basketball player

Chapter 575 Chapter 573: The Confused Heat Coach
Spoelstra thought that after he was fully prepared, he had a chance to bite the game.However, Henson dispelled Spoelstra's illusions in just one quarter.

In the face of an absolute gap in strength, no matter how well prepared, it may not be able to reverse the situation. This is the cruelty of competitive sports.

At the end of the first quarter, the Pacers had a 25-15 lead over the Heat by 10 points.The Heat have not been overwhelmed on the defensive end, and it is actually within a reasonable range for the Pacers to score 25 points in a single quarter.

But they only scored 15 points in a single quarter, which is a bit unreasonable.At the end of the first quarter, the former Warriors coach and now well-known T.NT commentator Mark Jackson summed it up well: "The Pacers' defense is a bit too strong for the Heat."

Although Dion Waiters and Dragic's scoring data per game this season are not bad, they were dumbfounded in the face of the Pacers' terrible perimeter defense.

And the Heat's star Whiteside is not a center with a particularly strong scoring ability. His independent scoring ability cannot be compared with those ancient behemoths.

As long as Lopez does not lose his position, coupled with the blockage of the outside line making it difficult for Heat players to pass, Whiteside basically "disappears" on the offensive end.

Just like that, Spoelstra spent a tormenting 12 minutes at home.However, such 12 minutes, he has to go through three more times.

The result of the first quarter naturally made Henson very satisfied.In addition to the satisfactory score, the poor performance of Luke Babbitt and James Johnson on the Heat's side also made Henson very happy.

Babbitt, who was facing off against Antetokounmpo, was beaten helplessly both on the defensive end and the offensive end.And James Johnson, who came on as a substitute for Babbitt, used two mistakes to prove that his frizzy personality was not created out of nothing by the reporters.

The two fourth positions of the Heat did not play well today. This is undoubtedly a good opportunity for Henson to build Siakam's self-confidence!The reason why he didn't let Siakam play in the first quarter was to prevent accidents from happening.But now it seems that there will be no surprises today.

So during the intermission, Henson did not arrange tactics as nervously as Spoelstra, but walked up to Siakam in a leisurely manner and patted him on the shoulder.

"Go ahead, you will be the starting four in the second quarter."

At that moment, Siakam's mind went blank.When he was in the Raptors, he also played a few starts, but the effect was not very good. His performance can only be described as poor.

This time, when he heard the word "starter" again, Siakam couldn't help but feel a little nervous.

Henson actually saw Siakam's nervousness, but he didn't try to comfort him.Because he believes that nothing can relieve tension like scoring a goal directly on the opponent's head.

Siakam immediately took off his training clothes, and at the same time, the live cameras also scanned the Pacers' bench.

"Pascal Siakam took off his training uniform, which means that he will start the game in the second quarter! The 27th pick in the first round last year has joined the Pacers for two months, but he has been playing in the Development League and has never entered the team's official roster. Today, he suddenly got a chance to play. I wonder if Coach Henson is training for the playoffs."

Mark Jackson doesn't have much information about Siakam. He only knows that this young man has great athletic ability.As for the rest, it is blank.

"Damn, what do you mean?" On the other end, Spoelstra also looked confused.He thought that Henson selected Siakam into the roster to allow him to waste time to play and exercise, but he didn't expect that Henson was going to let him play at the beginning of the second quarter.

Spoelstra became nervous. The thing that human beings fear most is not ghosts and monsters, but a fear of the unknown.

And now, Spoelstra's plan for Henson has no clue at all.A sense of fear also surged into Spoelstra's heart instantly.

Henson only used a mere "water dispenser administrator" to disrupt the other party's mentality.This guy has already planted the seeds of shadow in the hearts of many people.

The electronic buzzer opened the curtain of the second quarter battle between the two sides. The Heat's starting lineup remained unchanged. Dragic and Landry McGruder partnered at the back line, and Babbitt and Waiters played forward.The fifth position is naturally played by Whiteside.

On the Pacers side, Henson replaced Danny Green with Siakam.As a result, George went to the second position, and Antetokounmpo went to the third position.Siakam appeared in his favorite fourth position.

Spoelstra and Mark Jackson looked on the court, and no one knew why Henson sent Siakam on the court.

In Henson's eyes, however, the game is effectively over.As long as the Pacers make a little effort, the Heat can't resist it at all.Therefore, today's game is more like a practice game he prepared specially for Siakam.

The Heat missed their first attack, and Dion Waiters overwhelmed himself to single out Antetokounmpo, but ended up taking a big risk from Antetokounmpo.

Waiters was a very strong player during the Cavaliers period. He even wanted to compete with Irving for the position of the Cavaliers leader for a while.

After coming to the Heat, Waiters was even more out of control.Because now, he is the player with the most outside shots on the Heat.

But Waiters' strength has always been at odds with his ambitions, and it's the same this time.His courage to single out Antetokounmpo is indeed commendable, but courage cannot fill the huge gap in strength between the two.

In the first quarter, Paul George tortured Waiters to death.What's more, now he is facing Antetokounmpo, who is even taller and has a longer wingspan.

After Waiters' shot was blocked, Paul received the ball and began to organize a counterattack.

Paul did not play fast immediately, but slowed down the tempo.Henson has just arranged it. This first offense was specially made for Siakam.

After Paul passed halftime, Siakam went to cover.Luke Babbitt is determined to follow Paul and let go of Siakam, because in his opinion, this little-known guy in front of him has no threat at all.

Even Spoelstra only got Siakam's information half an hour before the start of the game, and the Heat players didn't even know who Siakam was.In yesterday's pre-match tactical meeting, Spoelstra didn't mention Siakam at all.

Therefore, it is normal for Siakam to be underestimated by his opponents.

Babbitt is a very smart player, but this time he messed up.

Just when Babbitt just retreated to the basket, Paul passed the ball back without looking back, and it was delivered to Siakam!
"Can this guy shoot a three-pointer?" Spoelstra asked when Siakam made a decisive shot.

"No, he won't," but Spoelstra's assistant got the answer before he could finish speaking.

Because under Babbitt's careless defense, Siakam's shot hit very calmly.Nothing can explain the problem better than actual actions.

The moment the goal was scored, Siakam couldn't help but smile when he saw the astonished expression on Luke Babbitt's face.He didn't expect that it would be so easy for him to score in the NBA.

Before the Raptors, Siakam had no shooting ability.Therefore, he is just a pure blue collar.After a game, often without a point.

But now, he can easily score three points, which undoubtedly makes Siakam happy.

He couldn't help looking at his hands. After nearly two months of training with the Pacers, he might have really become stronger!
"Damn, where did this guy come from!" Seeing Siakam hit a three-pointer, Spoelstra yelled at the assistant impatiently.It was clear that he was dissatisfied with his assistant's intelligence work.The opponent suddenly sent a player on the field to score a goal, and they didn't know what the opponent could do.

As soon as the second quarter came up, the point difference was widened to 13 points. Siakam undoubtedly poured cold water on the Heat.

Subsequently, Whiteside intends to attack inside.But his hook didn't work. This guy's offensive method is actually very simple.In addition to dunking, any kind of offensive method is a problem for him.

Whiteside's greatest value is on the defensive end, not the offense.Last season that made him famous, Whiteside was the core, averaging only 14.2 points per game.

After Whiteside hooked the iron, it was Antetokounmpo who took the rebound.He holds the ball forward himself, which makes Dion Waiters nervous.

But Waiters didn't get nervous for too long, because just after halftime, Antetokounmpo transferred the ball to Siakam in the right corner.

Antetokounmpo has always remembered Henson's instructions: "Help him regain his confidence."

The moment Siakam received the ball, Luke Babbitt posted it.Siakam's three-pointer just now made Babbitt mistakenly think that Siakam is a space-type four.

However, Siakam suddenly started with a skillful dribble, and passed Babbitt who was too tight in one step.

Siakam's dribbling is already very good in the fourth position, which is an advantage he had in college.

After dribbling along the bottom line, Siakam jumped up and dunked!His long arms make this guy's dunks very aesthetic and, of course, make his dunks difficult to block.

By the time Whiteside rushed back to the basket, Siakam's two-handed dunk had been converted into two points.This time, Siakam no longer smiled shyly, but roared at Luke Babbitt!
Seeing this scene, both Babbitt and Spoelstra were stunned.A guy they didn't know was bombing the hoop at the American Airlines Center.

And Henson was not surprised by Siakam's performance at all. What did he say?

Behind shyness lived, but it was a beast that hadn't woken up.

Well, a bloodthirsty beast from Cameroon, Africa.

(End of this chapter)