away, he still relies on his quick reaction to use his body to influence Ying Xiong's throw without being called a foul.Not to mention Xiaojia's inner frame protection, which effectively interfered with Ying Xiong who copied the back door.

Ying Xiong said with emotion that for a team with excellent defense, communication and cooperation between inside and outside are essential.And how to effectively interfere with opponents while avoiding fouls is not something that can be done by having a body and jumping fast.

The offensive efficiency of the two teams after the opening was very low, and the iron was constantly hitting.The Raptors are essentially a team that relies on breakthroughs. Yingxiong is the only starting point for a stable outside attack. When encountering a strong inside and outside defense like the Grizzlies, it is difficult for them to rush in and cause damage or force. The opponent changes defensive formation.The offense of the Grizzlies is inherently unreliable, and it is not easy for the black and white bears to eat Valanciunas and Amir Johnson.Valanciunas is tall, and Amir Johnson is a tough blue-collar. The offensive ability of these two is not outstanding, and rebounding is weak. It is not easy to beat them in the paint.Not to mention that the Grizzlies' outside restraint is not strong, making people crowded inside, making it even more difficult to use.

After half a quarter of the game, neither team scored in double digits. The low offensive efficiency and slow rhythm are staggering.

The Raptors took the lead in seeking change, removing DeRozan, who was weak in offense, and replacing him with the old Grizzlies player Rudy Gay.

But after Gay played, the Raptors' offense still did not improve much.The Grizzlies know him too well to know what his favorite offense is and where the donut is.

Gay, who the Raptors had high hopes for, became an iron king with low offensive efficiency under the targeted defense of the Grizzlies.In fact, he doesn't have many offensive methods, and efficiency has never been his characteristic. Under this level of defense, the shortcomings of lack of real offensive ability are suddenly exposed.

Ying Xiong didn't carry out too many personal offenses in the first quarter, and still focused on off-ball, occasionally hitting one.Tony Allen's defense is indeed excellent, almost like a shadow, controlling the bottom plate, controlling the movement, making the attacker quite uncomfortable.

The game has entered the rotation stage, and the competition between the rotation lineups of the two teams is also very anxious, and the style continues the competition between the starting lineups.At the end of the first quarter, neither team scored more than 20 points, which shows the low offensive efficiency.

For the Grizzlies, that's exactly the kind of game they like -- slow and defensive.But for the Raptors, who average more than 100 points per game, this is obviously not their favorite game mode.

The home team's offense was weak, but there was basically no anxious and worried look on the faces of the fans.In the past two seasons, they have experienced too many various occasions, and they have never seen anything. Let alone the score is anxious, even if they are behind by a large score, it is not the end of the world.

——Because Ying Xiong hasn't exerted his strength yet!With him here, this game won't be so easy to lose!

(End of this chapter)