basketball player

Chapter 171 169: Vigorous

It wasn't until George fouled Johnson that the game entered a dead ball state that the big screen finally found time to replay Paul's wonderful pass just now.

Paul seems to have found the route in the middle of the three to get the ball to George in an instant, but because of the need for a direct long pass from the back field, and the speed must be fast, Paul has to jump up and smash the ball on the ground.Of course, the main purpose of jumping up is not to increase strength, but to make the opponent mistakenly think that Paul is going to pass the high ball.

As a result, the basketball quickly passed through the Eagles' defense by hitting the ground and rebounding.And Paul's pass is very stealthy, and others have to get down immediately if they touch it.But when it hit George, the height was just right.

A simple ground-hitting pass was performed by Paul even more exciting than the subsequent dunk.Perhaps, this is the charm of top point guards.

After the replay ends, the game has also restarted.Since George's foul just now was not a shooting foul, the Eagles could only get a chance to serve a sideline kick instead of a free throw.

However, what Drew didn't expect was that each of the Pacers' players entangled their defenders very tightly, and the Eagles couldn't catch the ball well.

"Are these guys crazy? Are they going to burn themselves out in the first quarter?"

It's not just Drew who feels this way, the Pacers really don't look like a team that just finished playing back-to-back!
In this way, Pachulia can only pass the ball hastily before the free throw time limit expires.However, this hasty pass to Joe Johnson was once again destroyed by the tall and long-armed George!

After George made the steal, he rushed to the frontcourt. Joe Johnson had to make a foul to prevent the opponent from reaching a counterattack.

There was a burst of boos from the audience, and Johnson's foul directly destroyed the birth of a wonderful shot.

Although Johnson's experienced handling did not allow the Pacers to play a fast break, the offensive ball still belonged to the Pacers. Larry Drew's team faced another defensive test.

"Look at your matchup, like you do in practice!" Drew yelled from the sidelines, while Henson, who was wearing a floral suit, was much quieter on the other side.Paul and Teague are not the same level of point guards. If he doesn't say some things, Paul knows what to do.

Compared with quick counterattacks, positional warfare will undoubtedly consume more physical and energy of the players.So even if it is a positional attack, Henson's request today is a quick fix.Don't play too complicated tactics, don't set up too frequent off-ball running.Just use cover and impact to have the effect of opening up space!
Although this trick is simple, it really works.Paul and his old partner West played the pick-and-roll quite tacitly. Since West had just finished a bloody game against Randolph, Josh Smith didn't dare to switch defenses easily, and still stayed by West's side.In this way, Paul gained room to shoot.

Pachulia lunged at Paul viciously, but the veteran star point guard was clearly unfazed by the Georgian's fluff.

Faced with Pachulia's supplementary defense, Paul just threw the ball lightly into the air?
"Throwing!?" Kenny Smith yelled.

It wasn't until Horford jumped high behind Pachulia, caught the basketball with both hands in the air and then dunked it into the basket with one hand, that people discovered that it was an alley-oop!
"Beautiful pass, Chris Paul completely played with the Eagles' defense between applause! Two consecutive wonderful offenses, Chris's judgment on the timing of the pass is really accurate. And no matter what the situation, he knows where his teammates are!"

Paul's performance caused a burst of praise from the commentary stage, and Drew gritted his teeth watching it.The Pacers are full of energy, full of energy that should belong to them!
Why?Why is this team that has just played back-to-back games so nonchalant?

Henson, who was wearing a floral suit on the sidelines, smiled and applauded the players. Take your time, old Drew!
In the following game, the Pacers used their vitality to completely control the initiative on the court.The Hawks' offense was constipated because they had to be on the lookout for turnovers all the time.As long as a mistake, no matter how fast you retreat, the small guard wearing the No. 3 jersey can send the ball to the most appropriate place and help the team score.

In the first quarter of the game, the Pacers scored 10 points just by the opponent's mistakes!And the more quick counterattacks, the more energy the Pacers can actually save!

Drew's imaginary problem of weakness in the opponent's players did not appear, and the Eagles failed to easily control the situation on the field as they wished.

After the first quarter, the score became 28 to 20, and the Eagles were 8 points behind the back-to-back Pacers!If it weren't for Matthews' missed three-pointer at the buzzer on the last goal, it is estimated that Drew's team is already behind by double digits.

"What did I say!? Don't let the Pacers play fast counterattacks, don't let them easily play fast counterattacks!? The result!? Almost one-third of the points you lost in the first half of the game were due to the opponent's fast counterattacks! Be cautious, okay!? The opponent is not a rotten fish, they are the Indiana Pacers! The second in the Eastern Conference, second only to the Indiana Pacers of the Chicago Bulls!"

During the intermission, Drew was very grumpy.Because of his arrangements before the game, almost none of them were reflected in the game.

The vitality of the Pacers is far beyond the imagination of the Eagles players. They thought they could easily win this team that was still struggling with Miami and the Heat 24 hours ago.Little did they know that after a gust of "wind" blew, they were already 8 points behind.

"Fight with your body and consume them with your fiercest struggle!" Finally, Drew clapped his hands. It seems that he still thinks that the Eagles played too "gentle" in the first quarter.

Drew's train of thought is still the same word - consumption!
So as soon as the second quarter came up, Henson obviously found that the Eagles' defensive strength had become different.

Rough physical contact, even wandering on the verge of fouling.The players of the Eagles seemed to have been beaten to the bone, showing a completely different state from the one in the first quarter of the game.

"It seems that Drew wants to speed up our consumption, that old fox." Vogel reminded uneasily, and Henson just nodded without answering.

When the intensity of a regular season suddenly becomes the level of the playoffs, things are indeed a little tricky.In the Eagles formation, Georgian Pachulia is undoubtedly the one who is playing the most vigorously now.

This guy's little tricks are no longer in the category of toughness, but very dangerous!
But what about Horford?He happened to be the kind of insider with a more "elegant" style of play, and he didn't give Pachulia a corresponding counterattack.

In the first few rounds of the game, the two sides did not score under the high-intensity mutual confrontation.It wasn't until two and a half minutes after the start of the second quarter that Josh Smith's half-slam dunk finally broke the scoring drought of the two teams.

"Time, time!" Henson called a timeout without hesitation.Although on the surface Henson is a carefree coach, but as long as there is something wrong, the cautious Henson will immediately stop the game.

Many well-known coaches, such as Carlisle, whom Henson likes very much, or his old opponent Spoelstra, have a problem, that is, they often stop the game after the opponent has already started.

Henson, on the other hand, likes to stifle the opponent's counter-offensive momentum in the bud.

After the Pacers players left the field, they were all sweating profusely.It seems that old Drew's strategy has indeed had some effect.However, this harm is mutual.If the Eagles keep playing like this, they will also have no ability to fight back in the fourth quarter!

Now it is still me who takes the lead, and I am still the one who takes the initiative.You want to play hard with me?Come on then!

"Chris, Stephenson, get ready to play! Those guys thought we'd be afraid of their muscles!? Tell them, what is real physical confrontation!"

So after the timeout ended, the fans saw that Henson had deployed such a lineup.

Paul, who has always been known for his fierce defense, Stephenson, a Harlem villain, George, a defensive titan, West, who is experienced and has excellent elbow skills, and "Birdman" Anderson, who has always been tough.

Kenny Smith on the commentary stand couldn't help but shine: "The next game may be quite exciting."

(End of this chapter)