Junior Basketball says

Chapter 378
Taking advantage of a dead ball, the Timberwolves called a long timeout.When Xu Hao walked back to the bench, his face was obviously a little ugly, and his jersey was already half wet, which surprised McHale.You must know that Xu Hao has always been able to do a job with ease in the game. The jersey is basically soaked in the second half, but now it is only the first quarter!

Thinking of this, he hurried forward and asked, "Chris, are you okay? You look very bad..."

Xu Hao shook his head and said softly: "Coach, I'm sorry, I didn't expect Leonard's defense to be so strong. Although I am confident that I can break through his defense on the court, I must say that I may have to spend a lot on this aspect energy."

McHale frowned and didn't speak. Xu Hao was already the most powerful outside player of the Timberwolves. Even he had some difficulty facing Leonard. One can imagine what it would be like to be replaced by other players.But now it seems that Xu Hao needs to rest for a while, otherwise how can he take advantage of Leonard in such a state?

However, McHale's idea was politely declined by Xu Hao. He didn't think he needed to rest now.It was really hard to be one-on-one with Leonard during the previous period, but he felt that the most important thing was to continue to figure out the opponent's approach in the duel, otherwise he would still be the same in the next few games. You will suffer a loss in a duel.

After the timeout ended, Xu Hao returned to the court.Although McHale did not replace him, several other people still had to be rotated in order. Rubio continued to stay on the court to partner with him inside, and Ellington replaced Korver.The two insiders are all replaced, and the European combination of Milicic and Pekovic will survive the rest of this section.

The Spurs also replaced some players, but still kept Leonard on the court.This taciturn young man also has unfathomable physical fitness, and he is still a rookie, playing more on the court will not hurt.What's more, Popovich consciously trained him to be the best helper of the GDP combination, so naturally he would not easily put him on the bench.

Facing Leonard again, Xu Hao did not intend to use technology to break through.After several seasons of training, Xu Hao's strength has improved a lot compared to when he first entered the league. There are very few people who can surpass him in the bench press, and they are basically like Pekovic. Big man, even Love's bench press is no better than him.

Moreover, Xu Hao is also a character who dares to fight. Since his skills can't play a very good role, he should rely on his physical strength to make a breakthrough.It can be seen that Leonard is not one of those experienced veterans. In the face of physical confrontation, he will only push back hard, instead of falling to the ground like most old ball ruffians. This reduces Xu Hao's ability to break through the defense. difficulty.

When Xu Hao got the ball again, he deliberately waited for Leonard to take a good position, then took a few steps back, and suddenly accelerated to the opponent's right side.Leonard was on the side, and was about to make a steal. Unexpectedly, he was pushed hard by Xu Hao's shoulder. Instead, he took half a step back and gave way to the passage. Seeing this, Xu Hao continued to speed up, directly crossing the three-point line and heading for the basket rush away.

It's not that Xu Hao has never won a duel with Leonard before, but he basically had to struggle for a while. He has never broken through so easily and caught the Spurs insider by surprise.Splitter was still thinking about stepping up to defend, but before he was in position, Xu Hao took advantage of the situation and made a small throw, sending the ball directly into the basket.

Now Leonard's face finally showed a faint look of surprise, which is extremely rare for facial paralysis.Only then did he realize that it was definitely not a fluke that Xu Hao was able to achieve such a great reputation in just a few years.

But Leonard didn't expect that this was just the beginning.For the rest of the first quarter, Xu Hao was like a reckless guy who didn't know anything about the game, constantly using physical confrontation to break through Leonard's defense.Although Leonard's defense is very good, he can't stand the opponent's real impact, and he can only play five or six points with his ability.

Relying on Xu Hao's recovery in the second half of the first quarter, the Timberwolves took the lead 35-31.Although there is only a 4-point gap, it is already very good to achieve such a result against this upgraded Spurs.You must know that in the Western Conference semifinals, the Lakers, who are sitting on a top scorer like Kobe, have never led the Silver and Black Army in the first quarter.

In this section, Leonard's performance made Popovich take a roller coaster ride, but he also knew very well that he couldn't ask Leonard to do more.It is undeniable that Popovich is very good at training young people, so he does not intend to let Green help Leonard defend Xu Hao, but let him try his best to solve the problem and complete the task.

The break between quarters was short, and Leonard had to race against time to reflect on his matchup with Xu Hao in the first quarter.In his opinion, Xu Hao's breakthrough skills are indeed very good, but they are not effective under his own defense. On the contrary, he continued to use his physical advantage to break through, which allowed him to continuously penetrate deep into the paint to score. It seems that he still needs to strengthen it. confrontation.

But for any player, the confrontation ability will not be improved in a short while, and Leonard cannot be expected to immediately become a superman wearing underwear after taking a few minutes of rest.If Xu Hao continues to use the same method to try to break through the inside line, he can only grit his teeth and insist on it, and he is not sure whether he can meet the requirements.

Leonard felt that the matter was tricky, but Xu Hao breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that relying on physical advantages to make a breakthrough was indeed the right choice.Of course, this is also thanks to the fact that Leonard is still a rookie and has not had time to fully improve his strength.According to the prediction of the system, as long as he is given a few seasons, it is estimated that there will be another all-around small forward in the league.

However, these are not what Xu Hao needs to consider now. If Leonard becomes more powerful in the future, he will not be unstoppable. Besides, he only needs to ensure that he has an advantage over him in this round of the series. .With Popovich's style, if Leonard does not meet the requirements, he should not double-team, but use tactics to solve the problem.

Xu Hao is not afraid of the tactics played by the Spurs. As long as it is a tactic, there must be a way to crack it. However, suppressing Leonard in one-on-one is still very good. At least he will not be passively excluded from the Timberwolves' tactical system. .When Xu Hao participates in the team's system, it will not be so easy for the Spurs to win.

(End of this chapter)