Chapter 538: Spurs are playing with snakes

With Messina coaching, the morning shooting drills were even more dull than ever. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

Because unlike Popovich, Messina, as a coach from a purely European background, has an introverted personality and does not scold a few words in the morning, which makes the Spurs players a little uncomfortable.

Messina, 54, has been coaching at a high level for over 25 years and is a champion coach with numerous years of experience.

In 1989, he began his career at the club now known as Verus Bologna. He coached there for nine years in two different periods, one of which he managed Manu Ginobili and his team to the 2001 Europa League title.

After a period of great success in Bologna, he took over the reins of the Italian national team and began his saga, winning the UEFA Champions League four times.

And the only reason why a champion with a championship, smart and wise man like Messina hasn't been offered a job as a head coach in the NBA is that many NBA teams aren't ready to hire a foreign coach.

But the Spurs hired him, and he has been there ever since, and as of today's game against the Pacers, he will become the first European-born NBA head coach this season.

And he himself was a little uncomfortable in the morning, although he was also a dominant head coach in Europe, but in the Spurs he was a tactical coach, and he basically practiced tactics and running all morning.

When I came out for lunch at noon, I met Hou Junao, a front-line reporter from the "Basketball Herald", and he chatted with Jiang Haoran about a very interesting question: "If Messina is in charge of coaching, will you increase your playing time?" ”

"Perhaps." Jiang Haoran didn't answer positively, in fact, he knew that it would be no fun, unless it was still possible for Becky Harmon to coach, Messina's rigor was no worse than Bobo's, otherwise how could he be praised as Bobo's successor by the outside world.

At the Bankers Life Arena, the game officially began.

The Spurs traveled to Indiana to challenge the Pacers, and Popovich's absence for personal reasons seemed to have some impact on the Spurs, with an extremely poor shooting percentage in the opening game.

The Pacers, on the other hand, had a hard-won chance against the Spurs, one game was worth five games, and Paul George and Ellis both made statements before the game that they wanted to win the game, and they played with enough intensity from the start.

George got into the groove early, first making two free throws from the foul, then hitting a three-pointer from the outside and a layup under the basket to put George in the first seven points to help the team build a lead.

The Spurs didn't score a point before the first timeout except for Leonard's two jumpers in the opening game, and the Pacers took a 12-4 lead with George Hill's three-point shot. After returning from a timeout, the Spurs still couldn't find their form, and the Pacers counterattacked one after another, and Ellis hit a three-pointer from the outside, and the Pacers maintained a double-digit advantage.

Leonard didn't make a substitution at the end of the game, and it was his three-pointer who helped the Spurs stabilize the situation, but Starkey responded with a three-pointer in the next round, and the Pacers led the Spurs by 12 points at 25-13 at the end of the first quarter.

Messina's European rhythm is a bit out of step in the NBA, he spoke too slowly, and his tactics were not in place, so he was pointed out by the referee that the timeout was over, and there was still a gap between the on-court adaptability and Bobo.

In the second quarter, Jiang Haoran played regularly, and today he wore Jiang Haoran's generation of combat boots, which he hasn't worn much since the All-Star Game, after all, he only has this pair now, but just this morning, Xia Yan told him that he received a bunch of sneakers by express, and all the four colors of Jiang Haoran's generation are available, two pairs of each, a total of 8 pairs have been sent, enough to wear for a year......

Don't think that NBA players change their shoes all the time, they don't care so much about the old shoes, such as Jiang Haoran, who has a habit of changing shoes after a few days, and the most important thing is to wear comfortable feet.

In fact, Parker also arrived at four pairs of Jiang Haoran's sneakers at this time, and was about to try his feet when he was about to go back.

In the second quarter, the Spurs still couldn't find a good way, relying on Jiang Haoran's two high-post shots to chase the score, and the defense on Jiang Haoran's side would always be much more urgent, while Ginobili's projection ability on the other side was too poor, and the feeling was not found at all.

On the Pacers' side, Starkey performed well, first making two free throws from the foul, and then breaking through to make it 2+1 to leave the Spurs helpless. The Spurs' offense has always been intermittent, first Jiang Haoran, then Aldridge, who has become the team's more offensive player, an iconic golden rooster independence and a turnaround jumper.

The Pacers maintained a solid lead at the end of the game, and at halftime, David West missed a shot, and the Spurs went into the second half with a 13-point advantage at 32-45.

What kind of did this Nima's half-court offense play! Jiang Haoran was a little angry and sat in the locker room without saying a word.

The whole team seems to have suddenly lost fire, and it is 32 points in the half, and then the tactics are tactics, but the tactics pay attention to the ball to the person, not the person to the ball, the Spurs have made mistakes several times because of a slow beat, and the 14 turnovers in the first half are also the most in the season.

If it weren't for the fact that the Pacers weren't a team that was good at counter-attacking, the Spurs would have collapsed by now.

But there was nothing to do, it was too far away from the Holy City, it was as uncomfortable as going to another country, and everyone's footsteps were a little dull.

"The defense is strengthened, let me move!" In the dressing room, Messina kept the players warm and everyone was doing training like yoga.

In the rematch, the Spurs relied on goals from Green and Aldridge to close the score at the beginning, and on the defensive end, they let the opponent not score for 2 minutes and 40 seconds, which can be regarded as a strong team style.

But that performance didn't last long, with goals from Masimmi and George Hill pulling away once again.

Single-handedly for Leonard's man, Hill did not relentless in front of his old club.

Messina seems to have indicated that this game should exercise Leonard's physical strength, Jiang Haoran has been pressed on the bench, but fortunately Jiang Haoran has a towel to vent.

After the timeout, the Spurs regained their offensive feeling, Leonard made a one-step shot inside the high three-point line, Duncan assisted Aldridge to complete an empty layup, and the Spurs' excellent offense once narrowed the score to 6 points.

The Pacers relied on George Hill's performance of throwing and free throws to open the score again, and I have to say that George Hill is very good today, a bit like Pacer Jiang Haoran...... This is how the fans feel at the scene!

The Spurs' intermittent performance hurt the team, and they relied on Jiang Haoran's life-saving three-pointer in the last two minutes of the third quarter to chase down six points again, but then the offense was dumb again and the score was pulled away. Before the end of the third quarter, David West made a layup to help the Spurs end the quarter 62-73.