The Whip of the God of Basketball

The overall trend in the first half was basically under Leon's control. Carlisle took the initiative and was naturally led by Leon later on. The two have been in constant contact since they met drunkenly in Boston two years ago, and their relationship is also like enemies and friends. Carlisle is older than Leon, and sometimes gives Leon tactical advice, but recently Carlisle has become increasingly afraid to give Leon advice, and he will not communicate when the two teams meet in the playoffs.

Leon knew that Carlisle was a coach who was good at planning, but on the contrary, he was less responsive on the spot. It's not because he reacts slowly. In fact, no coach in the NBA reacts slowly. If there is any problem with the team, an experienced head coach can immediately see it. But some coaches seem to react quickly and can adjust immediately to achieve immediate results, while others feel slow and slow. The fans are eager to point fingers, but the coaches are indifferent.

This is actually due to different ways of dealing with problems. Those who respond quickly belong to the flow of adapting to changes. When soldiers come, they will block the water and cover them with soil. If they have a headache, they will treat their head and feet. Generally, such a coach will have many soldiers and generals, and the players will have rich experience and strong tactical adaptability. , the team’s tactical training is also solid. Otherwise, such a coach will become a blind commander who changes his orders every day and turns into a mess.

Those who seem to react slowly are taking the path of putting themselves first and adapting to the ever-changing situation. In the final analysis, it is the players who determine the trend on the basketball court. No matter how good the coach thinks, it is useless if the players cannot play well or are not adapted to the situation. . Generally speaking, coaches of teams with relatively young lineups, strong impact, and vitality will adopt such a strategy. They firmly believe that their pre-game strategy is correct and implement it with all their strength. This also requires courage.

Generally speaking, the regular season is more suitable for the second type of coach. In high-frequency games and different opponents, it is still very important to have a consistent tactical play; To recruit, on-the-spot changes are very necessary. Of course, these changes cannot be separated from the preparation before the game. You can change them however you want.

Therefore, Leon speculated that Carlisle might have such a tactical choice, with Okur at center, Wallace at power forward, and then three guards. This has happened before in the Pistons' regular season. After the midfielder returned to the locker room, Leon took out his tactical booklet, which densely wrote some of his tactical ideas. Regarding Carlisle's arrangement, he had two options: first, shift the focus of attack. Since Hualai If Warriors starts to defend Walker, his defensive energy will be dispersed, and the Celtics can use the firepower of Pierce, Arenas, and Reid to attack the Pistons' basket. Second, continue to focus on Walker and let Walker continue to attack until the Pistons' defense is penetrated.

Leon's hesitation is that although the first option seems to be the best choice, Arenas is mainly defending Billups in this game. Once the point guard invests a lot of energy on the defensive end, it will be very difficult on the offensive end. It was hard to find the feeling. Arenas only made one three-pointer in the first half and gained nothing else. Whether Pierce and Reid can really stand up in the second half depends on the situation.

The problem with the second option is that Walker is not Tim Duncan or O'Neal. If he were this kind of player, Leon would not hesitate to ask Walker to fight to the death. But in the second quarter, Walker faced Wallace's attack. It's not good. When he faces such a fast and strong defender, he will struggle once he can't use his footwork advantage. This is true for Kenyon Martin, the same is true for Chris Webber, and the same is true for Wallace. .

Is it adjustment or persistence?

"Compared with the last game, what adjustments have you made? The team's condition looks much better." Before returning to the locker room, NBC reporter Craig Sagel asked Leon on the sidelines Interviews were conducted.

Sagar is also a famous NBA reporter. He is famous for wearing fancy suits and bright ties. Most people's suits are gray or dark blue. Only this guy likes to wear bright-colored suits, such as bright yellow, pink, or multiple colors. The matching colorful suit is really easy to attract attention on the sidelines. It is precisely because of this that he has become a famous NBA reporter and a famous topic figure. It must be said that he is a master of self-marketing.

But Sagar is by no means a person who only relies on appearance, otherwise he would not have been in the sports circle for more than 30 years. His questions are concise but very targeted. They seem to be repetitive, but they have different ways of asking questions. And very patient.

When faced with the question, Leon was still thinking about the second half, so he said perfunctorily: "Because we have adapted to the atmosphere of Detroit."

Faced with such an answer, Sagar nodded seriously and continued to ask: "Last question, will you stick to the style of play in the first half in the second half?"

This question just hit Leon's heart. This was not the first time he was interviewed by Sagar. Knowing that this guy still knew about football, he thought about it carefully this time and said: "We will try our best to stick to the first half." Of course there will be some adjustments to the way we play on the court, because the Pistons did well in the second quarter. But we don’t have a big problem. I believe in my players, I believe in my players, and we will win this game.”

Having said that, the purpose of Sagar's interview has been achieved. Leon bluntly stated that he wants to win the game, and there is still half a ball before the end of the game. Is there anything more newsy than this?

After the interview ended, Leon walked back to the locker room. When he just answered, he already had the answer in his heart.

After returning to the locker room, Leon asked the team to stick to the way they played in the first half. At the same time, he pointed at Walker and said in front of the team: "Antoine, when Robinson guarded you, you played like a All-Star, when Wallace was guarding you, you played like an undrafted player in the NBDL! Yesterday I told you that you had to beat Robinson, so you had to beat Robinson? I told you, now, you You are the blaster of the whole team. The explosive pack is on your shoulder. In front of you is the enemy's fortress. No matter how fierce their firepower is, you have to blow it up even if you sacrifice yourself! I have ten thousand in my notebook Tactics can cope with the situation on the court, but I don’t use it. I want you, Antoine Walker, to use offense to break open the opponent!”

Leon's words caused silence in the locker room, and everyone's eyes were fixed on Walker. Walker couldn't remember how long it had been since he had shouldered such responsibilities and pressure. He felt as if he had returned to several years ago, when he was still his subordinate in Pierce. At that time, he led the whole team to fight.

Looking into the eyes of Leon and his teammates, Walker raised his head and licked his mouth, and only two words came out of his throat: "I-will (I will)"

……………………

In the second half of the game, Carlisle continued to use Robinson as the starter at the beginning, while Leon continued to insist on Walker. Walker shot a fadeaway jumper over Robinson at the beginning of the second half. Later, when Wallace came to help defend, he made a clever pass The ball was given to P.J. Brown, who dunked with one hand.

This time Carlisle did not need to pause to adjust. In the next round, Ben Wallace began to take the initiative to confront Walker. However, Walker did not pass the ball to Pierce or Brown to solve the problem. She had to challenge Wallace one-on-one. scholar.

Facing the steely gorilla-like Wallace, Walker changed his strategy in the first half of trying to face the frame and use his feet to get rid of Wallace for jumpers or floaters. Instead, he changed his back and used his strong hips to push away Wallace. Attack the inside line.

Although Wallace is strong, his lower body is not strong. In internal confrontations, it is not enough to rely solely on well-developed arms and chest muscles. After all, arms cannot twist thighs. So why are those insiders with thick lower body relatively weak in the upper body, but they can still wreak havoc on the inside, while insiders with ordinary or even slender lower body can only train the biceps, triceps and shoulder muscles to make up for the innate weakness of the lower body. insufficient.

Once Walker starts to use his butt, Wallace becomes a little difficult to guard. His advantages in jumping and blocking shots are offset, and he can't fully protect the backcourt rebounds. There is another frontcourt like P.J. Brown on the opposite side. A master rebounder.

In the third quarter, Walker and Brown made waves inside the Pistons. Walker scored 12 points alone, and P.J. Brown grabbed four offensive rebounds, helping the Celtics open the score in the third quarter.

"Yes-you-can, I-always-believe-you-man! (You can, I always believe in you!)" During the pause, Leon punched Walker and yelled at him. And Walker no longer makes funny expressions, because now he is really fighting, and a person in the battle will not be funny.