?? Li Liang is still very impressed with the Pacers.

Last season, the Lakers' early-season winning streak was ended by the Pacers.

Their line-up is reasonable and balanced, with all five starters being quality and defensively strong.

The Pacers have always been similar to the Detroit Pistons in terms of team building style.

The Pistons Five Tigers, who were originally famous in the league, had the strongest opponent in the East that was the Pacers, who had no less than the Pistons Five Tigers starting.

It's just Auburn Hill that makes walkers lose their efforts.

Now that the Pistons are in decline with the city of Detroit, the Pacers have rebuilt.

This season they are going to start challenging for the championship.

This Pacers vs Clippers game is even known as one of the rehearsals for the Finals.

It's also too much to look down on James.

But the media always have to come up with some gimmicks.

After the starting ceremony, the game is about to begin.

Li Liang and his teammates stood on the court, and tonight the Clippers wore the new sky blue T-shirt jersey and the Pacers wore the traditional yellow jersey.

Jordan Jr. lost a rare loss in scrums because the opponent was Hibbert, who was taller and stronger than him.

Like Hibbert, if you want to win him, you can only rely on Li Liang and use his "indisputable" method to be better.

On the first offense, the Pacers chose to go inside and let Hibbert single-handedly Jordan Jr. one-on-one.

The Clippers didn't do anything to deal with it, and let Jordan Jr. defend Hibbert alone, which was a contest between the giants.

Hibbert, on the other hand, took advantage of his weight and reach, squeezed in twice, and then hit a hook in his right hand to score the first point of the opening game.

There are fewer and fewer teams in the NBA that start with a low-post offense like this.

Push forward seven or eight years, when Yao Ming was still active in the league, at the beginning of a regular season, most of the attackers would start from the inside, let the physical big center get the ball in the low post, and arch inward like a cow ploughing the land, opening the team's offense from the inside.

It has only been a few years since the retirement of Yao Ming and O'Neal, and the league's offensive and tactical style has changed greatly, and there are fewer and fewer teams like the Pacers and Grizzlies who also use low-post offense as an important tactical pivot point.

At least the Clippers aren't that team, although Griffin is a good low-post attacker.

The Clippers used a pick-and-roll tactic in the first offense of the opening game, and Li Liang stepped forward to cover Paul.

Li Liang's cover quality is generally quite high, not only because of his solid core and technical movements, but also because of his great offensive threat, and the opponent will inevitably change or chase defense.

Otherwise, with a block, Li Liang will immediately have a chance, and his three-point shot is too deadly.

However, the Pacers' defense is very good, and Paul George is in charge, he is not sticking to Li Liang, but standing on Paul's passing route to interfere, so that Paul can easily play the ball to Li Liang.

Seeing that there was no chance, Paul passed the ball to Barnes, who was directing to Griffin on the wing.

Jordan Jr. gave Griffin a block screen, blocking both David West and Hibbert.

But Griffin's 45-degree mid-range jumper missed.

The first attack of the opening game of the two sides was actually the tone of the attack of both teams.

Pacers will start on the inside and work their way up to the outside.

It's a very traditional style of team play, similar to that of the Grizzlies.

The Clippers have a more modern style of play, and pick-and-roll is their offensive engine.

The fast passing ball on the outside, the bottom corner three-pointer, the middle, and the 45-degree mid-range are the Clippers' killer weapons.

After Hitterberg scored the first goal, both sides went goalless for several rounds in a row.

Hibbert quickly wanted to catch the ball and rush to the basket, but the pass was destroyed by Li Liang.

In the Clippers counterattack, Griffin received a pass from Li Liang and wanted to make a layup, but was blown away.

The Pacers tried to pull back to Paul George on offense, only to disrupt David West's pass again.

The Clippers' defensive preparation before the game was quite sufficient, and they guarded against the Pacers' high-flying and inside-pass penetrating style of play.

Both offenses, Li Liang judged the Pacers' passing intentions well and cut off their passing lanes.

These two defenses caused the Pacers to not dare to penetrate with the next hob pass.

The Clippers' first goal came from mid-range with Paul.

He found a shot at the top of the arc with Jordan Jr.'s cover and hit a mid-range jumper from inside the three-point line, which was Paul's point of attack.

The Pacers' offensive position still chose to let Hibbert hold the ball in the low post on the left side, the same starting style as the first offense.

However, the back hand is different, Stephenson, who passed the ball, chose to cut in, Hibbert passed the ball with one hand, and after Stephenson received the ball, he cut directly to the basket!

It's a very classic guard-center low-post hand-to-hand pass screen combination that most teams with tall centers use, but now this tactic in the league is becoming less and less common with the decline of big centers.

But Stephenson didn't go up because Li Liang on the weak side came over to help defend and interfered with Stephenson's layup, and then Li Liang also won the backcourt rebound.

Stephenson looked incredulous, the ball didn't go up?

He also took his hand back towards Li Liang in vain, of course it didn't make sense.

On three consecutive offenses, the Pacers' intention to play the interior was ruined by Li Liang.

This caught Pacers head coach Frank Vogel by surprise.

The Pacers coaching staff carefully studied the footage of the Clippers' games before the game, especially the two games in which the Kings played the Clippers, and Thompson and Cousins caused the Clippers a lot of problems.

The Pacers also believe that penetrating the Clippers' seemingly thick interior line is the best way to beat them.

Who knows that Li Liang's opening defense can be called everywhere.

Then, Li Liang used the cover of Little Jordan in the counterattack, found a vacancy outside the three-point line, and directly hit a three-point shot!

The Clippers took a 5-2 lead.

However, Li Liang was immediately whistled for a blocking foul on the defensive end.

Originally, Paul George received the ball and broke through, Li Liang blocked in front of George, George elbowed Li Liang, and Li Liang fell down all of a sudden, making George's offensive foul.

Who knew that the referee blew Li Liang's block.

Of course Li Liang is not happy, I move so fast and my acting skills are so realistic, you actually to block the foul?

And Paul George elbowed your sister to see?

This kind of foul that can be blown or not, the referee obviously wants to control the field.

If the Pacers get another offensive foul, the game may not be playable.

The referee easily appeased Li Liang, the Pacers sent a sideline ball, the position attacked, David West held the ball high, and then went straight to Stephenson under the empty basket.

Stephenson catches the ball, Barnes clings close, and the first shot has no chance.

But Stephenson dribbled out a little, and suddenly turned his back, returned to the horse and shot the basket, throwing the slow-moving Barnes away, and Jordan Jr. had to come to make up for it.

Stephenson then passed the ball to Hibbert on the other side.

Hibbert finally got a one-handed slam dunk!

Three infiltration offenses, the Pacers finally hit one.

This time, Li Liang was transferred to the flank by Paul George, and he was beyond the reach of the whip.

As for Griffin, he was completely watching in the middle and didn't know to go to the rotation to make up for it.

No way, it's not a matter of attitude and positivity, it's a complete lack of that awareness.

From high school to college, Griffin played the offensive core of the team, relying on offensive talent to crush his peers, and he didn't have to think about how to make up for and help defend at all.

When I arrived in the NBA, I found that there were many things I wanted to practice, especially the things in terms of consciousness, which were difficult to practice.

Li Liang shook his head, knowing that there was no way to scold this kind of ball, even if it was replaced by him, it would probably be a foul to rush up.

But just now Paul George made his foul revenge, and Li Liang wants to take revenge.

He received a pass from Paul, counter-attacked and advanced into the middle, and suddenly accelerated to the left side of Paul George, and then rubbed his body against George.

At this time, the referee immediately blew the whistle and blew a defensive foul on George.

George was helpless, knowing that this was the foul that had just been committed.

Referees are sometimes like that, blowing one, and then finding one, and the two ends don't fall well, and I don't know what the brain thinks.

However, although it caused George's foul, the Clippers' offense missed.

In addition to Li Liang and Paul's individual offense, the Clippers' blocking and pass-and-roll mode did not tear up their space under the Pacers' extreme one-on-one defense.

The Clippers need to pick up speed, they need to get a foothold, and they need to take advantage of the holes in the Pacers' tight defense.

But it doesn't seem that easy.

The Pacers are currently one of the strongest defensive teams in the NBA, and in the East and the Heat can be said to be the typical Eastern hard-line defensive representatives.

But the Pacers' defensive strategy is very different from the Heat's.

Because the Heat lacked excellent rim-protecting interior lines, they had to rely on a lot of rotation and oppressive defense on the outside to contain the opponent's offense, causing the opponent to make mistakes, and cooperating with the team's super fast counterattack ability to deal a blow to the opponent.

The overall configuration of the Pacers is more balanced, with players at each position having good individual defensive ability.

The center has Hibbert, power forward West, small forward Paul George, scoring guard Stephenson, and point guard George Hill.

So, the Pacers are using the simplest, but also the oldest, least porous one-on-one man-to-man defense.

One-on-one marking may seem like the easiest, but it also changes the most.

Adolf Rup, the famous coach in the history of American basketball, is a master of one-on-one marking - oh, Li Liang has taken his class in the system and has carefully learned the tips and tricks of one-on-one marking defense.

The first quarter lasted six minutes and the score was 10-9, with the Clippers leading the Pacers by one point.

The success rate of both sides was not high, but the game was quite smooth, and there was no timeout on either side, and the game went into an official timeout.

The Clippers rotated their personnel, with Crawford replacing Griffin and Li Liang mentioning the No. 4 spot.

Rivers asked the team to speed up the offensive tempo during the timeout, play more quick counterattacks, and strengthen the players' individual offense to break the Pacers' one-on-one marking.

But Paul and Li Liang didn't listen at all, and the two exchanged ideas with each other during the pause.

Li Liang believes that although the Pacers use one-on-one marking, they will not completely lose their clamps and rotate.

They will only target the packing, the reinforcement, the help defense, such as against Paul.

Control Paul's passing lanes and hinder Paul's movement with the ball.

Paul agrees with this, believing that Li Liang can increase his pick-and-roll cooperation.

"You have to cut inside, go to the inside, you can't cut outside, the passing line of the outside is too easy to judge." Paul said to Li Liang.

"Yes, I can add inside cuts, and if they wrap me up, I'll pass the ball to Jordan or give it to the bottom corner...... Well, I'm not very comfortable with Barnes's three points, I might as well ...... myself."

The two of them discussed happily, and they didn't take Rivers' words to heart at all.

No way, the two people's understanding of tactics is still quite deep and in place.

Rivers said that he wanted to play fast because he felt that it was a little difficult to attack the Pacers' defense in positional warfare.

Truth be told, the Clippers aren't weak, but they don't have a really reliable individual who can penetrate the defense at will.

Li Liang is half a man, and he is weak in holding the ball.

Paul is half a man, and he is weak in height.

Crawford...... It's barely half of it, it's quite weak anywhere.

That's why Rivers wants the team to play fast, and play fast to avoid the Pacers' edge.

But Paul and Li Liang don't believe in evil, can't we fight tactically and cooperate?

If you have to run and bring the rhythm up, can you play like this in the playoffs?

So after some discussion, Paul and Li Liang didn't listen to Rivers' command at all.

On the first offense after the timeout, Li Liang and Paul blocked and dismantled.

After blocking and dismantling, Hill and West surrounded Paul, Li Liang cut inside, Paul passed, and after Li Liang received the ball, he hit a stop-and-go jump shot directly from close range to hit two points.

Classic and smooth pick-and-roll.

Then, Paul George caught the ball and hit a mid-range jumper after running around the pile at the top of the arc.

In addition to attacking in the low post on the offensive end, Hibbert is also a very useful big iron pillar to use as a cover.

Barnes couldn't squeeze through it if he wanted to.

George's rise last season was sudden.

After Granger's injury, Paul George burst onto the scene, commencing his solo performance in November of '12.

George seized that opportunity and became a rising star on the Pacers.

Granger has been squeezed to the bench by George this season.

George's technical characteristics are not outstanding in all aspects, but there are no obvious shortcomings.

His off-ball movement and catch-and-shoot were quite good, and after Li Liang mentioned the No. 4 position, Barnes struggled to defend him.

But the Pacers also have a problem, and David West is struggling to defend Li Liang just as well.

Li Liang's attack range is too large, he and Paul are blocking, and the Pacers can't stick to one-on-one single defense.

If you insist on single defense, don't change the defense or don't wrap up after blocking and dismantling, Li Liang will have a chance to cut inside or withdraw outside.

And Paul can also use the gap to tear apart the Pacers' defense.

Although the Pacers have Hibbert on the inside, Hibbert is characterized by defending the impact under the basket, rather than expanding out to fill in the gaps.

Li Liang doesn't rush to the basket at all, he just has a tricky close-range pull-up jump shot.

He and Paul were repeating their old tricks, cutting in the middle, hitting the ground and passing, facing Hibbert who was hiding inside, Li Liang hit a two-point jumper with a stop-and-go jumper.

His hand is really soft, and his shooting hand is quite stable.

On the Pacers' side, Paul George played with his feelings.

He once again used the cover to come out in a big circle from the baseline, with the help of David West's cover, received George Hill's pass at 45 degrees on the flank, and shot a mid-range jumper, and also hit!

George and Li Liang are on the bar.

Li Liang thought to himself, will Lao Tzu be afraid of you?

Isn't it just shooting, when it comes to shooting, Li Liang has never been afraid of anyone.

It's still with Paul's blocking, this time the Pacers learned to be obedient, West chased after Li Liang, and Hibbert came over in advance to set up the formation.

Paul didn't pass the ball this time, he took the ball inside himself, circled around, jumped in the crowd and gave the ball to Barnes in the bottom corner.

Barnes didn't dare to shoot the ball, and turned it to Li Liang at 45 degrees.

Li Liang received the ball outside the three-point line, one step away from the three-point line, regardless of three-seven twenty-one, Lao Tzu shot!

David West couldn't defend this ball at all, so he could only watch Li Liang shoot three-point and hit!

Clippers fans cheered, and that's the offense they like to see.

On the sidelines, Rivers looked "Huh? What's going on", is this a tactic arranged by Lao Tzu?

I let them fight quickly, but what about those who are not on a firm footing?

How do you pass the ball so smoothly, so fluently, so neatly?

Is this the team I coach?

Rivers had momentary doubts about his coaching, but quickly moved on from those doubts.

Mike Brown, who was sitting on the bench, was particularly able to understand this mood.

When you have tactical generalists like Paul and Li Liang under your command, as a head coach, you just need to watch the game.

Brown thought to himself that Rivers must not have gotten used to watching a career in the game.

Li Liang hit three goals in a row, pushing the atmosphere of Stamp to a climax.

Paul George also scored two goals in a row, and of course he wanted to give Li Liang an answer ball.

This time he received the ball in the high post, David West blocked it, and the Clippers were determined to switch defenses.

Li Liang directly switched to George, George broke through with the ball on the left side, but he couldn't break through!

Is Li Liang's outside defensive ability a joke?

You, Paul George, are not James, how can you give you a surprise casually.

Unable to break through, Paul George opted for a step-back step plus a step-back jumper.

It can be seen that George really wants to play a hero ball for Li Liang to fight back.

It's a pity that the ball was too difficult to shoot, the ball smashed on the neck of the basket and didn't go in, and Jordan Jr. got the backcourt rebound.

Seeing this, Li Liang shook his head and said to George: "This is the gap, the gap between geniuses and mortals. ”

After speaking, Li Liang ran away very proudly.

Lao Tzu's chosen son, how can you, an ordinary man, be casually compared, and still want to beat my answer ball?