After the Clippers switched to a defensive lineup of one big and four small in the second quarter, it didn't work very well.

Because changing guards is not a simple matter.

Unlike one-on-one single defense with a clear goal, changing defenses requires a good defensive understanding between players.

If two people lack communication and tacit understanding when defending, one will accidentally have a defensive hole, and the opponent will be caught to tear the defense apart, or give the opponent an opportunity to shoot in an open space.

In the past few seasons, the Clippers have been mainly one-on-one single defense on the defensive end, supplemented by joint defense, while emphasizing discipline on the defensive end.

I don't particularly care about defensive intensity and the weaving of the defensive mesh, after all, the Clippers win mainly on offense.

Mike Malone intends to inject stronger defensive genes into the Clippers, and he doesn't want to waste such a good defensive resource on the Clippers' youngsters.

In the second half of the second quarter, the Warriors took advantage of the Clippers' lack of understanding on the defensive end to set off a wave of chasing points.

But the defensive talent and savvy of the young Clippers players are really good, and after playing half a quarter, the defensive feeling on the court is getting better and better.

Especially the switching and communication of Anthony Davis and Leonard and others, everyone kept communicating on the court, and the tacit understanding was getting better and better.

With Anthony Davis on the inside, the perimeter player can be bold and aggressive, and even if he accidentally misses the position, Davis will make up for it.

Davis took advantage of his long arms and fast movement to fill in the gaps near the three-second zone.

Davis is a lot like Garnett, but the difference is that his defense is more inside and more basket-protective.

So, Davis isn't as aggressive as Garnett defensively, but he's better at blocking under the basket and making offensive fouls.

Min Congda's "subsidence" anti-blocking and dismantling strategy, the Clippers have always implemented it very well, putting basket protection first.

Anthony Davis's defensive style is undoubtedly a good fit for Min's request - although Min has long forgotten what he wrote to inspire the Clippers defensively.

A 20-point deficit is not so easy to chase.

At one point, the Warriors narrowed the deficit to 12 points.

However, at the end of the second quarter, the Clippers relied on tough defense and caused the Warriors to lose twice in a row.

Leonard and Butler scored back-to-back fast-break shots to stretch the gap to 17 points again.

Butler came off the bench in the second quarter, and the Clippers' "defensive counterattack" strategy made him a fish in water.

Last season, he mainly relied on stealing chickens on the offensive end, but this season he has made great strides in dribbling, breaking, and fast breaking.

And he is ugly, his brain is definitely better than his looks, and he plays quite smart on the field.

In terms of physical fitness, he is inferior to Leonard and George.

In the counterattack, it is difficult for him to rely on speed, arm span and explosiveness to directly hit the basket like George and Leonard.

He's better at slowing down and playing against defenders, using his body and feet to complete the offense.

Although the scene was not as exciting as George and Leonard's dunks, it was a steady word.

Mike Malone also discovered that Butler has a ball quotient that doesn't match his appearance, and this kid is definitely underrated.

At halftime, Mike Malone praised his players for their defensive coordination in the second quarter.

"I'm amazed at how fast people are learning and how fast they are progressing, really. No wonder we couldn't beat you in last year's finals. ”

Malone has only been with the Clippers for a short time, and sometimes he feels like he is the coach of the Cavaliers.

As a Cavaliers coach, his senses for the Clippers are comprehensive, but not deep enough, and they are not within the team after all.

When he really went deep into this team, he felt how deep the Clippers are, how malleable, and how huge the potential they have.

Steve Cole had similar feelings at the beginning, but the two looked at it from different angles.

Kerr sees it from an offensive perspective and believes the Clippers have a lot of offensive potential.

Mike Malone looks at both offense and defense at the same time, and the Clippers still have endless potential.

And Malone is a little different from Cole, Mike Malone is not as ambitious as Cole.

Tyronn Lue was in the locker room and handed Malone the summary whip and brushes for him to analyze the situation in the first half.

This flattered Malone a little, but Tyronn Lue said: "It's a tradition on our team, and you're the protagonist tonight." ”

As a result, Malone summarized and analyzed the points of defense in the first half, pointing out some mistakes and problems in the selection of players.

Of course, a game can't be improved quickly, and the regular season is still long, and the Clippers have plenty of time to adjust.

After the start of the second half, the Warriors entered a long road to chase the points, and the 17-point difference was really big.

Whenever the Warriors launched a wave of counterattacks, the Clippers always responded strongly on the defensive end, keeping the Warriors without scoring for a while.

For a young team like the Warriors, which focuses on projection, the lack of rhythm is very uncomfortable, and the shooting touch of Thompson and Lillard has been worn out.

Min Congda sat on the sidelines with his hands on his chest, looking at it and thinking to himself: "I knew that you Mark Jackson was so stupid, I would have asked you to come to the Clippers as the head coach!" To break such a defense and change the defense, it's very simple, just pull away from the low position and do it! Ball by ball, slowly chasing back, stupid! ”

Not to mention that Min Congda is a talented man in basketball, he saw the tricks of the Clippers' defense in a very short period of time and found a way to deal with it - low-post singles.

I have to say that NBA tactics are sometimes a kind of cycle, and they are mutually reinforcing.

From the day basketball was born and flourished, low-post offense has always been the mainstream on the court.

After all, the closer you get to the basket, the easier it is to score.

However, with the continuous development of basketball skills and tactics, the status of low-post offense is also decreasing.

In the 80s, almost every team on the field, from the center forward to the defender, would attack with their backs in the low post.

Even a point guard can pout his ass and push inside, and eat the defender with his back in the low post.

Most of the tactical initiations start with the players holding the ball with their backs in the low post and stirring up the opponent's defensive formation.

By the 90s, especially in the 1995-1997 seasons when the three-point line was shortened, the low post became the exclusive use of the team's core players, and the rest of the players dominated the basket and spot shooting.

At the beginning of the 21st century, the low-post back body has gradually become an exclusive secret skill for superstars, a special skill for the playoffs, and a specific tactic at certain moments, rather than a regular tactical routine, let alone a tactical starting style.

In the second decade of the 21st century, the low-level monsters on the inside line basically withdrew from the stage of history.

The on-court attack became more and more fluid, and the Flow tactic was born.

Correspondingly, many coaches, including Mike Malone, began to gradually think about and use large-scale defensive changes, joint defenses, and even infinite defensive changes to target the tearing effect of the current large number of blocking and passing tactics on the defensive formation.

If the attacker flows, the defender will naturally flow with it.

Constant changes of defense can minimize gaps and tears in the defensive formation.

But correspondingly, what kind of offense can best deal with a large number of defensive changes?

In fact, everything has come full circle back to square one, and the best strategy to deal with a large number of defensive changes is to hold the ball in the low post.

Because the attacker is always the one who takes the initiative, don't you like to move, do you love to change, I simply don't move.

This is called static braking, and at the same time, because the opponent changes a lot of defense, or even infinite defense, there will inevitably be a dislocation in defense.

In an era when low-post offense is strong and low-post monsters are everywhere, a lot of defensive changes simply won't work.

You're creating a misplaced singles opportunity for your opponent.

Now, with the demise of low-post singles and the rise of the all-round forward at the No. 3 position, the position on the court is blurred, and the change of defense is becoming more and more useful.

So, just as fashion is a cycle, those things that have been discarded by history are not completely useless, they are only temporarily hidden.

The wheel of history will one day turn back, and even if it doesn't, those things that seem to be outdated can still play a huge role.

Mark Jackson clearly doesn't have that kind of sensitivity, and he doesn't have that kind of adaptability.

In the face of the Clippers' flexible and fast defensive changes, Jackson can only hope that the players' pick-and-rolls will be more solid, move the ball faster, and shoot more accurately.

At the same time, Jackson also intends to make a fuss on the defensive end, because Jackson wants to make the Warriors a balanced team on offense and defense.

But big brother, you're 17 points behind, the key is to score first.

The Clippers are not in a hurry at all, and they will drag with you at the beginning of the third quarter.

Anyway, the Clippers' positional battle offense is very simple, that is, Dragic plays the block and dismantle.

In tonight's game, Dragic has had enough of the ball in his hands.

The ball starts from the high post, bursts or points, hits the inside and throws it into the air, and lets Milicic or Anthony Davis relay it.

If you can't get in, Leonard, Butler or Bazemore and the others, come out, catch the ball, have a chance to shoot, but don't have a chance to shoot hard.

After shooting, the Clippers will never compete for frontcourt rebounds, quickly return to defense, and do not give the Warriors a chance to play a quick counterattack.

In this case, the Clippers' lead is very secure.

And the Warriors have no room for error.

If there is a slight misfire in their attack, a few mistakes, all the efforts they have made to fill the pit will be in vain.

Time is consumed, and more is consumed by morale and confidence.

As the third quarter ended, the Warriors still trailed the Clippers by 15 points, and the Warriors gradually lost confidence.

In fact, chasing 15 points in a quarter of a game is not a fantasy, in the NBA, anything can happen.

The key is not to give up early, and once you give up, the game is over.

Before the start of the fourth quarter, Mark Jackson was at a loss and didn't know what to do.

After a few rounds, Jackson still couldn't find a good way to crack the Clippers' bucket formation.

In fact, the Clippers have not yet formed a mature system, but the players' individual defensive ability is really strong, while the Warriors players are very young, and the experience of playing against the wind is still too little.

are also mainly young players, and the Clippers have experienced the baptism of the finals and won the championship after all, and their hearts are completely different.

By the middle of the fourth quarter, the score was 84-71, with the Clippers leading the Warriors by 13 points.

With five minutes left in the game, it stands to reason that the Warriors still have a chance.

But in an offense, Lillard double-covered in the high post, and was suddenly hit by Leonard and Butler!

This pinch shot was extremely ferocious, which can be said to catch Lillard off guard, and the ball in his hand was taken away by Leonard alive and passed to Butler.

Then Butler and Leonard went down quickly, Butler was not greedy, but a smashing ball, the ball bounced in the air, Leonard jumped high, and the one-handed air relay was slammed!

The Staples Center was jubilant, and the fans cheered like crazy.

Leonard's face was expressionless, and Butler stepped forward and shouted, "You have a smile!" ”

Leonard grinned slightly, laughing more ugly than crying.

If the Warriors score, like a three-pointer or something, then there will be a play.

As a result, a mistake was beaten back by the Clippers again, and the point difference returned to 15 points, which really felt like no play.

Jackson didn't want to waste any more physical strength on the players, so go back and sum it up, this one can't be beaten.

So, the Warriors called a timeout and replaced the main players with substitute garbage players.

Min Congda saw Jackson give up, and scolded in his heart: "You stupid, you can't adjust tactics, give up at a critical moment, how can you lead a good team like this!" I knew I would have asked you to come with the Clippers, and you were not as good as Tyronn Lue. ”

If you don't say anything else, if you want to say that you don't abandon or give up, this guy is definitely qualified.

The nerves are strong enough and have a steely will when it matters most, so they can withstand the pressure and give the players encouragement.

Of course, now that the team is in the lead and almost winning, Lu Gui sat on the bench with a blank look on his face, feeling as if he was not playing a role.

Today, the commander-in-chief of the Clippers is Malone, who is the director of the team's win, and Lu is the director of the field, who is responsible for handing the tactical board.

The vast majority of the fans at the scene were spectators of this good show, applauding the special performance of the Clippers that was different from the past.

It turns out that they can not only play beautiful attacks, but also use steely defense to strangle opponents.

And Min Congda, who wanted to watch a good show before the game, was as unhappy as he was in his heart.

But he didn't give up at the last minute, thinking that there would always be miracles in the NBA.

Doesn't Maddie have a miracle of 35.13 seconds?

The Warriors are a three-point team, and maybe in the last few minutes, a miracle will happen.

But the problem is that the Warriors are on a garbage lineup, and the Clippers' third team on the court may not be able to beat the Warriors' first lineup.

The Los Angeles Clippers don't raise idlers.

As time passed, so did the Warriors' hopes of winning.

The players on the field played loosely and had no intention of creating miracles.

A random pass, not steady, flew straight towards the sideline Clippers bench.

At this moment, a player wearing the number 23 jersey of the Warriors rushed towards the sideline, jumped sharply, and pounced on the ball that went out of the sideline.

With a bang, the whole person rushed into the audience, just near Min Congda, but fortunately, Min Congda was quick and got up to dodge.

However, he was still grazed, almost knocked down by the huge inertia, and held on to the handle of the seat, steady.

The young player, who wore the number 23, struggled to get up from the bench and said sorry to Min Congda.

Min Congda picked up the ball, returned it to him, and said, "Don't give up easily, if you give up, the game will end early." ”

The young black man with Green on his jersey looked at Min Congda, who certainly knew the Clippers, the league's most famous general manager.

He took the ball handed over by Min Congda, and he didn't know what to say, he was suddenly moved by an inexplicable feeling.

Green nodded and said, "I see, thank you." ”

Green then threw the ball back to the referee and the game continued.

Of course, even if you don't give up easily, the game will still be over.

In the end, the Clippers defeated the Warriors at home with an 11-point advantage of 96-85 and taught the opponent a lesson with defense.

Min Congda's delusions once again fell through.

(End of chapter)