Pick Westbrook

Chapter 303 Play the way you like

11 month 7 day.

The Hornets host the San Antonio Spurs.

The New Orleans Arena welcomed a lot of fans, but of course there were no scenes of loud voices and enthusiastic fans.

For this team, New Orleans fans are still choosing to wait and see.

CCTV commentary desk.

Yu Jia analyzed before the game: "The Hornets have not encountered a particularly strong team since the start of the game."

"To be honest, don't look at them just finished a wave of away games, in fact, the Hornets' schedule in the first month is really a little easier."

"And this Spurs team tonight is the strongest opponent the Hornets will face this month."

Su Qun agreed from the side and said: "Currently, the Hornets and Lakers are tied for the first record in the Western Division, but this result is indeed a bit watery."

"Their real strength should be at the goalkeeper level in the playoffs, but because of the performance of the Hornets in the previous games, I am willing to believe that they can make the playoffs."

Su Qun remembered the last game between the Hornets and the Clippers, and it was extremely difficult to win.

Originally, the Clippers had a high probability of winning the game, because the opposing team had to lead the Hornets in terms of core player strength and lineup depth.

It's just that Su Qun never expected that Paul's explosion at the critical moment and Jordan's bombing of the basket helped the team pass the test with difficulty.

Of course, the daring of Jimmy Butler, Beverly and other rotation players in the final rotation stage is also an important reason why the Hornets were able to win that game.

"However, the Hornets can't be in that state every night, and Paul can't be so incomprehensible on the court every night."

"In this game, they also met the more sophisticated Spurs, who will not give them the same chance as the Clippers."

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

Hornets starting lineup: Paul, Leonard, Carter, Lewis and Jordan.

Spurs starting lineup: point guard Tony Parker, shooting guard Gary Neal, small forward Stephen Jackson, power forward Tim Duncan and center Thiago Splitter.

Barkley noticed that the Hornets' starting lineup did not include their recently traded player Boris Diaw, so he said very curiously.

"Is the Hornets coaching staff going to put Boris Diaw on the bench?"

In Barkley's view, compared with Lewis and Boris Diaw in this period, Boris Diaw is obviously better.

Regardless of personal ability, competitive state, and versatility, Boris Diaw is even better.

It's just that the Hornets didn't arrange the strongest players to start the game, which is obviously not normal.

Kenny Smith said at this time: "Isn't Manu Ginobili of the Spurs better than most players in the team? Isn't he sitting on the bench now?"

Barkley nodded quickly when he heard this, secretly thinking that he would be confused if he cared.

"The Hornets might want to use Boris Diaw the same way Popovich used Ginobili."

on the field.

Popovich glanced at Boris Diaw, who was on the Hornets' bench, very eagerly, and then hugged Li Lai with a normal smile.

"Little guy, I heard that you have trained the Hornets' defense well. I wonder if you can limit our offense tonight."

Li Lai, who had played against Popovich several times, naturally knew that the other party dared to say such a sentence must have made sufficient preparations before the start of the game.

Li Lai talked about another matter with a smile on his face.

"Grandpa, I know you want Boris Dior, but I can tell you responsibly, don't even think about it."

"Even if I take a first-round pick and send it out, it won't be cheap for you."

Ok? !

All the smiles on Popovich's face when he heard this sentence disappeared suddenly.

He looked at Li Lai, who was in a strange mood, and almost couldn't hold back a slap to this kid who didn't respect the elderly at all.

"Isn't it cheap for me?"

"My George Hill, Dragic, and Leonard were all taken away by you in advance, and you still dare to tell me that you are not cheap!"

Game start.

Midfield jump ball.

Jordan Jr. and Thiago Splitter clicked on the basketball at the same time.

The basketball continued to fly straight into the sky. Fortunately, Jordan took off better the second time, and returned the basketball to Paul's hands.

Hornets attack.

Paul advances with the ball.

Stevens quickly discovered the position of the Spurs on the court. He looked at Li Lai with great concern and said, "They are shrinking their defense."

On the court at this time, Duncan stood near the waist of the bottom corner and defended against Lewis. Because he was afraid of the latter's three-point shooting ability, he could not only move to Lewis in the instant Paul passed the ball, but also be in front of Lewis. When there is a defensive loophole in the interior, assist in defense.

Thiago Splitter is closely following Jordan's side, actively restricting the opponent's movement in the penalty area, and at the same time preventing Jordan from easily going up to the three-point line to play pick-and-rolls.

As for Gary Neal and Stephen Jackson on the other two sides, they are in the same defensive position as Duncan.

"Everyone on the Spurs huddled around the basket except Tony Parker."

Li Lai frowned more and more.

This is a slightly modified zone defense tactic that looks a bit like shrinking help again.

This is the uniqueness of Popovich's coaching team. This kind of defense will greatly limit the Hornets players' running off the ball and putting on screens.

And these two offensive styles are the most frequently played by the Hornets since their rebuild.

Du Feng knew that there were not many offensive tactics in the team, because the Hornets were a completely rebuilt team, and the players also practiced on the defensive end from the very beginning.

So when the Spurs come up with such a defense, the Hornets' offensive efficiency will inevitably be greatly affected.

At this moment, Du Feng looked at Li Lai and asked.

"Personal attack!"

Li Lai suddenly yelled at the field.

After hearing the coach's tactical intentions, Paul singled out Tony Parker without any hesitation.

Continuous crotch dribble, rhythm, sideways step and sudden shot.

"It's a three-pointer!"

Swish!
Go in!

Paul used his strong personal ability to force a singles shot by Tony Parker, and the fans in New Orleans were extremely excited to see it.

This was the Paul they had always known.

In fact, since joining the NBA in 05, Chris Paul has been leading the Hornets forward with such performance.

The people of New Orleans were also full of expectations for Paul, and they believed that under the leadership of the opponent, the team would be able to achieve very dazzling results.

But the reality turned out to be.

Paul used countless jaw-dropping performances, but in exchange for the team's game after game.

These fans sometimes even can't help but ask, what more do Paul need to do?
Inside the New Orleans Arena, all the fans were applauding Paul's offense.

"He is our CP3!"

Popovich couldn't help chuckling after seeing this extremely exaggerated singles goal.

In Popovich's view, Paul is not Kobe. He is better at passing the ball than singles. Of course, Paul can indeed play singles.

"But such a defensive strategy can make Chris Paul play extremely awkwardly, and the offense of the rest of the Hornets is almost all led by Paul."

"In this situation, only Paul alone can complete the offense, and the other players of the Hornets are all useless."

"That's what I want to see."

Hornets coaching bench.

Stevens and Du Feng smiled with satisfaction at the same time.

Paul deserves to be the top point guard in the league, with him, he can indeed solve many offensive problems for the team.

However, Li Lai on the side didn't have any smile on his face at all. He knew that it was impossible for Paul to play like this throughout the game.

"The Spurs put their offense on Paul's pass."

Li Lai said seriously.

Stevens restrained all his smiles, and he instantly thought of the catastrophic blow that the Spurs' targeted defense would bring to the Hornets.

Du Feng didn't think about it yet, so he said directly: "Then let Paul let go tonight."

Stevens shook his head and said, "Then the offense of our other players will be completely useless."

"Leonard hasn't mastered the ball handling yet. Carter may be able to hold the ball for a short period of time, but the effect will not be too obvious. As for Lewis, he is a spot-up shooter who opens up space. Jordan's personal offense should not be too rough."

Stevens looked at Popovich on the coaching bench of the Spurs, and finally realized what a legendary coach in the NBA is.

The opponent's only one defensive arrangement will infinitely magnify the shortcomings of all the Hornets players.

"Popovich is a good defensive and offensive coach."

on the field.

The Spurs attack.

Tony Parker passed the ball to Duncan at the free throw line after halftime, and then used Duncan's pick-and-roll without the ball to cut to the basket.

Paul was delayed by Duncan, and Tony Parker had an instant opportunity to attack.

"Co-defense!"

Leonard's defensive awareness is excellent, and he has shrunk the penalty area in advance before Paul yelled. At the same time, Paul shifted the target and switched to Gary Neal.

"Although the Hornets did not allow the Spurs to have an easy scoring opportunity, the Hornets' defensive formation was completely messed up after such a move."

Yu Jia nodded approvingly.

Su Qun immediately said: "The audience friends in front of the TV can take a good look at the Spurs' offensive play, and then think about the Hornets' previous offensive play."

"Both teams are very similar in that they have a wave of off-ball moves to cut the opponent's defense before the attack starts."

"The Hornets were running Leonard down the baseline, and then on the other side they had Lewis in the pick-and-roll while cutting to the rim."

"The Spurs are based on Duncan, and Tony Parker uses the cover to cut inside and destroy the opponent's defense."

Under Su Qun's reminder, Yu Jia quickly discovered the similarities and subtleties of the two teams' offenses, and couldn't help sighing.

"Lee and Popovich are one-on-one offensive masters in the league."

on the field.

Duncan held the ball behind his back and turned to the front to start a low attack.

Because of the gap in size and ability, Lewis had nothing to do with Duncan, who easily reached the basket.

Duncan in this position is extremely dangerous.

Leonard timely contracted the inside line to double-team the defense, and at the same time, Jordan restricted Duncan from the front to prevent Duncan from easily playing the signature forward turn and throwing the board with one hand.

At this time, the Hornets had three insiders participating in the defense, and Duncan had almost no comfortable offensive space.

It stands to reason that at this time Duncan should pass the ball to Stephen Jackson, who is open on the outside.

It's just that Paul and Vince Carter moved to the perimeter defense position very quickly at the same time, which did not give Tony Parker and Stephen Jackson a very comfortable environment for receiving the ball.

"This Hornets defense is beautiful!"

Duncan, who is very experienced, did not choose to pass the ball, but turned back and hit the board at a 45° angle on the side.

hit!

Li Lai, who saw this goal, was extremely helpless.

The team has already defended like this, Duncan can still score, so what can be done.

"Unless Lewis can give Duncan great restrictions in the first step, preventing the opponent from easily coming to such a dangerous place as the penalty area."

"Otherwise we have no way to defend Duncan."

Stevens reminded at the right time.

But the problem now is that the Hornets don't have any players who can defend Duncan alone.

Seeing that the 36-year-old Duncan can still play such a strong performance on the court, Li Lai couldn't help admiring him.

Duncan and Popovich complement each other.

Spurs coach bench.

Popovich was extremely pleased with Duncan's performance, but at the same time was shocked by the Hornets' defensive performance.

Because of Li Lai, Popovich did a lot of research on the team's defense before the start of the game, but it wasn't until the moment they played against each other on the court that Popovich realized that he still underestimated the Hornets. defense.

"When he was in the Bucks, Li Lai showed his unparalleled creativity on the offensive end. Everyone firmly believes that he will grow into one of the best offensive masters in the history of NBA coaches in the future."

"It can even be compared with the old Nelson and the Zen master Phil Jackson."

"At that time, although the Bucks coached by Li Lai were better at defending than the team coached by D'Antoni, no one thought they were a strong defensive team."

"All the defense of the Bucks is completely supported by Artest alone."

"but now."

Popovich looked at Li Lai on the Hornets coaching bench.

He remembered the good defensive ability that the Bucks had shown at critical moments back then, and Li Lai seemed to have always had this ability.

And this Hornets team is much better defensively than the Bucks back then, and they have built their own complete defensive system.

In just one offseason, a brand new team has created an extremely strong defensive system. Popovich has only met one person before, and Li Lai is now the second.

"Don't say it, the Hornets' defensive system is really like what Mike Brown built for the Cavaliers back then."

Su Qun suddenly remembered the season when the Cavaliers reached the finals.

At that time, Mike Brown asked James and Larry Hughes to frequently participate in the double-teaming of the strong and weak sides, so that he created the league's one-on-one defensive system.

Now the Hornets are arranging Leonard to perform this task in large numbers.

More than half of a single quarter.

The score on the court was 9:14, and the Hornets were 5 points behind.

Facts have proved that Paul can stand up at critical moments to help the team win the game, but he cannot rely on his offense to directly kill a team.

This is not Paul's area of ​​expertise.

"Compared to the Spurs with Duncan as the axis, the Hornets' offense is only played by Paul, which is really uncomfortable."

At this time, Li Lai made decisive substitutions and adjusted, taking Boris Dior and Lewis.

Seeing the substitution, Su Qun was shocked and said: "The Hornets have brought the new players they just traded to the court."

Diaw wiped his shoes on the technical table. He was not nervous after playing in the NBA for many years.

However, because of what Dior saw at the Hornets training ground before, at this moment he really wanted to see how hard this team is on the court.

"According to the news I got, the Hornets took a vacation after the last game against the Clippers, so Diaw has not ushered in the first team training with this team."

"I am very worried that completely unfamiliar teammates will make him play very badly. We all know that Diaw is a supporting power forward."

"Without his team-mates, Diaw wouldn't even be better than Lewis on the pitch."

Kenny Smith, who was beside Barkley's words, sighed again and again.

He believes that Hornets coach Li Lai made a mistake that should not be made.

Knowing that this game is against a strong opponent like the Spurs, even if the players are exhausted physically and mentally from the continuous away trip, they should grit their teeth and stick to the team training.

"In this way, Diaw's playing has little effect on the Hornets."

Li Lai patted Dior on the shoulder, signaling him not to care about the words of Kenny Smith and Barkley, the commentators on the spot.

He whispered in Dior's ear: "Go to the high position to hold the ball, play the way you like best, and your teammates will cooperate with you."

(End of this chapter)