On June 9, 05, the Knicks faced the San Antonio Spurs in their first game on their home court.

And in the Spurs' starters, Ginobili was the starter.

After the Spurs made the change, the Knicks also made a major change, Jay? Williams was the team's starter for the first time since returning from Bow Peak, and Popovich, who saw this, immediately frowned in an extremely rare way.

"Listening to some insiders from the Spurs, in the '01 draft, Parker was only the second choice for the Spurs, and you are what he wants the most, that's not the point, his focus on you in the NBA is what interests me the most, and from these statements, it seems that he is extremely familiar with your ability and playing characteristics."

Speaking of this, Mir looked at Gong Feng's eyes very seriously, and said: "Gong Feng, I hope you can show all your skills, as for physical strength and other issues, you don't have to worry about anything at all, the substitute is the stage where you let go of everything, and the task of defense does not need to worry about anything, I believe that he should be more experienced than you in dealing with speed players!" ”

"We're going to get tangled up in the main lineup, we're going to decide the winner in the bench lineup, and since San Anthony is touting his own bench lineup, and since the Spurs are so scared of our bench players, we're going to make a fuss about that!"

Seeing that Gong Feng's expression still didn't show any look, Mill could only bite the bullet and say another important piece of information, "Allen will also be placed on the bench, Payton will be the key player of our defense, even if Hill, I will be arranged on the bench in a period of time, and the three major players on the bench plus Yao Ming and Bosh are enough for the Spurs to drink a pot of ......"

"Mir, are you afraid of anything like this?" Gong Feng frowned, interrupted Mir's words directly, looked at Mir who was in his room, slowly took a sip of coffee, and asked slowly but very seriously: "This kind of sign has appeared since the second round of the playoffs, and it reached its peak in the finals, I admit that the tactics arranged by the coaches are really effective, and we all have an absolute advantage in the game." Do you see that we have won so easily and effectively, and have you compromised on this in your heart? ”

Seeing that Mir was still drinking coffee there casually, Gong Feng was stunned by this, but he didn't continue to persuade anything, and finally just said lightly: "I will respect the arrangement of the coaching staff, I am also a professional player!" ”

Mir looked at Gong Feng's suddenly serious expression, and felt a little embarrassed by the words that were a little estranged, as if he remembered something, and finally said patiently: "The tactics we use are all accumulated in ordinary times, not that we fight whimsically, how to fight, I also understand your potential meaning, with the main force of the Knicks, you will not be afraid of any opponent, and you can win the final victory with real strength, but you always have to think about other players, right?" ”

"After this season, the Knicks are in danger of starting again, and even Jay has to start to really deal with this, and you are not in a hurry to renew the contract with the Knicks now, isn't it just to help me stabilize Jay?"

Looking at Mir's sincere face when he spoke, Gong Feng sighed softly in his heart, "I know how much pressure you have during this time, after the Knicks gather these excellent players, no one will be really indifferent to this, it's just that our situation is very different from those dynastic teams in the past, I hope you don't forget our shortcomings while knowing our strengths." ”

"No dynasty team has too obvious shortcomings, but no dynasty team has put the change of tactics above its own strength, and some tactics can only be used in emergencies."

"I know! However, the Spurs are not so difficult for us to break through, reducing the number of passes and cutting in the main team, increasing the time of players playing singles, is also a major policy recognized by all coaching staff and players, and this can indeed allow your main players to get more time to rest and adjust, in this regard, Spurs will definitely not catch up with our luxury! ”

"I understand! I'm at your mercy...... I was found by you, I called you a coach in the past, and you will also be my coach in the future, sometimes I say my thoughts just to give you a reference, after all, the future of the Knicks belongs to you, as long as you are really willing to do so! ”

Gong Feng's words are a big statement that he gave up the identity of the main core, the identity of the core of the main player is not the best sixth person or the like, it can be made up, the main core and the substitute core are more of a day, a place, the strength gap between the main force and the substitute, the ability gap...... These are all things that Mir must give Gong Feng a convincing place, otherwise Gong Feng will really start thinking about his future career from the time he cedes the main force.

And Mir's assurances to Gong Feng, including Jay's future handling that goes without saying, the way to play with some main players to the bench, and the future construction of the team, these statements and explanations are some of the conditions for Gong Feng to give up the main force.

……

After the game started, the two sides played very cautiously, and the Spurs' defensive alignment also made the Knicks feel a little uncomfortable, Manu against Hill, and Bowen against Ray Allen!

Looking at Ginobili's sideways approach and began to guide Hill to break through, and seeing Parker's ability to patiently give up one side for Jay to break through, Gong Feng nodded, this is the real defensive ability of the Spurs.

Although Hill will not be fooled by such a direct defensive trap, especially after seeing the players under the basket stand in position, after seeing Muhammad go around the front to defend Yao Ming at the beginning, he hesitated for a while, or let Bosh directly pull Duncan to the outside and use his breakthrough to open the deadlock.

In the face of Hill's rhythmic breakthrough, the Spurs, who had no choice, also made the Knicks feel a little helpless in the offense.

Yao Ming is opposite Duncan, which is also the Knicks' strongest defensive lineup, and it is not easy for the Spurs to play their own tactical offense, but after seeing Yao Ming directly opposite Duncan, Duncan did not come strongly, but directly played with Parker, and Parker directly used speed to get the first point of the Spurs game.

Then Jay also used a block to break through Duncan directly, and passed to Yao Ming on the inside to get the first assist in this Finals.

No team can rely on one tactic to beat the world's invincible opponents, and many times, a fixed set of tactics is just the beginning of a collective tactical evolution, like the pick-and-roll between the Spurs and the Knicks.

In the absence of Gong Feng, Hill was undoubtedly the core of the ball control, and in the beginning of the pick-and-roll strategy, it was Hill and Bosh who played the pick-and-roll.

Ginobili's singles and blocking and dismantling cooperation is also difficult to prevent, Manu with sufficient physical strength is also the object that all teams don't want to meet, seeing that Allen's defense of Manu is not very good, in a timeout, he directly let Payton play instead of Allen, in terms of defensive ability alone, Payton has encountered opponents over the years who do have extremely rich experience, but just replacing Allen like this, it still makes Popovich feel a little strange.

At the beginning, the two sides used their 'housekeeping skills' to constantly test each other, and constantly let the other side take other ways to defend, assist in defense, pass the bottom line, and combine the inside and outside lines, and the two sides seemed to not know how to defend at this time.

However, the playing style of the two sides is still very direct, without transmitting many hands, and without letting themselves fall into a singles situation, clean and neat passing, using their own advantages to play, is the first round of the contest between the two sides.

In the first round, it was a tie-down match, and the second round was a contest that Mir had high hopes for.

Hill only played five minutes in the first quarter before being replaced by Battier, but Yao Ming still fought with Duncan until the end of the first quarter.

In the second quarter of the game, the Knicks directly showed their fangs, allowing Gong Feng, Allen, Hill, Dior and Korver to play.

On the Spurs' side, Duncan stayed on the court to control the situation, Yudri, who is better at controlling the rhythm, Horry, Bowen, and Ginobili stayed on the court, such a rhythmic and explosive arrangement can be regarded as the experience left by Popovich against the Suns.

But Popovich seems to have forgotten that the Knicks' small-ball tactics are very different from the Suns. (To be continued.) )