Chapter 045: The Apple Big Bang
David Lee's dunk over Boozer is just a small episode on the court, and although the Knicks can often play a fluid offense, it is undeniable that the Jazz's blocking and pick-and-roll tactics have existed in the league for more than a decade.
Many times, the Knicks' players know what Delon and Boozer want to do, but they just can't do anything about their opponents. Whether it's watching Boozer force a shot in front of the small man, or watching Delon flash past the big man with his speed advantage, Jazz is tirelessly executing Sloane's housekeeping tactics.
At halftime, the two teams were tied at 54-49, and the Utahs' ugly defense helped them successfully limit the Knicks, who were packed with shooters, while they themselves relied on a difficult little combination to score the ball over and over again.
On the one hand, his shooting percentage has declined, and on the other hand, the opponent's stability is consistent, D'Antoni has to admit that the young Knicks still have a lot of shortcomings in the face of an old strong team like the Jazz, and poor coordination is only the most significant one, and more often than not, the mentality of young players is also a big problem, and this team still has some way to go if it wants to fight for the playoffs.
"In the second half we stepped up the attack!" During the break, D'Antoni took the tactical board and explained the tactics to the disciples, "Don't worry about defense, let them play, the first problem is to solve our offensive problems!" ”
D'Antoni turned his face to the serious baby face, the entanglement of the situation made the rookie who faced this situation for the first time a little nervous, although he had long known the truth that there was no weak team in the NBA, but the big score advantage in the last game still made the inexperienced rookie have a fluke mentality. Now the team's offense seems to be limited by the opponent, and the inexperienced Curry is a little helpless.
"Stephen!" D'Antoni saw that his disciple was a little distracted, and he reminded him. "Don't be nervous, it's a game, it's enough to do your own thing!"
"Yes, Coach!" Curry nodded yes, there was no more relaxation in the lounge than the last game, and the serious atmosphere even made him afraid to speak loudly.
Li Chen, who was enjoying a muscle massage next to him, was very amused when he saw this situation, and he put his arm around Curry's shoulder. "Don't be so serious, the guys across from it aren't a big deal, if we work together. They've been down early, like you know, I saw them step on them again and again last season, and I'm sure this season will be the same! ”
Li Chen's words made D'Antoni can't help but roll his eyes. Although boosting morale is good. But arrogance is not advisable, baby face is a rookie he values very much, he doesn't want this promising rookie to become as unorganized and undisciplined as the big apple, after all, not everyone has the same capital as Li Chen.
"Stephen, remember to bring up the rhythm in the second half, our tactics are to run, the first task is to run!"
D'Antoni reminded Curry, "The opponent wants to drag us into a positional battle. But we don't slow down, we're young anyway. Some of them have the physical strength to run. In addition to having a strong body, the All-Star point guard on the opposite side is as scummy as Cruze, and you must know very well how bad Cruz's defensive skills are! ”
The witty metaphor quickly put the tension off the back of his mind, and he swore that he would get the job done to D'Antoni.
"Eh, Mike!" Someone was not happy, "Since you don't trust my defense so much, then let's have a bullfight like this, don't say I bullied you, as long as you can score a goal before I score 100 goals, you win!" ”
"Pull it down!" D'Antoni was very disdainful of Li Chen's pretended generosity, "Don't talk about 100 balls, even if it's a thousand, I won't compare with you, besides, you can make me lie down with one ball, where else can I get 100 balls!" ”
The war of words between one big and one small made the atmosphere in the lounge a lot easier, although the Knicks are still behind, but the gap of 5 points is only a two-round affair for the Knicks, who are good at offense.
"Kill them!" The 20-minute break allowed the players to recover their physical strength, and with the cheering of the crowd, the Knicks' fighting spirit was once again high.
Soon after the opening game, the Knicks scored on their own offensive round, Chandler served quickly, Curry immediately made a long pass to Li Chen, and the Big Apple made a sharp stop from 25 feet, and the basketball went into the net with precision.
"The Knicks' tactics are very unreasonable, how can they play like this, there is no offensive rebound guarantee at all!" After an offseason, the Rational Teacher reappeared in the limelight, and of course, along with his well-known Rational Theory.
Li Chen's decision made D'Antoni on the sidelines couldn't help but feel a cold sweat, although he emphasized speeding up the pace, but there is no need to be so fast, serve, pass the half, shoot, dare to understand the tactics more simply!
The fans are the most excited group, the big Apple's 3-point chase is something they have predicted a long time ago, regardless of whether the tactics are reasonable or not, what they want to see is how the big apple puts the ball into the basket from 23 feet away, and with the sound of the basketball entering the net, they even have a pilgrimage feeling.
New York's decisiveness naturally affected the Jazz who were competing on the same court, and in the face of Curry's close pressing, Delon involuntarily accelerated the pace of the dribble, the same three-point line pull-up jump shot, but he didn't shoot, and the little fat man with a hand in the fixed-point shooting still needs to be improved in the emergency stop, especially outside the three-point line.
Big Apple smiled innocently, and sympathized with this opponent who might be imitating himself, shooting is not an overnight thing, and in order to reach his kind of height, in addition to persistent training, indispensable talent is also indispensable!
The Knicks are attacking again, Curry has tasted the sweetness of what has just happened, and the rookie wants to repeat the old trick.
Li Chen naturally wouldn't be so stupid, just caught the opponent off guard, and now in the face of Jazz's orderly defense, he doesn't plan to test his shooting limit, taking a step back, even if it's the same situation just now, he can't guarantee that he will be able to shoot the ball, in the words of a well-known basketball commentator. This style of play is completely unreasonable.
With a light tap on his toes, Li Chen habitually tried feints, and there was no reason why the experienced Kirilenko would be hit. He didn't react other than a sneer.
Since there were no major flaws in the opponent's defense, Li Chen had to inevitably use the simplest method, and now he likes the feeling of being physically strong more and more, just like bullying people, and what he likes the most is bullying people.
His right foot swung forward naturally, and he became more and more proficient in the tricks he had learned from Kobe. The upper body is shaking and the left foot suddenly exerts force, and the big apple rushes towards the Jazz's interior line like an arrow from the string.
AK47 have been firmly on their toes, and Oku is ready to make up for it. It was not easy for Li Chen to make a move.
Of course, no one believed that the always calm Big Apple would suddenly play a tough game, including Oku, who was ready to make up for the defense, knew that the big Apple ball would have to be passed nine times out of ten. And now the biggest possibility is Chandler. Because once he makes up the defense, the defensive pressure on the boxing champion is bound to decrease.
"The weak offensive means instead set off his greatness, and outside of Big Ben, he is another tough interior line that relies on defense to gain a foothold in the league!" That's the only thing Oku remembers about Chandler, and it states the fact that the boxing king's offensive prowess is not impressive.
However, Chandler himself naturally would not agree with this statement, but he also has a stunt, and when it comes to attacking, he has to be stronger than Big Ben, after understanding Li Chen's intentions. He quickly pulled out to create space for his teammates.
Not surprisingly, Li Chen still chose Chandler. And the boxing champion who lacked offensive strength also used a witty deception foul to tell the opponent the consequences of underestimating himself, two free throws and two hits, Chandler's free throw level is simply unusual in the interior of the same position.
The five-point advantage was erased in just two minutes, and Sloan Sr. had to call a timeout to curb the opponent's offense, he had thought that the Knicks would be difficult to deal with in the new season, and now things really did not surprise him.
D'Antoni's small-ball tactics in offensive freedom allow Li Chen's technical characteristics to be brought into full play, even without Kobe, Gasol and other strong teammates, he can still unleash his offensive talent, and worse, he seems to be able to drive the offensive efficiency of his teammates, which is the most terrifying.
Sloan doesn't have any special tactics, in addition to asking for a stronger defense, the only thing he emphasizes is to let Delon press the rhythm, the Jazz's technical characteristics can only be brought into play in positional battles, once the opponent starts a big battle, then the game has been lost 8%.
"Andre, strangle that rookie on the other side, Mr. MVP of the Finals is obviously well integrated into the Knicks now, once his offense is blocked, the Knicks will instantly become the original bad team!"
Sloan reminded Kirilenko to pay attention to Li Chen's defense, in his opinion, his disciple has not done his best at all, and he can still be well restrained last season, why can't he do it now, although that kid's body is stronger, but the well-informed Sloan still doesn't believe that one summer can make the Big Apple strong to this point, it's just a second development, and it's not puberty!
After the pause, Li Chen used his strong performance to express his determination to advance like James. The high-speed offensive rhythm made AK's defensive strength completely unleashed, Curry cut in from the outside with the ball, and after the offense was blocked, he handed the ball to Li Chen, who followed up.
The Big Apple doesn't care if it's in any way, and when he jumps up, he runs for the opponent's foul. Two free throws and two free throws make people sigh at the speed of Big Apple's progress, time has passed, and there is no possibility of a resurgence of the apple cutting tactic.
CJ Myers broke through and made a layup, but the Knicks' counterattack was not ambiguous, not even through Curry's hand, Li Chen directly took the ball to attack, except for Hughes and Curry, who were not far away, the two interior lines had already squeezed into the Jazz's interior line at this time, and the offensive and defensive conversion was only a matter of moments, and the Knicks performed a real quick counterattack.
Chandler and David Lee both got stuck in a rare position, and Li's pace helped him reduce a lot of pressure from AK and rush to the basket, and he could even see the scoreboard jump.
Stepping on the free throw line and jumping is not something that the Big Apple can do, although he wants to show off his acquaintance, but in order to avoid the tragedy of the balloon, he still honestly chooses a position that he is very sure of.
What could be more shameless than doing a pull-up after wreaking havoc on an opponent's basket? Of course, the referee turned a blind eye to all this. Perhaps it was the momentum of the fans at the scene that frightened Mr. Referee, in short, between the penalty foul and offending the fans, he chose to tolerate Li Chen's no-limit celebration.
The timer shows that the Knicks' offense took only 6.6 seconds, and the amazing speed can't help but make people ring the Suns of the year, and legend has it that his offense only takes 7 seconds. And today, the Knicks also only took 7 seconds, considering that Li Chen is dunking, 6.6 seconds is not a long time, if he chooses to shoot, it will undoubtedly take less time.
On the big screen at the scene, a screenshot animation of "Plants vs. Zombies" appeared on it, accompanied by the gorgeous explosion of an apple bomb, Li Chen's dragon attack just now reappeared on the big screen, and the DJ repeatedly emphasized the number 6.4 seconds.
Afterwards, the Knicks' official website ran a headline - Our Tactics? Answer: 6.6 seconds! (To be continued......)