basketball task

Chapter 102 Defense and Offense

For example, the Zijin Lakers Dynasty has the historical killer Shaq Shaquille O'Neal on the inside and the black Mamba Kobe Bryant on the outside. Such a team is extremely gorgeous on the offensive end, and O'Neal is unmatched in the penalty area. The enemy, Kobe Bryant pierces the heart with a butterfly on the outside, but what really makes the Lakers a dynasty team is their own strong defensive ability, Fisher Fisher, Peter Pan Kobe, Eyeman Grant, Fox Fox, etc. Together, these titans pushed the Lakers to the top of the dynasty.

If you don't believe me, you can refer to 04, when the Lakers formed a super F4 of O'Neal, Malone, Kobe, and Payton, but they played in a mess.

There are many similar examples, such as the Pistons, who happened to be stepping on the top of the Lakers' F4. With a defense like an iron barrel, Billups, the little prince Prince, the roaring god Rasheed Wallace, Big Ben, etc., these titans have layer after layer of defense to defeat the invincible Lakers. Climb to the top of the championship.

So it is said that the attacker gets the fans and can sell tickets, and the defender gets the championship and the ring.

But even with the top and most iron-blooded Pistons, the Lakers' scoring average is still very high. This illustrates a problem. In the NBA, offense is always superior to defense. The fouls are always one step ahead of the defenders, and people will regard those players who can limit super scorers such as Kobe and Iverson to less than 25 points as defensive experts, and even give certain terminators the reputation.

Therefore, Cheeks feels that it is not shameful not to be able to guard against Paul. Chris Paul in his peak period has the strength of MVP level. It is impossible to create difficulties for his scoring and completely prevent death. Even if Billups and Gary Payton come, I am afraid they will not be able to do it.

What's more, defense has never been a matter of one player, but the overall ability of the entire team. Let a big man like Zhou Qi guard the basket and let a guard break through. Qi pulled out of the paint to single-handedly defend against the small man. Eight times out of ten, he would not be able to defend. No defensive expert is omnipotent.

Cheeks understood that Channing and Iguodala were single-handed defensive champions, but relying on any one of them to defend, the 76ers would only advance to the playoffs at most. If you want to hit the highest goal, you must find a way to match the defense of these two people and work at the same time, so that Philadelphia's defense can be impregnated.

Louis Williams bears the firepower on the bench. He is in very good form today, but there is still a gap in grade between Reed and Paul.

Paul, who was fully fired, faced Miller or Channing who switched defenses, either suddenly or shot, and succeeded many times in just 5 minutes, leading the Hornets to overtake the score.

With 6 minutes left in the second quarter, Cheeks replaced Channing for a rest, and Iguodala reappeared. He and Reed partnered to fill up the offensive firepower. Always bite.

Sitting on the bench, Channing grabbed a towel and wiped his sweat. This was the first time he felt tired. Before, he had been fighting on the inside. He thought it was tiring to play inside. Today, he realized that the outside was even more tiring, and he was shorter than himself. The guy at one end was running non-stop, and he had to be on guard against his changing direction and projecting fake moves at any time. Channing's nerves were always tense, which was really a double physical and psychological fatigue.

There is no way, who made him unlucky, he met Paul, the master of small hits in the first game as a defensive champion, and Channing's defense is already considered good if he does not become the background board of the five best balls.

Coach Cheeks also patted Channing on the shoulder with concern, saying that he did a good job and saved his energy. In the second half, he had to rely on Channing's defense.

So Channing sat on the sidelines and became a spectator. Iguodala was completely liberated today, and the burden of defense in the past was handed over to Channing to take over. In addition, the defense of the Hornets is also average, and no one can match him. , Iguodala felt hot today, turned over a jumper, and broke through to hit 2+1. At halftime, Iguodala had already scored his 23rd point, leading the Philadelphia 76ers to a draw with the Hornets.

This kind of game makes many Hornets fans feel unacceptable. In everyone's impression, the 76ers are a weak team in the East, a weak team at the edge of the playoffs, and the Hornets can make a breakthrough in the West surrounded by strong enemies. In the next round, even the fans were looking forward to going further. Paul himself vowed to touch the floor of the Western Conference Finals. However, in the first half today, he was suppressed by his opponent for a while. After Paul broke out, he reluctantly faced a stalemate with his opponent.

This, could it be that the Hornets are not that strong?Or still, the 76ers have become stronger?
"It's really surprising. Pre-match predictions were all one-sided in support of the Hornets. I didn't expect the two teams to be evenly matched in the first half. I personally think that the 76ers played a targeted defense. Channing's defense was very oppressive, allowing the Hornets to The movement of the team ground to a halt."

Reggie Miller expressed his opinion, and his old partner Barkley even agreed this time:
"That's right, Channing used his athletic ability and tireless defense to disrupt the Hornets' offensive tactics. Although the queen bee Paul has killed all sides, so far today, Paul has only 3 assists. , This is very abnormal. Philadelphia uses the correct defensive method to force the Hornets to fall into star singles, and this style of play is not what the Hornets want. New Orleans is not Los Angeles, Paul, and Kobe.”

In the Hornets locker room, head coach Byron Scott also made the same analysis. He didn't believe that a rookie player who had never heard of it could really bring such a big change to the 76ers. Lenscot asked the players to be more active, run more, cooperate more, pass the ball more decisively, strengthen cooperation and conduct the ball.

Paul, the queen bee, listened quietly. He got a little better in the first half, and he kept competing with Channing. Although he scored in a few forced heads-ups and scored well, Paul still felt that playing basketball like this was not the right way. Why? Better tandem offense, how to better send the ball to open teammates, Paul wants to make adjustments in the second half, and can no longer be so obsessed with singles.

Similarly, in the locker room of the visiting team, Cheeks and Sanders had initially come up with a combined defense plan after just ten minutes of brainstorming.

(End of this chapter)