The rest is just noise

Rick Pitino's full-court press strategy can indeed work in lower-level leagues.

Just like the American team playing in international competitions, they like to use their unique body to press and press, causing their opponents to make constant mistakes, and then easily counterattack.

But in the NBA, the highest-level basketball league in the world, it would be a bit naive to want to use a full-court press to defeat all teams.

Is Pitino naive? No.

In fact, he doesn't just use the full-court press to limit his opponents. The full-court press is the general framework of his defensive system.

Within this broad framework, many traps are also used as details to improve defense.

To set up a trap on the defensive end, you must conduct detailed research on your opponent's players.

Who can be given up and who should be given priority.

This is why, in the small ball era, there are almost no teams that use full-court press as a routine method.

Because role players in the small ball era are better at their specialized field (shooting), the full-court press needs to set up traps and must selectively release some players who are not a shooting threat.

That's what Pitino's teams did.

Unfortunately, the Knicks he met were a team that looked like future teams in many aspects.

Therefore, Jordan completed two steals at the beginning, but it was difficult for the Knicks to make mistakes after that.

Moreover, after engaging in high-intensity defensive confrontation, the Knicks performed more comfortably, and they were not afraid of their opponents increasing the intensity of the game.

The Knicks' restrictions on the penalty area are beyond the imagination of Portlanders.

Jordan, Drexler, and Nance all tried to attack the Knicks' penalty area in the first quarter. Without exception, they were either fouled or knocked to the ground.

Pitino was also prepared for the Knicks' violent defense.

His preparation will make Blazers fans angry.

Pitino asked the players to ignore the Knicks' unnecessary actions and focus on the game, because once they are obsessed with how to retaliate, it will be difficult to focus on the game.

This is the truth, but it is too frustrating.

Therefore, Billy Cunningham would express puzzling at the end of the first quarter: "I saw a lot of novel things in this game. The arrival of Coach Pitino did change Portland, but I found that they lacked

Got something."

"What?"

"Bloody." Cunningham said, "When New Yorkers cause trouble, they always lower their heads and walk away, as if they are worried about making things worse."

Cunningham is really puzzled by the Blazers' coaching staff.

No matter what, you should never avoid conflict.

You can't forget your roots as a human being.

Have you forgotten how the first championship in the history of the Trail Blazers came about? The fact that Maurice Lucas and Daryl Dawkins fought in the Finals was so easy?

Our ancestors were so virtuous in martial arts, why have we become so virtuous now?

Cunningham sincerely feels sorry for Philadelphia.

In the second quarter, Louis used Ainge, Hornacek, Dan Marley, Oakley, and McHale as the transitional lineup in the transition period.

"New York's greatest strength is their depth. Little is probably the most willing head coach in history to give playing time to rookies."

As soon as Stockton finished praising Louis, Cunningham seemed to be triggered by someone who praised Louis, and he would come out to play devil's advocate.

"Ah, here's the thing, in fact, if the quality of the rookies is high, all coaches are willing to use rookies." Cunningham used this to excuse those stubborn old coaches.

For the Trail Blazers, the much-anticipated No. 3 overall pick Rick Schmitz appeared.

"Is this the Dutch little Yao Shuan?" Louis muttered.

"Coach, what did you say?" Zhao Yuanzheng asked.

"Uh, nothing." Louis asked with a smile, "What are the rookie's statistics?"

Zhao Yuanzheng said: "Currently, he is averaging 30 minutes per game, scoring 11 points, 6 rebounds and 2 blocks, with a shooting percentage of 52%."

"not bad."

Tomjanovich said: "There are just a few rebounds."

"It's quite a lot. Look at his weight. Not every 7-foot-4 guy is Ralph Sampson." In Louis' impression, Yao Huang didn't have many rebounds in the NBA.

Except for monsters like Sampson and Sabonis who violate physiological laws, all giants over 2.2 meters tall have either weak rebounds or few rebounds.

Sounds contradictory? Doesn’t weak rebounding mean that there are few rebounds? No.

Like Yao Huang, he is very effective in protecting defensive rebounds. The Rockets do not care about his average of 9-10 rebounds per game, but they rely heavily on him to use his body to block positions under the basket to help teammates grab rebounds. Therefore, Yao Huang's rebounds are relatively

In terms of his height, he's not that much, but the Rockets have always been good at rebounding.

Schmitz's problem is that he is too thin, and he does not have a chassis as big as Yao Shuan. No matter how much weight he gains in the future, he will not gain much weight.

Therefore, he is destined to be a poor rebounder and needs a muscular stick to help wipe his ass at the fourth position.

Pitino is not a coach who uses big centers, so Schmitz can average 11+6 per game under him, which is really good.

After Schmitz came on the field, Louis was horrified to discover that Pitino seemed to have something wrong with his mind.

A 2-meter-2 big man, he actually had someone in the center circle to receive the press?

"Are you crazy?"

Jordan, who had already played 10 minutes in the first quarter, also started the second quarter.

Moreover, they believe that the Knicks' transitional lineup will be a breakthrough.

The backcourt, led by Ainge and Hornacek, was treated as a soft persimmon.

"Danny, they seem to be trying to steal the ball from you." Louis shouted jokingly.

Jordan's rough pressing action angered Ainge.

This villain who was famous in the league during the Celtics era gave the Flyers an iron elbow in the stomach.

Jordan was furious and responded with more intense physical confrontation.

Anji gave him another elbow. The two sides were fighting each other without even making a move. Louis really admired their professionalism.

Asking Schmitz to press the whole court is like asking Zhou Qi to serve.

Does he have that ability?

Schmitz, who came to support Jordan, was disrupted by the Knicks' tactics without any effect.

He is too tall. Although he has good athletic ability, it is only relative to his height. Compared with McHale and Oakley, he is far behind.

Louis deliberately made tactical gestures of strong and weak side passes to increase the difficulty of the Blazers' defense.

Allowing the inside line to serve as a support for the full-court press may be something only Pitino can do.

Louis will also let Ewing handle the murderous press, but that is based on the fact that Ewing is seven feet tall, has the athletic ability of a small forward, and is paired with Wilson, Stevens, Rodman and other good players.

Schmitz is considered fast at the 2.2m level, but he cannot keep up with his teammates who are participating in the full-court press.

The consequence of not being able to synchronize is that the defense makes continuous mistakes, blocking the gap here and missing the ball there.

In two rounds, the Knicks scored a three-pointer and a dunk using only passes and cuts.

After easily scoring 5 points, the Trail Blazers requested a timeout.

Then Pitino realized that letting Schmitz participate in the full-court press was too much.

After Louis checked with Zhao Yuanzheng several times, he learned that Schmitz, as the full-court press support, had not appeared in the Trail Blazers' previous games.

In other words, Pitino deliberately left this incredible skill to Louis and the Knicks.

"Now it is certain that their defense focuses on the top of the arc and breakthroughs in the middle, and is not careful about the defense of three-pointers from the outside on both wings."

Louis set the focus of his attack at a 45-degree angle on the left and right wings.

Few people realize now that good shooters are as sensitive to the left and right 45-degree angles as the Huns are to cup cups.

The powerful Huns can tell whether it is genuine or silicone with just one glance.

Louis' opponents are limited by the era. They believe that the Knicks' Exhangeky (high-post dynamic offense) is concentrated in the high post. Because of the latter's high shooting percentage at the top of the arc in the Dell Ellis era, they often surround the arc.

Make a fuss.

"If they give you an open shot, take as many shots as you're given."

"Until they realized they couldn't put it here."

Louis looked at his shooters Ainge, Hornacek, and Marley. By contemporary standards, they are all dangerous shooters.

Especially Ainge. After joining the Knicks, although he only averaged 8 points per game, his 8 points included 2.1 three-pointers, and his shooting percentage was 38%.

Looking at his current outside shooting, Louis really can't believe that when he first went to Boston, let alone three-pointers, he only had breakthrough threats on the offensive end, but no shooting at all.

Jordan's vitality on both offense and defense is impressive.

Pressing hard on the defensive end, taking the lead on the offensive end, challenging Marly, completely relying on his body to forcefully run over, and gliding for a layup.

However, the Blazers' defense was only brave and lacked wisdom.

Ainge received McHale's pass from the center on the left wing, shook off the defending Drexler, started with a three-pointer, and hit the net hollowly. From this goal, the confidence of the Knicks' shooters began to increase.

They know that the Trail Blazers' defense on the left and right wings is indeed, as Louis said, very bad.

Only half a minute later, the rookie Marley took the ball and made a shot without using a screen or running without the ball. As soon as the frontcourt attack was in place, he pulled up and shot the opponent's willful shot. Suddenly, the Knicks' offensive system no longer included

There is a word for reasonable.