Chapter 179: Hope for the Completion of the Mission
The Salt Lake City Delta Center Arena is full of people, this is one of the most terrifying home games in the NBA, this arena has another terrifying name in the future China - Energy Solution Arena, in the Energy Solution Arena, the MM combination that always brings great expectations to all Chinese fans in the future has always been unable to win here.
It hasn't been renamed Energy Solutions Arena yet, but that hasn't changed the nature of the place, it's still one of the most terrifying home arenas in the NBA, and it's rare for Jazz fans in the arena to chant a slogan so uniformly...... A loud sound rushed towards Zhuang Fei from all sides of the stands, which made Zhuang Fei's ears ring, and he was collectively shouted by New York fans in New York this season...... After that, this slogan spread quickly, in fact, in the last game against the Grizzlies, there were a few sporadic appearances of this slogan in the stands of the Grizzlies, but it was not neat, the current Delta Center Arena is much more uniform, this slogan that Celtics fans prepared for the Lakers is now given to Zhuang Fei, and Zhuang Fei and his Timberwolves' record of winning all this season is indeed bearable, at least now.
However, soon the Timberwolves may not be able to stand it, because now the score on the court is behind the Timberwolves, and there are still a lot of points behind, and the game has reached the fourth quarter, Zhuang Fei is now looking at the form on the court is also locked by the media, even if this game is away, the opponent is still a powerful Jazz, but Zhuang Fei definitely does not want to lose, although he knows that it is basically impossible to beat the Lakers to become the first in the West before the All-Star, but if he is just let him give up, it is definitely not his style, Even if he fails in the final mission, he wants to do himself better, and only in this way can he feel at ease. This is the only way to make him feel guilty, so the current situation of the team slowly being pushed into a desperate situation definitely makes him uncomfortable. He's now thinking about a solution.
"Pierce broke through, Russell couldn't defend him, beautiful back turn, Pierce shot, unfortunately, the front movements were very good, but the final shot was still short, and Pierce's state in this game was not very good. It looks like the Timberwolves are going to lose this game" ABC commentator Michaels looked at the Timberwolves players on the court and thought with some regret that the whole country is now paying attention to the situation of the Timberwolves and the Lakers, Phil Jackson led the Lakers to wash his old club Bulls yesterday in an interview with the media and said in a high-profile manner that the Lakers are invincible, he will lead the team to win on a winning streak, and now the only team that can make the Lakers fall off the first altar in the West is the Timberwolves who have not lost yet. So now the whole American audience is watching how long the Timberwolves can hold on, but from now on, it seems that the Timberwolves are about to hold on, and the Jazz performed very well in this game, after all, this is their home court, and they are not a weak team.
"Zhuang, what do we do now, Paul is in poor form, do you want to replace him" D'Antoni said with a worried look on his face, Pierce is one of the team's leading players. Even if his condition is worse, he can't be replaced, that's for sure, but if it continues like this, the Timberwolves will only be pulled further and further away by the Jazz, and this game will be directly explained.
Zhuang Fei didn't speak, nor did he say anything, D'Antoni knew that Zhuang Fei was thinking about countermeasures.
Sloane on the other side was delighted. Today's game is finally going to be won, and being able to beat the Timberwolves is definitely a breath of anger in his heart, he has now lost six games in a row to the Timberwolves, and this game can't be lost again in any way.
"I'll see what else you can do," Sloane thought as he looked at Zhuang Fei on the other side with a frown.
Just when Sloan lost his mind, Zhuang Fei called a timeout. With four minutes left in the game, the Timberwolves trailed by nine points, and it was almost desperate to face the Jazz with such a point difference. …,
The Timberwolves players were frustrated as they walked off the court. They performed very badly in this game, especially Pierce, Pierce can't lift his head now, he struggled throughout the game, the shooting rate is extremely low, in his own impression he shot fifteen or sixteen times but the number of hits is only a handful, which is why the Timberwolves are so difficult in this game, Pierce now actually hopes that Zhuang Fei can replace him, but Zhuang Fei just doesn't seem to have this meaning.
"You performed very well before," Zhuang Fei looked at these depressed players and said with a smile, looking at Zhuang Fei's smile, these Timberwolves players were stunned.
"The coach won't be confused," Pierce thought to himself, a little puzzled.
"We created a lot of chances to score, but in the end luck wasn't on our side, Paul, your breakthrough was beautiful, Russell was no match for you at all, you did well, you made the right choice, and it wasn't your fault that you didn't shoot in the end"
Looking at Zhuang Fei's encouraging expression, Pierce, who was originally a little discouraged, had a hot current in his heart.
"Jermaine, Kevin, your performance is also very good, your defense against Malone is in place, but he can always shoot those impossible balls that you can't control" Garnett and O'Neal Jr. were also a little stunned, if Pierce is a sinner on the offensive end, then the two of them are sinners on the defensive end, and Malone almost gives everything to him.
"But now we have to change something, so I'll make adjustments next," Zhuang Fei said with a final smile and a glance at the Timberwolves players.
Now there is absolutely no problem with the Timberwolves' tactics, as for why the score is behind, this really can't be blamed on the players, Zhuang Fei called this timeout is not because the Timberwolves have been behind, but in a round before this timeout, the Timberwolves have some disbelief in these tactics, they began to mess around, this is the reason why Zhuang Fei called a timeout is also the reason why Zhuang Fei has always emphasized that the players are performing very well, he must make the players have a sense of trust in the tactics they implement, no matter at any time and at any point, As long as the team formulates tactics, they must implement them without doubt, Zhuang Fei is not an iron coach like Larry Brown and Popovich, but he agrees with what these two did in the Pistons and Spurs respectively in terms of tactical literacy, and the team will not mess around at any time.
"After the timeout, Manu replaced Jermaine, we have to step up the offense now and we have to strengthen the break, Manu, when you come on the court, it's a break, a resolute break, and it's up to you whether it's a breakout layup or a breakaway. But I would like you to strengthen your offense Steve, wait for our main attack point to be transferred to Manu, and give the ball to Manu more when the offense is distributed."
Nash nodded, he had no objection to Zhuang Fei's decision, and now the Timberwolves do need a special offensive point. Ginobili, on the other hand, was a bit surprised, as this was the first time this season that he had played in a decisive moment, which was the most indicative moment of the manager's trust.
After this timeout, the Timberwolves made a substitution, and Coach Z replaced this year's rookie Ginobili for the team's center Jermaine O'Neal, and now the Timberwolves' on-court lineup is Garnett. Mobley, Pierce, Ginobili and Nash, a completely small lineup. It looks like Coach Z is ready to take the plunge," Michaels said as he looked at the Timberwolves player in surprise. Since Jermaine O'Neal came to the Timberwolves this season, Coach Z seems to have abandoned the small lineup that the team used to use and began to play a regular lineup of 2 big and 3 small. But I didn't expect it to change back today.
"It seems that Coach Z is not dead yet, but I don't know what the final effect will be" Michaels was a little worried.
"Small lineup? I guessed it a long time ago" Sloan looked at the Timberwolves players on the court and smiled, he knew that Zhuang Fei would chase points during this timeout, and the best way for the Timberwolves to chase points is to raise the speed and play a small lineup, although the new young player named O'Neal of the Timberwolves this season did perform well on the defensive end, but he was not fully integrated when he was on offense, and when he couldn't defend against the Jazz, then his role was gone. If it doesn't work, it will naturally be taken down, so Sloan is planning how to beat the Timberwolves' small lineup during this timeout. …,
"Hmph, no matter what tricks you play, the Jazz must be the one who wins this game," Sloan thought with some excitement in his heart.
"I didn't expect the coach to really guess the Timberwolves' tactical arrangement" Malone looked at Garnett in front of him in surprise, since the beginning of the playoffs last season, Jazz head coach Sloan has basically lost when facing Zhuang Fei, and has lost 6 games in a row. This is not called a defeat, Sloan rarely caught Zhuang Fei's braid, but he didn't expect to catch it this time.
"Is this new player also an assaulter like Mobley" Malone looked at Ginobili, who was getting closer and closer to him, and thought that Mobley's performance in this game was not very good, because Mobley's trick of straight fast breakthrough was limited by Malone very deadly. Seeing another Timberwolves player who killed him, Malone wanted to laugh in his heart. In his impression, this player's breakthrough is good, and a big reason why the Jazz lost in the last game is because he and Mobley's bench combination performed well, which also left a deep impression on Malone. It also gave Malone the illusion that his style was the same as Mobley's.
Ginobili looked at Malone, who was already waiting in front of him, and did not panic, but killed to the basket as he usually did. Just when Malone was about to say that the ball was defended, he suddenly found that Ginobili did not stretch out his right hand.
"What is this? Left-handed layup? Michaels looked at Ginobili's back and said, he was not impressed by Ginobili, after all, he was only a rookie at the end of the first round, and his previous performance did not have many explosive points, but he knew that he also had a good breakthrough, and it seemed that his desire to attack was not strong, and he preferred to pass the ball to create opportunities for his teammates, which can also be seen from his statistics, averaging 2.8 points and 3.6 assists in 15 minutes per game, with more assists than points.
"Isn't this Argentine only able to shoot three-pointers" Sloan looked at Ginobili who had just broken through the basket and caused Malone to foul with a look of surprise, and shouted, Ginobili's breakthrough just now was very special, the layup steps of the NBA right-handed player are generally from the right to the left, but just now Ginobili was from the left and right, and the last jump step was in the opposite direction from the three-step basket start, so as to avoid Malone's block and shake out enough space for a layup.
Just when Sloan was surprised by Ginobili's breakthrough, the Timberwolves had begun to chase the momentum of points, Ginobili's play did change the whole situation, his breakthrough made the Jazz extremely uncomfortable, not only that, Ginobili also drove Mobley and Pierce after opening, Mobley's breakthrough and Ginobili complemented each other, and for a while, it was also the same as the Timberwolves, and the Jazz interior line became a little noisy, and Malone couldn't cope with it. Because Mobley and Ginobili are completely different styles of impactors, he could have pinched Mobley just now, but now he was stirred up by Ginobili and even Mobley couldn't be pinched.
"The Argentinian changed the pace of the Timberwolves, and the rookie's offense was pretty good, I just don't know why he used to play with it," Michaels said with admiration as he looked at Ginobili.
"Zhuang, the situation has been saved, maybe we can win this game," D'Antoni said excitedly to Zhuang Fei.
Zhuang Fei smiled and nodded, after Ginobili came to the team, he deliberately gave up his personal offense in order to integrate into the team's bubble system, and began to assist his teammates more, after all, he was Nash's substitute, and he was also deliberately imitating Nash, so more often his offense was to put cold arrows outside, and rarely broke through with full firepower, this was also the first time Zhuang Fei saw Ginobili do this on the Timberwolves court, of course, In his previous life, Zhuang Fei often saw Ginobili on TV that he often scored like this when the Spurs couldn't open the situation.
Although Ginobili's energy disrupted the rhythm of the Jazz, the game was too far behind, and although the Timberwolves kept chasing after it, they chased the score to only one point with 30 seconds left in the game. And with the Jazz's offense missing, the Timberwolves' offense time is less than 6s. This is a moment that needs to be killed. …,
"Who will the Timberwolves' stunner be handed over to this time, in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals in the playoffs last season, although Nash failed, but he also succeeded, is it still Nash this time?"
Sloan's hands were covered with sweat, and just now the Timberwolves called a timeout to arrange the last attack, and he also arranged the last defense.
"I didn't expect to be chased like this in the end," Sloan thought with some palpitations. However, he was also a little relieved when he saw that the Timberwolves player with the ball on the court was Nash.
"But this time the lore should be handed over to Nash," Sloan set up to defend Nash.
But just when Sloan was about to be happy, he suddenly felt like he had been stabbed, because Nash suddenly pushed the ball sideways to Ginobili outside the three-point line when he pressed the time to only 1s, and then Ginobili jumped to a three-pointer.
"Three points? I forgot he was going to score three points? Sloan watched Ginobili's move, and for a moment it was like falling into an ice cellar.
"Brush" the ball through a beautiful arc and then hollow into the basket.
Looking at Ginobili's back, Zhuang Fei clenched his fists tightly. Then he looked at the other Timberwolves players on the bench and couldn't help but think.
"Maybe they're my biggest support for this task, Lakers, I won't give up"
"We have a depth of roster and a change in style that other teams can't match" (To be continued) RQ