super small forward

Chapter 249 249. Western Conference Finals 4
The Lakers made a lot of preparations before the game, such as Duncan going crazy, Ginobili's European step, Parker running to death, Leonard's strong defense... etc, etc., but they didn't notice this meaty Dior!
In the first quarter, it can be said that the Lakers were blown away by Dior!
Popovich dares to use people, and even more so to give power to people. His idea is very clear. If you want to use it, you can use it with trust. Dior’s organizational skills have been very strong since he entered the league. He has been very good in the past two years. Used that to bring Dior back to the top.

"I'll go defend Dior." Liu Ren took the initiative to take on this task before D'Antoni could speak. Gasol's defensive ability in the interior is still good, but he really can't defend against the outside.

D'Antoni nodded with satisfaction: "Okay, you took the initiative to ask to defend the opponent's best player, very good."

"Hassan, you replace Paul, you guard the inside to block people who break through, and make sure you rebound! Wesley, you go out to defend the opponent's shooter, and Kenta, you defend the opponent's point guard. The opponent's point guards are very strong. .” D’Antoni was a little envious of the Spurs’ point guard rotation, and he didn’t know where D’Antoni dug out such a group of point guards, each with its own characteristics and full of confidence.

In the playoffs, D'Antoni had to pick up the defense he had thrown away for many years, especially when playing against the Spurs. He was more worried about losing again because of defensive problems. This was also a season when he began to change.

In the first quarter, Kobe didn't get the ball very much. It seemed to outsiders that he was isolated by the rest of the Lakers. It gave the Spurs players even more reason to believe that the internal strife in the Lakers was real.

In the second quarter, D'Antoni asked Kobe to rest first, and he still has the last spot to play. Liu Ren is now going to play inside. The player who will play must be an outside player. The Lakers' outside players are almost two tables of mahjong, except for Liu Ren and Kobe. , Nash and other players have to compete for playing time.

Nash usually plays about 16 minutes. Today, Nash has played 6 minutes in the first quarter, and he will definitely not play in the second quarter. Everyone else is waiting for the remaining playing time.

D'Antoni is going to replace Bazemore, Wesley Johnson, Liu Ren, and Whiteside in the second quarter. This lineup is very defensive.

But in this way, the offense is a little bit worse, and D'Antoni still prefers offense from the bottom of his heart.

"Nick, you go, Liu and Hassan protect the rebound, you just shoot!"

"Wait for Byron, you let Nick guard Leonard?" Liu Ren was a little surprised, and he defended Dior, Whiteside on the inside, Wesley Johnson on the pitcher, and Bazemore on the guard.

That means putting Nick Young on small forward Kawhi Leonard!With Nick Young's defense against Leonard, isn't the picture too beautiful!

"By the way, I forgot to say, Nick, when you defend, just be careful not to be cut into the inside by Leonard and make fouls. He can shoot as he likes."

Liu Ren attaches great importance to Leonard because he has honed his offensive ability to become a first-line scorer in the 15-16 season after a few years, but now Leonard is just a defensive champion in the eyes of others.This is not only arranged by D'Antoni, but almost all coaches of the team have arranged Leonard like this.

Go back to the field and start the second quarter.

Diaw continued to be sent by Popovich, Mills and Danny Green partnered in the backcourt, Leonard and Splitter and Diaw partnered in the frontcourt.

The Spurs took the lead to attack in the second quarter. Diaw stood outside the three-point line at the top of the arc, and suddenly found that the defender had become a small forward. Diaw became very excited and was about to pass the ball.

The sound of "snap" caused the exclamation of the audience, a big white hand directly blocked the ball thrown by Dior from the front!The ball was slapped forward by Liu Ren.

After landing, Liu Ren pounced forward like a leopard and copied the ball. After getting the ball, he dribbled it and went straight to the opponent's frontcourt.

The speed was too fast. When Liu Ren ran into the opponent's three-point line, the Spurs' defensive player hadn't even crossed the midfield.

Liu Ren's speed did not slow down. After stepping into the imaginary circle inside the free throw line, he stopped the ball, stepped forward with his right foot, exerted force with his shoulders and waist and abdomen to the left and rear, stepped heavily on the floor with both feet, and then jumped high. After spinning 360 degrees in the air, gently dunk the ball into the basket with both hands!
Liu Ren's defensive block counterattacked a one-stop 360-degree rotating dunk, which made the fans who directly saw this scene stunned. After the stunned, there were crazy boos.

Coming down from the basket, Liu Ren shrugged his shoulders, and there was a lot of boos. Another characteristic of the exotic San Antonio is that the fans are passionate, and they are the most loyal fans. Provocative action, they will naturally boo back.

Liu Ren looked at Dior who didn't seem to understand what happened, and thought to himself, doesn't this guy watch the video of his opponent's game? So confident?Directly shoot a jumper on the head of the first defender to block shots this season?Or this level of bounce without a bit of backlash?
Liu Ren guessed right, Dior had never watched any of the Lakers' games or videos, not even the Lakers' player profiles.

Liu Ren thought for a while, it's normal for a person as arrogant as Dior not to watch the opponent's video and data, so he thinks he should kill the opponent like this!
The Spurs continued to attack, and Liu Ren continued to defend Dior from outside the three-point line.

Dior is still under the block shot by Liu Ren just now, and he hasn't recovered from it. Liu Ren's beautiful counterattack is one-stop. Bullet speed.

But Dior still has a bit of fluke mentality in it now. He thinks that Liu Ren's block just now was good luck. It should be said that he thinks all the goals he didn't score and all the goals that were blocked by the opponent were bad luck.

"Why don't you keep throwing the ball? By the way, are you afraid of being blocked?" Just as Dior was still hesitating whether to take the ball, Liu Ren's light words reached his ears.

"Patty, give me the ball!" Dio's remaining calmness was directly ignited by Liu Ren's words.

Mills was already preparing to pick and roll with Leonard, but now Diaw, as the core playmaker of the Spurs, has a very different status in the team. Mills didn't want to offend him, so he passed the ball immediately.

After receiving the ball, Diaw shot again from outside the three-point line. Although he was arrogant, he was still a little cautious. This time he adjusted the shooting angle and shot backwards.

This kind of tall fadeaway jumper, Liu Ren couldn't block it when he jumped up on the spot.

This is a three-pointer!
"Oh." Liu Ren shook his head, frowned, but immediately said in a mocking tone: "I didn't expect you to be so lucky."

Before Dior could react, Liu Ren ran forward, ready to attack.

Liu Ren’s offense in the first quarter today was all about jump shots, completely different from Liu Ren’s usual style of play. Gasol was too threatening inside, and the Spurs had to double-team, otherwise Dior would be abused badly, so Liu Ren got a lot of relief shot.

In order to deal with this, Popovich deliberately replaced Splitter, hoping to use his height and strength to defend Gasol.

(End of this chapter)