Chapter 358
After sending off the Thunder, the Timberwolves defeated the Heat and the Bucks in a row, starting with a three-game winning streak.Of course, there are four or five undefeated teams in the Western Conference so far, but most of them are old-fashioned strong teams. The Timberwolves are like a mudslide. It looks like it will go down for a while.

But soon the Timberwolves ushered in their first big challenge of the season-going to Dallas to challenge the Mavericks.

Compared with last season, the lineup of the defending champions has undergone some changes. Although their core is still Dirk Nowitzki and Kidd continues to control the rhythm of the team, his partner in the backcourt has been replaced by the former LeBron James. Guard Delonte West.In addition to Terry on the bench, the names of Carter and Odom are impressively listed, and it can be said that the replacement has been completed.

For the Timberwolves, the 0-4 disastrous defeat in the Western Conference Finals last season was an eternal pain in their hearts. They encountered the Mavericks again, and it was still a 2.0 version.

However, Xu Hao looked indifferent, his idea was very simple, no matter how strong Maverick is, it is not without flaws.Besides, if the other party has upgraded, have we not upgraded ourselves?As long as everyone exerts their best, whoever wins will have no choice!
His attitude also affected other Timberwolves players. Everyone's mentality began to calm down slowly, and they became looking forward to this game.If you can beat the defending champion away, will you be able to prove yourself?

In fact, Xu Hao's confidence comes from Rubio to a certain extent.In the last few training sessions, he has keenly noticed that Rubio's shooting has improved significantly compared to before. Although he cannot be said to be a sharpshooter, it is almost enough.Thinking of this, Xu Hao's mood became better and better. How about inviting a few people to share this discovery!
For this game, Mavericks coach Carlisle also attached great importance to it. He even took his players to Minneapolis one day earlier in order to deal with the Timberwolves in the best condition.In order to win, he has thought about a whole set of tactics. In his opinion, this is enough to settle the Timberwolves. The Mavericks were able to sweep them last season, and they can do it this season.

Compared with last season's championship lineup, the Mavericks' starting five have changed in both shooting guard and center positions. The second position is naturally West, and the fifth position is replaced by the previous number one backup center Hai. wood.This guy claims to be the second center in the Western Conference. Although most of them are bragging, his own strength is still good enough. Besides, Carlisle doesn't plan to give him too much playing time. Just use it as a fake starter. Sitting with Odom and Mahinmi!

In fact, the backcourt combination of Kidd and West is Carlisle's biggest reliance. These two are very good at perimeter defense, and they happen to directly face the Timberwolves' young backcourt. Off the game.

According to the matchup, it should be Kidd against Rubio, and West against Xu Hao, but Xu Hao's performance last season is still fresh in Carlisle's memory. Defend Xu Hao.

At the beginning of the game, anyone who knows a little bit about penalty kicks can see that the Mavericks are going to attack the Timberwolves' glorious backcourt combination in the previous few games.Kidd clings to Xu Hao like brown candy, trying to stop him from catching the ball. In contrast, West is relatively easy. He only needs to block Rubio's breakthrough route. Anyway, the latter is not Will shoot.

The Timberwolves fans on the sidelines were sweating for the two of them. Such a blockade cannot be easily torn open. If the Mavericks are really defensive, how can the team's offense still operate?When the time comes, just raise your hands and surrender.

Xu Hao glanced at Rubio and made a concealed gesture.His intention is very clear, which is to let Rubio hold the ball and shoot. As long as he can show above-average shooting, the Mavericks' seemingly tight defense will be self-defeating.

However, to Xu Hao's surprise, Rubio shook his head slightly and rejected his suggestion.After getting along for this period of time, Xu Hao knew that Rubio looked very gentle, but he was actually a very decisive person. As long as he made a decision, he really had to do it on his knees. Since he If you don't want to hold the ball and shoot yourself, then you definitely won't do it.

In fact, Rubio knows very well in his heart that his shooting has not reached the point where he can unscrupulously resist the opponent's defense. If he really wants to do this, it can only increase the pressure on Love and Jordan on the inside.So Rubio decided to give the ball to his teammates inside first, and then find a chance to shoot himself, so as to maximize his strengths and avoid weaknesses.

West's defensive ability is indeed good, but it is difficult to stop Rubio's imaginative passes. Love on the inside can always receive his passes at the right position. Jordan also made an alley-oop under Rubio's guidance. The Timberwolves' offense seemed completely unaffected and remained smooth.

Carlisle saw that this would not work, and immediately went to the sidelines to instruct West to cut off Rubio's passing route.However, this is not what West can do. Besides, when he was about to make a move, Rubio honestly used the simplest method to pass the ball to Love, and then he was as serious as Xu Hao on the outside. Look for gaps that may arise.

The image of Rubio's inaccurate shooting seems to have been deeply rooted in the hearts of the Mavericks players for a while, but they quickly paid the price for it.Rubio consciously chooses different flanks from Xu Hao, which allows him to often appear in unmarked open positions. At this time, Love can always pass the ball to him in time.

Throughout the first quarter, Rubio made 5 shots from beyond the three-point line and hit 2 goals. Although not many, his 40% shooting rate indicates that he is not a buttery player.Carlisle, who didn't believe in evil, continued to stick to the same defensive strategy in the second quarter. Unexpectedly, Rubio played harder and harder. At the end of the half, he had already scored 15 points, which was very rare before.

Rubio's outstanding performance helped the Timberwolves lead 60 to 51 at the end of the half. The Mavericks' defensive strategy was completely useless, which made Carlisle feel very puzzled. Could it be that Rubio was pretending to be a pig and eating a tiger in the previous few games? , specially waiting for them here?This is not right!If he had such accuracy before, how could he deliberately miss it?
Carlisle was stunned. He couldn't understand what was going on. Could it be a trap?

(End of this chapter)

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