One Guard

Rudy Gobert may never have thought to himself that the first statistic in his NBA career actually came from a nail plate! Moreover, the target of the block was Al Horford, the well-known All-Star center.

On the commentary desk at the American Airlines Center Arena, countless commentators opened their mouths and frantically flipped through all the information related to the big guy. But in the end, they discovered that they had very little information about Gobert, because those who prepared the information before the game never expected that Carlisle, an academic coach, would use a new player, let alone this little-known late first-round player. Duan Xinxiu can blow up the entire audience.

Now, they only know that the center from France is called Rudy Gobert, and he is very dangerous!

Gobert's defense gave the Mavericks another chance to attack. In the summer, people always said that the Mavericks' lineup made them extremely unbalanced on defense and offense. But in fact, the Mavericks' excellent defense will allow them to gain many offensive opportunities.

Yiyang originally wanted to lead another counterattack, but this time the Eagles retreated very quickly and were obviously frightened by Yiyang's counterattack.

In this case, Yiyang simply slowed down his pace. In positional warfare, can the Eagles do better?

Yiyang, who was running wildly, suddenly slowed down and walked slowly through half the court with the ball. He raised his right hand and directed his teammates to move. If his teammates didn't do well, Yiyang would shout out. The way he directs the game looks exactly like the head coach of the Nets, Jason Kidd.

But there are still big differences between Yiyang and Kidd. For example, Yiyang's shooting ability from the outside makes the players who defend him even more headaches!

Jeff Teague didn't know whether he wanted to defend Yiyang's shot or Yiyang's breakthrough. He couldn't figure out his defensive position well and seemed very passive.

Yiyang looked at Teague and then at the basket. He neither shot nor broke through. Instead, he reached out and asked Gobert to pick and roll for him.

"Let Rudy Gobert move up to the high post to cover. Let's see how well this rookie center cooperates with Yi!"

Gobert took his long steps and ran to the high position in a few seconds, then covered his crotch with his hands, instantly turning into a solid high wall.

Yiyang wasted no time. The moment Gobert's pick-and-roll was formed, he accelerated and started. Jeff Teague struggled to get around the screen. He didn't expect that a rookie drafted with the 27th overall pick could do such a good job on the screen.

After hanging up Teague for Yiyang, Gobert did not stand still and watch.

Instead, he suddenly turned around and cut towards the basket again. Yiyang and Gobert advanced simultaneously, the inner and outer lines. Carlisle held his breath. He had already predicted everything that was going to happen next.

After completing the breakthrough, Yiyang threw the basketball directly into the air. Gobert, who cut in after the screen, stretched his long arms and jumped high. When everyone was just looking up, Gobert had already caught the basketball!

"What a terrifying height this is!" Barkley gasped, wondering what kind of monster the Mavericks had chosen!

Horford wanted to jump to stop it, but he found that there was nothing he could do. Gobert's height is completely beyond his reach.

After grabbing the basketball in the air, Gobert bulged the muscles in his hands and slammed the ball into the basket! Didn’t you choose me? Don’t you think I’m not worth a 17th overall pick? Don’t you think that German defender named Schroeder is better than me? Then let's see who is the winner now!

"Boom!" Gobert bombed hard, and the basket guarded by the Eagles seemed to be almost pulled off! This tall and lanky European center is no less destructive than the muscular men in the United States! His dunk shattered the Eagles' penalty area!

"A very destructive dunk from Rudy Gobert! If you think the Frenchman is a center like Marc Gasol, you are wrong! This kid showed us his Very destructive side! Don’t you want Tyson Chandler? Now, Cuban has given everyone a French version of Tyson Chandler!”

The aerial cooperation between Gobert and Yiyang completely conquered Barkley, a picky guy. The Frenchman's active running and excellent physical condition give him all the conditions for success!

After the dunk landed, Gobert roared and vented all the frustration he had accumulated since the draft. Yiyang stretched out his hand expressionlessly and gave Gobert a light high-five. Since Chandler left, Yiyang hasn't enjoyed the pleasure of completing an alley-oop with a center player for a long time. Last season, if Yiyang passed this kind of ball, it would definitely turn into a mistake. You can't expect Kaman to do the same thing as Gobert, but this year, everything is different.

So far, Iguodala, Tony Allen and Rudy Gobert, the three key new players introduced by the Mavericks in the summer, have all performed brilliantly. But do you think this is the ceiling for the Mavericks? No, this is just a small test for the Dallas Cowboys.

In the eighth minute of the first quarter, after Yiyang hit a three-pointer from Iguodala, the Mavericks had officially taken a double-digit lead. The score difference widened in eight minutes, and the poor Eagles had already started to mess up their position.

The next rotation time is considered by Budenholzer as the Eagles' hope for a comeback. This year they gave up Gobert for German defender Dennis Schroder because they took a fancy to Schroeder's greater possibility.

Gobert may become a defensive stalwart, but Schroder is likely to grow into an all-around leader. Today, Budenholzer expects Schroeder to express himself to his fullest during the rotation.

Seeing Budenholzer starting to make substitutions, Carlisle also took advantage of the situation and replaced the main players one by one. Darren Collison replaced Yiyang, Nick Young replaced Tony Allen, old Carter replaced Iguodala at the three position, Marion took up the power forward position as a short inside man, and Gogo Bell remained on the field.

"It has to be said that the defensive ability of the Mavericks' second team dropped a lot in an instant. This is the Hawks' opportunity. If they cannot close the point difference during the rotation time, the game will become more and more difficult for them. "

Kenny Smith understands the truth, and it is impossible for the Eagles players to not understand it. After returning from the timeout, Schroeder launched a fierce attack on the Mavericks' half. His speed is really impressive. Darren Collison was a little careless, and the price was that Schroder passed him by in one step.

Carlisle was about to yell into the field to express his dissatisfaction, but what happened in the next scene made Carlisle's throat suddenly unable to make a sound.

After Schroeder broke through, he bravely went directly into the penalty area for a layup. Even if he couldn't score, there was a high probability that Marion would be fouled. Newborn calves are not afraid of tigers. Schroeder believes that it is impossible for Marion to cause him any trouble on the defensive end.

This is indeed the case. Carlisle asked Marion to play the fourth position more for offensive flexibility than defense. It is indeed difficult for the 35-year-old Marion to complete the task of protecting the frame.

Just when Schroeder took off for a layup, Marion had no time to react. Behind Hacker No. 0, a French Eiffel Tower suddenly rose from the ground!

Rudy Gobert stood across Marion, using a posture that was almost like playing volleyball, and slapped Schroeder's layup out of bounds!

The basketball flew straight towards Yiyang on the bench. People around him were dodging due to conditioned reflexes, but Yiyang didn't even blink. He stretched out a hand and firmly grasped the high-speed flying basketball. live. Afterwards, Yiyang threw the basketball to the referee, and then applauded Gobert expressionlessly.

"It's too scary! His performance is too scary!" Barkley grabbed the microphone and yelled. I don't know if he was referring to Gobert's block or Yiyang's superhuman reaction speed.

On the sidelines, Hawks coach Budenholzer's face turned green. If I had known better, I might as well have insisted on choosing Gobert in the first place! Look at that guy's defense, he will definitely grow into a terrifying iron gate in the future!

Although the Eagles still retain the ball, this bloody block has undoubtedly left a shadow on the young Schroeder.

After that, Collison did not let down his guard against Schroeder, and the Germans were unable to even make a decent breakthrough.

Under Collison's dispatch, Marion and Carter Sr. can still exert their remaining heat on the offensive end. Nick Young's occasional two unreasonable goals can also give the Mavericks unexpected gains.

In this way, the Eagles' second team was losing ground. Now, let alone closing the score, it was very difficult for them to maintain the point difference.

When the first quarter ended, Budenholzer didn't even know what to say to his players during the break. The team has too many problems, and the Mavericks' lineup is too strong. Sometimes, the gap between the two teams cannot be filled by a few words from the head coach.

Stick to inside attack? Gobert's ability has blocked this road. Switch to playing outside? The defense of Yiyang, Tony Allen and Iguodala was even more difficult to overcome. Neither the inside nor the outside are good, so how should the Eagles play? They can't just take action as soon as halftime is over, right?

And this is the problem that the suffocating defense established by Carlisle has left the other 29 head coaches in the league. Facing the Dallas Mavericks, how should your offense be played? Unfortunately, Budenholzer was the first to be tested.

In the second quarter of the game, the Eagles, who emphasized team offense, did not achieve much results. They increased the number of passes they passed, but it didn't do much to pick apart the Mavericks' defense.

In addition, the Eagles do not have a true super scorer, so it is difficult for them to rely on the individual performance of their stars to break the situation. The occasional quarrel between Millsap and Al Horford became the last life-saving straw for the Hawks, but relying on the two inside players to score two points without high efficiency, there is no way to combine the two. The difference in digits is filled up.

After the defense reached its peak, the Mavericks' offense also fully opened up. Iguodala's shot made people see the countless possibilities between him and Yiyang, and Nowitzki's goal also reminded people that the Mavericks still have a historic fourth position. Tony Allen's occasional sneak attack inside also brought surprises to everyone. This guy is not completely useless on the offensive end. It mainly depends on what level of ball handler is directing all this.

At the end of the second quarter, the Mavericks scored 60 points in the half. And what about the Atlanta Hawks? 42 points. That's right, in just 24 minutes, the Dallas Mavericks defeated the game. The 12-point difference may not seem that big, but in the face of the Mavericks' suffocating defense, the difficulty for the Eagles to recover 12 points is not small at all.

Defensively and offensively, the Mavericks put up their best performance. Budenholzer and his players walked back to the locker room dejectedly, feeling miserable staying on the court for even a second longer.

The opponent of the Dallas Mavericks in the opening game is really bad. Inadvertently, the Hawks became the backdrop for the Mavericks to show their strength to the entire league.

But Carlisle doesn't think so. An opponent like the Eagles is not enough for him to use his full strength...