Chapter 100: Opening Temptation
The Warriors adjusted the starting lineup again, Zhou Xuan, Azubuuk, Jackson, Wright, Biedrins.
Pistons starting five: Allen? Iverson, Richard? Hamilton, Taysian? Prince, Rashid? Wallace, Kwame? Brown.
At the start of the game, Biedlins earned the basketball, and the Warriors took the lead in attacking. Zhou Xuan took the ball across the half court and faced Iverson. Letra went to the perimeter to cover, and Zhou Xuan dribbled the ball into the three-point line from the right side.
In every game, Zhou Xuan will first test the opponent's defensive formation, attacking by himself or relying on cover. Against a veteran like Iverson, he decided to ask his teammates for help.
Iverson immediately bypassed Wright's pursuit, and Zhou Xuan broke through and faced Wallace. Wright rushed to the basket, his long legs were in a hurry, if it was a strong Billups, he might be able to use his body to resist a bit, and the opponent's jump shot could also interfere closely, but Iverson didn't play the slightest role in blocking Wright.
Looking at the stats alone, Iverson is Gary the only point guard to have won Defensive Player of the Year? Payton is even better, and Payton has only won the steal king title once in his life. But anyone who has played with Payton has admired the "glove" defense, and no one has ever praised Iverson's defense, except for his fans.
Zhou Xuan retreated with the ball and distanced himself from Wallace, waited for Wright to reach the low post, and hoisted the ball high into the inside. The ball was passed a little high, and Iverson, who was going around the front defense, wanted to steal unless he jumped with all his might, but he didn't have time to run, and the ball over the top was successful.
Wright reached for the basket with his long arm and turned low on the right side to face the basket. Biedrins also pulled to the left perimeter to help Jackson block people, Kwame? Brown is relatively far away, and if he wants to make up for success when there is a gap on the inside, unless he comes to Wright like Guo Furong to "turn over the mountains and seas" in the air.
Iverson didn't foul, stood next to him and looked defensively, and Wright scored with a one-handed slam! 2 to 0.
The Warriors scored a wonderful goal in the opening game, and the fans applauded together.
The Pistons attacked, Iverson dribbled past half the court, Zhou Xuan did not press in the frontcourt, waited for Iverson at the top of the arc, put a step more than a distance, and prevented the breakthrough but not the shot. Zhou Xuan has watched a lot of Iverson's games and is very familiar with him. His main scoring method is breakthrough, and the pull-up jump shot is also a must, but the three-point shooting rate is only about 30%.
Iverson found a teammate to block the pick-and-roll, Wallace came out to cover, he burst into the three-point line from the left, Wright did not change the defense, and Jackson on the left suddenly retreated to block Iverson's breakthrough route. Nelson Sr. has also studied a lot of defensive tactics, and the core of the Warriors' defense is Jackson.
Iverson suddenly blocked a big man in front of him, so he could only give up the emergency stop jump shot and pass the ball to Prince on the side, at this time Zhou Xuan had bypassed Wallace and blocked in front of Prince.
Zhou Xuan's defense is becoming more and more experienced, dealing with a small forward of Prince's size, it is necessary to be close, Prince's strength is very poor, only the height advantage, as long as he hits him with his body after being close, he can disrupt the rhythm of shooting. He took all the defensive experience Jackson said to have taken to heart and was adaptable.
Prince is not much of a threat to his pull-up shots, and the "Little Prince" has never averaged more than 15 points per game in his career, mainly relying on breakaways and open jumpers.
Prince didn't force the shot, passing the ball from the top of Zhou Xuan's head to Hamilton who was running, and Azubuike's start today was also targeted, fast, and strictly guarded against Hamilton.
Hamilton passes Wallace again. "Roaring Tianzun" received the ball in the low post and singled Wright, leaned back to the baseline and turned to wipe it into the basket, and forced the board to shoot the basket. 2 to 2.
This time, the outside line has been very well defended, but Wright's defense under the basket is also very bad, and his body is too thin. Turyaf can't shoot and moves slower, and the Warriors have obvious shortcomings at the No. 4 position.
Zhou Xuan organized a positional attack, unhurriedly passed the half, Wright pulled out to cover again, Zhou Xuan changed direction to dribble, or took the right side to avoid Iverson, and it was Wallace who came out. This time, Wallace pulled further outside and formed a bag with Iverson, completely blocking Zhou Xuan from the outside, with the intention that he would not be able to pass the ball.
This kind of defense really made Zhou Xuan uncomfortable, but he relaxed his defense under the basket. Zhou Xuan took the ball with both hands and retreated, and passed to Jackson, who was receiving on the right side. Jackson immediately passed the ball back to Wright, who cut in the middle, and directly formed a layup opportunity.
Wright strode into the basket and scored a low-handed layup before Brown could come up. 4 to 2.
As a tall swingman, Jackson also has a good passing vision and has the potential to become a playmaker. When he and Zhou Xuan are on the court, there are two points where they can organize offense, which is also a key factor in the good play of the Warriors since the start of the game.
The Pistons took the half court, and this time Iverson chose to pass again. The Pistons are accustomed to sharing the ball and attacking as a team, and will not arrange him with a double-block and dismantling tactic and unlimited shots. Prince gave the ball to Hamilton, who dodged Azubuuk on the left side with Brown's screen, missed a pullup jumper, and the rebound was picked up by Biedrins.
The Pistons quickly returned to defense, and the Warriors had to fall into position.
Zhou Xuan broke through with the ball, but was blocked by Wallace and Iverson together, and the Pistons began to wrap Zhou Xuan in the opening game, making it difficult for him to pass the ball to the cover man who cut to the basket and make up for Iverson's disadvantage.
Wallace is still fast in the power forward position, and he is very good at blocking the opponent's passing line of sight with his tall body, Zhou Xuan couldn't pass Wright, and distributed the ball to Azubuuk, who received on the left.
As soon as Azubuuk received the ball, Hamilton immediately rushed out to interfere with the shot, Azubuuk's jumper was missed, and the rebound was picked up by Brown. Hamilton's physicality doesn't make him a super defensive player, but his seasons with the Pistons have taught him how to defend and how to use the system to defend and make up for his own shortcomings.
The Pistons attacked, and this time Wallace didn't cover, and the players pulled away and let Iverson single.
Iverson has faced countless newcomers, and everyone is full of energy when they face him, and it is the first time to see a newcomer like Zhou Xuan, who is expressionless and very calm at the beginning. The expression was as if he didn't know him at all, the famous Iverson, but an opponent who couldn't be more ordinary.
"Doesn't this kid take me seriously? Does he think he's better than me? Let me see what you're up to! Iverson said secretly. He wants to prove that he is not old and still has super scoring ability.
"Iverson is going to play singles." Zheng Bin was excited on the sidelines.
"You're excited, do you still want him to score?" Liu Yang said dissatisfied.
"Iverson is my idol." Zheng Bin pouted.
"You just need to treat Zhou Xuan as an idol now!" Liu Yang patted the back of his hand, turned his head and said, "Yu Yan, I believe that your man will prevent this little black man from killing." ”
Nie Yuyan didn't reply, she watched the game attentively, because of Zhou Xuan, she also began to like basketball. Like Liu Yang, she believed that Zhou Xuan could guard against Iverson, on the grounds that this person was shorter than Zhou Xuan.
All the fans' eyes widened, especially those who supported Zhou Xuan, and all their eyes were shot at Zhou Xuan, who was standing inside the three-point line, and Iverson in front of him. If Zhou Xuan can't defend and Iverson hits a few, the Warriors will have to change their defensive strategy, which is very disadvantageous.
Iverson held the ball with both hands, and shook his body left and right twice, Zhou Xuan lowered his center of gravity and looked at him, not moving like a mountain. It's also Jackson's favorite style of defense, and he's learned it.
Iverson's eyes burst with coldness, and with a slapped of his left hand, he took a step to the left, an explosive step, but his body did not rush out, but paused slightly.
Zhou Xuan shook his shoulders slightly to the right, but his feet did not move. Iverson was doing offensive feints, and Zhou Xuan was doing defensive feints, pretending to shift his center of gravity to the right.
Iverson reacted very quickly, immediately dribbling the ball under his crotch to his right hand, and the cross-step dribble changed to the right side. Zhou Xuan saw him dribbling under his crotch, and immediately moved a step to his left side, steadily blocking the way.
Fast enough! Iverson exclaimed inwardly. From the audience's point of view, the confrontation between the two was very simple, but in fact, there was a slight mistake, and Iverson passed. Although he is not at his peak, he is still fast. Iverson didn't want to give up like this, so he gritted his teeth and leaned on Zhou Xuan to lead him to the low position, and Zhou Xuan moved with him, raising his hand to interfere, and not reaching out to steal.
At a 45-degree angle on the right side, Iverson protected the ball with his back to his right foot, took a slight step with his left foot to the baseline and half-turned, then circled back, and jumped with all his right foot to make a step-back jumper.
Zhou Xuan began to take a little feint, but immediately took a step sideways, jumped up with all his strength, reached out to seal it, and was not shaken away. Iverson didn't jump to the top point and shot, dodging Zhou Xuan's block, and the basketball spun and flew towards the basket.
While! There was a crisp sound of striking iron, and the ball was deflected.
The rebound was grabbed by Wright and passed to Jackson, and the Warriors immediately fought back.
Iverson didn't have time to feel sorry for himself for his shot, and immediately returned to defense, because Zhou Xuan had already run forward. Also starting to run forward was Azubuk.
Jackson's accurate long pass was handed over to Zhou Xuan. After Zhou Xuan got the ball, he faced Iverson with continuous crotch dribbling and did not rush to attack, stabilizing the situation. Azubuuk was fast enough, but Hamilton was in front of him and the pass was prone to errors. Since there were 7 mistakes in a single game against the Kings, Zhou Xuan vowed to reduce uncertain passes, such risky passes would not help the team much, and they might be counterattacked by the opponent.
The Pistons defense was not completely in place, Jackson ran through the half court in the third place, covering Zhou Xuan, Zhou Xuan relied on the width of the court to bypass Iverson and move to the right side, and quickly distanced himself from Jackson, not asking for passes, just to open the gap.
Zhou Xuan didn't make any feints, and his speed was not enough to pass Prince, but Prince couldn't ignore him because he could shoot.
Zhou Xuan passed the ball to Jackson, who was running laterally, and Jackson practiced outside shooting all summer, misaligned with Iverson, who was a head shorter than him, and received the ball without saying a word, it was a dry three-point shot, and Iverson's full interference didn't play much role. Unfortunately, the shot was also missed, and the rebound was picked up by Wallace.
When he returned to the defense, Jackson still lightly applauded Zhou Xuan twice, although he didn't enter, the opportunity had already come out.