basketball scientist

428. Chapter 428 A battle of wits and courage (please subscribe, please support)

Author: Fan Xian Xiao Xianxian

Chapter 428 A battle of wits and courage (please subscribe, please support)

"Friends in the audience, good morning, I am very happy to meet you on Saturday morning. What we bring to you today is the 10-12 NBA Finals game between the Knicks and the Mavericks. It is an honor to invite someone who is very familiar to you.

Director Zhang will be the on-site commentator... I hope the audience will pay attention to the game and actively send text messages to communicate with us. A is to support the Knicks, and b is to support the Mavericks..."

After more than a week of rest, the NBA has ushered in the final chapter of this season - the finals! Two teams that have overcome all obstacles in the playoffs and braved the wind and waves gathered for the final decisive battle.

Because the Knicks tied the Bulls' best record in history with 72 wins and 10 losses in the regular season, this year's finals attracted a lot of attention. In addition, they swept the first three rounds of the playoffs with a momentum of 12:1 to advance.

It also gives fans a strange expectation for the finals. If they can also complete a "sweep" in the finals, the Knicks will tie the Lakers' record of only losing one game in the playoffs in the 2000-01 season.

Even, the winning rate was higher than that of the Lakers team, because at that time the Lakers won 3 out of 5 games in the first round!

In their first trip to the Finals in 12 years, New York fans burst out with unparalleled enthusiasm. Compared to the time when they entered the Finals as a dark horse, which was completely a "low dog" attitude, the current Knicks are no different.

A truly popular team.

Knicks starting lineup: Curry, Holiday, James, West, Horford.

Mavericks five players: Kidd, Terry, Marion, Nowitzki, Chandler.

Compared with the previous games, the Mavericks made personnel adjustments. Marion, who had previously been a substitute, was moved into the starting lineup to strengthen defense, while Carter was placed into the substitute lineup.

Chandler won the jump ball and the game officially began.

Kidd received the ball and protected it, and dribbled the ball leisurely across half court. His teammates pulled away, and Nowitzki played a pick-and-roll with him in the middle. The Knicks chose to follow the defense. Kidd's speed made it difficult to use the pick-and-roll.

The space brought out directly breaks through the defense line, and there is a high probability that he will choose to return the ball to Nowitzki.

Almost everyone thought so, but Kidd caught everyone off guard. Without a speed advantage, Kidd was able to rely on experience to "steal the chicken." After starting, Kidd overcame Curry's defense in one step.

With his center of gravity disturbed, he leaned back and shot. After the ball circled the basket for several times, it still rolled into the net.

"Beep!" The whistle sounded, and Curry covered his head to express his innocence. However, Ke Yan on the sidelines rarely shouted and cursed at Curry, blaming him for his carelessness on the defensive end!

On the stage of the finals, players dare to be so careless. Ke Yan must show his tough attitude immediately, and the same goes for Curry!

After Ke Yan expressed dissatisfaction on the sidelines, Curry's expression changed. He then carried the ball across half court and stopped at the top of the arc. Kidd stopped in front of him, opened his hands, and was ready.

Curry observed the movement of his teammates, then handed the ball to James who wanted the ball, and ran to the weak side.

James stretched out his hand to invite Horford's pick-and-roll, and did not give Marion a chance to pursue him. He directly attacked Nowitzki and was double-teamed by Chandler near the penalty area. Marion pursued him and was in an excellent position to cut off James's attack.

The passing line behind forced James to challenge Chandler.

James did not force a shot. After stopping the ball, he distributed the ball to Holiday on the outside. Holiday failed to get rid of Terry and distributed it to Horford on the outside. Horford held the ball from the outside and beat Marion in isolation. He took a step inside and then shot a jumper, which interfered with the situation.

The shot missed and Chandler grabbed the rebound.

In terms of offense and defense in the first round, if the Mavericks' offense took advantage of the Knicks players' mental carelessness, then on the defensive end it was Carlisle who definitely did a lot of work before the game!

The Mavericks were attacking in a positional battle. Terry and Nowitzki played a pick-and-roll, and they chose to break through from the left and bring it to the baseline. After restraining Horford, he threw the ball into the air. Chandler jumped high, took the basketball, and turned around to hit the board.

Score!

West's height, wingspan, and jumping are all inferior to Chandler's. After being caught by the opponent in a deep position, it is really not easy to defend.

The Knicks attack, James is followed by Marion, using his explosive power to break through the opponent, but Nowitzki blocks the breakthrough route; the ball is distributed to West, Marion assists in defense, and West uses his weight advantage to rely on Marion

Lyon fought hard inside and forced a layup that was interfered by Chandler.

"The Mavericks' defense was very targeted and allowed James to stop the ball in two consecutive rounds. This is not a good sign for the Knicks." Zhang Lili analyzed.

Terry and Nowitzki played a pick-and-roll again. They cooperated the same as before. Terry brought it to the baseline and half-turned to the middle. Nowitzki stepped forward from the free throw line to catch the ball and easily withstood Holiday's defense. With a flick of his toes

Jump up, shoot, and hit accurately. 0:6.

Continuously being defeated by the cooperation of Terry and Nowitzki is within Ke Yan's calculation. Since 2005, these two people have been playing this game for many years. The Knicks' problem lies in the offense, and they need to focus on

Transferred from James to Curry.

The players on the court also noticed this. When West passed the ball to Curry, he gestured directly to James to indicate Curry's tactics for this ball.

Curry moved to the frontcourt, and with the help of West's pick-and-roll, he broke through from the right. The person who changed defense became Nowitzki. Facing Curry, who has the most efficient score in small and large offenses in the league, Nowitzki forced

It's very tight. I would rather let Curry rush into the penalty area to challenge than let him take a mid-range shot.

Facing Nowitzki's all-out defense, Curry easily passed by with two consecutive changes of direction. He used a fake move to induce Chandler to rush forward to block the shot, and then responded, causing Chandler to foul and at the same time, he made a mistake.

Take action and hit accurately!

Playing one against two against the Mavericks' inside duo, Curry smiled. This was a powerful reply to Kidd's 2+1 attack just now!

Looking back, Kidd handed the ball to Nowitzki to initiate a singles. Nowitzki's iconic left shoulder pushed away the defense and then made a fadeaway jumper. It missed due to interference. James got the rebound inside and immediately

He tried to charge, but was blocked by Marion.

However, even if he fell into a positional battle, James' breakthrough still posed a huge threat. He took advantage of the gap created by West's screen, accelerated, and rushed into the three-point line, possessing a strong sense of oppression. Chandler did not

He rushed forward fearfully and bumped into James hard from the side.

However, James slumped his shoulders and pushed Chandler away. Then he accelerated again, and with unparalleled power, he entered the Mavericks penalty area and dunked!

This kind of pure rugby running back style of play is something James can do.

On the sidelines, Carlisle saw that James could finish despite being attacked by two people. He was not dissatisfied. Instead, he clapped his hands vigorously to encourage the players' efforts on the defensive end.

The defense is adequate, and some balls, such as a superstar, can always be scored.

Kidd moved to the frontcourt, and Terry relied on Chandler's off-ball screen to get the ball. He broke through West's defense on the right and made an emergency jump shot. He hit the ball accurately and helped the Mavericks score.

When the Knicks attacked, Curry and Horford, who was out of the penalty area, cooperated hand-to-hand, and shot a three-pointer directly from the outside. The shot space was good, the ball popped out of the basket, Nowitzki got stuck, and Chandler easily won the backcourt.

rebound.

After the opening, the Knicks' offense was a bit mediocre, and Ke Yan attributed the reason to "a big break." There was a week's rest before the finals, and the Eastern Conference Finals ended three days earlier than the Western Conference Finals, so the Knicks had enough rest.

It lasted 10 days. Sometimes it is not a good thing to have such a long period of rest after continuous battles.

Looking back, Nowitzki attracted a double team and then passed the ball to Kidd in the bottom corner. "Jidd didn't attack" and hit a three-pointer, opening the point difference to 6 points. (5:11)

The Knicks used the killer move "Janku Pick-and-Roll". After Curry attracted the defense, he handed the ball to James, who diverted Chandler's attention and passed straight to the basket. Horford scored a layup. (7:

11)

Curry's threat with the ball outside the three-point line was too great, and the Mavericks could not relax and could only let Chandler take on heavier defensive tasks in the penalty area.

Carlisle himself is very uncomfortable with this kind of defensive model. In the past, people with great threats such as O'Neal, Duncan, James, and Wade would create threats in the interior, distribute the ball to the open spaces on the outside, and then create the best through a series of conductions.

Shooting opportunities; this guy Curry is different. His sweet spots are all on the outside. You have to heavily defend on the outside, and then defend less and more in the penalty area.

It is undeniable that Chandler has such ability, but what if the person attacking the inside is replaced by James?

When the Mavericks attacked, Terry used Nowitzki's pick-and-roll to once again contain Horford to the baseline. He used a fake shot to spark the opponent, and then entered the penalty area. However, his layup was sent to the top by James who was defending.

Big hat. Curry grabbed the rebound and passed the long pass directly to the frontcourt.

The ball was passed very accurately. Holiday, who was about to leave, caught the ball on the right side, jumped up with one step, and dunked the basketball with one hand.

Relatively speaking, Marion's offensive threat, especially his position on the outside, was selectively passed up by James.

Carlisle noticed this, but was a little helpless. The Suns couldn't win the championship with such a strong lineup at their peak. The key was that Marion couldn't produce corresponding output on the offensive end with a maximum salary. Of course, if Marion has any skills

With stable shooting, he will not sign with the Mavericks on a 5-year, 35 million mid-level contract.

Kidd handed the ball to Nowitzki in the low post. The latter singled out Horford. Horford blocked the upper limit and let Nowitzki go inside. The latter broke into the basket and met West's help defense. He distributed the ball to

Chandler was successfully intercepted by Holiday who came out of the diagonal stab.

The Knicks took advantage of the situation to counterattack. Curry received a pass from Holiday and made a fast break three-pointer. However, after passing the flying Marion, he went to the basket and scored with a pick.

The Mavericks changed their offensive tactics. Nowitzki got the ball outside the three-point line, attracted Horford's defense and then went straight to the baseline. Marion took advantage of James' defensive positioning to cut to the basket and catch the ball, facing West's defense to complete the game.

Dunk! It also caused West a foul.

"Oh, let me go~" After the team was close to the score continuously and the Mavericks made a key attack, Ke Yan couldn't help but smile bitterly and muttered a few words.

The Knicks used the pick-and-roll to complete the offense, and West scored a mid-range jumper. (13:14)

Judging from the scene, the Knicks obviously suppressed the Mavericks, but in terms of the score, before the first official timeout, the Mavericks maintained the lead.

However, the Knicks are the dominant team after all. Once the Knicks got on track on both offense and defense, the Mavericks had a more difficult time on the court.

Nowitzki's ability to attack is his ability, but he cannot score against the defense every round. There are only two people who can do this, one is Jordan and the other is Leonard in 19 years.

In order to cut off other secondary attack points around Nowitzki, Ke Yan compressed the team's lineup rotation. Just like Holiday pestered Rose in the Eastern Conference finals, he stayed on the court to pester Terry, further amplifying the Mavericks' problems.

With 2 minutes left in the first quarter, Carlisle and Keyan made substitution adjustments at the same time. Carlisle replaced Kidd, Terry, and Chandler with Barea, Carter, and Haywood; Ke Yan anticipated Carlisle's operation and replaced Matthews with

, Casspi and Mozgov replaced Holiday, West and Horford.

After the formation change, the Knicks had an obvious defensive weakness like Casspi. On the defensive end, James also had to defend the fourth position against Nowitzki! But on the offensive end, Curry + Ka

The firepower distribution of Sibi + Matthews is a perfect match for the offensive environment after James and Mozgov pick and roll. Chandler is replaced by Haywood, and the Mavericks' ability to protect the basket at the basket has dropped by more than one level!

In the hand-to-hand combat during the stalemate stage, Curry led the offense, and in the transition period, James led the offense and defense to stabilize the situation. While Ke Yan helped the team widen the point difference, he also stabilized James' mentality.

In the first quarter of the game, James and Curry both played full doubles. James scored 9 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 block, and Curry scored 12 points, 1 rebound and 2 assists.

The dual-core teamwork helped the Knicks establish a 10-point lead. (34:24)

As soon as the second quarter started, Ke Yan sent Jeremy Lin, Matthews, Stephenson, Jamison, and Mozgov to defend against the Mavericks' bench.

Ke Yan's strategy is very obvious. Holiday will deal with Terry, and Matthews will deal with Carter. Whatever type of attacker you use, I will use what kind of defender to match him. Although it may not be able to prevent death, at least it will increase your

Consumption!

Holiday and Matthews are younger than Terry and Carter, have better physical fitness than Terry and Carter, and have less responsibility than Terry and Carter. They only need to defend well and seize some opportunities to play the ball; and Terry's side is not just about the ball.

The team's second scoring point and the main starting point of the offense needs to cooperate with Nowitzki to develop the team's offense!

When the team's regular strength could not beat the Knicks, a point guard who was 183cm tall, was brought into the league by Ke Yan in the draft, and had won a championship ring with the Hawks, stepped forward.

Facing another backup point guard "produced" by Keyan, Barea showed his strength as a mountain in Puerto Rico. His sharp breakthrough and stocky figure allowed him to hit the basket, even when facing Jamison and Mozgov.

A good defense can still score points or cause damage.

Barea scored 7 points in a row, beating Jeremy Lin point-to-point, helping the Mavericks launch a 12:4 attack wave, narrowing the point difference to 2 points, forcing Ke Yan to call a timeout, and getting James back after the timeout.

Replacing Jamison, James once again broke through like a running back, forcibly crushed Carter, and scored a layup. (40:36)

Also because of James' appearance, the Knicks' defense has a "skeleton."

Ke Yan was deeply impressed by the defensive bonus of such a "helping defense weapon" to the team when he was an opponent in the early years. At that time, Ke Yan usually used "isolated island tactics" to disgust James; but now, it is his turn to eat this

Welfare.

Barea's breakthrough ball was interfered by Stephenson. Jamison picked up the ball and threw it into the frontcourt again. Stephenson cooperated with James in an alley-oop and directly threw the ball to a height that James could "not reach". James reluctantly threw the ball

He took it off, couldn't complete the alley-oop, and scored on the board before the defense came up. (42:36)

It is said that behind every difficult alley-oop there is a 213 passer. I don’t know how good an alley-oop like this is that James can’t even reach.

James is a good player when he leads the opponent's bench. In the next round of offense, James and Jamison completed the pick-and-roll and assisted his old teammate to hit a mid-range shot. The Knicks reopened the point difference bit by bit. (44

:36)

"He who is good at fighting has no great achievements." Just watching the game, fans felt that the Knicks lineup was crushed; in fact, the Mavericks' two counterattacks were all suppressed by Ke Yan's quick response.

This kind of "battle of wits" would only happen between coaches at the level of Key Yan and Carlisle.

(End of chapter)