Chapter 34: Fighting the Spurs Again
Liu Han unreservedly taught Nowitzki a set of training to exercise his core strength, but this is just the beginning, in addition to the daily training in the future, Liu Han will also strengthen Nowitzki's back-to-back skills, he didn't know how to turn his back at all, but he didn't know how to deal with it when he encountered a confrontation, which needs to be slowly experienced in the game and pointed out by experienced people should pay attention to things. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info
In addition, the owner of the Mavericks, Cuban, also gave the team a big gift when he learned that the team is now going to carry out rebounding and interior reinforcement training, and he paid a lot of money to hire Olajuwon, who has just retired for a year, to serve as the team's special consultant to train the team's interior footwork, basket skills and defensive essentials.
Originally, Olajuwan didn't want to go to Dallas, but Cuban was really "sincere", and Olajuwan also wanted to meet the legendary young man, so he agreed to come to Dallas for a year, as for the future, it may be, the Rockets also hope that Olajuwon can go to the Rockets to teach Yao Min, but the Rockets owner Alexander is tight, and Olajuwon doesn't want to go to the Rockets for a day.
The Mavericks have been questioned by the outside world, but the atmosphere within the team has tended to ease, and at least the players' attitudes have changed a lot after two defeats and the coaching staff's intensified training.
On November 20, 2003, the Mavericks will host the visiting Spurs in Game 12 of the regular season of the season.
The Spurs gradually regained their form after a few slow warm-ups at the beginning of the season, they played one more game than the Mavericks, with a record of 7 wins and 5 losses, which can rank in the top eight in the West, and the Spurs won two consecutive games in the previous two games, the team is in good shape, and the outside media is relatively optimistic about the Spurs, after all, the Mavericks have just suffered two consecutive defeats, and the media is basically the same.
The last time the two teams played each other in San Antonio, although Popovich's tactics were very exquisite, but unfortunately the players were not strong, and the Mavericks players were in good shape during that time, so the Spurs lost to the Mavericks by more than ten points, and the Spurs have found their form in this game and the Mavericks have fallen into a trough, and the two sides are unpredictable.
The game officially started at 8 p.m. local time in Dallas, the Mavericks lineup has not changed, it is still the one led by Nelson, and the Spurs are also the main force, even Ginobili, who has always performed poorly in the starter, also entered the starting lineup, and the Spurs did not play high school forward Nesterovic this time, but replaced Devin Brown, who had excellent defense, in order to target Liu Han.
Popovich has studied the two games lost by the Mavericks, and the fundamental reason is that Liu Han has severed the connection with the rest of the Mavericks, which has affected the play of the Mavericks' tactics to a certain extent, and the Mavericks players are overconfident or underestimate the enemy, which eventually led to the team's loss, so Popovich's game also started from this point, Devin Brown plus Bruce? Bowen, I believe Liu Han will feel a different defense.
Nowitzki's jump ball is still not Duncan's opponent, the Spurs attacked first, Parker received the ball grabbed by Ginobili and launched a fast attack uncharacteristically, but the Mavericks returned to the defense very quickly, and Parker encountered Liu Han's block just after halftime.
He didn't try to break through Liu Han, because he knew that his speed was completely no match for the opponent, so he stabilized the ball while waiting for his teammates to settle down.
Liu Han waited for an opportunity to pull the ball and steal, but Parker was very careful about the protection of the ball and did not leak too many holes, and the Spurs entered a positional battle.
After the players on both sides were in place, to Popovich's surprise, the Mavericks actually defended a two-three defense, which he didn't expect, and of course, the Spurs players on the court didn't expect either.
Liu Han was two meters to Parker's side, taking care of Parker's defense and faintly blocking Ginobili's lane.
Parker was confused for a while, he didn't know what to do next, pass it to Duncan, he not only had Nowitzki by his side, but also Jamison was on the side, he could steal at any time, and he didn't have much confidence in making a shot, but fortunately Duncan took the initiative to mention the high post to cover for Parker at this time.
Parker moved the ball towards the top of the arc, using Duncan's cover to try to break directly into the interior, but although the Mavericks' joint defense was used for the first time in the game, the tacit understanding of the players seemed to be very strong, and before Parker could step into the free throw line, his breakthrough line was blocked by Jamison and Nowitzki.
Parker passed the ball to Duncan, but as soon as the ball reached Duncan's hand, Liu Han's ball had already arrived, and before Duncan could hold the ball, the basketball was taken away by Liu Han, and then the Mavericks' fast break came again.
Liu Han took the lead and rushed straight to the Spurs halfcourt, and Parker behind him tried to catch up, but was instantly thrown away by Liu Han.
Stepping onto the Spurs' free throw line, Liu Hengun jumped high and dunked the ball into the basket with a one-arm windmill.
The American Airlines Center arena was jubilant, and Cuban and Anna also stood up and waved their hands, and the ball was so violent that it completely ignited the passion of the Dallas Cowboys.
No one expected the Mavericks to defend the team at the beginning of the game, and it looked like it was working well.
Next, the Spurs players on the court took the initiative to make adjustments, Duncan pulled a step inside the 45-degree three-point line, and then took the initiative to ask Parker for the ball, and after receiving the pass smoothly, he shot directly to the high board.
This is Duncan's stunt in recent years, the shooting rate is very amazing, Nowitzki's defense is a little slower, and the joint defense is originally a defense but not a defensive shot, so Duncan can only let it score.
Both teams have made new changes as soon as possible, and both sides have honed their team's tactics and skills as much as possible during the regular season.
The Mavericks launched an attack after serving from the baseline, and after halftime, Liu Han did not dribble the ball much, and after attracting the defensive attention of Bruce Bowen, Liu Han hoisted the ball into Nowitzki's hands on the inside.
Nowitzki took the ball with his back to Duncan, and then tried to turn around and jump out to shoot, although the action was not so smooth, but thanks to Nowitzki's stable shot and such a tall back, the ball still flew to the basket smoothly, Duncan was obviously unprepared for Nowitzki's back-to-back singles, and did not have time to interfere with Nowitzki's shot.
After two laps in the basket and then falling into the net, the Mavericks once again showed off their new weapon.