Bulldozer of the NBA’s Restricted Area

Same as pre-game predictions.

Nuggets starting lineup: center Mutombo, power forward Laphonso Ellis, small forward Reggie Williams, point guard Chris Jackson, shooting guard Bryant Sticky.

This starting lineup is the main force of the Nuggets. The general direction has been set by coach Dan Issel, which is to defend from the inside and attack from the outside. Instead, a mule is a horse and must be pulled out. Play for a while first, which position will be used. Just fine-tune it once the problem is solved.

This is the meaning of a head coach. For the same opponent, every game will be slightly different. On-the-spot response and tactical adjustments are the main subjects for evaluating a team coach. The only difference lies in the quality and role players they can mobilize. quantity.

At this point, Jerry Sloan is really at a disadvantage, because the Jazz bench is very embarrassing. The inside line is so strong that no one needs to change, and the outside line is so weak that no one needs to change it. On the contrary, the Nuggets have more choices.

…

Jump ball at midfield.

Mutombo has the same height as Li Shengli, and his jumping and timing are also very good. This is the basis for his average of 4.1 blocks per game. Although Li Shengli got the jump ball, he did not accurately call it to someone as usual. As a teammate, you don’t even have to run.

"Let's go, let's start." Li Shengli shouted to boost his morale. Although usually shouting like this would be a bit disappointing, what is important in the playoffs is momentum. Everyone is running for the championship.

"Bond, push faster."

"I know, someone come and stop me!"

"Tyrone go down to the corner."

"Run, everyone, run!"

Li Shengli and Malone took command on the spot, and the feedback from their teammates was also very timely. And in this round of offense... Li Shengli set a pick-and-roll for Bond in the high post, took a step toward the penalty area, and received the pass.

At this time, Mutombo was pulled a little away, but Lafonso rushed forward and yelled: "Get out of here!"

Uh-huh!

The ball hit the net hollowly. The home fans immediately applauded when they saw how easily the first ball was hit. Lafonso, who had just yelled, was really embarrassed because Li Shengli got the ball and jumped straight away. Originally, The imaginary hand-to-hand combat could not happen at all, catching the ball, jumping, and shooting were all done in one go.

"Beautiful, back to defense, back to defense!"

"Crotty keeps an eye on Chris, everyone get in position quickly!"

The opening attack was so smooth. Malone slapped him and led people back to defense with Li Shengli. Mutombo and Lafonso were caught off guard, and only the roar of head coach Iser could be heard.

"Lafonso, stick to him. How can you defend yourself if you don't stick to him?"

"I just didn't expect this company to invest directly. This is not his style!"

"Okay, relax, they're not that scary."

"Don't say this to me, say it to Chris."

"Stop talking nonsense and see how he is doing today. If not, the coach will replace him."

Raising his legs to start the attack, Mutombo had a headache because his number one scorer, Chris Jackson, was really unstable. He was very capable when he performed well, but when he performed poorly, he was very unstable. The food is picky, but the root cause is...this guy is sick!

This is no joke. Chris suffers from 'vegetative nerve dysfunction syndrome', or... a neurological disorder. The cause is long-term mental stress and excessive psychological pressure. It is an enhanced version of neurasthenia.

After talking about the cause, we must also talk about the symptoms!

The most obvious manifestations of this unfortunate neurological disorder are headache, dizziness, general weakness, confusion, and sudden tonic and clonic twitching of the whole body or local muscles, often accompanied by disturbance of consciousness.

It would be troublesome to say something too official. In the words of the Nuggets players, this guy can't be angry or too nervous, otherwise he will twitch, and his anger index can be judged from the extent of his twitching.

In the final analysis, this problem is a physiological disease caused by psychological factors, so Chris Jackson became a *** last season, using religious beliefs to stabilize his mind, and even changed his name to Rauf.

Thinking of this, Mutombo can only pray that Chris Jackson can be more stable in this game. He doesn't need to perform well, as long as he can reach a normal level.

…

Back to the Nuggets offensive possession.

Li Shengli and Malone positioned themselves in the penalty area in advance, and under the Nuggets' strategy of defending inside and outside, Mutombo and Lafonso mostly supported their teammates, but after several attempts, they still couldn't find a chance to make a shot. Chris watched the time approaching and simply retreated to the three-point line to hit a three-pointer.

At this stage, all the backcourt players in the league are not shooting many three-pointers, and Crotty did not expect that the opponent would actually withdraw three-pointers, and they were still playing the kicking shot of Pacers leader Reggie Miller.

Speaking of Thunderbolt Miller's kick projection, it's really annoying, because when you're guarding him, you can't guard him from far away. foul.

Although many backcourt players know this trick, no one has used the master lightning strike - Miller's kick is hard and accurate. However, Chris is really a copy of this move this time, and Crotty has nothing to do. In the end, the Nuggets shot a three-pointer.

…

The two sides attack each other, and a few rounds determine the rhythm of both sides.

For the Jazz, Li Shengli was the main attacker, Malone was the secondary attacker, and Crotty and several others also took some shots, but the main position was still on the inside.

In the first quarter, Li Shengli made 6 of 8 and Malone made 3 of 5. Including free throws, they scored 23 points together. However, the efficiency from the outside was not good... Tailong was weak offensively and defensively. He was taken down by Sloan after half a quarter and was replaced. Knott, including Crotty and Bond, the four of them worked together to score 7 points.

Looking back at the Nuggets.

Mutombo, who is known as a defensive center, was a bit out of his mind. He was badly beaten in the first quarter. In terms of the physical combat of positional battles, he was not afraid of Li Shengli. After all, the defense still had an advantage, but Li Shengli's offense in the first quarter was terrible. It is called a center forward textbook. Every offensive method is demonstrated one by one, and the efficiency is extremely high.

Mutombo was blown away, and Lafonso couldn't run away. He was stunned by Malone. The two brothers only scored 10 points in the first quarter, less than half of the Li Shengli + Malone combination.

However, the Nuggets backcourt was not working well inside and outside. Chris, the main attacker in the Nuggets backcourt, really killed Crotty. He kicked his legs to create shooting space and caused Crotty to foul twice in a row.

In the first quarter, he scored 4 of 4 free throws, 1 of 1 three-pointers, and 4 of 8 two-pointers. He scored a furious 15 points in a single quarter.

It would be better if it was just Chris, but Bond, the defensive colander, was functioning normally, and it was like ordering takeaway food. In addition, Tyrone was taken down due to defensive problems, and Benoit took over in the second half of the quarter. These two positions Got 10 points.

So in the first quarter of the game, the score between the two sides was 35:30, and the Jazz fell behind by 5 points.

Both sides scored more than 30 points in a single quarter. It can be seen that the offensive rhythm of the game is very fast. The Jazz go inside and do it, Mutombo + Lafonso have nothing to do; the Nuggets go to the outside and shoot, and Ke, who always values ​​defense, Rody had no choice for the time being.

Isn’t it nonsense to continue fighting like this? !

The Jazz's problem now is not on the inside but on the outside. If they can't suppress Chris, they will definitely overturn. But how to suppress Chris? ! Jerry Sloan has been thinking about this question...

The NBA is not a big circle. Currently, there are only about a hundred or so starting players in the 27 teams.

Everyone still knows about the mentally disturbed Chris, and if this guy plays well, the most effective way to defend him is to talk trash and make him angry, but this method seems a little bit to Jerry Sloan It's obscene, he's too embarrassed to use it...

"Spray him, spray him for me!"

"Talk some trash to Chris later!"

"Squirt hard for me, don't be afraid of getting blown!"

Li Shengli was really sweating after listening to Jerry Sloan's three-game performance, and asked Malone on the side: "Is this our tactic in the second quarter?"

"What does it have to do with us? Chris outside is Crotty's business. Just watch, Mutombo and Lafonso will definitely criticize us in a while, so be prepared." Malone smiled.

"Damn it, doesn't trash talk just have a mouth?"

"No, it's an art!"