For Kevin McHale, who has been in the NBA for six seasons, his senior brother Mitchell Sampson from the University of Minnesota has always been a problem on his mind.

McHale remembers how when he first joined the University of Minnesota basketball team, he was Sampson's sparring partner in practice, and was tormented to death by a veteran who was proficient in all kinds of offensive skills.

When Sampson left college in 1978 and entered the NBA as a top pick, McHale felt a sense of relief in addition to reluctance and envy - finally no longer had to be suppressed by this guy.

But two years later, in 1980, McHale also entered the NBA, and he was drafted by the Celtics with the third pick in the first round, and he had to face Mitchell Sampson again in the game against the Trail Blazers.

From the beginning of the youth to the current technical success, McHale, who has won two championships with the team, has become the out-and-out king of the low post in the NBA today, especially since the beginning of this season, after Maxwell was traded away, the starting power forward, in the first nineteen games of 20 points and 10 rebounds standard inside data, has become his daily routine.

He seems to be thin in shape, but he has great power in the low post, as long as he holds the ball in the low post, he is going to score.

His outstanding reach, nimble footwork and delicate touch made him the Celtics' low-post killer, but this killer failed again against Mitchell Sampson tonight.

Prior to this game, in the 10 direct conversations between McHale and Mitchell Sampson, his best game was 21 points, and he averaged 12.3 points per game in 10 games, while his career average was 15.2 points per game in the first five seasons, and the highest point in a single game was 46 points.

In fact, technically speaking, whether offensive or defensive, McHale has surpassed Mitchell Sampson to become one of the best interior players in the NBA, and his inability to play well against Sampson is largely due to psychological factors.

Perhaps the only thing he's thankful for for McHale is that he's been drafted by teams in the East, while Sampson is in the West, so the two have only met twice this season.

Now, KC Jones hopes that McHale can break the psychological shadow of Sampson and carry the team's offense in the second quarter.

The reason why the Celtics traded Maxwell is not only because the guy is no longer too aggressive, but also because McHale's all-round growth is the most important reason, and he is already the second tactical core of this team.

After the start of the second quarter, the Celtics began to use McHale as a tactical starting point and launched a comprehensive counterattack.

"McHale got the ball in the low post, turned around and hooked his hands... The ball hit the basket, Jones grabbed the rebound, and McHale was a little impatient. ”

Seeing that he missed the hook, McHale clenched his fists and had nowhere to vent, he was indeed too impatient, when facing other defenders, no matter how tall or short the opponent was, McHale had an immobile temperament, able to accurately use his ability, and finally put the ball in the basket.

But in front of Sampson, he always seemed to want to prove something.

"The Trail Blazers counterattacked, Colt pushed very fast, straight to the basket! It didn't go in, but Sampson followed up and made up for it, 35:28, and it was even worse. ”

This is a good habit of the Trail Blazers in the fast break, and the interior players are very fast to follow up, and if the forward guards fail to score the ball in the first place, they can always keep up and make amends.

McHale, still basking in the frustration of not being able to play a single game, neglected to mark Sampson, which caused the Celtics to easily lose two points.

“e-on-guy。 (Come on man)" Bird walked past McHale and pouted at McHale.

Bird and McHale's relationship is not as good as it seems to be on the court, and although both are talented and white, they have completely different personality traits.

Bird is paranoid and competitive, with an almost harsh attitude towards himself and his teammates; And McHale is a happy nature, basketball is not the only thing in his life, he has a lot of other things to enjoy.

Last season, when McHale scored 56 points in a game, setting a single-game scoring record for a Celtics player, Larry Bird went on to blast 60 points in the next game to set a new record.

With such a character, it is destined that it is impossible for the two to become friends.

But Bird also very much agrees with McHale's talent and basketball skills, and also knows that although McHale is not as average as himself, he is also a tough guy player with a desire to win and a strong will.

In normal training, when Bird has an opinion about McHale, he will always use Danny Aigie as a small microphone for Augie to give advice to McHale, and this strange way of communicating continued until the two retired.

But now on the court, Bird still skips the little microphone and goes straight to McHale to encourage him, albeit with a simple word.

McHale took a deep breath, served from the baseline, and after running through half court, continued to stand firmly on the inside.

"McHale asked for position again, Bird held the ball, he hoisted the ball to McHale, McHale dribbled and turned, deceived Sampson, and made a rebound! Nice footwork, McHale, a wonderful up and down step, it's a real pleasing thing to watch him play singles. ”

Johnny Most finally saw McHale's classic step-up and down singles, and couldn't help but be excited.

McHale's footwork on the inside is steady and solid, and his feints are very realistic, a turn and raise his hand, the defender's defensive center of gravity is often offset, at this time McHale switches, the center foot does not move, the other foot takes a step up, the body squeezes past the defender, and a layup gap will be obtained in front of him.

For another player, such a gap may not be enough to be a scoring opportunity, but McHale's slightly thin frame and super long arms come into play, allowing him to drill through the gap and then stretch his arm for an easy layup.

It is by virtue of this move that McHale's singles success rate in the low post is amazing, which also greatly enriches the Celtics' tactical system and makes the Celtics extremely strong this season.

In the ensuing offense, McHale, who found his offensive touch, began to score consecutive points in front of Sampson, and he used all his offensive skills to make Mitchell Sampson look old and completely unable to keep up with McHale's movements.

"McHale takes the ball, rolls over and jumpers! Hit the ball into the basket! 10th point of the second quarter! McHale scored 10 points in a row! The score changed to 40:38, and the Celtics were only two points behind. The Trail Blazers had to call a timeout, they had absolutely no way to restrain McHale, and allow me to call McHale the king of the low posts! ”

played a small half of the court with the second team, and the score was close by the Celtics, and Ramsey also had to call a timeout to make adjustments.

He replaced Mitchell Sampson, a veteran who had been on the court long enough and was beaten a little badly by McHale in the second quarter.

"Your little brother isn't afraid of you anymore, Mitchell." Gan Guoyang, who was sitting on the bench and watching Sampson being beaten, did not forget to ridicule a few words.

"Oh, shut up, Gan, be careful that you get kicked in the ass when you go up." Sampson didn't mind Gan Guoyang's ridicule very much, anyway, Gan Guoyang has always been like this, but Sampson knew in his heart that he really couldn't guard against McHale.

"Gan, don't be verbose, get ready to play." The main lineup of the Trail Blazers is back on the court.

"Yes, let me get McHale." Gan Guoyang didn't want to watch McHale make waves on the inside of the Trail Blazers.

"No, you have your mission, don't you go and defend McHale, leave it to Kenny Carr; You don't try to help defend, do your thing, control fouls, control near the free throw line, don't pinch McHale, don't give the Celtics room to play on the outside, and, more importantly, our offense, remember, keep pressing, keep pressing them. ”

Ramsey has repeatedly emphasised defensive tactics, and if the game is against another team, Ramsey will not hesitate to use Bellman's defensive system, wrapping up the arrows in advance and disrupting the opponent's offensive line with quick rotations.

But the Celtics are different, under the premise that the overall defensive level of the players is not enough, in the face of the Celtics' rash use of this trick, the Trail Blazers will die miserably, so Ramsey responds to all changes with the same, insists on using man-to-man defense, and does not contain McHale.

"Gan, your defense is excellent, but I want you to understand that sometimes you have to learn to give up and do your own thing." Ramsey seemed to be afraid that Gan Guoyang would not be able to control his legs, so he instructed Gan Guoyang separately before going on the court.

Gan Guoyang nodded paradoxically, he thinks that now he is rarely killed by opponents because of "nosy", in the case of the overall individual ability of the Trail Blazers, his supplementary defense and assistance defense are very important, and he does not think that he must give up his style of play in the face of the Celtics.

But the old man's words are always right sometimes, as soon as the timeout ended, Gan Guoyang just came on the court and immediately received two fouls, one was whistled for a defensive foul when he was on the outside with Bird, and the other was whistled for a thug foul when he was defending McHale.

Coupled with a foul in the first quarter, Gan Guoyang was about to be blown off by the referee as soon as he went up.

"Referee, are you trying to mess with me on purpose? Give me two fouls in a row? What a fucking honor I am! Gan Guoyang still wanted to go on the court to suppress McHale's momentum, but he didn't expect to immediately receive two fouls, which was really angry.

Ramsey was even more indignant, yelling at the referee, he just reminded Gan Guoyang to be careful, Gan Guoyang is really a little prince who slaps his face, and his opponent's face is the same as his own face.

But the facts can't be changed, Gan Guoyang, who had just played for a minute, was immediately replaced by Jones, and the situation of the Trail Blazers suddenly became worse again.