Chapter 425: Finals-level defense
As a head coach, there's probably no more humiliating moment than having your players yell, and when you consider the crowd of more than 18,000 spectators, basketball media from all over the world, and dozens of high-definition cameras, it's hard to say it's the worst moment.
Surprisingly, Coach Casey just shook his head and smiled at the 'rude' reaction of Wei Shao, George, and Durant, and did not feel uncomfortable at all. After coaching the NBA for so many years, he understands that Wei Shao's displeasure is not aimed at him, but because the bag can't prevent Zhang Feng.
As for Durant, the reason why he turned around and left is more sufficient, aside from the fact that he is an old teammate, the current LeBron team's tactical plan is completely 'supporting' Zhang Feng, and he doesn't take enough care of Curry.
The most important thing is that even if Wei Shao said 'it's just a show', he couldn't hide his desire to win the game.
Thinking about this, Coach Casey put away his smile, turned to LeBron and said:
"Unexpected situation, now I have two sets of tactical plans. First, continue to contain Zhang Feng defensively, and fight with him more offensively; Second, in defense, he used infinite change of defense to deal with Zhang Feng, except for passing, he was not allowed to have other operations, and he was also far away from him offensively, and Energizer made him contact the ball less. Which one to use, do you communicate with them? ”。
LeBron nodded after listening, he understood the purpose of Coach Casey asking him to convey tactics, he is the absolute boss of this team, the interim coach is not good at speaking, he should definitely be out of the game.
As for the specific tactics, LeBron decided to use 'infinite change of defense + stay away from Zhang Feng', the reason is very simple, Wei Shao doesn't like it, if he wants to forcibly wrap up, Wei Shao's emotions come up, and with George and Durant, the whole team will be abolished 3 people.
After making up his mind, LeBron walked to the sideline, and after sending the ball to Wei Shao, he ran to Wei Shao's side and whispered a few words. The expression on Wei Shao's face immediately turned to anger, and the speed of advancing with the ball was much faster.
After crossing the halfway line, Wei Shao didn't wait for Zhang Feng to lean towards him, and threw the ball directly to Durant at the top of the arc.
It was obviously not a wise move to let Harden defend Dulat, Zhang Feng immediately returned to the pistol and planned to go up to help defend, but Durant immediately threw the ball to LeBron on the right wing.
In Zhang Feng's opinion, LeBron almost read 64 open against Brother Alphabet, and he really couldn't prevent it, so he stopped and stood on the left wing and began to observe.
LeBron's style of play is also simple, close to Brother Alphabet, after grabbing the landing space, go directly to the inside, Brother Alphabet can't bear it, he can only use his arm span to interfere, but LeBron's center of gravity is very low, and there is no possibility of dropping the ball.
2 points were scored, Brother Alphabet walked to the bottom line to serve helplessly, Zhang Feng nodded at him after receiving the ball, intending to tell him: "Help you get back to the field immediately!"
Brother Alphabet smiled in response, and the two crossed the middle line with their front and back feet, and then Zhang Feng slowed down and beckoned Brother Alphabet to cooperate with the blocking.
used cover to break through, and then passed back to Brother Alphabet, so that he could hit LeBron off guard, Zhang Feng's plan was like this.
But the plan can't keep up with the change, as soon as Brother Alphabet got close to Wei Shao, George blocked it, and Zhang Feng could only change the plan and planned to pass the ball to Curry.
But if you look closely, LeBron is already standing next to Curry. If you give Brother Alphabet at this time, not only will there be no meaning of 'getting back on the court', but it may not be able to score, after all, the biggest advantage of Brother Alphabet's offense is that he is agile and elegant, and now a group of people are crowded near the free throw line, and there is really not much space for him to play.
There is no way, I can only come by myself, Zhang Feng dribbled to the right to break through, and after a few steps, he was caught up by Wei Shao, and the two began to fight for muscles and hand speed again, the more they went to the inner line, the smaller the chance for Zhang Feng to change direction and break through.
came and went, and the offensive time was delayed a lot, Zhang Feng gritted his teeth and retreated, and came to shoot a dry pull.
"Bang Dang" hit the iron, and the thick eyebrows got the rebound.
LeBron, Durant, and George are fast at the same time, and on the side of Zhang Feng's team, it is Harden, Curry, and Embiid who is chasing the defense.
In the chaos, Durant grabbed the basketball, and Embiid immediately stepped forward to block it, but before he could run to the position, the basketball had already flown to LeBron on the right sideline.
Just when everyone thought that the unguarded LeBron would shoot a 3-pointer, he took advantage of the situation and threw the ball in the direction of the basket.
"DANG!", George completed the empty catch, and the audience, who had been suppressed for several minutes, also burst into shouts, as if blowing the horn of the LeBron team's counterattack.
Turning back to attack, Zhang Feng took the ball across the half court, Wei Shao stepped forward to defend, and Embiid arced to block and dismantle.
So in order to eat a trench and grow a wisdom, in the same situation in the last round, Zhang Feng started a little slower, and was basketed by George, this time Zhang Feng bypassed Wei Shao and went straight to the basket.
But as soon as he rushed to the free throw line, he was blocked by Durant, and at the same time, the thick eyebrows who were responsible for defending Embiid just now also rushed to Harden's side early.
In exactly the same situation, the audience suddenly had a feeling that they were watching a replay.
But this is where the LeBron team is so powerful, the five people on their court, except for Wei Shao, everyone can defend from the basket to the three-point line, so they change the defense infinitely, and any blocking and pick-and-roll is useless.
And Zhang Feng's biggest advantage - speed, lethality is also greatly reduced, each position does not need to move in a large area, sit and wait for Zhang Feng to rush to them.
Fortunately, Zhang Feng's reaction was fast enough, he directly pulled out and jumped out, even if he hit the iron, he couldn't give the 'LeBron team' too much time to prepare for a fast attack.
If the iron really hits, there are only George and Zhang Feng under the basket at this time, and the basketball does not jump too far, if Zhang Feng wants to grab the rebound, it must be thankless.
So he immediately decided to return to the defense quickly, but unfortunately it was still a step too late, George grabbed the rebound and made a long pass on the backhand, and LeBron received the ball at the 3-point line and went straight to the basket like a tank to score.
After two rounds, the LeBron team not only showed strong defensive pressure, but also showed a super fast break level, and Zhang Feng's team was in a very unfavorable situation.
But unlike Coach Casey calling a timeout when he sees something is wrong, De Antony remains firmly seated in his chair as if nothing has happened.
So, for the rest of the second quarter, Zhang Feng attacked with the ball several times, almost all of which were defended by the LeBron team.
At halftime, Zhang Feng's team not only had no lead, but also lost to LeBron by 10 points.
"Tonight's game was interesting, it's a level of defense comparable to the Finals," Barkley laughed.
"LeBron's infinite change of defense completely locked Zhang Feng. Speaking of which, Zhang Feng has been in the league for almost a year, and I haven't seen him so miserable, tonight the fans of the Rockets and Warriors should be very happy, they used this method to defend Zhang Feng in the playoffs, don't say it, this is the same as the Spurs defense Curry at the beginning, and the infinite change of defense is really powerful" Kenny sighed.
"No one can succeed casually, and tonight is so miserable, it is actually beneficial to him", seeing Zhang Feng deflated, O'Neill actually had a slight smile on his face.