basketball player

Chapter 53 052: Chill in San Antonio

George Hill's excellent performance allowed the Spurs to narrow the point difference to only two points left. Hill is a player that Popovich likes very much, like most "Spurs products".Hill is not high in the draft, but he can always show qualities that are extremely inconsistent with the draft in the game.

In the second half of the first quarter, it was Hill's calm organization and sharp offense that deflated the Pacers' second team.After a rest period, Henson also adjusted the lineup on the field in an attempt to regain the initiative in the game.

Al Horford reappeared, white forward Josh McRoberts continued to play, and Henson needed Granger to rest for a few more minutes.Danny Green continued to play. He didn't show much in the first quarter. Henson hoped that Green would show his strength in the second quarter.Holiday reappeared, and at the second position, the unexpected Lance Stephenson came into battle.

"Lance Stephenson? God, this guy will ruin the Pacers game!" Kenny Smith shouted "God" when he saw Stephenson playing. This is probably the reaction everyone will have after seeing Stephenson playing.

Although this guy was only selected in the second round this year, his notoriety is already well known in the United States. Stephenson may be the most famous second-round pick this year.No one thought that there would be a coach willing to use such a bad guy, and he was still a rookie coach!
To Stephenson's disappointment, George Hill did not play after the start of the second quarter, and the Frenchman Parker returned to the lineup.The Spurs returned almost all starters, except for Duncan who was still resting.

Stephenson glanced at Henson in confusion, the prey was gone, who should he hunt?
Henson glared at Stephenson fiercely, meaning to let him concentrate and not be distracted.Stephenson shrugged. Now, it seemed, he had to focus on the Argentinian whose hair was balding down the middle.

Duncan needs to rest, and Antonio McDyess, a veteran insider who is two years older than Duncan, played in place of Duncan.McDyess used to be an All-Star insider. At his peak, he averaged 20+12 per game.But right now, McDyess is in a transitional role with the Spurs.His lethality inside is no longer as good as it was back then.

The Spurs do not have Duncan's inside offensive strength, this is the Pacers' opportunity!Now the two insiders of the Spurs, Blair and McDyess, are about 2 meters tall and the other is only 2 meters. Their insides are smaller than the Pacers, and they don't have any ability to attack independently.As long as those little guys can do a good job of perimeter defense, they will definitely be able to open the score!

As always, Parker doesn't have much to do against Holiday's defense.He also knew that if he continued to attack reluctantly, he would definitely be taken down by Popovich immediately.After all, George Hill's performance today was so outstanding.

So the Frenchman stabilized the rhythm on the outside, and at the same time, McDyess set up an off-ball screen for Ginobili.The Argentine made a reverse run and went outside the three-point line through the pick-and-roll.Parker didn't hesitate. As the most stable controller of the Spurs over the years, he knew where to pass the ball even with his eyes closed.

Parker quickly played the ball, and Ginobili turned to face the basket after receiving the basketball. Just as he was about to make a shot, a stupefied guy rushed to him in time, raising his arms high!
"Damn it, he was blocked just now!" Ginobili gritted his teeth. He can guarantee that McDyess had blocked this rookie with all his strength just now, how could he force him back so quickly!But what Ginobili didn't know was the powerless expression on the old insider's face when Stephenson pushed McDyess away forcefully and brutally.

However, the Argentine did not give up because of this. He took a few steps back and opened up a little space for himself to sprint.Seeing Stephenson follow up stupidly, Ginobili suddenly changed hands and changed directions, kicking the ground to accelerate!
In an instant, Ginobili passed Stephenson.Regardless of the age of the Argentine, the flamboyant energy when playing has not changed at all.

After breaking through to the mid-range position on the wing, Manu made an emergency stop and shot a jumper!In the Spurs, perhaps only the Argentines have such freedom to fire.

However, at the moment when Ginobili was about to make a shot, a black shadow suddenly jumped out, blocking the basket firmly.Argentines will never forget that face, the big nostrils, the grin, and... the cross-eyed.Grimacing interference when others are shooting, even an old fritter like Ginobili has never encountered such a thing.

Ginobili was distracted by Stephenson's funny expression, and his shot was a hair's breadth away from the basket.Josh McRoberts took off the rebound with ease, and the athletic ability of this white forward is still very gratifying.

Mike Roberts looked up to see that Stephenson had run to the midfield line and raised his hand for the ball.Without even thinking about it, Mike Roberts directly launched a long pass from the backcourt.In fact, every big man on the Pacers has a long backcourt pass, which Henson deliberately gave them extra training.Others' long passes don't necessarily have to be as accurate as Horford's, but at least they are guaranteed not to make mistakes in vain.

Stephenson barely caught the ball, and Ginobili stuck behind Stephenson, and the Argentine naturally hoped to make up for it.

Ginobili has always been a veteran, and there are endless small moves when chasing and defending.Pulling the jersey, gently pushing and other actions made Stephenson unable to rush, which gave the Spurs time to retreat.Compared with these old slickers in the NBA, Stephenson instantly felt that he should be regarded as a good boy.After all, I was just making a face
Seeing Ginobili sticking to himself so tightly, Jefferson has already caught up again, killing his chance for an easy layup.So Stephenson came up with a plan, and saw him jumping high, facing Jefferson's block in the air, suddenly tossed the ball behind his head, and didn't look at anyone to score the ball!
Under the astonished eyes of everyone, the basketball was accurately passed into Popovich's arms.Popovich held the basketball and looked at Stephenson in a daze.Stephenson also looked at Popovich curiously, eh?How did the basketball fly into the hands of the old man?
"Hahahahaha, what is this guy doing!? Performing magic tricks!? Did you see his pass!? Can you tell me what this guy is pretending to be? No, tell me what coach Henson is pretending to be. Stephenson is not normal, and Henson has also become abnormal?"

Barkley let out a burst of laughter, in fact, the entire ATT Center is now surrounded by laughter.Just completed a beautiful defense, but it turned out to be less than three seconds, and Stephenson immediately made another mistake.

Stephenson looked at Henson pitifully. His playing style was like this, and he couldn't help but want to show off for a moment.On the other hand, Henson's face was ashen. For a guy like Stephenson, you can't comfort him, but let him maintain a sense of crisis all the time.In fact, Henson himself almost couldn't help laughing, but in order to raise Stephenson's vigilance, he had no choice but to hold back his expressionless face.

Stephenson's mistake was just an episode, and soon, everyone on the Spurs found that their offense was very unsmooth, as uncomfortable as constipation.The Pacers' three outside positions all have very strong single-defense capabilities, which gives the Pacers the capital to switch defenses infinitely.

Ordinary screens and running positions can't be separated from defense at all.Without Duncan's inside pin, the Spurs seemed to have no offensive strength in an instant.

Afterwards, Stephenson didn't have any more brain twitches. He conscientiously contained Ginobili on the defensive end, while the offensive end was handed over to Holiday.

Holiday and Danny Green are already old partners. After all, last year, the two teamed up to win the Summer League Championship.Holliday and Green's breakthrough and scoring cooperation played well, and Green also repaid Holiday's trust in him with two consecutive three-pointers.

On the offensive end, the Pacers still follow a fast-paced and large-space style of play.On the defensive end, the Pacers' meat grinder-style strict defense made Parker and Ginobili both selected for a hard fight.

Three minutes later, the Pacers had widened the point difference to 3 points.Popovich paused again, he must send Duncan!

The Spurs' offense has stagnated, and if they can't make a throw, they will always be counterattacked by the Pacers.Barkley has always felt that the Pacers' offensive thinking based on shooting is unreliable, but so far, the Pacers' shooting percentage is higher than that of the stable Spurs!
After the timeout ended, the Spurs played Duncan and Henson got the full starting lineup.Stephenson thought he would be scolded, but Henson just patted him on the shoulder and said nothing.

This guy doesn't know how good his defense against Ginobili is!

The young vitality of the Pacers obviously made the old bones of the Spurs a little overwhelmed. The second quarter almost ended in the Pacers' fast-paced offense.All the Pacers can run, including Al Horford, who also runs in various ways like an outside player.

The Pacers played a multi-point blooming performance and ended the first half with an 8-point advantage.

After the start of the third quarter, Henson gave Holiday more right to fire.He knows that now he must find a reliable offensive focus for the team, otherwise the discounted players themselves will be in chaos.

Not many people know what Holiday has gone through this summer, because he is so low-key.During the holidays, he worked hard on his offensive skills and his ability to read defenses.There is no doubt that Holiday is the most hardworking player on the Pacers this summer.

Holiday and Horford played the pick-and-roll extremely efficiently. Horford can not only shoot the ball, but also send a wonderful pass after receiving the ball.Although the brightest player in the third quarter was Holiday, who scored 8 points in a single quarter, Henson admired Horford the most, who was in control of the overall situation.If the entire team is a complex machine, then Horford is the most suitable center of this machine.

In the second half of the third quarter, the physical fitness of the Spurs players was obviously affected by the fast-paced game and declined sharply.Physical problems are mainly reflected in the deteriorating stability of the Spurs' offensive end.Sometimes it's not that the Spurs didn't get a chance, but that they didn't grasp it after getting the chance.

The impact of physical fitness is always more obvious for "older" teams like the Spurs.The balance of victory has begun to tilt towards the Pacers.

After three quarters, the point difference was 11 points.Although the point difference is not big, the pace of the game has been brought up by the Pacers.

"Keep your defensive strength! But pay attention, control fouls, must control fouls! Don't give the Spurs a chance to get to the free throw line easily." During the intermission, Henson decided to focus on the defensive end.After all, the Spurs are now 11 points behind, and they will definitely counterattack frantically.

As for the defensive tactics, Henson handed over to Frank Vogel to arrange.Unlike O'Brien, Henson is very willing to use his assistants instead of worrying that the assistants will seek power and usurp the throne.Vogel is a defensive specialist, which even Henson would be ashamed of.

Vogel's defensive skills are extremely strong. Even though the Pacers team is mostly young, under his training, it is enough to withstand the Spurs' counterattack in the fourth quarter.

After the start of the fourth quarter, the Spurs really attacked fiercely, and they even desperately competed for offensive rebounds at the cost of an empty backcourt.

George Hill became the sharp knife in this wave of counterattacks for the Spurs. Henson couldn't help but like his ability to score points in chaotic battles.

As a result, Henson reactivated Stephenson in the middle of the fourth quarter.His task remains the same, that is to watch Hill die!
With Stephenson's "care", Hill also misfired in the second half of the fourth quarter.In addition to Parker's sporadic goals, the Spurs almost only rely on Duncan to score.But the Spurs are a team team. When they started to rely on only one person to score points, it showed that their offense had a big problem.

Although under the leadership of Duncan and Hill, the Spurs played a 30-25 offensive in the last quarter.But helplessly, the hole they dug in the first third quarter was too big, and winning 5 points in a single quarter was not enough to fill the hole back.

When the buzzer sounded for the end of the game, the score was fixed at 108 to 102, and the San Antonio Spurs unexpectedly lost at home!The Pacers, who were thought to be slaughtered before the game, got off to a good start to the new season!

Bird never imagined that two years ago, the scout who talked eloquently with him when he watched the Spurs game in the box actually led the team to defeat the San Antonio Spurs.

(End of this chapter)