Chapter Forty-Six: Dirty Defense
In the case of an average shooting feel and no way to break through, Anthony Walker finally changed the way of attacking, and sacrificed his best back-body single, no matter whether Meng Xu let go of himself or not, he arched his back inward, arched to the edge of the penalty area, and then turned his back to jump shot.
After Anthony Walker used this near-rogue method twice in a row to score, Popovich called a timeout.
"Meng, your defense is too clean, do you want to compete for this season's moral style award?" As soon as he returned to the bench, he heard Popovich shouting loudly at Meng Xu.
"Well, I see." Looking at the angry Popovich, Meng Xu nodded. The Spurs are one of the oldest teams in the league with an average age, with obvious shortcomings and many advantages, that is, rich game experience, including David Robinson, Sean Atrio, Avery Johnson, Mario Ellie, Jaren Jackson, are all old ruffians who have been in the league for more than 10 years, in the usual training, Meng Xu has been played by these people a lot, and these people have also taught Meng Xu a lot of offensive and defensive experience, not much Most of them are some small actions, top knees, kick ankles, Stepping on your toes, or even how to use such small movements covertly, including how to escape the eyes of the referee.
A healthy body is the capital of a player, and many of these small actions are dangerous actions, once they are not done well, or they can't grasp the scale, they are likely to cause injuries to the opponent, and I have seen too many talented players because of injuries and are out of the picture, even the former boss of the Spurs, David Robinson also fell from the top because of injuries. So in Meng Xu's heart, he was also a little resistant to these small actions.
"Meng, don't have too much burden, cheers, applause and injuries are all part of the game." Assistant Coach Mike? Budenholzer saw Meng Xu, who had a somewhat strange expression, and comforted him on the side.
After the game restarted, Anthony Walker once again held the ball and played with his back alone, Meng Xu quickly stuck to it, and used all his strength to resist Anthony Walker's back.
"You're really pure enough, don't worry about whether Anthony Walker will get hurt or not, let's think about how you can complete the mission." Just when Meng Xu was still struggling with thoughts in his mind, Anna's voice appeared in his ears at the right time.
After only 3 minutes in the second quarter, Anthony Walker scored 8 points, 3 rebounds, and 1 assist, according to his current offensive momentum, if he can't find an effective way to deal with his back-to-back singles, it is not difficult for Anthony Walker to score 30 points in this game.
"The wicked are the wicked." After making up his mind, Meng Xu resisted Anthony Walker and stretched his right foot forward to less than 5 centimeters away from his heel.
Just when Anthony Walker arched back hard like two times forward, Meng Xu let go of the hands that were pushing Anthony Walker, made a posture that was pushed away by Anthony Walker, and then kicked his right foot towards Anthony Walker's heel.
The moment Anthony Walker exerted his strength, there was no support behind him, and with the sudden pain in his heel, Anthony Walker sat directly on the ground, and the basketball was also out of his hand.
Glancing at Anthony Walker lying on the ground, Meng Xu rushed towards the basketball that rolled to the front court, and after successfully picking up the basketball, Meng Xu won two copies with a one-handed split.
After the dunk, Meng Xu did not celebrate, but quickly ran to Anthony Walker, who had not yet gotten up, and wanted to pull him away.
"Bastard, fuck me off." Anthony Walker, who was pulled up by his teammates, pushed Meng Xu away and limped away.
"Fatty, don't be too arrogant." Seeing Meng Xu being pushed and stumbling, Samaki Walker immediately rushed up and yelled at Anthony Walker. Duncan on the side, Antonio Daniels also quickly surrounded him.
"Samaki, don't be impulsive." With an apology to Anthony Walker, Meng Xu stepped forward and hugged Samaki Walker. Meng Xu is still very grateful to these teammates who stand out for themselves, but now that the team is ahead, the outbreak of conflict will only be detrimental to the Spurs.
Hearing Samaki Walker's roar behind him, Anthony Walker, who had already walked away, finally couldn't control himself and turned back again, and the Celtics players on the court also stepped forward to pull Anthony Walker.
Soon the referee on duty blew a technical foul each for Anthony Walker and Samaki Walker, and a clash that looked like it was about to spark was quelled.
"Boy, you're dirty." Anthony Walker held the ball in one hand, turned sideways to Meng Xu, and when the words fell, Anthony Walker lowered his center of gravity and pressed Meng Xu with his shoulder.
As soon as Anthony Walker exerted his strength, he found that Meng Xu made an exaggerated movement, his body flew backwards, and he lay straight on the ground, and the referee on duty immediately blew Anthony Walker's offensive foul.
"Fack, this kid is faking a fall, he's faking a fall." Seeing Meng Xu clutching his chest with an expression of unbearable pain, Anthony Walker immediately dropped the basketball and went to the referee on duty to theorize.
"Are you questioning my decision?" The referee had a whistle in his hand and stared at Anthony Walker with a serious face.
"Anthony, calm down." Behind him, Pierce immediately pulled Anthony Walker, who was still chattering in his mouth.
"Greg, I'm just now realizing that this kid still has a bit of a brain."
When Meng Xu was pulled up from the ground by other Spurs players, the assistant coach of the Spurs was also a little excited and said in Popovich's ear that Meng Xu's two defenses just now can be said to be very smart. In the case that the body bounce is not as good as the opponent, appropriate small actions can have the effect of getting twice the result with half the effort, and this is basically the unspoken rule in the league, for this kind of secret confrontation between players, the referee on duty is also out of sight, as long as you don't let me see it, you can play casually.
In terms of using small movements, there are many master players in the league, and the Jazz's Stockton is one of the best, and Rodman has publicly criticized him as the dirtiest player in the league, and even said that Stockton has special care in the league.
Popovich is also very satisfied with Meng Xu's performance on the field at the moment, Meng Xu's defensive awareness and prediction are top-notch, but due to the influence of physical fitness, he is often unable to face some players who rely on physical talent to play. And Meng Xu's previous defensive actions were too clean, so clean that Popovich was a little speechless, originally Popovich thought that Meng Xu had little game experience and would not use small actions reasonably, Popovich also instructed some old players of the Spurs to teach Meng Xu some "experience", even if he has used these "experience" very skillfully in the training ground, it is rare to see Meng Xu use these small actions on the field.