Losing the game, the Spurs did not delay and rushed back to San Antonio overnight. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

The nightlife in Los Angeles is a well-known lure for any NBA team, and although the average age of the Spurs led by Duncan is on the older side, the Spurs veterans led by Duncan are all a bunch of sullen men, who are crazier than the youngsters if they really play.

Popovich doesn't want the Spurs to become a soft-footed shrimp team. If the game is won and the team sweeps the Lakers 4-0, Popovich doesn't mind the Spurs staying overnight in Los Angeles and enjoying the nightlife of Los Angeles. But now that the game is lost, the Spurs are going to return to San Antonio immediately.

On the plane, many of the players were already drowsy, but Spurs head coach Popovich seemed to be in good spirits, holding the tablet and watching the replay of the game.

"That's fast!" Popovich looked at Zhang Guan's breakthrough and couldn't help but sigh.

"It's really fast, and it reminds me of Iverson." Another voice rang out, and Popovich turned around to see Duncan already approaching.

Popovich began to officially coach the Spurs in 1996, and Duncan entered the Spurs as a champion in 1997, and the two have worked together for 17 years, so they naturally have a tacit understanding. For Popovich, Duncan was both a disciple, a partner, and a friend.

"At first glance, I also think of Iverson, but if you look closely, Zhang Guan and Iverson are still different. Their breakthroughs are all just as fast, and they are hard to guard against. But Iverson's breakthrough goal is to score directly, and he often chooses to shoot in the open position after shaking opponents away, and Zhang Guan's breakthrough is obviously aimed at free throws, which he is more like Harden. Popovich began.

Looking back at Iverson's passing highlights, many of them were shaken down by the opponent and then selected a jumper, either a three-pointer or a mid-range shot. In fact, Iverson's shooting percentage is not very high, at most it is only a qualified level, and the three-point shooting rate is still relatively low by today's standards.

Of course, in those days, the vast majority of players played like this, with mid-range shooting being the primary means of scoring, and three-point shooting being the preserve of those who specialized in three-point shooting. Even if he is a great Jordan, he has a pitiful number of three-point shots, and his three-point shooting rate is often below 30%.

After all, that era was an era when big centers were rampant, and what team didn't have a seven-foot man in charge? The guard holding the ball and hitting the basket was an act of looking for death in that era, let alone touching porcelain, and the block of the traditional big center could make you a man every minute. It's just that in the current league, the small-ball style is prevalent, and the traditional center is declining, so that players with breakthrough play have more room to survive.

I only heard Popovich then ask: "Do you have any good defensive strategy for Zhang Guan?" ”

Duncan shook his head: "Some players, once they have unlimited firing rights, they can't prevent it at all, they can easily get thirty or forty or even fifty points." ”

"But just because a star gets a high score doesn't mean the team can win, right?" Popovich laughed.

"That's true, and the Lakers have always had that tradition." Duncan said with the same smile.

There are many bad teams in the NBA, but the personal data of the stars in these teams is flying well, and the vast majority of stars in the NBA are really difficult to prevent if they are given unlimited firing rights. It's just that although some people have more balls and more shots, the team can't win the ball.

"If that's the case, we just need to do one thing well, and that's to score more points than the Lakers!" Popovich took a deep breath and continued: "In the next game, we will return to tradition and focus on the inside!" ”

Duncan was a little surprised, Popovich's decision was to ask Duncan to take on the offensive core of the team.

If it was the Spurs five or six years ago, this might be normal, when Duncan was still young and the strongest interior in the league, and sometimes he could blow up the team by himself, but now Duncan is 38 years old, can a 38-year-old Duncan still take on the responsibility of the team's offensive core? Moreover, the Spurs' style of play is also relying more and more on the team, unlike other teams that rely more and more on big-name stars.

"What? It's been too long since you've played like this and you don't have confidence in yourself? Popovich asked with a smile.

"I just felt a little surprised." Duncan shook his head.

Popovich put down his tablet and continued: "It's up to you to play the next game, win the game the way we used to do best!" You just grit your teeth and persevere, anyway, now you are leading 3-1, and if you win this one, you can rest for a day or two! ”

……

In the 1987 NBA draft, the Spurs drafted David Robinson with the top pick, and since then the Spurs have become a team with an interior tradition. Ten years later, the Spurs were once again the No. 1 pick, and they drafted Duncan, beginning a decade of glory for the Spurs. In the future, the Spurs have signed Aldridge to continue their interior tradition.

In comparison, the Lakers and the Rockets talk about the tradition of center all day long, but in the end, they don't all play small ball.

On April 30, the Spurs welcomed the Lakers at home, in a series of four or five games between the two teams.

Back at home, the Spurs are confident that they only need one more win to advance to the next round.

And the Lakers obviously still have to continue to work hard, 0-3 down and 1-3 down, there is no difference, from the history of the playoffs, it is still a must-lose situation.

After the start of the game, the Spurs' tactics have undergone some changes, the interior has become their main point of attack, the ball is frequently passed to Duncan's hands, and the forward and guard players have also increased the frequency of breakthroughs, constantly putting pressure on the Lakers' interior line. The Lakers immediately came under tremendous pressure on the inside.

Kaman's defense is indeed a big problem, and Kaman at his peak has also been played by Da Yao in various ways, and the inner twin towers organized by him and Gasol are indeed very good offensively, but at the defensive end, in the face of the real top inside, they are going to be deflated, which even Kaman himself admitted in an interview. When he was with the Clippers, Brand's first-class defensive level could make up for Carman's shortcomings, while with the Los Angeles Lakers, Gasol could not help Carman make up for the defense like Brand. Because of this, this season's Carman seems to bully the soft and afraid of the hard, the opponent's interior line is weak, Carman easily has two double-doubles of 20+10, the opponent's interior line is strong, and Carman also easily gets four or five mistakes and four or five fouls.

At this time, Carman's defense frequently had holes, and the Spurs also deliberately aimed at Carman's point to attack, Duncan's strong play on the inside always used Carman as a breakthrough point, and the breakthrough of Parker, Ginobili and Leonard on the outside was always aimed at Carman, and Carman ate two fouls in the first quarter.

At the same time, Zhang's attack was also thwarted, and his fast break was nowhere near as smooth as the previous one.

Unlike the last game, this is San Antonio, after all, the home of the Spurs, and in the playoffs, home and away are two completely different experiences, not to mention that the Spurs are still last year's champions.

In San Antonio, the morale of the Spurs players is higher, the defense is more hardworking, and the referee's decisions are more inclined to the Spurs as the rules allow. Although Zhang Guan's breakthrough can still reap the results, it also has to put in more effort and take greater risks.

The Spurs' defense is also subconsciously shrinking inside, and they use the same moves against the Thunder to block Zhang Guan's offense and make trouble for him as much as possible.

In the first quarter of the game, the Lakers were 26-27, temporarily trailing the Spurs by 1 point, but who can see that the Spurs' offense is playing very smoothly, and the Lakers are more like Zhang Guan is holding on alone.

At the beginning of the second quarter of the game, Nick Young's nerve knife suddenly popped out and scored 9 points in a short period of time, which allowed the Lakers not to fall behind the Spurs, but the Lakers knew that this was not a long-term solution. Nick Yang's nerve knife is like Duan Yu's six-vein divine sword, sometimes it is ineffective, and it is okay to use it occasionally as a surprise soldier, and it must be useless as the main force.

"Coach, it's not a way to play like this, it's getting more and more difficult to break through and score points, and you still have to rely on three-point shots." Zhang Guan said.

"If you shoot three-pointers, you must have a certain ability to protect rebounds, and Carman's actions are afraid that he can't keep up with the rhythm." D'Antoni spoke.

"If you want to protect the rebound, why don't you let Hassan try it?" Zhang Guan opened his mouth to propose.

"Hassan?" D'Antoni glanced at Whiteside.

D'Antoni likes players like Whiteside, "White Edge" is much more athletic than Carman, although the offensive ability is indeed lacking, but the movement is flexible, can run and jump, these two points are very suitable for bombardment. Bombardment tactics don't require all five men to be good at scoring offensively, but they do require all five to run, and from that point on, Whiteside should be able to take a rotation spot off the bench.

It's just that Whiteside has been with the Lakers for a relatively short time, has been adapting to D'Antoni's tactical system, and has not yet entered the rotation lineup. And the recent games have been more important, there is less garbage time, and there is no chance for Whiteside to play. So since Whiteside joined the Lakers, he has only gotten two appearances, and only played four or five minutes each time, and the rest of the time has been sitting on the bench, and he hasn't really shown his talent.

D'Antoni pondered for a few seconds, then called Whiteside to his side.

"Hassan, warm up and get ready to play!" D'Antoni spoke.

"Get on the field!" Whiteside was pleasantly surprised, he was originally sitting at the end of the bench as a water cooler manager, and his main job was to wave towels, never expecting the coach to let himself play in this "life-and-death" playoff game.

"Do you know your mission?" D'Antoni asked abruptly.

Whiteside was stunned for a moment, and immediately said, "Know, protect the rebound!" ”

"Very good, the next dead ball, let's play!" D'Antoni patted Whiteside on the shoulder.

……

"The Lakers made a substitution, they replaced Wesley Johnson, and they replaced it, and they ......" The ESPN commentator paused, obviously not knowing Bai Bian, he looked down at the information in his hand before continuing: "The Lakers replaced Hassan Whiteside." ”

"Who is this man, IMHO, this is a new face, I heard this name for the first time." The commentator next to him spoke.

However, ESPN is a professional sports media after all, and it only took two or three seconds for the commentator to find Whiteside's material on the tablet.

Whiteside, who was drafted by the Kings with the 33rd pick in 2010, played for the Kings for two years, making 19 offensive appearances, averaging 1.5 points and 2.1 rebounds per game. He was cut by the Kings last season and went to play in the NBL. The narrator said right away.

“NBL？ It's playing in the NBL league in Canada! There is also a big gap between the level of that league and the development league. The commentator spoke.

"No, no, no, it's not Canada's NBL, it's China's NBL, it seems to be China's development league, which is one level lower than China's CBA league." The narrator said right away.

"In China, you can only play development alliances? Hahaha, how could the Lakers sign this kind of player, I estimate that this year's undrafted rookies will not be at the level of playing in China's Development League. D'Antoni must have rushed to the doctor. The commentator said with a smile.

On the other side, the Spurs also took note of Whiteside, who had just come on the court.

"This guy is a seven-foot-long man, with long arms, and he looks a little thin, so maybe he will be less capable of fighting. Averaging 1.5 points and 2.1 rebounds per game, he must be a blue-collar worker doing the dirty work. This kind of player grabs a lot of money in the league and doesn't have to pay special attention. "Popovich didn't care about Whiteside at all.

On the court, at this time, the Spurs led by Ginobili led by Dio, Mills, Belinelli and Bonner, which is a normal system for the Spurs' rotation. The Lakers relied heavily on Nick Young to score, as well as Bazemore, Jordan Hill, Farmar and the newly onto Whiteside. Zhang Guan, Gasol and Nash were not present.

Ginobili walked through half court while carefully observing the movement of the Lakers players across the street.

"Who is the black man who just came on the court, by the way, I think about it, it seems to be a second-round pick a few years ago, I can't get along in the NBA, and I play abroad. A passerby player, this is exactly a breakthrough! Ginobili thought of this and motioned for Mills to pass the ball to himself.

Bonner stepped forward to play a pick-and-roll combination, and Ginobili took advantage of the situation to break through, and it was in the direction of Whiteside. Ginobili is also an old fritter, and he found out that Whiteside was a new face and felt that the newcomer was easy to bully, so he came directly to Whiteside. And Ginobili is bad enough, deliberately looking for physical contact, trying to cheat a foul, and if you're lucky, you can make a two-plus-one.

Whiteside's footwork was very nimble, and he stepped back slightly, dodging his body so violently that Ginobili did not find physical contact.

"This big man is quite agile, but give me so much space that I'm going to go straight to the basket!" Ginobili didn't hesitate to jump to the basket.

"This ball is here!" The basketball shot, Ginobili was overjoyed.

At this moment, a large hand suddenly appeared from the sky.

"Smack!" Whiteside rewarded Ginobili with a big hot pot!

"What? It's that passerby player! Ginobili was taken aback.

At this point, Nick Young had already controlled the ball and then made a layup to score two points for the Lakers.

……

"It looks pretty good." D'Antoni nodded with satisfaction, he turned his head and said to Zhang Guan and Nash: "It's time for you to play, let the Spurs taste what a real run-and-gun is!" ”