the rest, only noise

Chapter 1348 The Hermit Hill

Hermit Hill

The momentum of the Celtics was contained at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Although the opening half of the quarter went smoothly, the Lakers took the lead with their excellent shooting touch.

However, a momentary lead is far less gratifying than a strategy that works.

So although the Lakers played smoothly, the Celtics believe that as long as they can pinch Wilson, they will take the lead sooner or later.

However, the strategy of blocking Wilson suddenly failed.

Wilson's method of cracking the target is not to find the touch, but to pass the ball.

Since the Celtics did everything to limit him and regarded Rodman and Big Ben as a burden on the Lakers' offensive end, he took advantage of this to constantly attract the defense to create scoring opportunities for the two of them by assaulting the middle.

In those few minutes, Rodman and Big Ben dominated the scoring for the Lakers.

Wilson's approach made the Celtics in a mess. If the price of restricting Wilson is to make Rodman and Big Ben, two people who shouldn't perform on the offensive end, become threats worthy of vigilance, then what's the point of restricting Wilson?

After the first quarter, 33 to 26, the Lakers led the Celtics by 7 points.

The Celtics insisted on locking up Wilson's strategy, which puzzled Lambiel.

"Benj is not a player that you can't contribute without letting him score," Lambiel said. "Although he didn't shoot a field goal in the first quarter, but sent out six assists. Does this defense really make sense?"

The Celtics don't have an answer for that either.

In fact, tonight is the real finals. Some lessons should have been learned two days ago, but the Lakers didn't give them any chance that night.

Now, they have no choice but to follow the established strategy.

In the second quarter, the Celtics replaced Sampson and continued to rest Malone.

Louis expressed admiration for Daly's guts.

Because such a rotation is tantamount to putting pressure on Grant Hill.

The third-year Hill is a player that the Celtics are focusing on cultivating. However, an ace at the third position who lacks special skills and has no stable shooting ability is synonymous with instability in the playoffs.

For the Lakers, the rotation is orderly.

Since both Malone and Sampson were replaced, it would be a sense of loss to use Daben again.

Therefore, Louis replaced him with Buck Williams, and then asked Kobe to replace Liu Yuqing.

Wilson, who played the full first quarter, continued to play in the second quarter.

The Lakers were clearly in the lead, and Wilson didn't feel good, but Louie didn't replace him like a normal coach.

The worse Wilson felt, the more Louie had to keep him on the court to get it back.

What's more, Hill didn't achieve much in the quarter against Wilson, and now the Celtics are putting pressure on the noble son of a well-born family, so it's perfect for Benj to deal with him.

What is surprising is that the real flag bearer of the Celtics is not Hill, but Mark Price, who looks too old.

Everyone agreed that Dumars had an advantage against Price. As a result, the former All-Star guard who only had skills and experience left opened up the situation for the team with strong field control and quick, accurate and ruthless outside shots.

When Price rejuvenated and scored 4 points and 10 assist in 1 minutes, almost all of the Celtics scored, Lambiel exaggerated as always: "At this moment, Bob Cousy, Bill Sharman, Frank Ramsey, and Joe Joe White have souls. Price is not fighting alone. He has inherited the long and glorious history of the Celtics. The Lakers can't easily win two consecutive victories in the Finals!"

There is really no one with the butt crooked like this.

In the eyes of many neutral fans, Lambiel has far surpassed Tom Heinsohn back then and has become the most biased commentator in the history of professional basketball.

The background of Price's explosion was Kobe's poor performance, Dumars was sleepwalking on the court, Rodman's offense dragged down the collective, and Wilson still couldn't find the touch.

In the first quarter, Wilson could pass the ball to alleviate the situation. Now that his teammates are not in good condition, he must shoulder the responsibility himself.

I tried a few more shots, but still didn't feel it.

Then came Price's outburst.

Louis, who should have called a timeout, was indifferent after the score was overtaken. He just said to Wilson: "Benj, if you continue to play like this, a low-quality All-Star center in New York City will be very happy."

Wilson, who was still a bit hesitant, suddenly changed his face.

There were sparks in his eyes, and his expression was more serious than ever.

Bryant didn't know what was going on, he just looked at Wilson.

Then, he heard Coach Lu's roar.

"Bean, you guard Mark Price from now on!"

As for Dumas, Louis had nothing to say about the old man, the chain had fallen too suddenly.

However, Louis will not abandon him because of this, after all, everyone is in a bad state.

Louis just turned around and called Barros, telling him to replace Dumars, and then let the tragedy division stand up, and replace Rodman when the ball died on the court.

The Lakers' offensive round.

Since the opening game, Wilson, who was 8 for 0 outside the paint area, has enjoyed the treatment of being emptied by one meter, which made him even more angry.

Wilson waved to Bryant for a pick-and-roll.

It was a pick-and-roll at the second position. Kobe had just turned into a wall, but Wilson actually used his pick-and-roll to attract the attention of the Celtics.

Hill is inexperienced and (Sendon) Anderson lacks speed.

There were some problems between the two. Wilson drove straight into the paint, and scored directly through the Celtics' two paint dunks.

"Is this ball the Conqueror's proclamation of recovery?"

Watching Wilson's ball, Louie knew that the Celtics were about to face the most cruel thing.

Although they worked hard to limit Wilson's shooting touch, if Benj gave up shooting and only relied on breakthroughs to score, the Celtics still had nothing to do with him.

This is the value and power of a super giant in the third position with no technical dead ends.

Wilson is theoretically unattackable.

Even on a night when his shooting touch is so poor, his breakthrough can still be easily accomplished.

Hill was undoubtedly stimulated. After that, facing Wilson, he also had the opportunity to show his talent. He passed Benj head-on, rushed inside like a shooting star, and was stopped by Rodman's rough foul.

The Lakers were able to make substitutions.

Back in the game, Hill, who was confident that he could break through Wilson's defense by himself, did not call a pick-and-roll, but still chose to let his teammates pull away and forcefully blast the defense with explosive power.

It was almost the same action, at the same angle, and Wilson was passed again.

Is it that simple?

Not far away, Louis sneered, of course it's not that simple.

The instant Hill got rid of Wilson, he found a Lakers player of similar height standing in front of him.

Then you can't continue thinking.

It was just that his eyes went dark, and his body bumped into the opponent uncontrollably.

The referee whistled, and Hill was blown into someone with the ball.

Wilson said meanly: "Now you know why New York traded you?"

Hill is a refined person who plays on the court and never spouts trash.

Wilson suddenly launched an attack, and he was also a little confused.

It would be a lie to say Daly wasn't disappointed with Hill.

How terrible is it that a 25-year-old All-Star forward is useless in the Finals?
No matter how good Hill's talent is, his immediate combat power has never been able to fulfill it.

During this period of time, Hill should have supported the team, but if Price hadn't exploded, the consequences would have been disastrous.

Hill's performance made Daly afraid to bet on him again.

This also means that the Celtics have fewer rotation options after that.

Disrupting the regular rotation like tonight and keeping Hill on the field won't happen again.

Then, Price's explosive moment is like the transformed Altman, which seems to have a time limit. When the time comes, even Kobe can limit him.

The tricks and methods that Price used to beat Dumars didn't work in front of Kobe.

There are two things that Kobe has improved the most this year. One is tactical awareness, which is a subtle change.One is defense, which is personally trained by Stevens, a well-known defensive master in the league. His progress can be described as rapid.

Not only was Price unable to take advantage of the rhythm change to deal with Kobe, but he was also unable to bully the latter's lack of confrontation.Because he himself is the weakest person on the court.

Kobe's current defense, whether it is oppressive power or skill, has the resources to defend the formation, what it lacks is only confrontation and experience.

And the experience he lacks is not ordinary experience, but the experience of defending super giants such as Wilson and Jordan. Price obviously does not belong to that level. All his intentions have been seen through, and all fake moves have been seen.

Five minutes later in the second quarter, the Lakers took the lead again, and Daly also let out a sigh of relief, changing back to Sampson and Malone.

In any case, this difficult title stage finally survived.

They got good news and bad news.

The good news is Price still has oil and can be trusted.

The bad news is that Hill's soft-footed shrimp attributes in the playoffs are becoming more and more obvious, and it is difficult to entrust important tasks.

The bad news is so bad that the good news seems to have no consoling effect.

(End of this chapter)