Basketball's most talented forward is on the left

Oh, maybe Zuo Li should add a prefix to this sentence, that is, among the players who have made the greatest contribution, there is no doubt that Kawhi Leonard made the Heat suffer in that finals.

However, there is only one biggest contributor to the Spurs from beginning to end, and that is Popovich. There is no doubt that since he entered the league to coach, the Spurs have been Popovich's team, which is unique in the league.

Just like every excellent coach has his or her own label, such as Phil Jackson and the triangle offense, Adelman and Princeton, Nelson's crazy experiments, D'Antoni's run-and-gun system, Jerry Sloan's pick-and-roll,

Larry Brown’s egalitarianism…

These have almost covered a large part of the most outstanding coaches in NBA history, especially those after the 1980s. Almost all of them are included, but there is only one important name missing, and that is Popovich.

The Spurs are the team with the most stable record in the entire league in the 21st century. Yes, there is no doubt about this. I believe no fan will question it.

But if you start watching the Spurs from their first championship, at this moment or someday in the future, when you think back, you will find that your impression of the Spurs may be fragmented.

If you go back a few years and you ask a fan on the street what kind of team the Spurs are, he might tell you that they are a dull, slow, and even ugly defensive team.

In the 2005 Finals, the Spurs met the defending champion Pistons in the finals. The two defensive teams played a suffocating series. The Spurs did not score more than 100 points in any of the seven games in the finals, including

There were three games with scores below 81 points.

In the 2007 Finals, the Spurs easily swept the Cavaliers 4-0. The strength gap between the two teams was obvious, but in the four games of the Spurs, except for one scoring 103 points, the other three games only scored 85 points, 83 points and 75 points respectively.

The Spurs dragged James into a slow positional attack.

The Spurs' offensive slowness and sluggishness reached an extreme in the 2007-08 season. That season, the Spurs ranked third in the Western Conference with a 68.3% winning rate, but they averaged only 95.4 points per game, ranking third from the bottom in the league, only higher than the Eastern Conference.

The Heat and Western Conference Clippers are at the bottom.

However, in the playoffs that year, the Spurs made it all the way to the Western Conference Finals, but lost 1-4 to the Lakers led by Kobe Bryant at their peak.

And in the era that Zuo Li traveled through, that era of Duncan, the last glorious era of the Spurs, fans would always praise the Spurs for their reasonable offense and smooth cooperation, saying that they were a team with a pleasing and even gorgeous style of play.

Team.

Although the Spurs only managed 50 wins and 32 losses in the 2009-10 season, which was their worst regular season record in the past 10 years, looking back, 2010 was also a turning point for the Spurs.

Starting in 2010, the Spurs' offensive rhythm and average points per game began to soar. In just two years, in the 2011-12 season, the Spurs averaged 103.7 points per game, ranking second in the league, second only to the brainless Denver.

At the same time, the Athletics team and the Spurs ranked first in the league in three-point shooting percentage of 39.3%. The second place was the Warriors who had just gathered the Splash Brothers.

Therefore, an amazing fact is that before the Warriors, the Spurs had already used their own offense, their own three-pointers, and rotation after wing defense (Leonard) won the ball to reach the finals for two consecutive years.

And won the Spurs' fifth championship.

At that time, Steve Kerr was 46 years old, and there were still three years before he and Stephen Curry would lead the Warriors to the top.

These two Spurs teams have existed in the minds of fans, and their coaches are also Popovich. This may be Popovich's ability. His ability to transform the team is unique, and what he is best at

It's about how to best use the players you have, whether you are Duncan at his peak, old Duncan, or without Duncan.

Popovich can always make his players integrate into the team, like a true whole, each one has his own unique role.

Although this sounds a bit mechanical and lacks creativity, which will curb the real strength of the players to a certain extent, we have to admit that machines are sometimes more durable than manual labor.

This may be the biggest reason why the Spurs have been able to thrive for more than 20 years, and have truly squeezed out all of Duncan's potential, and can once again reach the top of the league in an almost incredible way in a few years after 10 years.

Okay, so much nonsense. In fact, it has nothing to do with tonight's game. Zuo Li just wants everyone to know about his big opponent in the future.

At this time, the Spurs had just begun to transform, and history was no longer the history he knew. His presence would change everything.

And this is the biggest reason why Zuo Li is confident that he can teach Popovich a lesson. He knows the Spurs' weaknesses this season very well.

It can be said that the Spurs' defense this season is not as good as before and the offense has not reached the level of the future. Although Jefferson is not bad, he is really not suitable for the Spurs. The Spurs team is not suitable for players who do not have the ability to attack independently.

, especially on the outside, Jefferson is really bad.

As for Popovich asking Duncan to defend, Zuo Li could only say...I'm sorry Shifo, I will accept it without mercy tonight!

Huh? Why does it feel weird!

do not care!

When Zuo Li faced off against Duncan, a burst of cheers erupted in Madison Square. This was the first time that Zuo Li faced off against the No. 1 power forward in this venue.

However, the spark-filled collision scene that people imagined did not appear. Zuo Li's scoring method was very simple. Didn't Duncan open his arms and wait for Zuo Li to break out? Zuo Li directly crossed over and stepped back out of the three-point line, raising his head.

Just throw your hand!

brush!

Yes.

"Three-pointer! Zuo Li confidently shot a three-pointer at Duncan. Duncan obviously didn't expect Zuo Li to be so crisp, so he didn't defend it. It was basically an open shot. Of course, this open shot was not easy to find.

”said Kenny Smith.

Not only did Duncan not expect this goal, but Popovich also did not expect it. It was of course a trap for him to let Duncan come up to defend. Once the left winger broke through, Jefferson would cover the flank and come to cut the ball, and Blair inside would also quickly

A flank attack was a defensive tactic he carefully prepared for Zuo Li.

In order to stand on the left, Popovich even used the energy to defend O'Neal back then. Everyone knew that O'Neal was killing everyone, and sweeping the Spurs at his peak was like trying to find something. But in fact, the Spurs are already the most successful team in limiting O'Neal. I don't believe it.

People can go and look at the data. When we broke out of the West, which was surrounded by wolves, OK, all of them are indispensable.

Therefore, Popovich was confident of restricting Zuo Li, and for this reason, he did not hesitate to resort to the poisonous milk magic skill, just hoping that Zuo Li could continue to attack the inside and defeat Duncan. Oh, how tempting.

However, to tempt Zuo Li to eat, he used a completely different method...

Three points!

Another three points!

Zuo Li made another three-pointer in his second attack!

"Please, I am also the three-point champion after all~!"