Pick Westbrook

Chapter 233 Danny Green's defense is better
Game start!
Mid-line jump ball!

Cousins ​​looked like a hooligan, and in the fight with the 211cm big center Jared Jeffries, he jumped off the first wave of possession strongly.

"In the 2010-11 season, the first wave of offense in the playoffs was played by the Bucks."

Barkley looked at the picture on the court and nodded repeatedly, and couldn't help but think of the scene of Cousins ​​and O'Neal exchanging jerseys in the last game of the regular season.

In his opinion, O'Neal has found a very good disciple, and Cousins ​​is a well-deserved All-Star embryo in terms of physical talent and technical ability.

If it weren't for Griffin, a downgraded student this season, the best rookie award must have been awarded to this player.

"However, compared to Griffin who has gone home to fish and the Clippers missed the playoffs, Cousins ​​got a more important opportunity to practice."

"Being able to play in a championship-level team like the Bucks will also be of great help to Cousins' growth."

The Bucks attack.

Westbrook advances with the ball.

Chauncey Billups led the defense and put great pressure on Westbrook's defense from the very beginning.

Kenny Smith flipped through the data and said: "Billups has missed a total of 13 games this season due to injury. In these 13 games, the Knicks only had a dismal record of 3 wins and 10 losses."

"Obviously Billups is still a very important player on this team."

"What can be intuitively seen is that when Billups is on the court, the New York Knicks allowed 99 points in [-] possessions."

"And when he wasn't on the court, New York gave up 105 points per [-] possessions."

"That's the difference!"

Barkley couldn't help heaving a long sigh at this time. The best defender of the entire Knicks team turned out to be the 35-year-old veteran Chauncey Billups?

"It's a miracle that this team can still make it to the NBA with such a bad defense."

In Barkley's view, this is the difference between Li Lai and coach D'Antoni.

Although both of them are one of the best offensive tactics masters in the league, they have completely different attitudes towards the team's defensive end.

Li Lai can allow the players on the field to fail in defense, which is a matter of ability, but he must not tolerate the non-defense and inaction of the players on the field, because it is a matter of attitude!

Look at Curry, Dragic, McGrady and others on the court, who is not dedicated to their duties on the defensive end and hardworking.

You must know that they have to destroy the team on the offensive end at the same time.

on the field.

Faced with Billups' almost suffocating defense, Westbrook did not choose to play hard after holding the ball for halftime, but actively signaled the players on the field to move.

Cousins ​​pulled the ball outside the three-point line and became the team's second ball-handling core.

Westbrook made a decisive empty-handed drive to the basket after passing the ball.

Cousins ​​made a lob pass, and Westbrook flew straight into the air after receiving the ball.

The bully Stoudemire relied on his nimble feet to help defend.

"Westbrook is covered!"

"How is he going to fight?"

boom!
A tortoise battle ax that smashed Huashan with all its might.

Seeing this dunk, Yu Jia and Su Qun gasped at the same time.

"Westbrook's physical talent is really exaggerated. In the past three years, there is no inside player in the entire league who has not dunked every other."

Su Qun still remembered Westbrook who dunked Garnett during his rookie days. He really wanted to say something really fierce, that was Garnett.

So now that Westbrook dunks Stoudemire on the court, Su Qun is just shocked, not surprised.

The Bucks scored in the first round of offense.

Switch offense.

Billups advanced with the ball, and Westbrook also gave a lot of physical confrontation with tit for tat.

It's just that compared to Westbrook's immature dribbling, Billups is too sophisticated in controlling the rhythm, and it is even less likely that there will be a scene where the ball is directly intercepted by the opponent.

The Knicks played a low post offense.

Stoudemire set an off-ball screen for Anthony in the paint, then pulled to the weakside to attract a double-team.

Bill Walker on the strong side quickly pulled away to the top of the arc.

In this way, Anthony formed a very comfortable singles position on the strong side.

Anthony will attack the Knicks' first wave of offensive possession in the playoffs.

Artest's eyes were firm at this time, and when Anthony received the ball with his back, he immediately formed a favorable back-to-back position.

Artest's feet were slightly bent, and his body was leaning forward. At the same time, his left hand was held high above his head to prevent Anthony's sudden backward shot, and his right hand was always exerting force against Anthony's right back.

This can not only slow down the speed of the opponent's back turn, but also effectively resist the opponent's back turn and sneak to the bottom line to attack the basket.

"Artest has shown very good defensive skills for all players in the league. This is a very good defensive position and defensive choice."

Barkley is preparing to praise the veteran who has played in the league for 12 years, a man who has played single defense to the top in history.

But at this moment, Anthony turned from his back to his frontal attack, took a tentative step forward to deceive Artest with a small change in his center of gravity, and then shot decisively.

Swish!
Go in!

"Anthony's shooting is really silky!"

Kenny Smith rarely praised the opponent's players in a game with the Bucks.

In his opinion, Anthony deserves to be the top singles superstar in the league. His average of 26 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists per game also proves his strength.

Artest subconsciously looked at the Bucks coaching bench at this time.

Li Lai shook his head for him.

Both Tyronn Lue and Marshall understood the meaning of the coach at this time.

Anthony is indeed regarded as the league's top singles star, and the name of the kaleidoscope is not groundless.

Artest is good at matchups in power defense. For a player with a soft touch, height and wingspan that exceeds him, his defensive ability cannot form a dominant level of oppression.

So Artest's glance was asking Li Lai if he wanted to double-team Anthony.

And Li Lai's shaking of the head naturally meant very clearly.

"There is no need to double-team Anthony for now."

Of course, Tyronn Lue had a different opinion at this time, and he didn't agree with Li Lai's decision either.

In Tyronn Lue's view, it's better for Anthony to clip.

Because this player is off the skill tree, apart from winning the league on the offensive end, his other abilities are much worse than those of superstars.

Switch offense.

Westbrook advanced with the ball, and Billups tried to steal Westbrook continuously, forcing the opponent to consume a lot of time in the dribble process.

"That's why the Knicks are so effective defensively when Billups is on the court."

In Barkley's view, Billups is really a very experienced guard.

Although Billups' consecutive attempts to steal Westbrook did not cause the opponent to make mistakes, it greatly slowed down the Bucks' offense, forcing them to be more urgent in the next tactical coordination.

This is the rhythm, and it is also the most important thing for a field control master to master.

At this time, Curry keenly discovered the defensive crisis that Westbrook encountered, so he ran around Artest's off-ball screen from the right and accelerated to the left.

Anthony had to switch on Curry in the pick-and-roll, but his lateral speed has never been good enough, so he was already two beats behind Curry during the switch.

"Co-defense!"

Anthony yelled at his teammate on the right.

Billups is restricting Westbrook at the top of the arc at this time. Bill Walker, who originally defended Curry, has also stayed on the left side of the court in the off-ball pick-and-roll, and Anthony is now staying near the paint.

So the only ones who can help defend Curry are Stoudemire and Jared Jeffries.

But both are interior players for the Knicks.

Seeing this scene, Su Qun shook his head again and again and said: "Jared Jeffries is a big center player with extremely cumbersome feet. If he is taken out of the penalty area with Curry, then the Knicks' rim guards on the field will be destroyed." There's a big problem."

"That is to say, at this time, Stoudemire can only be allowed to follow Curry."

"But the crux of the matter is that even with Stoudemire, who is a little nimbler on his feet, it's very difficult for him to guard Curry."

In Su Qun's view, the best solution for the Bucks' offense is that Anthony can follow up immediately, otherwise it would not be a good thing for either of the two big men in the Knicks to defend.

On the court, Stoudemire threw himself out.

Westbrook hits the pass.

After receiving the ball, Curry made a quick three-pointer and shot it directly.

Swish!
hit!

Stoudemire jumped high and tried to block the shot, but because he was too far away from Curry's shooting position, his take-off let alone blocked the shot, even the interference effect was minimal.

Stoudemire, who watched Curry hit the three-pointer, was a little upset. He looked at Anthony and said, "Dude, you should defend this ball."

Anthony breathed a sigh of relief and was also in a bad mood.

He naturally knows that it is best for him to defend the ball, but he gained weight as early as last season in order to improve his singles shooting percentage, so his lateral movement, which was not good enough, became more bloated this season.

Anthony really can't defend against it.

On-site commentary desk.

Barkley, who has watched many games of the Bucks, said with certainty: "If the Knicks can't solve the problem of how to limit Curry, then they will play extremely uncomfortable in this game tonight."

Eight minutes into the first quarter.

The Bucks took a slight lead with 22:20.

D'Antoni called a timeout first, replaced Chauncey Billups, who was frequently defending and struggling to control the team's offensive rhythm, and took Tony Douglas.

At the same time, Jared Jeffries, who barely played any role in the first quarter, was also replaced and Sean Williams was taken.

In this way, Stoudemire was pushed to the center position, and Sean Williams played the game instead of power forward.

"Tony Douglas is a very strong combo guard with excellent offense and rich scoring methods."

"It is worth noting that Douglas's defense can be regarded as the second strongest player in the Knicks' back line. He is a player who understands the importance of defense very well, especially in stealing ability."

Marshall quickly gave detailed information about Tony Douglas as a player, as well as some abilities and characteristics.

Tyronn Lue guessed from the side: "It seems that D'Antoni is going to continue to use Billups-like defense to limit Russell."

"After all, in the first quarter, Russell didn't have a particularly good offensive output, except for the amazing dunk dunk."

"Plus the fact that the Knicks coaching staff has figured out that we've been playing against Jarred Jeffries, a lumbering center, so now they're putting Stoudemire at center, that's great for us. The offense is also a challenge."

Li Lai nodded, Tyronn Lue was right, this should also be D'Antoni's idea of ​​adjusting the lineup.

But he sees more than Tyronn Lue. What Li Lai sees is not only the advantages of the Knicks after the readjustment of the lineup, but also the weaknesses of their lineup.

"Chauncey Billups is gone, who will run the offense for the Knicks? Tony Douglas?"

"He doesn't have such ability yet!"

Li Lai's words woke up Tylen Lu and Marshall.

Strictly speaking, D'Antoni can also be regarded as the league's best head coach who is good at using guards, which is why Billups can continue to shine at the age of 35 under him.

But the crux of the Knicks' current problem is that they don't have a point guard who is good at organizing except Billups. This problem is difficult to solve even for D'Antoni.

So the biggest question for the Knicks on the court now is, how will their offense play after Billups is off the court?

Li Lai had already guessed the Knicks' next tactical play, so he also made adjustments and substitutions at this time.

"Westbrook was taken, and the Bucks replaced Dragic?"

"At the same time, Curry is also off, replaced by Danny Green?"

Kenny Smith looked at the Bucks' adjustment and substitution extremely puzzled.

All teams in the league know that the Bucks are based on Westbrook and Curry. It stands to reason that the two players' off-court time will be staggered, and the picture of the same below and above should not appear.

But in such an important playoff game tonight, the coaching staff of the Bucks dared to take down the two at the same time, so how can the Bucks attack on the court at this time?

Barkley shook his head from the sidelines. Unlike his old partner's worries, he was not worried about the next offense of the Bucks at all.

Because Dragic is on the field!
This season, Dragic averaged 14 points, 3 rebounds and 6 assists per game, making him the best sixth man in the league.

He is a very good backcourt engine, and also a role that can break through with the ball and sort out the team's offense.

In addition, the Bucks' offense has not only relied on stars, they have a very complete offensive system.

So even if Westbrook and Curry both go off the court, the Bucks' offense will not be in too much trouble.

On the contrary, Barkley felt that the Knicks' offense was going to have a big problem.

"Danny Green's defense is better than Curry, and the Bucks' intention to take the former at this time is self-evident."

"They're going to defend against the Knicks' offense at this point."

The game continues on the field.

Tony Douglas advanced with the ball, and he first tried a wave of his own offense with the ball.

Although Dragic has always been in front of Tony Douglas, his defensive strength and physical talent did not cause too much trouble for Tony Douglas.

It's just that the Bucks suddenly adopted the defensive tactics of shrinking the 2-3 zone defense area at this time.

So at the moment Tony Douglas broke through, Danny Green and Villanueva both retracted a step inside at the same time, blocking Tony Douglas's chance to continue to the basket in advance.

The Knicks' offense was blocked, and all players pulled away.

Anthony forced his back to ask for the ball at the waist. At this time, Artest had a very large physical confrontation with Anthony and implemented a defense around the front.

Tony Douglas is afraid to pass the ball.

D'Antoni shouted anxiously on the sidelines: "Hit the right side and reposition!"

(End of this chapter)