Chapter 77: The Team's Defects
The Raptors made no substitutions, and Mitchell asked the players to continue the joint defense tactics and asked the interior to pay attention to the defense.
The game continued, and O'Neal Jr.'s jumper after blocking and picking was missed.
Raptors fans were disappointed, they originally hoped to bring in an interior killer to cooperate with Bosh, but O'Neal Jr. did not show any star appearance in these two games.
O'Neal Jr. was another beast power forward after Malone with shooting points all over the three-point line, turning around on both sides of the basket is quite lethal, with balanced left-handed shooting, shooting from several angles in front of the basket, and can also end the offense with a backward jumper, full of explosiveness, and likes to smash the frame and dunk with both hands behind his head. It is no exaggeration to say that O'Neal Jr., who was healthy two years ago, was close to Webb's level.
One of the few 50+ scoring club members at the power forward position is O'Neal Jr., who has 55 points in a single game, which shows his offensive lethality. The other three were Duncan with 53 points, Jamison with 52 points and Stadamyre with 50 points. Defensively, he can also be considered top-notch, a left-handed block master. Like Duncan, he has a good sense of helping to defend and make up for defense, and he is not afraid of being in the background, but his disadvantage is that he is easy to shake.
It's a pity that the injury is more fierce than the tiger, and this season, O'Neal Jr. is no longer an All-Star. Back then, he could abuse Yao Ming, but now Yao Ming single-handedly dumps him for a few streets.
Zhou Xuan faced Calderon again, and since the Raptors didn't plan to change the defense, he was not welcome. Calderón also worked hard a lot and started to press at half-time. He didn't take Zhou Xuan seriously before, thinking that the good statistics on the field were purely accidental, but now he cheered up. If he is blown up by a rookie, he will feel sorry for his annual salary, and then those who criticize him for not being a first-class defender will have more basis.
Zhou Xuan first found a block, and then took the ball to the right, Calderon successfully bypassed Harrington and intercepted Zhou Xuan's way, Zhou Xuan held the ball with both hands and shook it for a while, but did not shoot. Calderon judged correctly and didn't jump, Zhou Xuan looked at the bottom corner of the right side again, and made a passing feint, attracting Calderon to move to the left, and then hoisted the ball to the middle.
Margeti cut to the basket on the baseline with Biedrins' off-ball screen. O'Neal Jr. couldn't switch defenses, and Margeti scored easily on the basketball. 21 to 12.
The timeout still couldn't stop the Warriors' offense, and the Raptors' own offense went wrong, and the players fell into a one-on-one role. Calderon wanted to return the favor, and after the pick-and-roll, he made a pull-up jump shot that went wide, and the rebound was picked up by Biedrins. The Warriors immediately counterattacked, Jackson passed to Zhou Xuan, and Zhou Xuan took half court to Margety. Margeti singled Parker to squeeze under the basket and forced a layup, although it didn't score, but caused a defensive foul and went to the free throw line.
Margeti hit both free throws to make it 23-12. The Warriors beat the Raptors in one go.
After that, the Raptors almost gave up the inside attack, and the four people pulled out to shoot, only O'Neal Jr. was alone in the low post to do the axis, which is a tactic they are good at, if Bagnani is more powerful on the court, then all five people are pulled to the perimeter to shoot, and Bosh is considered an inside line in the high post. However, this style of play also has great limitations, once the hand is not good, it is a dead end, the hand feels good to shoot the opponent alive, even if it enters the playoffs with this method, it is also a food for people, and no one can always maintain a good feel.
The two sides went back and forth, Calderon played hard to follow the defense, and Zhou Xuan reduced his shots and passed the ball to Margeti and Jackson to attack to ensure efficiency. Not only did he pass two good balls from the air, but he also received a pass from Jackson and threw into the open midfield after receiving a pass from Jackson.
Anthony Parker was the Raptors' savior, scoring five straight points before the end of the first quarter to close the score, trailing by seven points at 29-22.
Zhou Xuan scored 8 points and 5 assists in a single quarter, beating Calderon's 2 points and 3 assists. The situation greatly surprised Raptors head coach Mitchell, and their pregame deployment was also disrupted.
In the second quarter, both sides replaced several main players to rest, and the Dragon King Bosh continued to stay on the court with a substitute to play, forming a twin tower with Bagnani. The outside line came in handy with a muscular swingman Joey? Graham, the shooting guard is the three-point king Jason? Capono, point guard is Croatian Roko? Ukic.
On the Warriors' side, Jackson had no idea of playing the full court again and was substituted to rest. Margeti remained on the pitch with a bench and was replaced by Turiaf and Brandon on the inside? Wright, on the outside is Azubuke and CJ Watson.
Watson and Azubuke began to go crazy when they got on the court, carrying the offensive banner, and the Raptors' outside defensive weaknesses were exposed, and the guards were not qualified except for Anthony Parker.
Capono's performance outside the three-point line shocked Discovery Channel, and the honor of the three-point king of the star weekend for two consecutive years also attracted attention, and the Raptors were thrilled and signed him to a four-year contract worth 24 million.
At that time, the Raptors thought it was a good deal to use the middle class to get a three-point shooter with a three-point shooting rate of more than 50%, but after they came, they realized that this guy was a pure pitcher, too pure. Three points, three points, three points, can you do something else? Sorry, I can't fix it. His breakthrough layup and secondary offensive ability can be ignored, and his actions are standard and he will never shoot indiscriminately. Not throwing means never throwing a ball with pressure, as long as there is a little wind around him, he will pass the ball, and then turn back and run on the court.
As for the defense, Capono was even more miserable. The speed is not fast, the body is poor, there are no blocks, no steals, no rebounds, no fouls, and everywhere you go, you are the master who is blown up. So the middle-class gentleman played a few starters with the Raptors last season and sat firmly on the bench. He averaged 7 in 19 minutes per game. 2 points 1. 5 rebounds, 0. 8 assists. A big man with a height of 203CM, he can play big forward in the Chinese CBA, 1. 5 rebounds is too scary, you have to see the rebounds to dodge to do it, that 1. 5 can't hide and hit in the face?
In the face of Azubuk, Kapono is always one step ahead, and Ukic can't guard Watson. Mitchell also knew that they were not good defensively, and Bagnani was also a weak defender, so he let Bosh stay on the court to make up for it. However, he overestimated the ability of his disciples, and if Bosh wanted to hold on unless he had three heads and six arms, then he would not be the dragon king but Nezha.
The Warriors went on an 11-0 run to take a 40-24 lead. The Raptors only had Bosh scoring two points on a jumper.
Even Bosh was not happy to see the scene, and he took a big hat from Turyav when he burst into the inside line. At this time, Turyaf really had the momentum of a butcher, guarding the restricted area, and Graham's breakthrough layup was also blocked by him.
Mitchell didn't want to lose the first home game in this way, so he made a desperate bet and replaced all the main players. Nelson Sr. also didn't hesitate to replace the three starters, Jackson replaced Margety, Zhou Xuan replaced Watson, and Harrington replaced Wright. Turyaf and Azubuk continued to stay on the pitch and they did very well in this period.
The Raptors players started a 32-game defense after being instructed by the coach to prevent the Warriors from shooting, Bagnani was responsible for blocking and pick-and-roll, and O'Neal Jr. guarded the basket. O'Neal Jr.'s blocking ability is better than Bosh's, and there are more than two in many seasons, which still has a certain deterrent. And Bosh was rested during this time, and Bagnani was the high firepower point when he blocked the attack.
Bagnani, who played a huge mess on the court, suddenly woke up, hit two shots in a row, and he also slapped Azubuke with a big hat on the defensive end, which was very morale-boosting.
The Warriors' offense is still shot-oriented, which makes Zhou Xuan very depressed, as soon as he breaks through, he immediately collides with the big man who changes defense, there is not much space for the ball, and he can only distribute the ball to his peripheral teammates again and again. Calderon's disadvantage of interfering with the shooter in the rotation and being slow to move laterally is less obvious. In international matches, Spain relied on this strategy against the American Dream Team. As long as Wade and James can't get out of the way and rely only on outside players to shoot, they have a chance to win. At the 2008 Olympics, they relied on tactics to entangle with the United States until the fourth quarter.
Mitchell has been voted the best coach, and he is not the kind of waste wood that plays a set of tactics to the end, and the adjustments made just stuck in the Warriors' dead end, they lack someone who can attack in the low post.
Harrington doesn't look at the name of a power forward, the offense is basically a small forward play, and he likes to shoot threes too much.
Jackson is also a man who is good at attacking the face frame, and it is not realistic for the opponent to defend the team, and let him play two 7-foot inside lines in the low post. Turyaf and Biedrins are both blue-collar workers who don't have much to do with them, and they can't guarantee efficiency one-on-one, let alone attract packs to create opportunities for outside players.
Margety, the only one with a strong attack in the low post, was also replaced at this time, even if he was there, the Raptors did not give him a chance to single Moon or Parker in the low post before, it was O'Neal Jr. and Bosh who defended him in the low post, under the care of the opponent, Margeti played the worst in the team today, and now he has 2 of 7 shots, and there are two mistakes.
Seeing that the advantage was being eaten away little by little, Nelson Sr. did not ask for a timeout, but replaced Biedrins, who had better rebounding, and replaced Turyaf, asking the players to launch a fast break as much as possible. He clearly called a timeout and it was useless, the Warriors just didn't have a low-post offensive master, they could only rely on shooting, and at this time they could only hope to prevent the opponent's shot, and then counterattack and play faster.
Zhou Xuan also realized this, he began to speed up the pace of attack, as long as the Raptors shot off, teammates stuck in position, immediately rushed to the frontcourt, and the opponent was caught off guard. He and Azubuuk are faster than Calderon and Parker.
The Raptors' rebounds were among the lowest in the league, Bosh was even worse after he got off the court, Biedrins protected the backcourt rebounds, and Jackson did a good job of launching a fast break in the backcourt.
With 3 minutes and 33 seconds left, Zhou Xuan broke through and made a layup.
At 2:18, he broke through with the ball and caused Calderon to draw a foul, and because the Raptors committed five fouls in a single quarter, he was sent to the free throw line. Zhou Xuan will not miss this kind of opportunity, and he will hit both free throws.
In the last 42 seconds, Zhou Xuan assisted Azubuke to score a layup to help the team stabilize the situation.
At halftime, the Warriors led 59-48.