Chapter 358: Ye Feng went berserk
If it weren't for Westbrook, it is estimated that the Thunder would have been beaten in the first half. Brooks' strategy www.biquge.info was fine, but he underestimated the strength and resilience of the Trail Blazers' players, which forced Westbrook to take over the team's offense instead of handing over all the shots to Durant.
McMillan is helpless, being chased by the Thunder is no longer a tactical problem, this is completely the star's own outburst, which is the most difficult to deal with. Now the only thing the Trail Blazers can do is to score points against the opposing side, and they already have a lot of pressure to defend Durant, plus a Westbrook, which is a nightmare for any team.
Originally, Matthews's restrictions on Westbrook were still in place, but Matthews needed to focus more on the offensive end when facing Harden, which made his defensive intensity against Westbrook weaken, thus giving Westbrook room to score.
Now all the pressure has come to Ye Feng, the team needs him to cut points, and he needs to compete with Durant and Westbrook. In the first half, Ye Feng had 18 points and six assists, which was not bad, but it was still not enough for McMillan, because Durant and Westbrook combined for 39 points.
At halftime, McMillan specifically talked to Ye Feng about this problem and hoped that he would further strengthen his firepower in the second half. After listening to the head coach's words, Ye Feng nodded calmly and said, "No problem, Sefolosha's defense did have some impact on me, but I can solve it." But I hope my teammates can still give me more support and help me open up space, so that maybe it will make it easier for me to score. ”
When he said these words, Ye Feng didn't deliberately lower his voice, he just wanted his teammates to hear it, although he is now the leader of the team, it is better to communicate some things in advance, and the effect of the head coach giving instructions is much better than shouting loudly on the field. McMillan smiled slightly, clapped his hands vigorously, and said to everyone, "Did you hear that?" Ye is our team's first scoring point, so in the second half, we have to pass the ball in a more timely manner and try to pull away from the Thunder's defensive system, which can make our offense more fluid, understand? ”
Everyone agreed, everyone had an eager expression on their faces, and their eyes were full of surging battle intent. In fact, they all think that the strength of the team is much stronger than the Thunder, and it should not be a problem to win this game, but now Ye Feng must be allowed to support the scoring responsibility, after all, the Trail Blazers have no one else who can compete with the Thunder's two stars in this regard, even Aldridge, he still needs to keep an eye on Ibaka.
After the start of the second half, the Trail Blazers players strictly followed the instructions of the head coach and did their best to help Ye Feng pull the defense and make it easier for him to score. Ye Feng did not disappoint his teammates either, as soon as he came on the court, he hit two three-pointers in a row and also sent a steal to help the Trail Blazers open up the difference again. Sefolosha was already trying to defend him, but the effect was not obvious, Ye Feng switched between having and not having the ball, and the erratic running position made Sefolosha also complain.
In order to limit Westbrook's play, Matthews and Miller swapped defensive targets, which was also approved by McMillan. Obviously, with the current state of every player, Westbrook is much more dangerous than Harden, so he is the more important player, and it is only natural for Matthews to mark the defense. As for Harden, who has been hit a little disconfident, he is like a walking dead on the court, and Miller alone is enough to deal with.
Of course, defending Durant is a very difficult and physically demanding thing, and it is impossible for Cunningham to maintain such defensive intensity for a long time, but fortunately, the Trail Blazers still have Batum, although he is not full-time defensive, but it is still possible to interfere with Durant, which also gives Cunningham time to rest.
However, there is still a big gap between the defensive ability of the two, and Durant will be reactivated every time Cunningham is off the court, and he also caused Batum two personal fouls in a single quarter. But when Ai Yefeng has gone berserk, such a Durant is what the Trail Blazers like to see.
The reason why he dared to put Batum on and play side by side with the starting lineup was something that McMillan had thought deeply. Obviously, the only reliance on the Thunder's rotation lineup is Harden, as the best sixth man this season, Harden has always been the sharp knife on the Thunder's bench, but since Brooks put him on the court in advance, then Batum does not need to play with the bench lineup, limiting Durant is the most important thing at the moment.
Ye Feng, who was full of firepower, scored 15 points in a single quarter in the third quarter, and his personal total score has reached 33 points, and the game has the last full quarter, and it is easy to score more than 40 points. However, for Ye Feng, 33 points in the third quarter was not something to be happy about, and only when he saw that the team was 8 points ahead of the opponent did he show a smile on his resolute face, which was more gratifying than the 15 points he scored in a single quarter.
The Thunder are naturally reluctant to be restrained, but they have too few available soldiers, Durant and Westbrook are the only two strong points in the team, Harden has been completely invisible in such a critical and quite fierce game, Ibaka's few shots can only barely stop the bleeding for the team, and it is really difficult for him to lead the Thunder into the charge, and the only thing he has left is deterrence under the basket.
Superstars can indeed change the outcome of a game on their own, so superstar basketball also has its advantages, that is, there is a backbone at any time, and you can safely hand the ball to him and let him solve the problem. But this is also the disadvantage of superstar basketball, if the star who is regarded as the pillar of the sky cannot find the form for various internal or external reasons, the team can only be slaughtered.
The Thunder are such a team, of course they have two stars, but that doesn't change the nature of their superstar basketball. When Durant and Westbrook are all in the mire and unable to move an inch, the team's disaster will come. This is also the fundamental reason why Ye Feng wanted to change to a point forward, he didn't want to lose the team one day because of his own feeling problems, so he was also willing to strategize while attacking the city, so that he was a more useful and easier to become a leader star.