Basketball Legends: Strikers Are King

"We have to fight back in the second half!"

What the Pistons head coach said is very correct, that’s what he thought and what he did.

At the beginning of the second half of the game, he directly replaced the three best performers, Ben Gordon, Stuckey, and Jerebko, and replaced Monroe and Daye on the inside.

"I mainly play outside and focus on defense inside."

After hearing the coach's instructions, everyone nodded and returned to the field.

Vogel was not careless and replaced the lineup of Collison, George, Granger, West and Hibbert at the beginning of the second half.

Collison was very happy to see that he still had the coach's trust at the critical moment. He stood at the top of the arc and directed his teammates to move.

Granger and West looked at each other and had a tacit understanding.

West came up to block Jerebko, and Granger took the opportunity to counterattack and attack the basket.

Collison immediately passed an alley-oop and assisted his teammate for a dunk.

"38-54."

Frank scratched his head, feeling a little embarrassed.

Jerebko and Daye have almost the same athletic ability, but they really can't keep up with their opponents defensively.

He applied for a substitution in advance and replaced Ben Wallace.

Although Ben Wallace is old, he should be able to help the team with his experience.

Unfortunately, this is all his wishful thinking. The Pacers hold a 16-point advantage and do not need to be too aggressive on offense. They only need to defend well to maintain the point difference.

Seeing that there were only four minutes left in the third quarter, Frank sighed and requested a substitution.

Substitute players Will Bynum, Knight, Damian Wilkins, Charlie Villanueva and Mark Hill appeared.

The score at this time was 56-70.

Vogel also gradually replaced the main players. He remembered that today's goal is to slowly find players who can enter the rotation.

Price and Qi Tian finally got a chance to play. Together with Stephenson, Amandasson and Foster, they formed the third substitute team.

Seeing the substitute come on, the fans on the sidelines immediately took the opportunity to solve their physical problems and went to the toilet.

After Qi Tian high-fived George, he walked onto the field in his place.

"It's on, it's on!"

Seeing Qi Tian finally take the stage, the fans on the other side of the ocean were inspired.

Price holds the ball at the top of the arc, Stephenson and Qi Tian stand on the left and right sides, and Amandason and Foster inside are entangled with the eyebrowless hero and Mark Hill.

Price did not rush to call the pick-and-roll, but directly ran over Knight's thin body and broke through.

Wilkins immediately came over to cover up the defense, and Price's jump shot ended in a blacksmith.

"Clang!"

After the preseason, Qi Tian already knew that his teammates would not pass the ball to him easily. When he saw that he was open and Price took a jumper, he immediately found an opportunity to pass through the crowd and grabbed the first rebound.

, contributed the first data of his NBA career.

After getting the rebound, Qi Tian immediately hugged the basketball tightly and turned around to try to find an opportunity.

With peace of mind, Wilkins bypassed Price and prepared to defend his opponent.

But Qi Tian immediately turned around and threw the ball away.

"Whoosh!"

Center Mark Hill, whose reaction was a beat too slow, could only watch the basketball fly out and accurately fall into the basket.

"56-72."

"Oh oh oh~!"

Due to the small number of people, even the cheers were much quieter, but Qi Tian was not complacent and turned around to prepare for defense.

Knight took the ball to organize the attack, and his defender was replaced by Price. He was not polite and accelerated directly to break through and crush his opponent.

Foster's block shot did not block the opponent, and the basketball passed through his fingertips and fell into the basket.

"58-72."

Vogel on the sidelines shook his head secretly.

Foster was drafted by the Pacers in 1999 and has been playing for the Pacers since then. However, he is now 35 years old and this year is likely to be his last season.

But it is indeed not easy to strengthen the inside line. Although West can supplement Hibbert's lack of athletic ability, West is also 32 years old. It is difficult to say that one day his speed will slow down.

As for strengthening a backup center?

Vogel shook his head, let's see if the 26-year-old Fesenko and the 25-year-old Pandegraf have potential.

Stephenson singled out his opponent and scored an easy layup, helping the team continue to widen the point difference.

Turning around and seeing Knight holding the ball, he immediately signaled Price to go up and defend himself.

As expected, Knight couldn't take advantage of Stephenson who was bigger than him. He jumped and passed to Mark Hill inside. Armandson's quick hands and quick eyes cut the ball out of his opponent's hand.

The basketball flew in a very wrong direction and was obviously going to go out of bounds.

Qi Tian, ​​who was in the bottom corner, saw the basketball flying over and immediately bent down and swatted the basketball back, causing him to fall out of the baseline.

Stephenson hurried over to catch the basketball and prepare for a fast break.

Qi Tian rolled up and immediately jogged behind his teammates to help them check for leaks and fill in the gaps.

Price found the opportunity, cut through and made a layup, completing the buzzer-beating score.

"58-74."

After the third quarter of the game, the point difference showed no signs of narrowing.

Watching Qi Tian high-fiving his teammates and slowly walking back to the bench, Vogel nodded invisibly.

Just with that hard work, Qi Tian was enough to make a mark in Vogel's heart. Vogel has always believed that "opportunities are reserved for those who are prepared", because he was prepared to become the head coach.

People who don’t know how long.

However, there are a bit too many people on the front line.

Vogel looked down at the list.

The back line composed of Collison, George Hill, Stephenson and Price is already full. There are Granger and George at small forward, and West and Hansbrough at power forward. There are really no extra spots.

He shook his head and decided not to think about it.

It takes at least two years to train every rookie, so let’s talk about it then.

What? If he grew up in one year? Then how could Qi Tian be selected with the 59th overall pick?

After the break between quarters, Vogel immediately named the list of players for the fourth quarter:

"Colison, Stephenson, George, Hansbrough and West appear."

Obviously, Qi Tian's opportunity to play was only in the three to five minutes of the third quarter, and there was obviously no place for him in the fourth quarter.

However, Qi Tian was mentally prepared and was not too frustrated.

There will be at least 66 games this season, so opportunities will always come.

The Pistons' fourth quarter was still the combination of Ben Gordon, Stuckey and Jerebko. Even though Jerebko scored consecutively and led the team to 21-15, they still failed to catch up with the score.

"Dudududu!"

When the final whistle sounded, Jerebko, who scored a game-high 17 points, looked up at the scoreboard:

"79-91."

Five members of the Pacers scored in double figures, and the Pistons were outrebounded. They won the game without any blood.

"Is this the difference in strength?"

Jerebko looked at the Pacers celebrating their good start, then turned and walked to the tunnel with his teammates.