The rest is just noise

The Mavericks' pressing defense quickly ran into trouble.

General pressing defense is effective against teams without a formed offensive system. Because without a system, the offense is a headless fly, and it is easy to get into trouble when encountering a strong defense.

However, since Louis took charge, the Celtics have introduced four new tactical systems, which are so rich that they can still produce high-quality offense even if Thomas and Bird are on the court at the same time.

Dick Motta's emphasis on pressing and giving up the wing ran into trouble after John Long and Bird took turns shooting three-pointers and made 3 of 5 three-pointers in the first half.

Maxwell's entry is an ignored variable.

He can help Bird deal with his opponent Mark Aguirre, and Bird can easily withstand the low post attack of the Mavericks' two white big men.

Since the Mavericks have Pat Cummings and Bill Garnett on the inside, Bird's original position of defending the four and attacking the three has suddenly changed into a strange position of guarding the fourth and fifth positions and attacking the three at will.

Bird, who became a tank in the front row, freed up Sampson and Maxwell, who jointly sent out 3 steals and 2 blocks on the defensive end.

At half quarter, the Celtics led the Mavericks 19-8.

Motta, shaking with rage, roared out his timeout.

"Good job!" Louis encouraged every player who came off the court, especially reminding Thomas, "Isiah, control your emotions, don't care what the fans say, you know they just want to piss you off."

Thomas asked, "Why do they only want to piss me off and not everybody else?"

"Maybe everyone knows you are narrow-minded?" Louis asked with a smile.

Thomas had a dark face and was speechless.

"If they don't make changes to their current style of play, then we don't have to make any changes, but there are a few things we need to pay attention to." Louis picked up the tactical board and said to everyone, "Don't let Rolando Blackman catch the ball in the elbow area.

, you should have noticed that that is his sweet spot, if he wants to eat dessert, you should feed him a mouthful of shit!"

"Mark Aguirre was very calm tonight. Ralph, you deserve a lot of credit, but there are still three and a half quarters left, so your defense must continue!"

Then, Louis asked Tomjanovich: "Rudy, did I miss something?"

Tomjanovich flattered him, "It's perfect, Coach Lu."

Louis smiled and said: "Rudy, what I like most about you is that you always tell the truth."

Cowens frowned and his lips trembled when he heard this. He also wanted to tell the "truth", but he was worried that his truth would make Louis angry and deduct his salary.

Mavericks

The atmosphere was tense and Motta made one of his signature moves.

He put the tactical board on the floor, squatted down, crossed his hands and grabbed his biceps: "You guys played so ugly! Not ordinary ugly, uglier than the ugliest fat woman I saw in San Antonio!"

No one dares to talk back. Motta is famous for his sharp mouth and sharp heart. He may be the shortest among the current coaches in the NBA. He is less than 1.7 meters tall. In his early years, he was also called a dwarf, but his fiery temperament

His character and strict coaching style helped him gain a foothold in the professional basketball world.

"From now on, let's do this!" Motta split the tactical board into two, really split it into two. He frantically folded the tactical board into two sections, leaving only the right wing.

"No matter who has the ball, we have to block the center and let them attack our right wing. Isiah is very fast, but average in size, and our fans obviously piss him off. So, you have to

Use this home court advantage to incite his emotions, and use your height to block his vision and cut off the linkage between him and Larry Bird."

"What if he successfully passes the ball to Larry?"

"Hit Larry directly."

"What if it's passed on to others?"

Motta said seriously: "Let them shoot!"

Block the center and leave it to the side. Once the ball is given to Bird, let the Celtics shoot directly. Bet on their touch. If their touch is not good, the Mavericks can rely on their youthful vitality to launch a lightning and thunder counterattack.

.

Motta's layout cannot be said to be unsophisticated, especially the idea of ​​blocking the middle and letting go of the side.

Anyone who is familiar with the Spurs knows that this is a family secret technique of Spurs coaches. It is still used from 1997 to 2021. But now in 1984, Motta has realized the vision of forcing the opponent's ball holder to make decisions on the sideline.

Smaller and more prone to mistakes.

Motta can set up defense, but the offense doesn't have many solutions.

Brad Davis dribbles the ball to break through. Although his starting speed is not fast, his advantage is that he has a good rhythm. He can always pass people slowly.

I saw him pass Thomas quickly, pass to the bottom corner, and pass to Garnett.

Garnett scored on a rebound under the basket.

When Davis ran back, he did not forget to execute Motta's arrangement and incite Thomas' emotions.

"I think you should kowtow to Larry," Davis said meanly. "Without him, you're just a premium guy. No, it's a new era. I can't say that, but you know what I mean.

.”

Thomas's mood changed from that moment on.

When Davis had a conflict with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the Lakers, it was not his fault. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was a man of nature and extremely racist. When Davis first entered the league, he wanted to please him. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's first priority

The reaction was not to thank him, or to have a good impression of him like a normal person, but "This guy is not related to me and is a white guy, but he actually pleases me so much? He probably wants to harm me, right?", so Davis' enthusiasm

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s face was imprinted with his footprints, and he no longer had a good impression of black people.

Saying those words to Thomas at this time was not only fulfilling Motta's instructions, but also expressing his inner dissatisfaction with black people.

Thomas couldn't think of anything else. He took Davis' words as an insult, his eyes were cold, and he dribbled to the frontcourt and saw the opponent let go of his right hand, thinking that the opponent was looking for death.

In an instant, Thomas dribbled into the wing. What awaited him was the Mavericks' double attack.

Because Davis couldn't keep up with him, Blackman, who was originally planning to double-team Bird, turned to double-team Thomas.

Davis followed from behind.

Thomas, who had lost his mind, ignored John Long's opening and took the shot forcefully.

Louis didn't notice Thomas's emotional changes, but he noticed some changes in the Mavericks' defense.

Originally, their defensive strength on the ground was enough to give them enough strength to fight.

That kind of reckless, unskilled defense will lead to your own death when meeting the Celtics.

Suddenly, they were setting up a lot of traps on the wing.

It seems that John Long is left open, but there is someone near him who is always ready to steal the ball.

Let the tall Blackman help defend Thomas, and Davis double-teams to provide strength.

In this case, it is reasonable whether Thomas shoots randomly, makes a mistake in passing the ball, passes it to a teammate, passes it out of bounds, or passes it to the opponent's hands.

The changes in the Mavericks are very sudden, and Thomas will not be able to adapt for a while.

Louis still didn't notice the change in Thomas' mood.

But soon, he noticed it.

In the next few rounds, the Mavericks' offense could not be said to be good. Davis was leading the way and Thomas' defense was quite aggressive.

At their home court, Thomas' defense was not tolerated by the referees.

Louis saw Thomas' gloomy face, and the sweet fake smile disappeared at some point. The more Davis talked trash, the uglier his face became.

"Ah, is this bringing out the devil in Isiah's heart again?" Louis asked with a smile while standing on the sidelines.

He is flanked by Tomjanovich and K.C. Jones.

Tomjanovich hesitated: "It would be bad for us if he continues like this."

"Yes, I just want to see whether he puts himself first or the team first after his true nature is exposed." Louis smiled.

For a few minutes when Thomas lost control, the Mavericks relied on defensive counterattacks and improved their scoring efficiency.

The Celtics can only rely on their inside advantage to focus on their secondary offense.

Maxwell appeared elusively at various positions under the basket. As long as Sampson got offensive rebounds, half of them would pass to him, while the other half would come to him himself.

He could tell that Thomas was not feeling right.

Suddenly he couldn't see his teammates.

The tipping point of this section is that Bird finally couldn't tolerate Thomas rushing to the right like an idiot, being double-teamed like an idiot, taking action like an idiot, and then showing off his face like an idiot.

close.

"Give me the ball, Isiah!"

Bird yelled.

Thomas was startled.

"Isiah, do you want me to call a timeout and kneel in front of you to ask you to pass the ball?" Louis asked lazily.

Thomas no longer looked like an idiot and broke into the right wing his opponent placed on him and handed the ball to Bird.

The Mavericks immediately double-teamed Bird.

The person flanking Bird was Bill Garnett. He was an athletic white forward who otherwise wouldn't be able to act as a jump ball player. When he flanked Bird, it was like letting Maxwell go.

The Mavericks seem to have not learned enough about Maxwell's roaming ability.

Bird led the team with the ball and created opportunities for Maxwell.

Maxwell caught the ball, attacked the basket, and dunked directly.

When Thomas ran back, Louis' complaints came to his ears: "I don't understand, is it so difficult to pass the ball? Look at what Larry does, Isiah will never be able to do it, right?"

⑴After reading this, you must think that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is a lunatic, but there is a cause and effect. When Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was a teenager, a black child in the United States was beaten to death by his boyfriend for glancing at a white woman too much; he was 10 years old

At that time, his best friend was a white man. Then one day, this friend and a group of white kids blocked him at the school gate and called him a nigger. His most respected high school coach (a white man) once got angry because he was not angry when he played. In order to stimulate him, he also

said that word; so as an adult, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar instinctively did not believe in the goodwill of white people. He felt that all white people who were good to him would one day hurt him severely. This last conclusion is not my speculation, it is what he said in his autobiography "

The original words of "Becoming Kareem". PS: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's autobiography is the most resentful of all the star autobiographies I have read.