For a head coach, there are many decisions to be made in every game, especially in the playoffs, and their decisions often have a direct impact on the outcome of a crucial game.

Popovich since 1996 as the team's general manager fired former Spurs head coach Bob Hill, in his 9-year NBA head coaching career, he has made a lot of choices, although it seems that the shortness of the nine-year NBA coaching career is almost negligible, but he is already a champion coach who has reached the finals twice and won the championship once. At least whether it is Popovich or Zhuang Fei.

Therefore, whether it is Zhuang Fei or Popovich, their grasp of the game situation on the court and the choice of the game trend are absolutely top-notch, and now, in the choice question that Zhuang Fei gave Popovich, the Spurs head coach has fallen into an extremely difficult choice at this time.

"The reason why the Spurs succeeded in the first two games was that they contained the Lakers' fast-break counterattack, and at the same time, in the Lakers' positional offensive No. 5 tactic, Duncan and Ragabel limited Kobe Bryant, who was the first attack point of the No. 5 tactic, so that he now has few offensive opportunities, and it is also in the fourth quarter when the Lakers' Terminator tactics chased points, they successfully used their twin towers to help defend and limit Kobe, who did not believe in his shooting so much but constantly delayed the fighter. Spurs head coach Popovich gave his perfect answer to all the NBA head coaches, and he really did what almost no one has been able to do all season of limiting the Lakers' offense. But obviously. Coach Z is not a head coach who sits still. His tactical variation is the strongest of all coach Zhu in the NBA"

"Now for the Spurs, what is Popovich going to do when the Lakers' offense is no longer playing the No. 5 game, when they don't play the regular offense that has anything to do with Kobe? From the very beginning of this game, Coach Z let the Lakers play the three old main offense, and made the team absolutely isolated from Kobe, and now Popovich needs to make a choice, whether to continue to let Duncan and Ragabel pestering Kobe, or let Kobe Bryant go a little. Free up Duncan to deal with other Lakers players? Now the Spurs' defense is almost in a miasma of smoke by the fires that Coach Z is burning everywhere."

Sometimes Kenny Smith admires Zhuang Fei and Popovich very much, these two people do a really good job of restricting and counter-limiting, for example, before the start of this series, no one thought that Popovich would choke Kobe so dead, and in the same case that Popovich unexpectedly pinched Kobe so dead, Zhuang Fei was also very surprised to pinch the young center Howard who was beaten by the Spurs, and the young center of the same Spurs was also collapsed. And when Popovich almost cracked all the offensive tactics with routines of Zhuang Fei and the Lakers, Zhuang Fei actually began to play tactics without routines at this time, and was facing Popovich's pressing. Zhuang Fei is constantly making changes, and now. Popovich also needs to make a choice and change.

And just when Kenny Smith finished speaking, an unexpected situation happened on the court again, when the Los Angeles Lakers forward player Grant Hill broke through Eric Williams' defense and hit the basket from the right side, Howard, who lost his defensive position, suddenly threw Grant Hill off the court, and at this time the Lakers players and Spurs players on the court were all immediately surrounded together. Even at this time, the Spurs fans who had been noisy on the sidelines were quiet at this time.

"FVCK, do you want to kill someone?"

Kobe Bryant looked at the Spurs in front of him who was still immature, and roared with an angry face, his eyes were bloodshot, and at this time, Howard on the court was a little cowardly when he saw Kobe like this, he was really a little anxious just now, he was really choked by Grant Hill in this game, whether it was offensive or defensive, in the first few games, when the Lakers' offense was concentrated in Kobe Bryant's hands, he didn't feel so much pressure now, at that time, Kobe Bryant was not under his control most of the time, It was Duncan and Ragabel's dish, and he felt the pressure when the Lakers isolated the offense from Kobe Bryant and then threw it all to Hill and Webb and Hardaway.

In this case, he played very depressed in this game, just now it was just an vent of his depressed feelings, in fact, he didn't intend to hurt Hill or others, of course, Kobe Bryant's mood was also very bad at this time, if it weren't for thinking of Zhuang Fei's orders, he probably would have rushed up and kicked Howard to avenge Hill.

"Kobe, calm down, Dwight didn't mean it" Fortunately, when the conflict between Kobe and Howard was about to rise, Duncan immediately stopped Howard, and then said to Kobe with some apologies, of course, at this time, the referee was also there soon, but Howard, as the party concerned, neither planned to apologize nor be very embarrassed at this time, as if this matter had nothing to do with him, but Popovich on the sidelines was actually applauding the court, and seemed to appreciate Howard's somewhat hurtful action.

Of course, fortunately, Hill didn't have any big problems after falling out, otherwise it would be impossible for the Lakers players to give up, when they saw Hill standing up with the Lakers players in their arms, Zhuang Fei and Green on the side were also a little relieved, just now Hill had a mid-range shooting opportunity but finally chose to impact the basket right, the old player obviously saw a trace of defensive holes caused by Howard's distraction now, in this case, if it is Zhuang Fei, Zhuang Fei will also ask him to do something, Although Zhuang Fei instructed them before the game not to have too much entanglement with the opponent's inside, because when facing Duncan, he wanted to impact the inside line to cheat Duncan's foul? This is a dream, Duncan is the interior player with the fewest fouls in the league, and he is also the cleanest defensive player in the league.

"Very good offensive options," Green on the side of the side also exclaimed when he saw Hill standing on the free-throw line. And after Green finished speaking, Zhuang Fei also nodded. Howard was fouled in the first degree. The Lakers made two free throws, and after Hill hit both free throws, the ball was still on the Lakers' side

"Chris, catch the ball"

When the Lakers re-sent the sideline ball, Hill, who received Hardaway's sideline pass on the right side, did not hesitate to hang the basketball in his hand directly to Webber on the left side of the free throw line.

The Lakers scored four points on offense. By this time, with three minutes left before halftime, the Los Angeles Lakers had already led by eight points, and now the score on the court was 50-42.

"It's a wonderful horizontal pass, Hill's passing timing and arc are very good, the Spurs' defensive formation has not fully established Hill has found a passing space, this is a surprise offense" Barkley also said with some admiration after Hill passed this cross-curve ball, the three veterans of the Lakers in this game Bryant was deliberately isolated by Zhuang Fei after the performance was too good, at least on the offensive end, this Laker is stronger than Howard's strangled Spurs, and full of aggression.

"There are a lot of problems left for Spurs right now. Both offensively and defensively, Howard is in terrible shape right now. It's a little frustrating that the offense can't score defense, and although Duncan is really strong, it's already his limit to fight Weber while helping Kobe Bryant, and it's very unrealistic to want him to help Howard, Popovich needs to adjust, even if he doesn't play the No. 5 tactic, the Lakers who don't play the Terminator tactic are also a championship-level team, but a Spurs with only four people attacking will never make it to the Finals, I'm afraid Popovich never thought of this before the start of this series."

Just like Kenny Smith said, Popovich really didn't think that the Los Angeles Lakers could have such a strong offensive ability after losing their offensive routines, and what surprised Popovich even more was that the Lakers' offense is now extremely scattered, and this offensive mode is completely different from the offensive mode that is all concentrated in Kobe's hands, in this case, the Spurs can only pinch one, is it to pinch the Lakers everywhere, or still pinch Kobe, the biggest flame? This is a difficult question to choose, even if Popovich wants to choose neither, but to pinch the Lakers' fire, but the Lakers don't have a fire source for him to pinch.

It's hard for Popovich right now, and as halftime approaches, the Spurs head coach is frowning, and if he can't solve this problem, then this series will really be over.

"It would be nice if Howard could be more mature at this time" At this time, Popovich also thought with some emotion in his heart, Zhuang Fei raised this question to him It is not difficult to say, it is not easy to say, it is simple, Duncan has only one, and Duncan has only one role, so Duncan can only pinch the Lakers on one side, it is impossible to kill all the changes of the Lakers, Popovich can let Duncan come to kill Webb, Hill They lit the fire, but they must give up Kobe, the same is true, If Howard can extinguish the flames lit by these other Lakers players like Duncan at this time, then there is no need for him to worry, Howard has this potential, but he doesn't have this ability now.

Now Popovich is very entangled, for this problem that can almost affect the trend of the Spurs this season, he can't not be entangled, but just when he is struggling with no way, the game between the two sides is over, and the Los Angeles Lakers led the Spurs by 10 points at 58-48 after halftime. If you look at the situation in the first few games between the Lakers and the Spurs, this is a big point difference.

"Very wonderful half game, Coach Z gave his answer to everyone, this game may even be the answer to Coach Z's last game, if it weren't for Hill's poor state in the last game, I'm afraid the result would be unknown, but anyway, the Spurs, who had an advantage not long ago, are now dangerous, the Lakers' changeability is beyond everyone's imagination, and Coach Z's changeability is also beyond everyone's imagination, I hope Mr. Popovich can find a solution to the Lakers again, Since he can even limit Coach Z's No. 5 tactics, Terminator tactics and fast-break counterattacks, such a problem should not be very difficult."

At halftime, Kenny Smith hoped that Popovich could find a way to deal with the Lakers again, perhaps this is the idea of many people, especially those who instructed Zhuang Fei to do things before the game, and they hoped that the Spurs head coach could teach Zhuang Fei another lesson and let Zhuang Fei have three consecutive losses in the playoffs for the first time.

It's just that when the second half of the game between the two sides began, Popovich made them a little disappointed that he found a way to deal with Zhuang Fei, or the two options given to him by Zhuang Fei, one was to extinguish Weber, and the other was to continue to strangle Kobe and the Lakers' regular offense.

"It's a very wise choice, if you haven't found a way to deal with the Lakers, the Spurs really shouldn't change" Kenny Smith said with some emotion after the start of the second half, Popovich's persistence is the best way in the way, many times the NBA puts one by one, and the continuous change will make the last one can't get it.

Of course, although the Spurs were a little powerless against the Lakers' defense today, the Spurs' own offense was much better after the start of the second half, and Howard was not as hesitant and overwhelmed as he was in the first half, and it was clear that Popovich said something to the young interior player who had some tears in his eyes at the beginning of the second half.

It's just that even so, the Spurs in this game can only do not be like the Lakers in the first half, and by the end of the third quarter, the Spurs were still ten points behind, which made Duncan take over the game at the beginning of the fourth quarter, and the Lakers also used the Terminator tactics again, and the Spurs still did not catch up with the Lakers in the state of chasing points, as shown in the previous games between the two sides, even Kobe's limited Terminator tactics can be offset by Duncan's takeover of the game.

When the game ended, the scoreboard on the sidelines showed a score of 118-107, and the Los Angeles Lakers responded with 11 points on the road, and the score of the two sides was 2-2.

"I said it would be me to win this year"

At the end of the game, Zhuang Fei also thought secretly when he looked at the old opponent on the other side. (To be continued......)