Curry's unexpected surgery missed most of the season has cast a shadow over the Clippers' prospects this season.

Don't look at Curry as a sophomore, his place in the team's tactics is already very important.

It was Curry's outstanding play at the point guard position last season that allowed the Clippers to catch the final train of the playoffs.

On the night of Curry's surgery and signing a new contract, the Clippers hosted the Dallas Mavericks.

The Mavericks have been strong this season, with Cuban renewing Nowitzki's contract in the summer, Tyson Chandler at center, Caron Butler at the No. 3 position, and Stephenson at the No. 2 position.

Coupled with the fact that good players such as Kidd, Haywood, and Jason Terry are still on the team, the overall strength of the Mavericks has reached a higher level.

The Curry-missing Clippers changed their starting lineup, with Kirk Hinrich starting in place of Curry and partnering Barang Davis in the backcourt.

In Curry's absence, the Clippers' offensive style changed and slowed down completely.

Began to make a fuss around the two inside points of Randolph and Gasol Jr.

Attacking in the low post, cooperating in the high and low positions, scoring and playing, looking for opportunities to shoot in the open position.

At this time, fans found that the Clippers with Curry and the Clippers without Curry were completely two teams with a style of play.

None of the other players on the Clippers have such an impact, and no one will change much.

Even if it's Zach Randolph, even without Randolph, Xiao Jia can be the axis in the low post.

Without Xiao Ga, Milicic can go up, although his strategy is not very good, but the cover can be done.

Only Curry, who is unique and irreplaceable, is a combination of Hamilton + Arenas on the court, who can inject a lot of vitality into the Clippers' offense and bring many possibilities.

The Clippers are missing an important point, and some of the team's basic problems are still unresolved.

Defensive problems, for small guards like Jason Terry and Chris Paul, the Clippers still have insufficient response.

Not to mention Nowitzki, the 33-year-old, who has been in as good form as ever this year, is hard to limit.

Moreover, the Mavericks used a lot of Nowitzki's high-post pick-and-roll in this game.

The repeated blocking and pick-and-roll created opportunities for players who shot well on the perimeter, such as Terry, Kidd, and Butler.

This is different from the Portland Trail Blazers, who are similar to the Pistons, taking the traditional path of containment on the inside and creating space for the outside.

The Mavericks, however, made less use of Nowitzki's low-post containment power, but instead took advantage of Nowitzki's range and made a lot of pick-and-rolls.

Compared with the rigidity of the traditional combination of internal and external methods, this tactical routine of a large number of blocking and dismantling is more diverse and flexible.

Terry, Kidd, and even Barria, who came off the bench, could dominate the ball after the pick-and-roll to make offensive options.

Min Congda only watched half the game on the sidelines, and there was a refreshing feeling that the Mavericks' offense was quite different from last season.

"This kind of offense is really not good to defend, it's difficult to crack tactically, if you really want to crack it, you can only solve it hard, rely on the player's personal strength to suppress, or ......"

After solving Curry's worries, Min Congda watched the game much calmer and less emotional.

After all, the Mavericks firmly suppressed the Clippers from the first quarter, leading the Clippers by 11 points at halftime.

It seems to be similar to the first game, but if you look at the scene, you can see that it is different from the game against the Trailblazers.

Sure enough, in the third quarter, the wave of counterattacks that Clippers fans were expecting didn't appear.

James Harden came off the bench to lead the second team on the counter-attack.

But in the face of the Mavericks' tacit joint defense, the Clippers really don't have many options.

The NBA has allowed joint defense for less than 10 years, and the game has not been used much.

Because the joint defense requires a high degree of tacit understanding of the players, and the NBA has a three-second defense, which greatly weakens the power of the joint defense.

NBA teams have a lot of personnel mobility, and it is very troublesome to practice joint defense in training on weekdays.

And the Mavericks' core lineup has been maintained for several years, and they are all experienced veterans.

So as soon as the joint defense is used, the Clippers will have a hard time.

Mike Dunleavy misses Curry at this point.

If Curry is here, the Mavericks will suffer a big loss if they use joint defense for such a long time.

Sure enough, when you lose it, you know how important and precious it is.

Although Harden has very good organizational skills, it takes a lot of experience to break the joint defense and a very tacit cooperation with his teammates.

These two points are far from enough for the young Harden, and without Curry as a partner, Harden always feels that something is missing.

When he was with the Thunder, Harden partnered with Westbrook, and it doesn't really make much difference whether he has this partner or not.

Unlike Curry, both of them are young people with high ball quotient and playing very smart, and they will learn from each other on the court, discuss with each other, and even compete with each other on some small details.

The fun was lost after just one and a half games, much to Harden's disappointment.

In the third quarter, the Clippers were already trailing by 15 points, and Harden had decided to find a big Los Angeles Woman to play with the big ass after the game to dispel the discomfort on the court.

The core players were absent, the others were demoralized, and in the end, the Clippers lost the game at home 100-91, with a 9-point disadvantage.

Two consecutive defeats in the season.

After the game, the atmosphere in the Clippers' locker room was gloomy.

Everyone was not very happy when they lost.

Dunleavy frowned and held an emergency meeting with the coaching staff.

They need to rearrange the team's tactics and personnel rotation.

According to Dunleavy's idea, they need to shorten the rotation appropriately.

Return to the tactical strategy of focusing on the interior, strengthen the defense, and improve the stability of the team.

At this time, Min Congda rushed out and forcibly joined the meeting of the coaching staff.

Min asked Dunleavy, "Mike, let me ask you, what is the purpose of our team's game?" ”

Lao Deng still had to think about it, and Kim Hughes replied: "Everyone has a ball to play!" ”

Min Congda pointed at Lao Jin, meaning that he was right, and he would rush to answer.

"Although we lost Curry, we still have to stick to the strategy of everyone playing with the ball! Get more players on the pitch and more tactics to play. Train our newcomers, truly achieve that everyone has a ball to play, and create a harmonious playing environment. ”

The so-called lie told a thousand times is the truth.

Since last season, Min Congda has often emphasized the principle that everyone has a ball to play.

The coaching staff went from being disdainful at the beginning, to being skeptical, and then feeling that it made sense.

Now, Min Congda knows that after mentioning it a little, everyone's thinking has returned to "everyone has a ball to play".

Even Dunleavy, who was the most sober-minded, nodded and said, "Smart, you're right, we still have to stick to the previous strategy, continue to develop new players, and let everyone have a chance to play." ”

Min Congda smiled: "Old Deng, you have finally opened your mind, and you can understand my thoughts." ”

(End of chapter)