Pick Westbrook

Chapter 268 This Will Be Very Difficult
6 month 1 day.

Milwaukee.

"It's the annual NBA Finals again. We welcome the fans at the scene and the audience friends in front of the TV to watch tonight's game together."

"Let's see if the victory of tonight's game belongs to the magical Mavericks who have successfully escaped in two tie-breaks, or whether they beat the defending champion Bucks who won the championship against the Heat!"

Magic Johnson took the microphone from Barkley and made a very unusual opening statement.

This year's finals series will also be explained by Magic Johnson, Barkley and Kenny Smith.

"Honestly, I don't know how the NBA headquarters is blind enough to invite Johnson here. I am also a player, he is also a player, I am also a league legend, and he is also a league legend. What is the difference?"

Barkley still complained about being robbed of his opening speech by Johnson.

Magic Johnson explained with a smile on the side: "I have a championship ring, which is probably why the NBA headquarters asked me to explain this game."

Oh!
Kenny Smith couldn't help opening his mouth. In his opinion, this sentence was definitely a crit.

"Johnson, do you think that the Mavericks led by Nowitzki will have the last laugh in tonight's game, or the Bucks?"

Barkley knew he had suffered a critical blow, so he quickly changed the subject with a laugh.

Magic Johnson did not continue to be serious on that question, but instead answered seriously: "To be honest, I don't agree that the Mavericks are now led by Nowitzki with a single core."

Hearing this sudden point of view, both Barkley and Kenny Smith's eyes lit up at the same time.

Before the start of the Finals, fans all over the world had already spread the word, talking about how Dirk Nowitzki of the Mavericks is a lone hero, who single-handedly overthrew the GDP combination and the Big Three Lakers.

Although the strength of the Bucks is obviously stronger, and the current self-confidence is extremely bursting, but most fans hope that the Mavericks can continue to create miracles in this season's finals.

But who would have thought that everyone thought that the Mavericks team was led by Nowitzki's single-core team, but a person popped up and said he didn't think so.

It would be fine if this person was an ordinary person, but he is also a celebrity in the NBA. He is considered to be the top ten Magic Johnson in the entire history of the NBA.

Looking at the curious eyes of Barkley and Kenny Smith, Magic Johnson slowly explained why he thought so.

"The average age of the Lone Ranger team has reached 31.3 years old, Kidd is 38 years old, Terry is 34 years old, Marion is 33 years old, and Dirk is 33 years old."

"Only in terms of age, the Mavericks seem to be very old, but you and I both know how important the court experience is to the direction of the game."

"Last season, the Bucks were able to defeat the Lakers to win the championship. The performance of O'Neal and Iverson at the critical moment is absolutely indispensable."

Kenny Smith nodded, he still remembers the battle between the Lakers and the Bucks last season.

Both O'Neal and Iverson did perform very well at critical moments, especially the matchup between O'Neal and Bynum.

The big shark O'Neill taught the little shark Bynum a good lesson.

魔术师约翰逊继续说道：“诺维斯基在西部决赛7场比赛场均27分7篮板，投篮命中率48%，是独行侠队全队唯一一名场均得分突破了20+的球员。”

"This may be the reason why most fans think he is a single-core leader."

"But the Jets Jason Terry averaged 19 points, 2 rebounds and 3 assists per game, and his shooting percentage was even higher than Nowitzki's, 49%."

“老基德场均9分4篮板8助攻，三分球命中率39%，而且场均要命中至少2记三分。”

"Kidd is no longer the same shooter as he was back then, and his three-point shooting has improved year by year since 07. He is already a reliable shooter, and his passing skills are still there, especially in field control. ability."

"The entire offensive system of the Mavericks team is dribbling by Kidd alone."

"Tyson Chandler is the most important defensive gate in the offensive Mavericks team. This season's DPOY competition he also successfully entered the third place."

"8 points, 9 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 block per game."

"Don't look at the defensive statistics. Chandler is not an inside player like Marcus Camby who likes to brush up defensive statistics. In terms of high-level opponents' shooting restriction efficiency, Chandler is the first in the league. , taller than Warcraft Howard."

Hearing this, both Barkley and Kenny Smith already understood what Magic Johnson wanted to say.

Strictly speaking, the Lone Ranger team is not a single-core team, but a team with strong strengths in each position and a clear division of labor.

Kidd's pass, Nowitzki's shot, Tyson Chandler's defense, coupled with Marion's excellent offensive and defensive performance, the Mavericks can beat the Spurs and Lakers in a row, and no fans imagined So mythical.

This team is not a mediocre team.

They may not be as amazing as the Big Three of the Heat, the Big Three of the Lakers, and the GDP of the Spurs in terms of players in the team, but they are definitely not inferior to these teams in terms of strength.

The magician knew that the two people beside him had already understood what he meant, so he continued to burst out a violent statement at this time.

"I commented on G6 of the Western Conference Finals. Nowitzki's performance in that game was not very good, at least it was far from his superb performance in the entire playoffs."

"It was the substitute players of the Lone Ranger team who won the game with full firepower and dragged the Western Conference Finals into the tiebreaker. Only then did the 20-point reversal of the tiebreaker come about. Nowitzki scored 30 points."

The magician suddenly took a deep breath at this time, and said seriously: "In that Game 6, the Mavericks' substitutes scored 68 points!"

Bucks coaching bench.

Marshall also gave the data of the Mavericks players in that game at this time, which can really be described as horror.

巴里亚11投6中，3分球5投4中，罚球1罚1中，17分2篮板5助攻。

特里12投8中，3分球5投3中，罚球 2罚2中，21分4篮板6助攻。

These two alone have scored close to 40 points.

Li Lai was silent at the side, he knew what Tyronn Lu was worried about.

Since the start of the playoffs, the Bucks have had the advantage of playing off the bench no matter what opponent they face. This is also based on the Bucks' extremely deep player background.

In terms of the depth of the bench alone, the Bucks are not afraid of any team in the league, which is also the key to their ability to go all the way to the finals.

But now, the Mavericks also have the second-highest bench scoring ability of their respective teams since the playoffs, especially the Jets Terry. This season, he is even better than the Spurs' Ginobili. and.

"We also lost Artest, Tracy McGrady had to push the starting position, which is another reliable output point for our bench lineup."

Tyronn Lue continued.

Li Lai raised his hand to signal, and finally said: "But we are the team with the strongest scoring ability among the substitute lineups of all teams in the playoffs this season."

"In terms of offensive firepower, we are by no means weaker than the Mavericks."

The big screen at the scene quickly displayed the starting lineups of the two teams.

Bucks: Westbrook, Curry, McGrady, Yi Jianlian and Cousins.

Mavericks: Point guard Jason Kidd, shooting guard DeShawn Stevenson, small forward Shawn Marion, power forward Dirk Nowitzki and center Tyson Chandler.

CCTV commentary desk.

Yu Jia laughed and said, "Hey Director Su, this year's finals matchup will be very interesting."

"Rick Carlisle and Li Lai are known as the leaders of the younger generation of coaches. At this time, the two meet in the finals, which means competing for No.1 among the younger generation of coaches."

Su Qun nodded in agreement.

Rick Carlisle is a typical academic coach. He once coached the Detroit Pistons, Indiana Pacers and now the Dallas Mavericks. He also won the title of Coach of the Year in the 2001-02 season.

Since Rick Carlisle joined the Trail Blazers assistant team in 1994 and became the right-hand man of Coach Carlesimo, he officially became the head coach of an NBA team in 7 after seven full seasons.

It wasn't until Carlisle officially coached the Mavericks team in 08 that he led the Mavericks team to achieve a lot of excellent records, and then he was promoted to the position of the head coach of the younger generation.

Strictly speaking, Carlisle was praised by the older generation of legendary coaches earlier than Li Lai.

"This NBA Finals has that flavor."

on the field.

Westbrook, who became the leader of the team, took Curry, Cousins ​​and others to stand on the court, and all the Bucks players had firm eyes.

Now they're not just playing for themselves, they're playing for some guy who's watching the game on TV.

Nowitzki shook his hands and stretched his muscles. He still remembers the scene when the Mavericks were eliminated by the Heat led by Wade with a 2:0 lead.

As a result, the Mavericks became the third team in NBA history to encounter an opponent's reversal and win the championship after leading 2:0 in the Finals.

Last year's Lakers were the fourth team.

At that time, the Lakers were facing the Bucks in front of them.

Nowitzki knows that the Bucks are strong.

But this time, his eyes were full of murderous intent and fighting spirit, because Nowitzki also knew that this was the strongest season for the Mavericks in many years.

In order to build this lineup, the Mavericks even pay the fourth-highest luxury tax in the league, and this is the fourth consecutive year they have paid a luxury tax.

Except for Cuban, no NBA owner in the entire league is willing to pay such a high super luxury tax when the team has never won a championship.

"But that's the limit."

"This should be the last time the Mavericks put all their eggs in one basket for a championship."

Kidd was still warming up with his hands on his knees.

He is 38 years old.

Unlike guys like Westbrook, Curry, and Cousins, jumping up and down all day long has no effect.

Of course, this is Kidd's third championship journey.

As early as the 2001-02 season, under the leadership of Kidd, the Nets reached the NBA Finals.

That was also the first time in Kidd's career that he reached the Finals, but unfortunately he faced the Los Angeles Lakers led by O'Neal and Kobe Bryant.

At that time, the Lakers were aiming to establish a dynasty, and both inside and outside players were the most luxurious configuration in the league, so Kidd was embarrassed when he lost in his first trip to the Finals.

4:0 swept directly.

The good thing is that even at the age of 38, he is still playing in the finals as a core player of a team, so Kidd has reason to pay more in this round of finals.

Jason Terry, Peja Stojakovic, Deshaun Stevenson, Marion, the second oldest Lone Ranger team in the league, all players have to work hard in this round of finals reason.

"Game start!"

"Midfield jump ball."

Cousins ​​won the first wave of possessions in a head-to-head fight with Tyson Chandler.

The Bucks attack.

"Defense! Follow Curry! Watch out for Yi Jianlian's pick-and-roll!"

As an academic coach, Carlisle has the passion of a player coach, so when the Bucks got the first wave of offensive balls, he shouted to remind the players on the field.

Westbrook advances with the ball, guarded by the seasoned Kidd.

In the process of Westbrook holding the ball, Kidd has been steadily moving with Westbrook's dribbling route, and always faces Westbrook directly.

This is a very good habit of point guards playing on the court. It can help them always follow the opponent's dribble and predict the position of the pick-and-roll in advance, and it is most beneficial to squeeze ahead of the pick-and-roll.

call!
Kidd suddenly sped up and leaned forward and almost broke the basketball with a stretching action. Westbrook hurriedly pulled back to dribble, and at the same time was shocked into a cold sweat.

The defense that Kidd showed just now is very different from that of Wade and Mario Chalmers of the Heat.

The latter's defensive double-team press is clear, but Kidd's defense is yin!

It seems that he is following you like an old man on the court, but in fact, he has been thinking about how to break the ball or disrupt the dribbling rhythm of the ball holder.

"Although the Mavericks are an offensive team, their players' willingness to defend on the court is very good."

Barkley couldn't help but praise at this time.

Bucks coaching bench.

Marshall admired Li Lai's pre-match preparations even more. He said: "If the coach hadn't reminded Russell in advance and showed him a lot of tricks Kidd used to defend Durant, maybe the ball just now would have been the same. It was successfully interrupted by Kidd."

Tyronn Lue has long been accustomed to Li Lai's careful preparation before the game. As he said a long time ago, the Bucks are no worse than the coaching staff of any team in the league in terms of pre-game preparation.

on the field.

Yi Jianlian came up to play the pick-and-roll, and Cousins ​​was positioned at a 45° angle on the right to attract Chandler's defensive attention.

"This is a tactical test for the Bucks and a defensive test for Nowitzki."

"We all know that Chandler is the Mavericks' shield, Nowitzki is the Mavericks' spear, but now the spear has to be used as a shield, it is enough to see that the coaching staff of the Bucks team is How excellent."

Magic Johnson praised the coaching staff of the Bucks team as early as last season's finals.

As a development consultant for the Lakers, he clearly felt that Zen Master was getting old.

Zen Master probably won't be able to coach for a few years, and the Lakers also need to find a few outstanding championship-level head coaches in Kobe's final years.

In Magic Johnson's view, Li Lai should be one of the head coaches the Lakers need to focus on.

"Of course, it will be very difficult to get Lee to coach the Lakers."

(End of this chapter)