Pick Westbrook

Chapter 339 I Will Give Him $1
5 month 20 day.

Game [-] of the Western Conference Semifinals.

Before the game started, a piece of news spread throughout the media network.

The league selected Scott Foster to be the referee on duty for the game.

Most fans were still in a daze when they heard the news, so they didn't understand the reason until more and more commentators and commentators were talking about it.

In the playoffs from 05 to the present, when Chris Paul faced Scott Foster's law enforcement game, he suffered a total of 14 consecutive losses.

In other words, as long as the referee Scott Foster is in charge of the game, whether it is the regular season or the playoffs, Paul will lose.

Interview before the game.

Li Lai was blocked by countless reporters, who asked his opinion on this matter, and was pointed out whether the bombardment of the referee in the previous game was specifically targeted by the league.

Li Lai said confidently: "The NBA has not yet reached the point where referees decide the outcome of a game."

"The Hornets will not be afraid of any challenge, we will only focus on ourselves and make ourselves better."

"As long as we are invincible, we fear no one and nothing."

on the field.

The game starts soon.

The Grizzlies still continued the defensive strategy of the previous game, and carried out various stumbling defenses against Paul with great physical strength.

But different from the last game, this time after the Grizzlies double-team Paul, the defense against the other Hornets players will be more aggressive than the previous game.

Paul passed the ball to Leonard on the weak side, who broke through the basket with the ball and attracted Marc Gasol's defense.

In the process of single defense, Gasol Jr. failed to keep up with Leonard's breakthrough speed. Facts have proved that when Paul encounters double-teaming, the Hornets really have a way to break the entire defensive system of the Grizzlies.

Leonard made a sudden stop and started shaking so that Gasol's shoes fell off. Naturally, it was even more difficult to keep up with Leonard. The latter rushed to the basket and joined the ball to dunk.

But Gasol has already picked up the shoes and pounced again.

Seeing that it was difficult to defend Leonard's offense, Gasol took his sneakers and threw them directly at the basketball in Leonard's hand.

Snapped!
The basketball was sent flying.

The referee at the bottom line frowned and hesitated for a while, and finally whistled Gasol for an ordinary defensive foul.

"Damn! Did you make a mistake, throw your shoes or is it just a common foul?"

"Your coaching qualification is given by the fighting league?"

Li Lai stood up in a rage again, cursing at the bottom line referee.

Since the last game, the Grizzlies' home whistle has become more and more obvious, and there is no bottom line.

Even Li Lai, who had experienced many battles, couldn't help yelling shit when he saw such a scene.

Seeing Li Lai yelling again, the referee Scott Foster, who was near the center line, rushed over. He whistled arrogantly, pointed at Li Lai and said loudly.

"I warn you once!"

Li Lai frowned and looked at Scott Foster very puzzled and said, "You warned me? Why did you warn me?"

Scott Foster pointed to Li Lai and continued: "As for the situation just now, don't stand up for me, just sit obediently on your coach's bench."

"Next time you dare to stand up for me, I will give you a technical foul."

Li Lai opened his eyes wide and said, "What?! Why can't I stand up! I'm the head coach of the team, so what the hell is wrong with me standing up!"

Du Feng and Stevens on the side were also very angry, and at this moment they stood up and pointed at Scott Foster and cursed.

"He is the head coach of the team, why can't he stand up!"

"Tell me, which rule in the NBA says that the head coach of the team can't stand up!"

"Your brain is showing off!"

Scott Foster was stunned at this time, and he had already realized that what he said just now was a bit unreasonable, and if it was spread, it would inevitably lead to big troubles.

So he quickly changed his words and said: "You can stand up, but your behavior may aggravate the situation of players fighting on the court, so I give you a warning."

Li Lai pointed to Leonard who was putting on his shoes and preparing to serve again, and cursed, "What are they fighting about? Are they fighting for that shoe?"

"Foster! Don't give me such a trick. Do you really think that the fans pay to watch you coach the game?"

"If you don't want to lose your professional job, just brag to me in the next game, or I will send the video of the game to the league headquarters."

After hearing these words, Scott Foster realized that Li Lai was not only the head coach of the Hornets, but also one of the owners of the [-] teams in the league. Logically speaking, he was also his boss.

There are even rumors that this year's NBA regular season can be held as scheduled, and Li Lai has contributed a lot in handling labor disputes.

Therefore, if such a person handed over the video to the alliance headquarters, it might really be able to cause a thorough investigation by the above group of people.

Scott Foster was a little scared.

The game continues.

Although the scale of whistleblowing on the field is still somewhat biased towards the Grizzlies, there is no picture of deliberately targeting the Hornets.

In the first quarter, Gasol had his best performance from the free throw line and beyond the [-]-point line since the series.

3 of 2 mid-range shots and 2 of 1 three-pointers.

The Hornets fell behind 25:26.

Du Feng quickly opened the data and said: "Because of the small ball era opened by the Bucks, Marc Gasol is also imitating the style of play of a space-based center."

"So in the regular season this season, he tried a total of 45 three-point shots from beyond the three-point line, making a total of 4 shots, and his three-point shooting percentage was less than 10%."

"Originally, with Marc Gasol's performance, his three-pointers are completely acceptable, but tonight his touch seems to be extremely hot."

Stevens is very clear that when Marc Gasol's shooting ability gradually shows, DeAndre Jordan will have to stick to the defense more closely in the process of defending the opponent, so that the Hornets will lose the most effective inside. Efficient rim protector.

Zach Randolph may be even more difficult to guard.

So Stevens reminded Li: "If Marc Gasol can still play such a shooting performance in the next game, we may have to rearrange our defense against Zach Randolph."

"The Grizzlies will also have a more efficient offense on the court because of Marc Gasol's spacing."

Li Lai thought deeply for a while with his hands on his hips.

He naturally knows that Gasol Jr. will become a very good space center in the future, able to support, pass, shoot three-pointers and defend.

Gasol also once became the rarest heavy support center in the league with Lopez. In his best season, he averaged 5 three-pointers per game and averaged nearly 2 goals per game.

The three-point shooting rate reached 39%.

But now, Gasol Jr. is far from such a shooting level.

"But his shooting touch tonight was really good."

At this time, Li Lai rearranged his defensive strategy. Leonard, Jimmy Butler and Beverly, three of the Hornets' best defense players on the perimeter, switched to guard Gasol.

In this way, both Jordan and Oden can guard the penalty area and protect the frame.

And such a tactical strategy naturally aroused the vigilance of Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins and Gasol Jr.

When Beverly switched to defending Gasol Jr., the latter decisively dribbled into the inside for a post-up single.

Small players need to flexibly use their skills and dribbling ability, while big players need to make full use of their natural physical advantages.

There is no difference between elegant and vulgar, good or bad, good-looking or not.

All you need is to score!

It's just that Lionel Hollins and Gasol clearly underestimated the continuity of the Hornets coaching staff's defense.

Li Lai had already expected that when facing the defense of a small player, Gasol would decisively hold the ball and go to the basket for a big fight. If the Hornets dared to double-team him at this time, then Gasol would His passing ability will be fully utilized again.

This style of play is also the style that Gasol Jr. used frequently in the late Grizzlies and Raptors in his previous life, and his efficiency is extremely high.

Li Lai is very aware of the characteristics of Gasol's style of play, so he arranged for Jordan Jr. on the inside to defend early, and Beverly made a steal in the first place.

At the same time, all the outside players of the Hornets shrank in the defense position, and jointly marked Gasol's passing route.

Regardless of whether Gasol continues to play singles or chooses to pass the ball at this time, the Hornets can immediately defend in place.

Su Qun said very knowledgeably at this time: "This is the defensive tactic that the Celtics often used when they were the Big Three."

"It's just that at that time, it was not Beverly, Jordan Jr., Jimmy Butler and others who jointly implemented this tactic, but Rajon Rondo, Tony Allen and Kevin Garnett."

Su Qun remembered the battle between the Greens and the Celtics, the playoffs between the Bucks and the Celtics.

There are many similarities between the defensive battle that attracted the attention of fans all over the world and this round of the Grizzlies-Hornets series.

Moreover, Li Lai has participated in two rounds of the series, but once he coached the Bucks and once he coached the Hornets.

If Su Qun remembers well, it was in the playoffs that the Bucks defeated the Celtics and the Celtics completely announced their rebuilding.

It was also the experienced Ainge in that round of the series that predicted the rise of the Bucks in advance.

Judging from the fact that the Bucks and the Heat are invincible in the league in the Eastern Conference playoffs, Ainge and other Celtics executives made a very correct decision.

Yu Jia said: "As early as that year's playoffs, coach Li Lai proved his defensive skills. He is really not a pure offensive coach."

What shocked Yu Jia the most was that Li Lai actually deployed the Celtics' defensive tactics of the Celtics at this time, which was the most brilliant and effective tactical arrangement of Coach Rivers.

Grizzlies coach bench.

Coach Lionel Hollins paced anxiously up and down the halfway line.

At this moment, he had already lost the arrogance he had before the start of the series, with a sad expression on his face.

Lionel Hollins knows exactly what it means to lose this game.

That's 1:3 behind.

It's not that no team has come back from such a backward situation, but the probability of such a desperate comeback is very small, whether it is fans, commentators or the coach himself, they all know it well.

As the head coach, Lionel Hollins, who is also the first and second-rate coach in the league, is full of exhaustion and helplessness when facing the tactics of the Hornets.

At this moment, he finally felt the praise of those top coaches for Li Lai.

Larry Brown, Popovich, Phil Jackson, Carlisle, and even Lionel Hollins couldn't help but feel admiration after his fight with Li Lai.

"Quick tactical adjustments, accurate positioning of the players, and the timeliness and effectiveness of the opponent's tactics."

"If someone can do any of those things, he has the qualifications to be a coaching staff member in the NBA."

"If someone can do two of these, he is a qualified team coach."

"But Li Lai can do all of this, and his ability has already surpassed that of a first-class coach!"

Game four.

The Hornets suddenly let Paul play the ball screen with Leonard on the weak side. This sudden offensive tactic caught the Grizzlies by surprise.

In particular, Leonard's good ball-holding ability shown in this round of the series made the Grizzlies lose sight of the other when defending the pick-and-roll between the two, and it is always prone to untimely defense.

Leonard took the ball into the middle and made an emergency stop near the free throw line for a jumper.

hit!

With this offensive round scored, the Hornets finally extended their lead to 10 points.

Du Feng was completely relaxed at this time and said: "Leonard's mid-range singles with the ball is still a bit jerky, but fortunately his shooting touch has always been good."

"Coach, aren't you planning to find a mid-range singles master for Leonard and Jimmy Butler in the middle of the season? When will that person come?"

Stevens also cast a curious look at this time.

Although Paul has taught Leonard and Jimmy Butler singles techniques and details from time to time so far, Li Lai said it himself as early as the middle of the season.

Paul's singles skills are not suitable for Leonard and Jimmy Butler, and his mid-range singles ability is only suitable for small players.

And the mid-range shooting coach Li Lai wanted to find for Leonard and Jimmy Butler was the kind of master who could play indiscriminate singles from any player, any position, and under any defense!

Looking at the curious eyes of the two, Li Lai smiled slightly and said softly.

"Lew Leonard and Jimmy Butler are going to be All-Stars and need his help."

"The Hornets at that time were the strongest Hornets."

Finally, the game is over.

The Hornets won the game 103:95.

The big score is 3:1!

保罗20分3篮板8助攻2抢断，伦纳德21分5篮板3助攻，吉米巴特勒9分9篮板1抢断，小乔丹7分13篮板，JR史密斯11分2篮板1助攻，文斯卡特8分3篮板。

Post-match interview.

Coach Lionel Hollins, who was still arrogant a few days ago, was completely discouraged at this time, and his face was very ugly.

After seeing the other party's emotions, those reporters couldn't help but stop making things difficult for the other party.

A reporter still mustered up the courage to say: "It's 1:3, Coach Lionel Hollins, what will the Grizzlies do next?"

Lionel Hollins shook his head and sighed: "I don't know, but I hope to find a way to beat the Hornets as soon as possible in the future."

"You know, I've put in a lot of effort, Zach Randolph's isolation, Tony Allen's switching Paul, OJ Mayo's use, Marc Gasol's passing and shrinking the paint, including Double-teaming Paul."

"The members of the Grizzlies' coaching staff have thought of everything they can think of, but they can always be quickly cracked by the Hornets and take advantage."

"If someone can help me find a solution to the Hornets' tactics, I'm willing to give him a dollar."

(End of this chapter)