Richard. Hamilton's worries weren't unfounded, as he did not score again throughout the first quarter. Even, not a single shot was given.

Stephenson would stare at the defender who was used to wearing a mask to play with his retarded eyes, and then defeat him with his tenacity and strong body.

No matter how Hamilton runs, Stephenson is always with him. Henson. Joe's "torture plan" was implemented from the first quarter of the game.

Until Thibodeau was very "reluctant" to replace the main lineup, the Bulls did not succeed in narrowing the difference. The Pacers used a particularly tough defense from the beginning to take an 8-point lead!

"The first quarter ended with the Bulls trailing by eight points. That's not a good sign, and the Pacers seem to have taken their defense to playoff level. And the Bulls, they're still competing against them in the regular season! "Kenny. Smith immediately spotted the difference in the way the two sides approached the game, with the Bulls players not ready for the playoffs and the Pacers already seeing the game as a preview of the playoffs.

"Coach Thibodeau would like his players to play playoff level toughness as well, but the problem is that his team doesn't have that physical foundation. You know, Coach Henson's Pacers have been on and off for nearly a month. Their players are hungry to fight, and it's the kind of fight that is incredibly tough! ”

At this point, the commentary basically uses the praise on Henson. This kind of thing was absolutely unbelievable last season.

It can only be said that Henson has fully proved his ability with another season of performance.

After the start of the second quarter, the Pacers' tough defense remained. Henson "intensified" his substitution of Green and brought on Leonard, who has improved so much this season.

As a result, Ross and Lohr. Deng's two of Thibodeau's most relied on scoring points were almost dumb. The Bulls' offense could only be supported by Noah and Boozer for a while.

Noah and Boozer aren't out of the question, but if a team is going to rely on these two guys to score, how bad will their offense be.

In fact, it's not that the Bulls' offense is bad, it's that the Pacers' defense is just too good!

Rose's breakthrough will always be predicted and stopped by Paul, and even if he succeeds, the Pacers' interior will be the first to make up for it. Unless a foul is drawn, Rose simply won't get any scoring opportunities.

Lohr. Deng's side is even worse, originally as a tall No. 3 position, he has a very obvious height and arm span advantage, and can often play the best of the opponent's striker.

But in front of Leonard, Lore. Deng's advantage was instantly wiped out. Those big hands always covered his vision at all times, so that he couldn't even touch the basket. And a pair of long arms tied the British like ropes to the point where they could not move.

Thibodeau for Lore. Deng drew a lot of off-ball offensive tactics, but Lore. Deng didn't run out of Leonard's entanglement.

The offensive tactics could not be executed, and Rose only singled. And when Rose's solo play didn't work, his only option was to break through and attract the defense and split the ball to either Noah or Boozer.

But Henson doesn't care about Noah and Boozer's dunks again and again, these two guys are defensive interior players, and their offense is unkillable. As long as you can contain Ross or Lore. Deng, Coach Thibodeau's offense is no threat at all!

"Henson, do you want to call a timeout for Eldo to keep an eye on the penalty area?" Seeing that Noah received another pass after Rose's breakthrough and easily dunked it, Vogel leaned into Henson's ear and whispered a reminder.

As a defensive specialist, Vogel's philosophy is to try not to let everyone on the opposing side score, not to let the opposition's number one star score. So seeing Boozer and Noah dunk easily again and again, Vogel must be a little hairy in his heart. To put it bluntly, Vogel's defensive philosophy has made him more perfect.

Henson waved his hand, "Don't worry, the Bulls can't be considered an offense, only a leak, have you ever seen anyone who can win the game by picking up leaks?" Wait, if nothing else, Thibodeau is about to be replaced. ”

Unlike Vogel, Henson doesn't seek to keep all five players from scoring, but only to keep the opponent's offensive points from scoring. Because Henson has always believed that a team can kill the game only with the main scoring points.

Of course, this defensive thinking doesn't work for all teams. Take, for example, the Indiana Pacers themselves. Because the Pacers started five people, all of them were the main scoring points!

"Substitution?" Hearing what Henson said, Vogel turned his head to look at the bench in the other half. Sure enough, Thibodeau has already started to rush the substitute players to the technical table to prepare!

'Thibodeau needs attacking points, more attacking points. When the time comes, Frank, the defense will be done as you want. ”

Finally, when one of Noah's basket offenses was interfered with by Horford and didn't score, the Bulls' "lifeline" seemed to suddenly disappear.

Horford made a long pass in the backcourt, and the Pacers counterattacked very quickly. The exhausted Bulls were exhausted and had no choice but to interrupt George's impact with an early foul.

The game is dead, and Thibodeau is really replaced! He used Korver to replace Lore, who was being tortured by Leonard to the point of madness. and so on, replacing the inactive Hamilton with Brewer, and replacing Boozer with Gibson. These three have one thing in common – they're the best scorers off the Bulls' bench!

"You see, Thibodeau also knows they can't rely on Noah and Boozer to score. So, he switched to three scoring points in one go. Henson was proud because he had once again predicted what the other man was thinking!

"So......" Vogel's eyes lit up, it was time to show the strongest defense!

"The next timeout, you call, and the tactical arrangement is up to you. You know what to do, Frank. Henson smiled at his assistant, but of course, that smile wasn't very sunny.

After one round, the Pacers took a timeout. It was discovered that Henson. Joe remained seated at the Diaoyu Tai, while assistant coach Vogel picked up the tactics board and drew for the players.

After a brief timeout, the Pacers also changed formations. The outside lineup remained the same, with Vogel replacing David with "Birdman" Anderson. West. What Horford and Anderson, two centers can bring to the Pacers when they're on the court at the same time, Henson has shown more than once in previous games.

And Horford will not suffer a loss in height if he defends the No. 4 position.

A set of lineups with very top defensive ability in five positions were placed in front of Thibodeau, who loves to play defense the most. A coach obsessed with defense ends up having to contend with a desperate defensive set-up.

Thibodeau's heart "chuckled", as if it had fallen into a trough. Satirize...... Really ironic!

※※※

Doug. Collins made himself a cup of coffee, held it in the palm of his hand, but he couldn't swallow it.

It's not that the coffee tastes bad, it's that he doesn't feel good at this time.

Although for the 76ers, tomorrow is the last day of their regular season. But tomorrow's game will not have any impact on the 76ers. Even if Ming wins, the 76ers will not be able to overtake the Knicks. Eighth in the East is the final ranking of the 76ers this season.

The 76ers were able to make the playoffs, and Collins, as the head coach, was naturally very happy. But it didn't take long for him to realize that the opponent of the 76ers' first-round game seemed destined to be the magical Indiana Pacers!

Originally, Collins' imaginary enemy had always been the Bulls, and he also tried to use the physical exhaustion of the Bulls players to create a miracle and create a black eight miracle!

Now, however, watching the Bulls be completely locked up by the Pacers' defense, Thibodeau can't do anything about it. Collins knew that Chicagoans were only afraid of bad luck. Of course, correspondingly, the Philadelphia 76ers' playoff prospects are also clouded.

As a basketball player who entered the industry in '69, played in the NBA, competed in the Olympics and served as a head coach, Collins can be said to have witnessed the evolution and growth of basketball as a game over the decades.

The defensive tactics of basketball have gradually become clear from the 80s to the formation of the defensive school in the 90s, and until now, defense has occupied an increasingly important tactical position like offense.

Originally, basketball was just a game to see who could shoot more balls. But now, many coaches are very happy to turn it into a game of "who can make the opponent throw more balls".

And tonight, the Pacers took this game to the extreme, leaving the Bulls with no way out!

Collins simply turned off the TV and stopped watching the game. Because the longer he watches it, the more he will have the illusion that "all the people who are tortured on the court are 76ers players".

As for the dream of the Black Eight Miracle...... This season, I'm afraid it's unlikely to happen......

.。 m.