Junior Basketball says

Chapter 317 Track and Field Team
Popovich has never been proud of easily defeating the Timberwolves in the first game of the series. He has always faced his opponents with the most cautious attitude, which is also the key factor for the Spurs to stand tall after he took over.

However, he also believes that the Timberwolves will not be his team's opponents, and there is a clear gap in hard power between the two sides.Popovich's vision is very poisonous. He believes that this team can achieve higher achievements in the future, but it is better to be honest now.In Popovich's view, the Timberwolves may rely on luck to win a game or two, but the Spurs will eventually advance.

However, when the Timberwolves announced the starting roster for the second game, Popovich, who has always boasted that he has no plans, was also stunned. He did not expect McHale to be so decisive. After losing a game, he immediately changed his lineup, which is not courageous. not big.

The starting lineup of the Timberwolves made Popovich puzzled. The Spurs' inside combination is considered top in the league. The opponent dared to send only one inside player. What kind of rhythm is this?Increase the difficulty of the game?
Since the Timberwolves are so arrogant to only let Love appear on the court and put four outside players, Popovich is determined to open the situation inside, so that the Spurs lineup does not need to be changed, as long as Duncan catches more balls. .

That evening, when the Timberwolves players entered the stadium, they still heard the boos from Spurs fans, but it was obviously not as loud as before.The reason is simple. Spurs fans are excited about their easy victory in the first game. They think that the young Timberwolves are nothing more than that. Since your opponents are not as good as you, do you need to give them more boos?

Regarding the mentality of the fans, Xu Hao has no idea. After all, he has a father who has been a fan for many years.But he thinks it is a good thing that the fans' booing has weakened. While reducing the impact, it also means that the Spurs will not be too concerned about them.

The fact is also true. Although Popovich is very cautious, except for those veterans in the Spurs, other young and energetic players are dismissive of the Timberwolves, thinking that the team can still easily beat them in this game.

However, from the beginning of the game, they found that their thinking was wrong. The Timberwolves they looked down upon obviously did not have the idea of ​​admitting defeat. Instead, they let go and attacked wildly from the first round. On the Spurs' defense line, the Spurs players were not given any chance to breathe, and the offensive was almost wave after wave.

Seeing the heroic posture of the Timberwolves players running all over the court, Popovich suddenly understood why McHale put up such a lineup. They just wanted to drag the Spurs players down through high-intensity running and wide-range passing. collapse.

At this time, the advantage of the Timberwolves in age is revealed.Only 5 minutes into the first quarter, each of them was still sprinting back and forth as if they had been injected with chicken blood, but the Spurs players were sweating on their foreheads and panting heavily with their mouths open.Maybe they can crush the Timberwolves in terms of game experience, but they are definitely not as good as the opponent in terms of physical strength.

To make matters worse, Love, as the only insider of the Timberwolves on the court, should have been completely suppressed by Duncan and Splitter at the basket. Unexpectedly, he was still very active, and he did not let the Spurs take any rebounds. Cheap.

In desperation, Popovich could only choose to make a substitution with 6 minutes and 22 seconds left in the first quarter, which was not his planned rotation time.But now he can't do without substitutions. The Timberwolves don't play like a basketball team at all, but like a track and field team. Both offense and defense are like mad dogs.

Seeing Popovich make a substitution, McHale also made a substitution half a minute later.Of course, his substitution was not because the players under his command were exhausted, but because he wanted to maintain a fast-paced offense and defense at all times.When the players are replaced and rested before they have physical problems, they will definitely be able to last longer on the field in the end, and the greater their chances of winning.

The Spurs players once tried to return to their familiar rhythm of the game, but the Timberwolves didn't give them a chance.Under McHale's instructions, they were like a gust of wind on both ends of the offense and defense, directly bringing the Spurs at a loss.

For the Spurs players, it's okay to be unable to prevent the opponent's continuous impact and large-scale transfer on the defensive end, and it's still not good on the offensive end.Indeed, their tactical literacy is very high, but no matter how good the tactics are, they must be able to play them out. The Timberwolves' mad dog-like pressing made them very uncomfortable, and they made as many as 4 turnovers in the middle of the first quarter.

The Spurs played very aggrieved, but the Timberwolves became more and more courageous.Although the lineup of a single center makes it difficult for them to open up space for the outside line, Xu Hao and the others still create shooting opportunities with continuous passing and breakthrough points, and they also seize most of them.At the end of the first quarter, they had hit 6 three-pointers and scored 35 points in a single quarter.

Facing top defensive strength like the Spurs, being able to score 35 points in a single quarter has proved that the Timberwolves are in a hot state in this game.

Although they are at a disadvantage in terms of height, the Timberwolves' high-intensity running and fighting are real. They also relied on active fighting to limit the Spurs' scoring in a single quarter to 28 points, which is not easy.Seeing such a score, the Spurs fans at the scene woke up like a dream, and sent deafening boos to the Timberwolves players.

Xu Hao didn't take these boos to heart at all. Instead, he raised his arms high towards the audience and waved them constantly. The boos from the fans became even louder. They did not allow players from the away team to play in their own stadium. The team's home court shows off its power.

When Xu Hao walked back to the bench, McHale glared at him helplessly, but said nothing.After all, Xu Hao is only a second-year rookie. It is normal to provoke the home fans when he is satisfied, but it is not necessary.

When all the players gathered around, McHale said solemnly: "Everyone played very well in the first quarter, and strictly followed the pre-match arrangement, and took the lead. But the Spurs are not a team that can be easily defeated. Our lead is not enough, so in the second quarter, I hope everyone will continue to run hard on the court, don't be afraid of exhaustion, I will watch carefully from the sidelines, if anyone starts to feel tired, I will let him rest, but as long as he is on the court , then run as hard as you can, until the opponent can't take it anymore, as long as we can persist until the last moment, we will win!"

(End of this chapter)