Jim Bass Ambition

Chapter 250 KFC's Broken Sword Style

"Timeout back, Pacers possession, Gary Payton post up, try to challenge Billups! Miss, Garnett protects the rebound! He grabs almost all the rebounds, and of course, Osterta Grid's card position can not be denied! The Lakers launched a fast break, Garnett passed the ball to Kobe, hit a shaky foothold...Payton's defense was as tough as ever, he quickly posted Kobe, no fast break Now's our chance, let's see what Kobe does! He holds the ball in both hands, turns his back...and back again! Great turn, breaks the press, and he goes in! He shoots! Hit! Fantastic Two points!"

Carlisle roared loudly on the sidelines. Obviously, the team did not play what was arranged in the timeout just now. In this round of defense, after Payton was passed, no one followed up to help defend.

O'Neal stormed Ostertag, caused a foul, and made two free throws against the boos of the Staples Center.

"The Lakers offense, let's take a look, Reggie Miller is leading Billups, Kobe uses Ostertag's cover to catch the ball... It's strange, Payton didn't come over immediately... Rick Carlisle puts up a zone play! It's a 1-2-2 set up, it looks a lot like a man-to-man defense, the Lakers waste a lot of time on players' runs, time is running out, let's see What should the Lakers do! Kobe forced a shot against Al Harrington's defense! Missed!"

The Pacers attacked, Al Harrington received the ball from O'Neal and made a wide open three-pointer.

The Zen master immediately asked for a timeout.

"Because the league has set a three-second rule for defense, the 2-3 zone defense, 2-1-2 zone defense and 3-2 zone defense that are most popular under FIBA ​​rules are not practical in the NBA, because the players guarding the inside will be on the whole defense. During the process, in order to avoid self-defense for three seconds, the defensive formation is incomplete. The 1-2-2 zone defense avoids this problem. Four players are positioned on both sides of the paint area, and one player is positioned on the arc. Top, this kind of defensive formation can not only press the outside line to a certain extent, block the pass line at a 45-degree angle, but also have a strong double-team ability for low-post offense below the free throw line, like Kobe and Billups. It is difficult to fall into the low post to bully the Pacers guard. Once the ball is received in that position, the Lakers players will face the blocking of the inside players and the double-teaming of the outside players. It is difficult to launch an offense. Shooting also has defensive ability, because this formation has almost no blind spots in the three-point line. And according to the tactics of the offensive team, it can be adjusted to a diamond-shaped position in the penalty area or a square position in the penalty area to disrupt the offensive side. The judgment caused the offense to be chaotic." During the timeout, Jack Ramsey, as a former champion coach, immediately analyzed Carlisle's routine.

"How should Coach Jackson respond? Or, how should the players on the Lakers respond? We know that the coach can only come up with ideas in many cases, and the work of solving problems must be handed over to the players. Oh, the Lakers have made substitutions and adjustments. Ron Artest was replaced and Shane Battier came on!"

"Very targeted substitutions, the 1-2-2 zone defense is very weak against corner three-pointers, and Battier's corner three-pointers should be relatively stable among the Lakers." Ramsey praised .

The Lakers attacked. Kobe held the ball and forced a breakthrough from the flank. While compressing the defensive formation, Battier used Ostertag's high-quality off-ball screen to run to the bottom corner of the strong side. There was no Pacers defense within three meters. Players, the nearest Hawley was firmly blocked by Ostertag.

Kobe gave the ball to Battier, who made a solid three-pointer.

"The Lakers responded immediately! Will the Pacers continue to stick to the zone defense? Let's look at this offense first. The ball was given to Al Harrington. His size has a clear advantage over Battier. Battier Thiel couldn't stop his drive, Harrington layup...Karnett's help defense is always so timely! Beautiful block!"

Sure enough, the Pacers switched to a diamond-shaped position in the penalty area, with O'Neal guarding the basket, Harrington and Holly separated on the left and right, Payton led the defense at the top of the arc, and Reggie Miller focused on marking Battier.

Billups holds the ball near the middle circle, Battier and Kobe are separated at 45 degrees left and right, Garnett stands near the free throw line, Ostertag sinks in the low post, and the Lakers use a 1-3-1 offense After Billups passed the ball to Garnett, the four immediately started running clockwise.

"Garnett has the ball at the top of the key, Payton can't interfere with him at all, Ostertag comes out, sets an off-ball screen for Kobe, blocks Robert Hawley, Garnett's beautiful lob pass Ball, Kobe shoots... O'Neal jumps out, tries to block... OH! Perfect fake, Kobe hits O'Neal, cuts, great two-handed dunk!"

Jim smiled slightly. A big man who can handle the ball near the free throw line and has mid-range shooting ability is a super weapon to crack the zone defense, just like a nail nailed to the snake's seven inches. The defense's season reached its personal peak and won the first MVP of his career. Now, although his data in the Lakers has dropped a bit compared to when he led the team with a single core, his importance has not changed at all.

With 3 minutes left in the first quarter, the Pacers replaced Byron Russell and Bowen, replaced two veteran players, Hawley and Miller, and switched back to man-to-man defense, with Bowen to man-mark Kobe. .

The Lakers also replaced Billups and Ostertag, replaced Campbell and Wade, and used a more impactful lineup to deal with the disadvantaged physical condition of the Pacers, who are mostly veterans. Payton defended for half a quarter There are too many Kobes, and they have to defend against Wade. They suffer a serious disadvantage in speed. They can only rely on experience to get stuck in Wade's breakthrough route and pin their hopes on O'Neal's basket protection.

As a result, O'Neal was frequently attacked by Wade. Although he was given a spicy hot pot, he also received 2 fouls. Fortunately, there was not much time left in the first quarter.

The Lakers led 25 to 18 into the second quarter, and Carlisle's zone defense didn't play much role.

In the second quarter, O'Neal came off the court to rest, Jeff Foster came off the bench, and the Lakers also replaced Garnett and replaced Nene, who played very depressed in the Western Conference Finals.

Facing a power forward like Duncan with almost perfect technical strength, Nene is full of loopholes, but when facing a dubious player like Al Harrington, who is strong offensively and weak defensively, Nene's explosive body The quality is fully displayed. As soon as he came on the court, he played a pick-and-roll with Wade. The two ghosts hit the goal and went down. , Chasing back in time, the big hat fan flew and hadn't rested yet, and Harrington's layup was a bit slow.

Under Nene's passionate performance, the Lakers played an 8-2 offensive climax as soon as they came up, widening the point difference.

(End of this chapter)