All-round Athlete

Chapter 934

On June 5, the first game of the 2013-2014 NBA Finals was held at the American Airlines Arena in Miami.

In this game, the number of shots taken by both sides was 87 for the Lakers and 94 for the Heat. The shooting percentage was 42.5% for the Lakers and 44.7% for the Heat. The Lakers' 3 times against the Heat's 8 times, the turnover book is the Lakers' 16 times against the Heat's 7 times.

Judging from this data, the Heat have an overall advantage and will inevitably usher in a big victory. However, in fact, the Heat lost the game 109 to 122. The main reason for losing the game was rebounds. The Heat only grabbed 36 rebounds in the game, while the Lakers grabbed 60 rebounds.

The Heat's 36 rebounds is actually a relatively normal statistic. They averaged only 36.4 rebounds per game this season, and the Lakers' 60 rebounds are indeed some super-level performances. Among them, "Whiteside" Whiteside grabbed 15 rebounds alone, which made Bosh, who appeared in the center position, a little lost. I have to say that Miami is really Whiteside's blessed land. Whiteside also played his worth in Miami, and today he followed the Lakers to Miami for the first time and grabbed 15 rebounds.

Gasol also made a rare rise and contributed a double-double. For Gasol, it is still very easy for Gasol to bully Rashad Lewis who has little confrontation ability on the offensive end. A big pitcher like Lewis has no confrontation ability at all, which is exactly what Gasol wants.

Kaman, who played only 15 minutes, became the efficiency king of the entire game. He finally met a weak inside Heat team and scored 13 points and 12 rebounds. "The true colors.

There is a saying in basketball that "rebounds win the world", especially in the high-intensity playoffs. Although the Heat's other statistics are comprehensive, they lost a full 24 rebounds, which made the Heat The team ushered in a big defeat at home.

The Heat's weakness inside is something that the entire league knows. At present, the two starting inside players of the Heat are Bosh and Rashad Lewis. Neither of them are the kind of confrontation insiders. Bosh has been criticized for being too soft, and Rashad Lewis is a An outside shooter is not an inside player at all. So in many cases, the Heat will send Birdman Anderson to strengthen the inside ability and protect the team's rebounds.

For this Heat team, losing rebounds has become a normal phenomenon. Throughout the season, the Heat averaged 4 fewer rebounds per game than their opponents, and this data was still 2 last season. In this season, the Heat's rebound protection is even more unfavorable.

At the same time, the Heat's perimeter double-team defensive strategy was gradually cracked by each team.

The Heat are very good at using the defensive strategy of double-teaming the ball holder on the outside to disrupt the opponent's rhythm and force the opponent to make mistakes, and this makes up for the Heat's disadvantage of lack of insiders to a certain extent. This trick was very effective in the first one or two years, but as the small ball style became more and more popular, the speed of each team's rotation became faster, coupled with the increase in three-pointers, the Heat's Defensive tactics are increasingly ineffective.

In terms of regular season record, the Heat are 54 wins and 28 losses, ranking second in the Western Conference. Last year, the Heat's record was 66 wins and 16 losses, which means that this year's Heat lost 12 more games than last year.

In general, the Heat this season is indeed not as good as last season. It can also be said that other teams have become stronger, but the Heat have stagnated.

...

The home defeat of the first game made James very angry. This is not only the first game of the series, but also at the Heat's home court. Although the situation of the west is strong and the east is weak this season is the most serious, the Heat have won two consecutive championships anyway. The defending champion will not be bullied in the first game and have no power to fight back.

What makes James most dissatisfied is Wade's state, especially after entering the playoffs, Wade's state has declined quite seriously.

According to the statistics of this season, Wade's scoring, steals, blocks, assists, offensive rebounds, defensive rebounds, free throws and free throw percentage are all lower than his career average. Wade's regression can be said to be "all-round". On the defensive end of this game, Wade seemed to be walking on the court, unable to find his status.

In the first game of the finals, the Heat exposed a lot of problems. During the regular season, no one seemed to care about these problems. In the playoffs, these problems did not seem to be very serious when facing the Eastern Conference teams, but When facing the top teams in the Western Conference, the Heat's problems are really fatal.

In this finals in history, the Heat met the Spurs, and the loss was relatively unsuspecting. They were swept by the Spurs 4-1. The only game they won was only two points, and the losses were all ten or twenty points. of. If the Heat encounter the Thunder or the Clippers instead of the Spurs, it will be difficult for the Heat to win the final victory. Age issues, unreasonable lineup configuration, and rigid tactical system, even if they are as strong as James, they can't save the Heat, and James obviously felt this, and decisively returned to Cleveland next season.

In the entire league, James should be the player who can lead the team to victory. Maybe he is not the best in terms of statistics, but his comprehensiveness is unparalleled. James' comprehensiveness is not just a quasi-triple-double in statistics, but he knows how to lead the team to victory.

The so-called "dual core" and "big three" with a lot of balls in the league have many teams whose lineups look very good, but in the end they just can't win.

The real NBA game is not about playing games, where you can get the best scorers together and sweep everything. When big-name players get together, what is most needed is a leader who can lead the team to victory.

James is a natural leader. He can always lead the team to victory in his own way. This is unmatched by any player in the NBA.

So in the second contest of the finals, James completely changed his strategy. He reduced passing and increased scoring to make up for Wade's lack of state; he began to fight harder for rebounds, especially in protecting defensive rebounds. On the defensive end, he almost switched positions with Rashard Lewis and stepped into the position of power forward himself.

In this game, James scored a large double-double with 38 points and 17 rebounds, but the number of assists was only 1, which means that James basically did not pass the ball throughout the game.

In recent seasons, James' average assists per game has been around 7 times, ranking in the top ten in the league almost every year, much better than most point guards. Contributing only 1 assist in a game is really rare for James.

But the Heat won.

After all, it is impossible for the Lakers to have more than 60 rebounds in every game, and facing a James who is desperately trying to score, Ci Shiping paid the price of six fouls, but still failed to restrain him. If a superstar of James' type wants to score, no one can guard against it.

Under the leadership of James, the Heat achieved a 1-1 home record. This result is barely acceptable for the Heat. The key depends on the next two away games. I hope to win the championship, and if they lose both games, the Heat will basically miss the championship.

...

On June 10, the third game between the two sides was held in Los Angeles.

Back at home, the Lakers increased the rotation speed of the ball and increased the shooting frequency of three-pointers. As a result, the Heat's proud outside double-team tactics completely collapsed!

The Lakers play run and gun. Running and quick rotation of the ball is a must. When the Heat double-team the ball-handler, the Lakers either have already passed the ball or made a three-pointer. No matter how fast a player double-teams, it is impossible to catch up with the speed of the ball.

However, coach Spoelstra of the Heat is still a dead-brained man who doesn't know how to adapt. He has been adhering to this tactic throughout the game, which led to the complete collapse of the Heat's defense.

Speaking of which, the professional level of coach Spoelstra of the Heat is really average. If it weren't for the Big Three, he wouldn't be able to win the championship. Of course, he doesn't actually have a lot of say in the team. Coach Spoelstra has a general manager like Pat Riley on his head, and he will always intervene when there is nothing to do; he has a leader-level player like James under him. One sentence may fire the head coach. So coach Spoeldo doesn't have much room to play. He is more like a puppet or the glue of the team. Many people even think that Spoelstra is at the level of an assistant coach.

It can be said that in this game, both sides lost in the tactical concept. This double-teaming of the outside ball-handler's defense will eventually be replaced by help defense and wing defenders. Two or three years later, a large group of players who are proficient in wing defense have received big contracts. After reading their statistics, many fans even shouted that they are not worth the money. However, this shows the development of basketball from the side. trend. In the era of the rise of the three-pointer, a strong wing defender is what the team needs most.

The Heat made a response in the fourth game. They no longer used the outside double-team to trap the ball holder, but returned to one-on-one defense.

...

Facing Wade, Zhang Guan rushed past Wade with a fake move, and attracted Bosh's help defense. I saw Zhang Guan waved the ball lightly and passed the ball to Gasol, who was open under the basket, and Gasol easily put the ball into the basket.

"It's Wade's leak again, this is the first time he's missed!" The Miami commentator's tone was full of annoyance.

Wade still hasn't recovered his form. He doesn't look excited at all. Not only will his footsteps slow down on the defensive end, but he also seems quite hesitant on the offensive end. In a one-on-one situation, Zhang Guan was blown away by Zhang Guan.

But Zhang Guan didn't have much joy in his heart, instead he felt a sense of invincibility.

In the finals of this year in history, Wade did not perform well. He averaged only 15.2 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.6 times per game, but made 3.6 turnovers. This is one of the reasons why James left the Heat. James needs younger and more energetic teammates to fight for the championship ring.

Wade did not play well, Bosh was still in the half-dead state before, and no one on the Heat's bench could stand up. James had almost no rest from the first quarter to the fourth quarter, but he was still alone.

At this time, James seems to have returned to the Cavaliers a few years ago. It was the same at that time. Whether it was on the offensive or defensive end, the whole team relied on him alone. He was of minimal help.

Today's game is also like this, BIG3 suddenly became BIG1, Wade and Bosh played like two ordinary starters, which turned James' 36 points into empty cuts.

The Big Three accounted for more shots, which made the other players of the Heat take a lot less shots. The core of the Heat's tactics is to let the Big Three attack, so even if the role players catch the ball, they rarely take shots. For example, Chalmers, who feels pretty good today, only got 5 shots in total, but hit 4 balls.

Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis also had poor hands, both of which were lower than their usual field goal percentages. Birdman Anderson is very energetic, but he is also very good at fouling. He committed six fouls in just over 20 minutes today.

Michael Beasley has become the highest scorer outside the "Big Three", and his shooting percentage is not bad, but this guy basically only plays singles with the ball. In terms of individual ability singles, James is much more reliable than Michael Beasley, so this guy is also a tasteless presence on the court.

Haslem 0 points, Tony - Douglas 0 points, Battier 0 points, Norris - Cole 0 points, James - Jones is also 0 points.

"Little Emperor" James was truly alone in this game.

...

"I lost!" James' face was full of unwillingness, but the reality made him helpless.

111 to 92, the Lakers took a 19-point lead and won, turning the total score into 3-1.

In the history of the finals, no team has ever been able to reverse and win the championship after falling behind 1 to 3. So this is tantamount to a death sentence for the Heat! Even if the Heat still have two home games, it is still difficult to beat the Lakers in three consecutive games.

The Lakers are just a stone's throw away from the championship!