I’m Really Playing Basketball

For truly top teams like the Nets and Bobcats, the team itself actually has no Achilles' heel.

It is said that when the Nets' five forwards are defending, they will leave opponents with a two-point singles opportunity in the middle and long range.

But, is this a fatal weakness?

Not to mention its Achilles' heel, it wasn't even a weakness.

Facing one-on-one defense players like Carter, Joe Johnson, Marion, Richard Jefferson and Kenyon Martin, how efficient can you be on the outside one-on-one in a game?

If you can shoot very accurately in this game, you are likely to be very iron in the next game.

Because their individual defense strength is there, not everyone is as stable as Chen Xiao or Jordan.

Another example is the Bobcats. When the Bobcats attack, because of Webber's age and body, they are more confrontational. For example, Barnes is an ordinary role player and may not be confident enough when attacking.

But, is this a shortcoming?

It's also not a fatal flaw.

Webber is more confrontational, because at your home court, you can raise the intensity of the game without worrying about fouls.

But you can’t be home every game.

There's also the issue of Barnes on the offensive end.

In the last game in New Jersey, Barnes shot really poorly, but don't forget that in the playoffs this season, Barnes shot 45% from the field and 42% from three-point range.

Moreover, Barnes is a player with a very big heart and a champion player who has won the NBA championship.

Because he is a role player, his offense is indeed not that stable. However, with his strength and mentality, just because you succeeded in the last game, it does not mean that you will succeed in this game as well.

Therefore, when the Bobcats and the Nets met each other, they did have their own shortcomings, but these shortcomings are not even considered shortcomings.

This is why after losing in G2, after Jordan returned to Charlotte, he basically didn't plan to make any changes in tactics.

After Jordan took the lead in G1 and took the lead in showing his hole cards, he had no intention of changing his tactical intentions in subsequent games.

According to the matchup between the two teams in the regular season, Jordan has already determined that the Bobcats' starting lineup must not use Bynum and Randolph when facing the Nets' five forwards.

In this case, Jordan actually has little room for adjustment.

Now, both teams have basically shown their cards.

In a strong matchup of this level, the two teams played all their cards right from the start. It can only be said that Boss Qiao did not follow the rules and changed the formation as soon as they started, without any testing.

As far as Jordan is concerned, I have made my decision anyway, because playing with the Nets is just such a possibility. There are no other changes. Pat Riley's five forwards are so strong.

With neither side actually making any major tactical changes, the details of this series and the stability of the players' condition are very important.

In terms of stability, the Bobcats definitely have an advantage. Chen Xiao is the most stable player in the NBA. When both teams are in bad shape and feel bad, Chen Xiao's stability is the Bobcats' advantage.

Similarly, because the Nets have more stars, when everyone is in good condition, the Nets are the dominant team.

Obviously, Jordan's excellent sense of the game allowed him to keenly discover the key to this series even though he was not strong in coaching ability.

Therefore, it stands to reason that after the Bobcats were defeated by the Nets' high-intensity pressing defense in the last game, the average head coach must have wanted to avoid the Nets' defense and not compete with the Nets. Defensive, fight hand to hand.

But after returning from New Jersey, at the Bobcats' training ground, Jordan was instilling the intensity of the game and the toughness of defense between the Bobcats players and the Nets players.

To be fair, when they saw Jordan doing this, not to mention the Bobcats players, even the two assistant coaches of the Bobcats, Cole and Curry, were shocked.

"This is because you know there are tigers in the mountains and go for the tiger mountain. Get tough, Jordan is too tough!"

In the Bobcats' training hall, Xiao Su couldn't help but exclaimed.

When the Bobcats reached the playoffs, the training was closed. Xiao Su and Teacher Zhang were the only reporters who could come in.

However, you can't report what you see at the training ground before the game.

In short, for the Bobcats, returning to their home court with a 1-1 score at the Nets' home court is a pretty good result.

Therefore, everyone's morale is quite high. Under the leadership of Jordan, the Bobcats players are also focused on preparing for the game.

After playing the first two games of G2, the Bobcats felt satisfied, and the Nets actually felt very satisfied as well.

After losing in G1 mainly as a test, G2 got it back immediately and suppressed the Bobcats, a team with a strong offense, to less than 90 points. To be honest, for Pat For Riley, the Nets' performance in the last game was perfect.

This time in the playoffs with the Bobcats, Jordan was a little uncomfortable when he didn't follow the routine. However, the Nets are still stronger than the Bobcats.

This is a chasm that cannot be crossed no matter what.

His five-forward system, in one sentence, means that any team needs to compete with them in singles!

Jordan saw it very clearly, so he didn't try to figure it out, didn't test, and didn't understand after one or two games. Instead, he used outside singles to challenge the Nets from the beginning.

G1 was very successful, and the Nets were caught off guard.

But when the Nets reacted, the Bobcats basically had no chance.

Let's put it this way, in the entire league, the only possible team that can fight singles and win them is the Heat!

The singles of Yao Ming and Chris Bosh did a lot of damage to their five forwards. In addition, there are two unreasonable outside stars in Wade and Antoine Walker.

Therefore, in the regular season, facing other strong teams, the Nets are dominant, only when facing the Heat, they are 50-50.

But Bobcats, although this team's outside singles are also very strong, but Chen Xiao only has one!

Except for Chen Xiao, other positions are not as good as the five forwards of the Nets in singles!

Even for Chen Xiao, when he meets Marion, his singles power will actually be limited.

When this round of the series finally needs to rely on singles to decide the victory, the Nets are invincible.

Especially after the Nets increased the intensity of the game.

Therefore, although he came here with a big score of 1-1, Pat Riley was not worried at all about losing a home game. He was quite relaxed and in a good mood.

When interviewed by reporters before the game, he was quite relaxed.

"Mr. Riley, did the big victory in the last game let you find out how to beat the Bobcats?"

"The last game was indeed the key to this series. The Bobcats are a very young, aggressive and powerful team. They are very difficult to deal with. I won't say that I have found a way to defeat them by winning just one game. method, no one can even find a way to beat them for certain."

"So in this game, will you give the Bobcats strength and confrontation like the last game?"

"certainly."

The relaxed smile on Pat Riley's face left the reporters in the audience speechless.

They have already said that they have not found a way, so why should this game continue the way it was played in the previous game?

Although I was complaining in my heart, who made this person Pat Riley?

I have to say that at this point, Pat Riley is indeed much better than D'Antoni.

D'Antoni's intensity was effective against the Bobcats at home before, but when it came to the away game, he was a little hesitant and not very courageous, and in the end he lost the opportunity.

But Pat Riley is not like that at all. Don't worry about being caught by the referee after getting too intense on the road, and losing the game due to a foul crisis. Don't worry about these things.

I have coached in the playoffs for so many years, and I have never seen a few playoff referees catch the visiting team to death for fouls.

Compared with the gains from increasing intensity, the bad future after increasing intensity can be ignored at all.

It has to be said that Pat Riley is not only more scheming than D'Antoni, but also more experienced than D'Antoni.

Although Pat Riley did not say that he had found a way to defeat the Bobcats, he showed it clearly in his heart and on his face.

And when answering reporters' questions, he didn't even hide it at all.

Why is this happening?

Because both teams have made their cards known in this series, the Bobcats' tactics in this series are no longer a secret to them, and he doesn't believe that if he says this, Jordan will fight him desperately.

The Nets have an obvious advantage, they can press endlessly, while Jordan and the Bobcats will just keep retreating, and then try to steal a victory in two games!

As a calculus-type head coach who thinks a lot, Pat Riley is quite confident in his predictions.

After experiencing a defeat like G2, Jordan and the Bobcats will definitely be thinking about how to avoid the Nets' confrontation.

But obviously, Jordan's decisiveness and a little unconventional style shocked Pat Riley again.

On May 12, 2007, in G3 between the Bobcats and the Nets, the Bobcats and the Nets fought a very high-intensity defensive battle.

In this game, the two teams played brutally.

The Nets, playing on the road, committed 27 fouls in the game and made 26 of 75 shots, with a shooting rate of less than 36%.

On the Bobcats side, the Bobcats committed 26 fouls in this game and made 27 of 65 shots, with a shooting percentage of less than 42%.

From the data of the two teams, we can see how strong the defensive intensity of the two teams was in this game. The average number of fouls committed by the two teams in each quarter of this game was more than 13 times.

In this game, the Bobcats made 37 free throws and the Nets made 32 free throws.

In this game, Roy fouled 4 times, Webb 5 fouled, Chen Xiao fouled 4 times, Xiao Pao fouled 5 times, and for the Nets, Carter fouled 4 times, Martin fouled 5 times, Joe Johnson fouled 5 times, and Richard fouled 5 times. DeJefferson and Marion each had four fouls.

According to ordinary people's guess, after the Bobcats were defeated by the Nets in the last game, they must not dare to fight head-on with the Nets in this game.

But Jordan took his group of young people and rushed up directly!

And it was so successful, this is shocking!

From the fact that the Nets took 75 shots and the Bobcats took 65 shots in this game, it can be seen that in a hard-fought situation, the Bobcats are indeed at a slight disadvantage, and the Nets will get slightly more ball rights.

However, many are limited.

After all, the Bobcats had 5 more free throws, which can be converted into 3 shots.

At the same time, although the Nets have more chances to take shots, their shooting percentage is not very high because of the extremely difficult defensive intensity.

Joe Johnson was 6-for-23, Richard Jefferson was 3-for-12, Marion was 5-for-13, Carter was 6-for-14, and Martin was 3-for-7.

Not even one of the five starters shot over 50%.

In this game, the Bobcats did a very good job defensively at home.

Roy vs. Joe Johnson, Barnes vs. Carter, Granger vs. Richard Jefferson, Chen Xiao vs. Marion, and Webber vs. Martin basically did not allow the opponent to have a good offensive opportunity.

Of course, with such a strong defensive effort, the Bobcats' players actually performed very average on the offensive end.

For example, Webb was 3 of 7, Barnes was 1 of 6, Granger was 4 of 8, and Roy was 7 of 19. If you don't look at Chen Xiao, the Bobcats' offense is not playing very well.

But as the Bobcats' strongest offensive player, how could you not watch it?

In this game, Chen Xiao made 11 of 18, 2 of 3 three-pointers, and 12 of 17 free throws. He scored 36 points in the game!

18 shots, 36 points. In such a defensive game with such high intensity, such efficiency is simply incredible!

In this game between the two teams, they were frantically fighting for physical strength, confrontation, and defense. When both teams were exhausted until the end, in the fourth quarter, Chen Xiao relied on his super physical strength to go crazy. Breakthrough, hit 8 free throws in a single quarter.

In the end, with the Bobcats trailing by 4 points in the first three quarters, in the fourth quarter, led by Chen Xiao's 16 points in a single quarter, the Bobcats beat the Bobcats 26-20 and finally completed the reversal and defeated the Bobcats 88-86 at home. Nets.

Obviously, in this game, Pat Riley never thought that Jordan and the Bobcats would confront the Nets head-on and fight for consumption.

Even many experts and reporters never thought that Jordan would be so tough and brave.

Therefore, at the press conference after the game, facing the crazy exclamations of reporters from all over the United States, Jordan smiled very pretendingly.

"Do you think I, Michael Jordan, is a weak person?"

"Or do you think that Wonder Boy is the kind of coward who only collects statistics in the regular season?"

"I am strong, Chen is tenacious, and all of us are brave enough and not afraid of any challenges!"

Jordan didn't wait for these people to react, and left with a smile and a cigar in his hand.

Yes, Jordan, the rookie head coach, even gave Pat Riley the feeling of injecting the style of his playing days into the Bobcats.

Injecting your own playing style into a team is something not everyone can do!

It should be said that there are few people in the history of the NBA who can do it!

Not to mention doing it as well as Jordan did.

Let the Bobcat players practice one-on-one crazy at the training ground.

During the game, the Bobcat players went crazy one-on-one with their opponents, and were not afraid of going one-on-one with their opponents like mad dogs.

This one really surprised Pat Riley.

Jordan is not only the chosen son of the players and general manager, but he is also the chosen son of the coach, right?

If this is really the case, then he is really jealous!

Pat Riley, who originally brought the Nets to Charlotte, felt that although the game would not be easy, the Nets would definitely win in the end.

But in G3, Jordan and the Bobcats gave the Nets a head-on blow, putting Pat Riley and the Nets in a very dangerous situation.

G4 will be very difficult to beat!

In fact, this is also true. On May 14th, the Bobcats and Nets played G4. The Bobcats and Nets played an equally anxious, high-intensity, high-defense game. With Chen Xiao's 12-for-23 in the game, he still scored an efficient 33. In the end, the Bobcats once again defeated the Nets 85 to 83 at home!

3 to 1!

After the end of G2, the Nets, which were considered to be superior in strength, were actually sent out of the playoffs with one foot after Charlotte lost two games in a row!

After the G4 between the Bobcats and the Nets, the entire NBA was in an uproar!

ps: Su Bingtian is amazing, he is like the protagonist in the novel!