In a way, the Trail Blazers' current starting interior is flawed on the defensive end. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Although Oden has shown his defensive talent, he is still a traditional stump-style interior in the final analysis, allowing him to stand under the basket to protect the basket is okay, and it is really difficult for him to pull out to defend, at most he can switch to small players when the opponent is playing blocking and dismantling.

Aldridge is a bit quicker and he's an interior player who likes to shoot from mid-range, but he's not tough enough to use his height to cover opponents, and no one expects him to be able to stretch his line to the entire three-point line like a defensive gate.

But in the face of Popovich's big four lineup with Duncan as the axis, these two guys are a little useless, Oden can't defend it, and Aldridge can't guard each other. This makes McMillan a little nerve-wracking, who is going to use to play the center position?

It's not that the Trail Blazers can't play one big or four small, as long as Batum plays the small forward position, Ye Feng can continue to play against Leonard, but the previous big and four small center is Aldridge, and it is obvious that Aldridge can't play a positive role now.

After thinking about it, McMillan set his sights on Hickson, who was signed in the middle of the season, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt that it made perfect sense to put Hickson in the number five position in the small-ball lineup, and it was likely to work very well, as long as he was positive enough.

Although Hickson is only 2.06 meters tall, he is a very tough and hard-hitting insider. The 24-year-old is in the prime of his career, with no shortage of jumping, strength or movement speed, and although he is at a disadvantage in height, he should have no problem pestering Duncan.

After deciding on the idea, McMillan told the players about his plan as soon as possible, and everyone was taken aback and looked at Hickson, who was also confused. Aldridge and Oden, in particular, had undisguised suspicion on their faces, but out of respect for the manager, no one said anything.

However, in order to dispel everyone's doubts, McMillan still made an explanation, he coughed lightly, and said: "Everyone has performed well in the first few games, but Popovich's big four and small lineup is no longer suitable for the two of you to play." As he spoke, he nodded apologetically to Oden and Aldridge.

"I won't talk about the specific reasons here, but I think everyone will see what happened in the last game. The reason why JJ was chosen as the starting center was all about limiting Duncan's play, and I believe he can accomplish this difficult task. Okay, tell me if you can do it? ”

McMillan said this last sentence to Hickson, and everyone stared at him. Although Oden and Aldridge were not very convinced, they still hoped that Hickson could cope with this errand, after all, what the manager said still made some sense.

Hickson, who was receiving the attention of his teammates for the second time, swallowed his saliva and whispered, "Such words...... Let me try it! ”

McMillan said impatiently, "Didn't you have breakfast?" Is it okay to be louder? And I don't want to hear words like give it a try! You can either come down or just say you can't do it, I don't want to hear a third answer, you know? ”

Hickson gritted his teeth, raised his head and shouted, "No problem, please believe me!" ”

McMillan said with a smirk: "I hope you do what you say." You know, guarding Duncan is a guarantee that we will win the next game, as long as you can limit him, or even lock him outright, then the team is guaranteed to advance, but if you can't......"

Hickson snorted and whispered, "Then the team may suffer a reversal and see the opponent advance to the finals......"

Ye Feng stepped forward, patted him on the shoulder, and said with a smile: "That's not so dangerous, but in this case, it will be difficult for the team to crack Popovich's tactics, and it will take more effort to beat them, even if they reach the finals, the probability of winning the championship again will be much lower, so let's work hard!" ”

Hickson nodded gratefully, and was pulled by the assistant coach to watch Duncan's game tape.

After the team meeting, McMillan left Oden and Aldridge to appease them for a while, but fortunately, they are good-natured players, and after making it clear, they naturally accepted their substitute status, and how to say that they also contributed to the team's victory!

For the lineup of one big and four small, Ye Feng is very familiar with them, and only Hickson is not familiar with it. You must know that last season, many times McMillan would send a big four, small or even five small lineup in order to play fast, whether it is the backcourt or the wing players are very familiar.

Then they need to let Hickson enter the state as soon as possible, after all, before that, Hickson only played as the main player in the second and third seasons of the Cavaliers, and at that time the Cavaliers were James's team, and there was no need to play any big and four small lineups, Hickson was more used as a blue-collar insider, and how to make him temporarily act as the "big" of one big and four small is indeed a problem.

On the defensive end, Hickson doesn't need to be very familiar, he just needs to rely on his movement speed to entangle Duncan in the high post, and by the way, he can return to the defense in time to block other Spurs players who slipped to the back door and cut to the basket, but on the offensive end he can't stand idly by.

In fact, an interior player like Duncan is the most suitable interior core for a big four small, because he has a good passing hand, but Hickson does not, and this is the fifth season of his career, and only once has he averaged more than one assist per game. It's unrealistic to want him to be the heart of the playmaking in the high post, and it would be nice for him to be able to pass the ball to his teammates when the time comes, and don't expect to find a gap or something.

So in McMillan's view, Hickson still has to play the Trail Blazers' conventional tactics on the offensive end, such as blocking and pick-and-roll. While it's okay to go straight to the rim with his size, he actually made 23.7 percent of his shots from close range and shot 55.8 percent from the field with the Trail Blazers this season, which is basically enough. However, the Trail Blazers didn't expect him to score, and grabbing more offensive rebounds under the basket to complete the second offense was what McMillan wanted him to do.

Although the effect of the training was significant, no one could say what it would be like before the official game, and with the fifth game still being held in San Antonio, could Hickson, who had been entrusted with the task, really be able to accomplish this seemingly impossible task?