In Michael Reed's absence, Qiao Hai's first thought of adjusting was to let Andre Iguodala play the No. 2 position, with Andre Iguodala's height and speed, playing the No. 2 position will not suffer at all.

"Give Andre the ball, with his impact, there should be no problem averaging eighteen or nine points per game, and the lack of offense brought by Michael can make up for more than half."

Qiao Hai thought simply and rudely, and naturally had a lot of questions, so the other assistant coaches on the coaching staff quickly raised questions.

"Andre's regular scoring methods are still different from Michael's, and he can't completely replace Michael."

Qiao Hai nodded: "That's right, Andre has Andre's way of playing, and Michael is Michael, but our tactics can also be changed accordingly to adapt to Andre." ”

"What about Michael's three-point threat? Andre's three-pointer is mediocre, which can't be filled. ”

Qiao Hai thought for a while: "Then let Danny start." ”

Danny Granger's three-point stellar could replace Michael Reed to some extent, but at the same time, the Bobcats' tactics will definitely have to make some changes.

……

On December 30, in the first game after Michael Reed's injury, the Bobcats played the Phoenix Suns at home, a small-ball vs. small-ball offensive battle, and it was also Joe's passing attack against Mike De'Anthony's running bomb.

In this game, Qiao Hai made adjustments to the starting lineup according to the final result discussed by the coaching staff, Andre Iguodala and Danny Granger started, and other positions remained unchanged.

For the Bobcats, this game is also a test, and whether or not Michael Reed's roster can win against the Suns will be related to whether the Bobcats can maintain their excellent performance in the first two months of the regular season in the coming month.

On the Suns' side, the starting five are point guard Steve Nash, scoring guard Ragabel, small forward Joe Johnson, power forward Amare Sta Damayr and center Ate Thomas.

Stadamire won the jump ball and the Suns took the lead in the opening game.

In the opening game, Nash held the ball against Paul's one-on-one defense, accelerated and failed to completely pass Paul, and then chose to divide the ball on the side.

Joe Johnson barely received the ball, just controlled it, and then it was cut off by Andre Iguodala.

The Bobcats broke the ball and counterattacked directly.

Even without Michael Reed, the Bobcats' counterattack was still extremely sharp, and the front court instantly formed a four-on-three, Danny Granger pulled to the sideline, straight into the bottom corner, Chris Paul burst through the middle, followed by Josh Smith.

Andre Iguodala, who held the ball, flanked into the penalty area, followed by a pass, and Josh Smith dunked again!

McBrin in the commentary box then exclaimed: "It's Josh Smith's dunk again, and it's almost exactly the same plot as the Christmas War!" ”

The Bobcats scored two points first, and then, with the Suns' offense, they directly began to pick up the pace.

Steve Nash received the ball in the backcourt and passed the half very quickly, and then, the front court directly covered a Stoudamire, and after the cover, the Bobcats changed defenses, and Nash misplaced against Josh Smith.

Faced with a misplaced opportunity, Nash took two more steps, made a quick stop jump shot, and with a bang, a soft hand hit a hollow ball.

2:2, the two teams are tied.

The Bobcats served from the backcourt and also passed the half very quickly, with Chris Paul picking up Perkins' cover as soon as he arrived in the frontcourt.

After the cover, the Suns' defense was not as good as the Bobcats, and they had to choose between delays and pinching to force Paul to split the ball.

Paul didn't hesitate either, splitting the ball directly to the left, and Andre Iguodala, who came out of the inside line, received the ball and got a direct shot.

He shot directly, but with a bang, the basketball smashed the frame, bounced out, and didn't go in.

"That's the gap between Andre and Michael, if it's Michael, this goal will definitely go in."

In the coach's seat, Elvin Gentry shook his head, Andre Iguodala's impact can make up for Michael Reed's lack to some extent, but from a tactical point of view, Iguodala still can't compare to Michael Reed.

Michael Reed can pull up space, Iguodala can't do that just yet, or rather, he's not that much of a threat to space.

The Suns grabbed the backcourt rebound, and then rushed up, directly playing a wave of counterattacks, and the Bobcats' retreat was also very fast, with three defenses in the backcourt.

The Suns forced their way in, the Bobcats opted for a one-on-one defense, and Joe Johnson shook off Iguodala's defense and scored a layup.

The Bobcats' offense, the pick-and-roll of Paul and Josh Smith on the outside, the Suns still chose to delay and pinch shots.

On the Bobcats' side, after blocking the dismantling, Josh Smith went down, received Paul's pass, rushed to the basket and jumped up, another violent dunk.

The Suns' offense, Steve Nash continued to hold the ball, and under his leadership, the Suns' offense was still playing extremely fast.

In this ball, Nash found Xiao Si to cooperate, and also played a block.

After blocking and dismantling, the Bobcats chose to change defenses, Nash passed the ball to Xiao Si, Xiao Si hit Paul and faced Paul, directly crushed into the basket and turned around for a layup.

The Bobcats' offense, they hit the iron again, Paul held the ball, found Iguodala to cooperate, but the outside space could not be opened, and after Paul held the ball and burst strongly, he couldn't make a strong shot.

At this stage of the game, the effect of Iguodala replacing Michael Reid can be regarded as a manifestation.

The Bobcats were running out of space in their offense, and even Mike D'Antony noticed it, shouting from the sidelines and making adjustments.

The Suns soon began to shrink their defense, limiting the Bobcats' small area of coordination.

Over the next few rounds, the Bobcats hit back-to-back irons as the Suns began to extend their lead.

Qiao Hai's reaction was not slow, he quickly paused, made adjustments, and asked the players on the court to increase the number of breakthroughs, increase the number of passes, to a certain extent, to make up for the lack of space, and the offensive end began to score again.

The Bobcats quickly took the lead, and as the opening deficit continued to shrink by the Bobcats, the difference between them and the Suns gradually became apparent.

"With two teams that are also small balls, the Bobcats seem to have the better defense, or that's why the Bobcats have a better record so far this season." McBrin said.

Mav Albert shook his head and interjected: "The Bobcats' defense can be said to be in the top ten in the league, and if it weren't for too many offensive rounds, their defensive statistics could even rank in the top three in the league, but Phoenix Suns, do they have defense?" ”

McBrin smiled, indeed, Mike D'Anthony's ball was a little more aggressive, and there seemed to be no concept of defense.

And the Bobcats' small ball, defense has become very important, Qiao Hai will even often emphasize defense, he believes that the offense wins the game, the defense wins the championship This sentence is correct.

……

The first quarter ended quickly, with the Bobcats trailing the Suns by four points at 23-27.