basketball scientist

April 21, 8:30 pm, Phillips Center.

In the visiting team's locker room, the Nets players looked solemn as they looked at Frank, who was standing in front of everyone, and listened carefully to his tactics:

"Although we are eighth in the Eastern Conference, we have a chance to win this series. The Hawks are indeed first in the league, but they are mainly young players, including Garnett, and have little experience in the playoffs.

Duo, g1 is our last chance, we must seize it! From the first minute, we must raise the intensity to the highest level, especially you Jason, don't give Paul a chance to breathe. Vince, I need you to stand up

Score, score a lot, to change the shape of the Eagles' defense..."

Carter sat in his seat, looked at each other with Frank, pursed his lips, and nodded slowly but firmly, indicating that he understood.

This season is Carter's contract year. So far, the Nets and Carter himself have not reached an agreement on contract renewal. From Carter's own perspective, the farce with the Rams once plunged him into a "notorious" situation.

, the critical moment is that the Nets accepted him, so he does not want to fall out with the Nets. The Nets' idea is to look at the team's performance this season to decide whether to maintain the status quo or tear down and rebuild.

This round of the series means a lot to both Carter and the Nets. Let’s not talk about winning or losing. At the very least, it must prove that the team still has the strength to make an upward impact, right?

"...Okay, let's go, it's time to warm up! Guys, it's the playoffs and everything starts from scratch. So what about eighth place? You can do it! Come on!" Frank said loudly,

Take two steps forward and extend your right hand.

The players stood up one after another, came to the center of the locker room, put their hands on each other, shouted a slogan in unison, and filed out of the locker room.

Unlike the seriousness in the Nets locker room, the Hawks locker room was peaceful and relaxed, just like an ordinary regular season game.

Ke Yan himself was very relaxed: "Guys, as long as you perform at your normal level, the Nets are nothing! Compared with the inside, we give them a kilogram, but we are still better than them!"

"Boss, I have no problem!" Hearing Ke Yan say "kg" out of nowhere, Garnett was a little confused and said quickly.

"I know you're fine, mvp!" Ke Yan joked, and others around him soon became happy.

"Compared to the perimeter, they are just more famous! Kidd is no longer the Kidd he was five years ago. What can he do now besides picking up rebounds and pushing back on fast breaks? Jefferson and Carter obviously play like that.

There is conflict and there is no way to perform at the same time." Ke Yan "belittled" his opponent to increase confidence among the young people in the team.

But his words were not unwarranted. This season, Kidd has been involved in trade rumors several times, and even almost went to the Lakers. Although it never happened, it can be seen that the Nets have made moves to trade him.

Richard Jefferson's data dropped from 19 points per game last season to 16 points per game this season. To a certain extent, this is due to the decline in tactical status and all the ball rights being concentrated in Carter's hands.

After the warm-up, the starting lineups of both teams took to the court.

Five players of the Hawks: Paul, Joe Johnson, Battier, Garnett, Diaw.

Nets five players: Kidd, Carter, Jefferson, Najera, Jason Collins.

Compared with the regular season, the Nets also lost European insider Krstic, and the already weak inside line was even more vulnerable. Najera is a blue-collar player who plays very hard, and he has a strong presence as a substitute, but you let him

Starting against Garnett is tantamount to hanging the white flag and surrendering.

Garnett won the jump ball and passed it to Joe Johnson, who dribbled the ball across half court and passed it to Diaw.

Diaw organized from outside the three-point line, Paul, and Joe Johnson opened up on the right side. Joe Johnson and Garnett made off-ball screens, leaving Carter behind to catch the ball.

Joe Johnson caught the ball and faced the frame, waiting for Garnett to cut and lob the ball over. The Wolf King caught the ball with his back, leaned against Najera, turned around in the middle, and overpowered his opponent to throw the ball in. 2 to 0.

The Nets attacked, Carter received the ball on the right side, pushed Battier with his right shoulder and relied on his explosive power to break through. He was double-teamed by Garnett and Battier and quickly distributed the ball.

Najera got an open space inside the free throw line, and the mid-range shot was unreliable. He had to wait for his teammates to respond, and the Nets' offense immediately came to a standstill.

Kidd hurriedly stepped forward to respond, relying on his physical advantage to overcome Paul's defense, and then threw the ball away. The ball missed the basket, and Garnett grabbed the rebound.

When the Eagles attacked, Paul dribbled to the left and passed the ball to Garnett in the low post. The latter leaned on Collins and turned to the baseline and missed the shot. Garnett quickly took off for a second time and relied on his height and wingspan.

He took the advantage to grab the offensive rebound and used strength again to cause a foul by Collins's thug.

In the first two rounds of offense, the Eagles' inside advantage was clearly visible!

Garnett made two free throws, 4-0.

When the Nets attacked, Kidd brought the ball to the frontcourt and passed it to Jefferson on the weak side. The latter singled out Joe Johnson with the ball, stepped towards the frame, and took a step to the middle to make a pull-up jump shot. 4 to 2.

The Hawks attacked, Paul broke through with the ball, passed Kidd with continuous changes in front of his body, and scored a quick layup, 6-2.

After being shown a wave of moves by the young man, Kidd returned to the offensive end. Instead of passing the ball to Carter, Kidd held the ball to the low post, leaned on Paul with his back, and took advantage of the confrontation to move inside.

Paul suffered a bit in the confrontation. He couldn't hold Kidd off and was about to lose. Kidd took advantage of everyone's attention and sent a behind-the-back pass.

Najera caught the ball from the baseline and made an easy hit without any defense. (6:4)

Paul and Garnett were both responsible for the defense of this ball. The former allowed Kidd to get stuck too easily, causing a passivity behind; while Garnett neglected to defend Najera.

Dribbling to the frontcourt, Paul and Garnett played a pick-and-roll. Garnett stopped in the corner, received Paul's pass, and faked a shot, attracting the defense of Collins and Carter. He passed the ball to the empty space.

Battier cut the ball, and the latter took three steps directly after receiving the ball. After confronting Najera who came to help defend in the air, he put the ball into the basket.

If this ball had been played by someone like Ginobili, who is an actor, or Wade, who is good at drawing fouls, it would have been 21. Battier would still be too honest in his game!

The Nets attacked, but couldn't pass through several screens. In the end, Carter faced Battier and missed a jump shot.

The three stars of the Nets are all outsiders, and their breakthrough ability is not top-notch. This team's offense lacks layering. As long as they guard the outside and have a big man inside who can block shots, their offense will not be strangled.

Disaster.

Paul dribbled the ball across half court and passed it to Diaw who was at the top of the arc. He ran to the weak side and set up a cross screen with the oncoming Joe Johnson, which took a considerable part of the Nets' defensive attention, and the latter then

After the ball passed directly to Garnett in the low post, Garnett attempted to complete a single, which involved Carter's defense and then passed to the bottom corner. Battier hit a three-pointer from the bottom corner!

In the regular season, the Hawks' offense was mainly based on run-and-gun and high-post pick-and-rolls, but in the playoffs, Ke Yan came up with more tricks, making it difficult for the Nets to guard against them.

On the other hand, the Nets' offense can only be described in four words. It's piecemeal! It's hard to have any continuity!

After another 4 minutes of play, the score difference widened to double digits. Frank replaced CBA legend Josh Boone in an attempt to reverse the situation, but the effect was average. Josh Boone has a certain amount of inside impact, and can run, gun, and pick-and-roll.

Echoing Kidd, he has no shooting range, his defense is not as good as Najera, and his threat to Garnett is very limited.

Eight minutes into the first quarter, Ke Yan replaced Joe Johnson and Garnett; replaced Milicic and Stevens, using a more secure rotation to win the game at a lower cost.

Even so, the Eagles still ended the first quarter with a double-digit score difference of 31 to 18.

Compared with the starting lineup, the Eagles' bench really lacks playoff experience. Gibson and Stevens are all rookies in the playoffs. Although Milicic has a championship ring, he is nicknamed "Victory Cigar"

It shows everything, he was a soy saucer in the Pistons, and only Webb and Bobby Jackson, two losers from the Kings, experienced the big scenes of the playoffs.

Against the bench, Marcus Williams of the Nets became the team's surprise player. This wing player, who shot only 31.4% from outside in the regular season, hit three three-pointers in the first half of the second quarter.

helped the Nets narrow the point difference to 6 points. His wonderful performance also made CCTV commentators Yu Jia and Zhang Lili call it "incredible".

The situation was not embarrassing, but Ke Yan did not intend to let it go. He decisively replaced Joe Johnson and Garnett to regain control of the game. Garnett's appearance gave the Eagles' offense a fulcrum and a more three-dimensional sense. This is

The other interior players on the Hawks can't play a role.

"It's really different to have a solid inside scoring point!" Although he is better at attacking from the outside in, but if he really has an inside line like Garnett, Ke Yan still wants to shout, "It smells so good!"

As long as he plays, Garnett can improve the Hawks' overall offense and defense. Kidd's own offensive power is insufficient, and the burden on Carter's shoulders is heavier. Even though he has a good touch, making 4 of 8 shots, he is still unable to change the point difference and is pulled again.

open trend.

At halftime, the Eagles led by 12 points at 60:48.

During the halftime break, Ke Yan didn't make any changes to his game. He just said some nonsense about Carter's defense. The specific scale was left to Garnett and Battier to control.

"If something isn't broken, don't take the initiative to fix it." This is a saying that everyone in the NBA knows.

Ke Yan didn't take the Nets seriously, partly because the opponent's lineup had structural problems and couldn't cope with Garnett at all.

Just like when Ke Yan led the Lakers to compete with the Spurs, the conventional approach was to defend Duncan in a dead end, so he had to use the "three highs" inside layout to kill Duncan. Compared with the Hawks, the Nets' lineup disadvantage is more obvious, and there is no

It would be difficult for a "crazy" head coach like Ke Yan to "lead" the Eagles, bring them to the same level as them, and then use his rich experience to defeat the Eagles.

In fact, although Frank did not have Ke Yan's achievements, he was still a head coach who dared to "change". Seeing that the team could not restrict Garnett, he chose to flank Garnett and then rotate to help defend and fill the position.

Limit the Eagles' offense.

However, Joe Johnson, Battier, and Paul hit three-pointers one after another. There was no obvious point in the Hawks' formation that hindered the space, and the point difference easily reached 18 points.

From this point of view, the last regular season matchup between the two teams is more like a gift from the Eagles to the Nets! If the Eagles show 80% of their performance today, the Washington Wizards may be standing opposite them now!

Perhaps, compared to the three-headed combination of "Kidd, Carter, and Jefferson", Arenas, Jamison, and Butler are indeed a little more difficult to deal with, right?

In the end, the Hawks defeated the Nets 113-85 and won their first playoff victory of the season.

After the red light came on, Garnett slowly stood up from his seat, unable to conceal his excitement. This was the easiest playoff game he had won in his career, and it was also the one with a larger winning margin.

In the whole game, Garnett made 13 of 22 shots and 5 of 5 free throws. He scored 31 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal and 2 turnovers. He did his best to suppress the Nets' inside line.

The team's advantage lies in the paint. Paul restrained his desire to take shots and delivered more shells to Garnett. In the whole game, Paul made 6 of 14 shots, 2 of 4 three-pointers, 4 of 4 free throws, and scored 18 points.

He had 9 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 turnovers, integrating offense and defense. He took over the torch of "top point guard" from Kidd.

Joe Johnson's performance was as stable as ever, making 7 of 15 shots, 3 of 9 three-pointers, and 4 of 4 free throws. He scored 19 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 assists. In this series, for most of the time, Joe Johnson needed

Against Jefferson, the pressure on both offense and defense is relatively high.

The performance of others was also remarkable. Battier made 3 of 7 three-pointers, scored 8 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks, 1 steal, 3 turnovers and 5 fouls, filling up the data column. He was very good to Carter.

The defensive effect is pretty good. Although the opponent scored 34 points, the "demigod"'s sales of 13 of 29 shots are not high!

Diaw scored a steady score of 6 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists, but it was still "the data does not reflect the effect"; Milicic scored 7 points and 5 rebounds, and Weber scored 6 points and 4 rebounds, all of which made their best contributions.

After the game, reporters interviewed Ke Yan and asked him what he thought of the game.

"It's an expected victory. Our lineup has obvious advantages. The game is really difficult for Frank." Ke Yan said honestly, "If you ask me to sit on the Nets' coaching bench, I should be fine.

Method."

Ke Yan said it very modestly, but he sounded arrogant no matter how he sounded!

The Hawks' lineup was basically saved by Ke Yan. He chose Paul, he signed Joe Johnson, he activated Diaw, and he saved up a lot of chips to get Garnett.

In the final analysis, it is still "self-promotion and self-promotion"!

Fans online saw this speech and praised Ke Yan one after another, thinking that he is the savior of the Eagles.

"The scary thing is that except for the Rockets, no one else who traded with Kimi suffered losses. Most of them were win-win or everyone got what they needed!"

"Rockets fans: It hurts my heart, old man!"

"Although it sounds ugly, it is really difficult for our network to compete with the Eagles at this stage. The contract is thirty years, and Hexi is thirty years. Don't bully young people into poverty!"

"I still don't understand why the Lakers let Kimi go? He obviously did a good job with the Lakers and got along well with Kobe!"

The opposite of light must be darkness. If there is a "Scientology" that follows Ke Yan, there must be the existence of Ke Hei. The arguments they attack are rogue. Even if it goes to the sky, Ke Yan has not even touched the floor of the regional finals!

There is nothing wrong with this, Maradona never won the Champions League!

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On April 24, the G2 game between the Hawks and Nets started at the Phillips Center.

Exactly as predicted by Ke Yan, the Nets are too biased in building a team from the outside. As a result, they have almost no resources for Garnett. No matter how they match the lineup, it will be difficult for Garnett to "turn the tide and get everything he wants" in the paint.

Change. What he said in the interview, "If I were in Frank's position, there would be nothing I could do about this situation" is really not just a boast, but a fact.

Garnett's highest score in the playoffs is 35 points. This number is definitely unmatched among superstars. In this round of the series, he hopes to improve this number. If Ke Yan cooperates, he may be able to "

What about the beginning of 4"?

Garnett himself is also working hard in this direction. Whether it is facing the frame, turning over from the baseline, or shooting from mid-range after the pick-and-roll, Garnett is able to do it with ease. He made 8 of 11 shots in the first quarter and scored 10 goals.

16 points.

However, Carter did not give up too much, scoring 11 points in a single quarter, helping the Nets bite the point difference, at least not letting the point difference reach double digits. (33:25)

In the transition period of the second quarter, the Eagles also had the upper hand. Ke Yan arranged for Joe Johnson to lead the bench. Gibson, who was reminded many times by Ke Yan not to "lose three-pointers without thinking", finally made some progress and added some

Through air cuts and mid-range shots, the Eagles' offense was impressive.

For the Nets, Marcus Williams, who suddenly emerged in the last game and caught the Hawks off guard, was "magically absent" in this game. Frank replaced Kidd and Jefferson in advance, and could only barely close the point difference.

Control it within 20 points to avoid losing suspense early in the game.

Compared with the regular season where he sometimes has a "hand of God" and sometimes "fancy tricks", Ke Yan highlights the word "stable" in the playoffs. Whether it is on-the-spot scheduling or tactical arrangements, they all reflect a "balance".

Looking back at the Nets, after Frank was knocked down by Ke Yan for consecutive moves, the only trick left was to kill the main force!

Until the first half of the third quarter, the Nets could maintain a point difference of about 15 points. But gradually, Kidd and Carter's physical condition began to have problems, and it was difficult to complete difficult scores on the offensive end.

It was also difficult to keep up with Young's pace, and the game was immediately completely controlled by the Eagles.

The Hawks were in control of the situation, but Kidd and Carter suffered physical crises one after another. They tried their best to fight again in the fourth quarter, but could not produce very good results; Frank had no room for adjustment. He let the main lineup play for a few more minutes, but still failed.

France was close to the point difference, and finally had no choice but to give up, replace the starting lineup, and admit defeat in advance. The remaining few minutes became garbage time.

In the end, Garnett shined, making 15 of 24 shots, 8 of 9 free throws, scoring 38 points, 12 rebounds and 2 assists, helping the Hawks beat the Nets 119:97, taking a 2:0 lead in the series.

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38 points is also the highest score in the playoffs of Garnett's career.