Chapter 336: Not Improved
"Your sophomore point guard has a pretty strong sense of winning, Dwyan. ◢ With *Dream * Little ◢.1a" LeBron James smiled at Wade as he walked back to his position, he probably didn't realize that he was bluffed by Addison's sharp answer just now, so that the ridicule he said to Wade was a bit like a cover for surprise.
"That's why I admire him, and who is not a little paranoid who is qualified to take my place?" Wade said casually as he rubbed his magnesium powder palm, and his nonsensical tone surprised LBJ even more. While Wade is a fairly mild presence among the league's team leaders, he has never said anything like 'who can take over my team', either in front of the media or in private. However, today he casually said that Addison was qualified to take over, which had to make James look sideways at his friend.
- Is 33 years old in Wade's eyes an age where he can afford to put it down? Is the Heat ready to push that dark-haired, yellow-skinned sophomore to the leadership of the team? These questions LBJ will never ask if he can't think clearly, he knows what is a public problem and what is a private problem.
Cleveland's home court has never been easy to conquer, and since James' return, the Quick Loan Center has been one of the biggest devils in the league, not to mention that it is still a place with special hostility towards Addison. The Clevelanders began to be noisy ever since the two teams were in the middle of the court, and the referee on duty walked into the middle of the field amid the noise and routinely gave a few words to the two center forwards, Mozgov and Whiteside.
"Jumping Ball !!" Kevin Harlan shouted as the action symbolized the official start of the game, "The Heat won the opening game!" Mozgov has an advantage in height, but his jumping ability is far worse than that of Whiteside! ”
Addison won the basketball without any danger and led the team to the frontcourt. The Cavaliers put Morris Williams in the starting position instead of sending Matthew Dellavedova on, as Addison envisioned to rely on Morris's shooting ability, and the 32-year-old point guard averaged a total of 142 points and 62 assists per game last season, which is definitely there. However, this noble point guard of less than 6 feet 1 inch is not so good on the defensive end, and he is not even as dangerous as Kyrie Irving, who is cheering up.
Addison, who was at the top of the arc, did not slow down the rhythm to observe the command as usual, but suddenly kicked the ground with both feet to instantly soar the speed, and the extremely fast start speed allowed him to grab the same position as Morris Williams in one step! Morris, who hadn't reacted yet, was shocked and wanted to turn around and block it as soon as possible, but his muscle strength was not as good as Addison's, and he was directly wiped by the Chinese point guard and rushed in under the hasty confrontation!
"Ha, Addison can finally enjoy the thrill of breaking through with his physical advantage?! Morris was too poor defensively in the first round, both physically and consciously! Barkley sarcastically said to Morris Williams with a wide mouth, "Addison is only two centimeters taller than him at most, and his weight is even inferior to him...... In this way, you can actually be broken through by the opponent in an accelerated straight line?! ”
Addison, who passed Morris, went straight to the free throw line area, and Mozgov and Kevin Love were not fast enough to help defend, not to mention that Lefu was also seriously involved in Bosh's defensive energy, and he couldn't make up for it at the first time. Addison made an easy free-throw line jumper before Mozgov pounced from under the basket, and his good mid-range shooting allowed him to hit the net on the first shot and score the opening two points for the Heat.
At this time, less than 10 seconds had passed since the opening, and Addison could be said to have snatched two points, which made the quick loan center, which had just been full of noise, suddenly fall silent. But the Clevelands weren't going to watch their already hostile Chinese kid brag on their home turf, and the next moment boos poured out from all directions like instinct. Addison's solo slashing and slashing performance in the playoffs last season has made the Clevelanders a little bit uncomfortable with him, and they're worried that this guy will be as lethal every time he plays against the Cavaliers from now on.
In the absence of Kyrie Irving, the Cavaliers basically have all the ball in the hands of James, who will coordinate the team's offense. Kevin Love has now almost completely become a functional interior line that is to score under the basket in addition to wandering on the three-point line and preparing to catch and shoot, once the Timberwolves had both high and low post offense, and BJ could give up part of the ball and score in order to seek tacit understanding with Kyrie Irving**, but it is completely impossible for the No. 3 person of the team like Kevin Love, since Love is willing to come to the team for honor and championship, then he has to make corresponding functional sacrifices...... Just like Chris Bosh back then.
The Cavaliers' offense is a little different from last season's playoffs, mainly because Kevin Love, who returned from injury, replaced Tristan Thompson as the starter, and all the players except Mozgov were at the three-point line, and James held the ball at the top of the arc for a panoramic view. This kind of placement is more difficult for the Heat to defend, but the return of a master of helping to change defenses like Chris Bosh can also make them more solid defensively than in last season's playoffs, and the full-strength Heat team is not comparable to the Heat team in the playoffs.
James, who lowered his center of gravity in front of the three-point line at the top of the arc, no longer used any fancy skills against old opponents like Ruer Deng, and directly stretched his muscles to force a breakthrough along the right side. Spoelstra's defensive strategy against James has not changed, and it is still to minimize the number of packs and rotate personnel to consume LBJ's physical strength as much as possible. The Heat team does not have the Warriors' high-quality 'Death Five' lineup for infinite defensive changes, they can only adopt the strategy of forward marking + interior defense to try to consume James, and the rest of the players are focused on cutting off James from his teammates. This season, the Heat has hoarded four tall and strong guard swingmen on the front line, Ruhr Deng, Gerard Green, Hollis Jefferson, and Josh Richardson, and Dwyane Wade and McRoberts can also be invested in the rotation of James consumption if necessary, and Spoelstra can send more people than last season, not to mention that the current Cavaliers do not have Kyrie Irving to involve defensive energy.
James was blocked by Whiteside before he burst into the three-second zone, but he forced a quick stop with his super personal ability and body control, turned and jumped back, and used his left hand to avoid the interference of Whiteside and Ruhr Deng and threw the basketball into the net. This seemingly heavy and clumsy basket turned around, but it revealed a taste of great ingenuity, which made Addison's eyes shine. James paid Olajuwon to teach him how to use his steps under the basket in the summer of 2011, and now it seems that he can't learn the dexterous movements of 'Big Dream', but he has also developed his own characteristics and essence.
"Be more cautious and pay attention to all his movements!" Spoelstra clapped his hands and admonished Ruhrden and Whiteside, while also signaling the team to continue defending in this way.
"The Miamians' defensive tactics are no different from last season's playoffs, and it seems that Coach Spoelstra is confident that his strategy is not wrong." Kenny Smith saw the calm command of the head coach of the Heat, "I still didn't see the Heat's front line wrapping up when LBJ was attacking just now, and they are still implementing a combination of one-man marking and interior defense. ”
"There's nothing wrong with that, Kenny, and it's going to be a problem for a player of James' calibre to be blind and find a balance between scoring and assisting. Think about it if James scores 30 points in a game and the Cavaliers have five or six players in double figures, they won't lose the game unless their defense is terrible. Reggie Miller said calmly, "The key to defending the Cavaliers is to limit players other than James and make him as isolated as possible...... Of course, on this basis, you must also do a good job of attacking, otherwise a player like LBJ may really destroy a team by himself. ”
'Yes, players like us can do that.' Barkley, as always, seized the opportunity to put gold on his face, but he also put on a serious expression. Kevin Harlan couldn't help but laugh next to him, so he had to cover his face with his hands and shrug his shoulders.
On the court, the Heat had already launched an offense, and Addison had no intention of speeding up the team in the opening period, dribbling the ball across the half court step by step. Looking at Maurice Williams, who was very lustful and a little unkind in front of him, he smiled disapprovingly, his eyes looked at the half-time situation but his mouth couldn't stop: "Did my breakthrough just now hit your dignity, old bird?" Don't keep a straight face, if you don't mind, how about I tell you a joke? ”
Morris snorted coldly, and the defensive moves were more rigorous. He knew that his defensive ability was not good, but it was easy to pass it by such a sophomore as a background board at the beginning, which made him a little embarrassed. Morris is a player who is very interested in the so-called old qualifications, as can be seen from how he treated Yi Jianlian when he was with the Bucks.
"Don't you want to hear it? Forget it, it's actually funny to me......" The Chinese point guard babbled but slammed the ball to the left in the next moment. Morris tried to move his feet to follow, but was firmly blocked by Bosh, who had already moved, and watched Addison get out of his defensive range.
Kevin Love hurriedly brought it up and wanted to block the opponent, but saw the Chinese point guard pull the ball with his left hand, and his body moved over to the left corner again. Love and Morris Williams, who got out of the screen, pounced on each other, and they both knew how high Addison's shooting percentage was from mid-range, but it gave the opposition a definite opportunity, and a lob pass from his left hand put the basketball back into the hands of Bosh, who was parked in the high post and did not go down.
J.R. Smith on the flank saw this and came over to make up for it, and Bosh took advantage of the situation to distribute the ball again to Wade, who was released on the right side. 'The Flash' didn't let go of this opportunity, dribbling to the three-point line and then pulling it up directly with his right hand and shaking lightly, the ball shot straight into the net and hit the heart!
David Blatter, who was on the sidelines, frowned, they were hurt again and again by the Heat team led by Addison in the playoffs last season, and even lost the opportunity to hit the championship in the finals because of a serious loss in the middle distance. But now it seems that the Clevelands have not been able to improve their inability to guard the mid-range, and they have conceded points too easily in the opening two rounds.