The game started on time, and the Clippers were still a two-man lineup on the inside.

Replacing Curry in the starting position was Bledsoe.

In November, Bledsoe gained Dunleavy's trust and appeared heavily in the starting line-up.

However, his performance is not very consistent, sometimes he can score more than ten points in a single game, and sometimes he will hang zero eggs.

Koke Hinrich has essentially shared playing time with Bledsoe, with Hinrich being more solid but lacking in energy.

Barang Davis is getting better and better, and after a hard recovery in the summer, he lost weight and returned to about 70% of his peak.

It's just that in the offensively without the ball, Baron Davis is still not as good as playing with the ball.

Throughout the month of November, Barang missed Curry terribly.

Compared to the instability of the backcourt, the Clippers' frontcourt is quite solid.

Ricky Davis is now firmly seated as the Clippers' starting small forward.

And he's completely a 3-and-D player, concentrating on defense and shooting threes.

As the season progressed, his form got better and better.

Not to mention the inside line, Randolph and Gasol Jr. are becoming more and more tacit.

Overall, the Clippers are gradually emerging from the November trough.

And, in the last half a month, Dunleavy has been adjusting the team's defense.

Some time ago, Olchea approached Dunleavy and showed him an article called "The Use and Limitations of Pick-and-Roll in the Current Game Trend".

Lao Deng originally scoffed, as a senior head coach, how could he look at such a thing.

Tactics and strategies are all in his brilliant head.

Olshea, however, said that the article was a draft written by Mr. Smart.

Smart hopes this article will help with the Clippers' defensive problems.

Dunleavy wondered, "Why didn't Smart let me see it personally?" ”

"I guess Mr. Smart doesn't want to pressure Mike." This is also what someone else found and sent to me, you can take a look, I think it makes a lot of sense. ”

Dunleavy took 10 minutes to take a closer look, then sat on the sidelines and fell into deep thought.

It does make a lot of sense, although it is a fairly simple article, but it has insight into the major problems of the Clippers on the defensive end.

In particular, he reversed one of Dunleavy's beliefs that the team's poor defense was due to people not working hard.

But the reality is that everyone has worked hard, even harder than last season, but other teams have improved.

It's not uncommon in the NBA, but not the Clippers in 2007?

In 06, it was obviously still majestic, but in 07 it collapsed, is it just a matter of injury?

Brand is still in peak form, and the aging of the roster does not get old overnight.

Teams like Spurs are getting older, so why have they been able to stay evergreen?

In an increasingly competitive league, every season brings a new dimension that requires new changes.

The article, combined with the recent constant losses, made Dunleavy realize that the team needed to make a change.

So, following the instructions of the article, Dunleavy began to rearrange the team's defense, increasing the proportion of defensive training in daily training.

The previous game against the Hornets had already shown some effect, as they beat the Hornets 90-86 at home, ending a five-game losing streak against the Hornets.

In tonight's game, Dunleavy continued to emphasize the basic defensive strategy before the game: very simple, it is to retreat.

"It's a Spurs today, Parker's projection is not stable, let's increase the proportion of sinking and retreating a little."

Before the game began, Dunleavy muttered to himself as he looked back at the audience - Min Congda was not in his seat.

To be honest, Min Congda didn't yell in the back, and Lao Deng and the Clippers players felt quite unaccustomed to it.

Recently, he has not been able to come to the training center to eat, and everyone thinks that Mr. Smart must be disappointed with the team's results.

This made the Clippers players breathe a sigh of relief in their hearts, wanting to win!

Spurs' lineup tonight is miniaturized compared to the past.

Duncan moved to the center position, with DeJuan Blair at power forward, Jefferson at small forward, and Ginobili and Parker at guards.

Ginobili has returned to the starting position from the sixth man in the past, because under the new system, the outside line has to take on more scoring tasks.

After Duncan moved to the No. 5 position, his main job will be defense, and his role on the offensive end will gradually weaken.

Of course, at critical moments, Duncan will still be the team's most important offensive option.

In the first quarter of the game, just two rounds into the opening game, Popovich felt that the Clippers tonight were different from more than half a month ago.

The Spurs' first offense, Duncan's pick-and-roll from the high post, and a very solid high-quality screen, Parker scored from the right side.

As a result, Gasol Jr. did not change his defense, but quickly sank to the basket, while Bledsoe desperately squeezed past the chasing Parker.

Parker tried to rush to the basket, but he was in a good position and had no good chance to share the ball with Ginobili on the wing.

Ginobili broke through and missed a shot, Gasol Jr. grabbed the rebound, and the Clippers launched a counterattack.

Popovich sniffed the Clippers' changes on the defensive end.

"The most stable retreat defense is indeed very suitable, but if it is just a retreat, the effect is not too good."

The big man drops back to the basket and is the most stable way to defend the pick-and-roll, protecting the three-second zone and backcourt rebounds.

But this gives the smaller players more room to move, especially the smaller ones with strong projection, who will punish the sinking big man from mid-range.

Therefore, the small man must squeeze through the defense at all costs, pursue from behind, interfere and block the middle distance.

The most important thing Bledsoe lacks is physical strength, and the young people are very physical.

If it's just a simple retreat, then the Clippers' defensive approach is still too simple.

Then, in the Clippers' offense, Randolph forced Blair in the low post and turned to hit the board.

The Spurs are still attacking with pick-and-rolls, this time it is Blair's pick-and-roll, and Ginobili is organizing.

But this time the Clippers did not make a complete retreat, and the slower Randolph made a weak delay.

Strong delay is only played by a player like Kevin Garnett, who can also get back to the basket to block the opponent's layup after a high-intensity delay from outside the three-point line.

Weak delay, it looks like a pretense, reach out to block it, but it is not completely ineffective, and it can still delay the ball carrier for a short time.

It was this short period of time that gave the defender the opportunity to adjust his position.

Randolph retreated after a weak delay, and Barang Davis was able to step in in to defend Ginobili in time.

Of course, Ginobili still burst to the basket and gave the ball to Duncan, who received the ball and made a layup.

But the Spurs' offense is obviously not like the previous game, where a block opens up several opportunities to play casually.

Also, in order to target the Spurs' quick offense, Ricky Davis will cooperate with the ball carrier to delay the package at almost every offensive and defensive transition, and immediately retreat to the defense against his own defender after the delay is over.

It's a lot of physical drain on the players, but the effect is quite good.

In the first quarter of the game, the Clippers led the Spurs by 6 points at 25:19.

The Spurs, who can't improve their speed, are completely dumb in offense, and they don't have any moves on the field.

Min Congda watched the progress of the game in the first quarter, and the steak in his mouth instantly felt unfragrant.

And the more he looked at it, the more confused he became, "How do I think the Clippers' defense is the same as what I wrote in the article?" Could it be that Lao Deng's thoughts coincide with me? ”

(End of chapter)