basketball player

674 Chapter 672: Both flames out

8分3个篮板2次封盖，乔尔.恩比德第一节比赛的表现堪称完美。在本.西蒙斯基本变透明的情况下，是他和吉米.巴特勒的发挥让76人队保有了5分的领先优势。

Therefore, when he was interviewed during the intermission, Embiid, as always, was talking nonsense.He is an extremely confident and outspoken person, and Embiid doesn't care about the opponent's face.

Bringing the defending champion down is what he plans to do with Jimmy Butler today.

But in the other half, the Pacers' players were ready to overwhelm Embiid.They believe that as long as Embiid falls into the defensive trap set by Henson, this African genius will shut up obediently in a short time.

It's just that Joel Embiid is completely unaware of this huge crisis.He still thought he could continue to make waves in Indianapolis.

The second quarter officially started. The coaches of both sides did not change their lineups, and continued to use the starting lineup of the first quarter.

Embiid was very happy to see this situation, because in the first quarter, he basically had to eat and drink when facing Lopez's defense.

Lopez is good everywhere. He can effectively protect the frame and open up space.But after all, this white center's athletic ability lies here, and his movement speed cannot be qualitatively surpassed by training.

So as soon as the second quarter started, Embiid planned to use his footsteps to continue bullying Lopez.In this game, he is destined to score a high score!

So this time Embiid just ran to the middle distance and asked Simmons for the ball.Simmons was forced by Antetokounmpo and had no chance to score, so he had to pass the ball.

Embiid turned to face the frame with the ball, and he learned a lot of dribbling moves with him last summer, Jayson Tatum.It's perfect to use those moves to bully the slow-moving Lopez.

Embiid dribbles alternately with his left and right hands, and his ball-handling ability is indeed amazing in the center position.Seeing that Lopez's center of gravity began to sway, Embiid suddenly made a cross step and then accelerated, instantly obliterating half of Lopez's body!

This guy doesn't look like a center at all, he seems to be a smart small forward.

According to the situation in the first quarter, Embiid should enter the penalty area comfortably in the next step, and choose whether to layup or dunk according to his mood.After scoring, don't forget to turn around and challenge that stupid Dabai, and then make a celebratory gesture to pretend to be aggressive.

But this time, as soon as Embiid reached the basket, he found an uninvited guest coming across—Giannis Antetokounmpo.

"what!?"

Before Embiid could react to what happened, he was already caught in the double-team of Antetokounmpo and Lopez.

Brett Brown and Jimmy Butler both frowned. Sure enough, Henson would not let Embiid do whatever he wanted in his home court!
"Double double-team, and a very decisive double-team. There is no doubt that this must be a strategy arranged by Coach Henson. Otherwise, Antetokounmpo and Lopez would not be so decisive."

That's right, Henson's way of dealing with Embiid is to double-team.Maybe this tactic sounds simple, but it is the best decision made by Henson after careful consideration.And for this double-team, Henson has just spent a whole quarter laying the groundwork.

Embiid practiced a bunch of fancy small forward dribbles with Tatum last year, and they did look good, but they needed too much space to do these moves.But now facing the Pacers' defense, Embiid just doesn't have much room to play.

Lopez and Antetokounmpo double-teamed him before he made a face-up action. At this time, Embiid had only two options, pass or jumper.And Embiid's low jumper is not that murderous, and the pass is not destructive, just passing the ball for the sake of passing.Therefore, as long as the timing of the double-team is just right, Embiid is basically locked.

As for why Antetokounmpo is allowed to defend Ben Simmons, in addition to containing Simmons, it is also to contain Embiid.Antetokounmpo made up defense to the inside, and he didn't suffer in terms of strength or height, and Simmons, who was missed by him, can be ignored outside the three-point line.And in the first quarter, Simmons' offensive enthusiasm and confidence have long been worn out.So, from the very beginning, Henson has been playing games.

This is why, after being suppressed on the scene in the first quarter, Henson was not nervous at all.Because even if he falls behind, it is still behind in his plan.

Faced with a sudden double-team, Embiid chose a turnaround jumper.It's a pity that the African genius's low jumper is not superb.But because of fouls in the first quarter, Embiid has become very irritable.Therefore, Henson believes that he will definitely choose his own jump shot!

Due to multiple knee injuries, Embiid's speed is fast, but his core and explosive power are actually not very strong. He can't guarantee his posture in low-post confrontations, and his movements are not concise enough, so his shooting rate is not good enough.

"Boom!"

As Henson analyzed, Embiid's turnaround jumper finally ended with a strike.At the beginning of the second quarter, the ambitious Embiid ate a big deflation!Every road he walked was counted by Henson to death!

In the low post, Antetokounmpo easily took off the rebound with a stretch of his hand, and then quickly advanced with the ball.

Compared with Simmons, Antetokounmpo is better at counterattacking with the ball after grabbing the rebound.In terms of the efficiency of hitting the basket, Antetokounmpo is better than Simmons.

Simmons averaged 56.3% from the field this season, which is very efficient.But again, he didn't take many shots.

And Antetokounmpo averaged 57.8% from the field this season, a career high.While shooting higher, Antetokounmpo averaged 5 more shots per game than Simmons, which shows how big the gap between the two sides in the completion rate at the basket is.

Antetokounmpo pushed all the way, and Simmons couldn't bear the impact of this guy at all.In the end, the "Greek Monster" hit the basket simply and rudely.The camera showed Simmons, and it could be seen that the champion was very helpless.

Before the draft, people called him a top talent.But just now, he was crushed by the real top talent.

Most of Simmons' top talents are "hidden talents", such as golf quotient and overall perspective.

And Antetokounmpo's talents are mostly "dominant talents", such as height, wingspan and wild athletic ability, which are visible and tangible.

As for whether the top "hidden talent" can be realized, it is not certain.

"Damn it!" Embiid was also very irritable when he saw that the team had counterattacked because of his missed shot.

Don't forget, Embiid was already angry in the first quarter, and he couldn't let go so easily.

So in the second round, Embiid continued to play singles.But like the first time, Antetokounmpo's double-teaming was almost seamless.As soon as Embiid received the ball, a tall and long-armed "monster" suddenly appeared beside him.

Embiid is in a dilemma, and Jimmy Butler actually gets a cut, but Embiid doesn't have the ability to pass the ball under the double team.His coping ability is not particularly good, and he is prone to mistakes when facing double teams.

Embiid was forced to immobilize due to insufficient lower body strength.In the end, he had no choice but to pass the ball for the sake of passing, and handed the ball to Ben Simmons, who was unthreatening beyond the three-point line.

After Embiid passed the ball, Antetokounmpo had no intention of making it up at all.In other words, there are no Pacers players within two meters of Simmons to defend.

Being so ignored by the opponent, how can a young player endure such insults?Ben Simmons gritted his teeth and stomped his feet, and voted!
It's just a pity that Simmons failed to get the ball in.Opinions vary as to why his shooting is so poor.

But in fact, this question is not complicated. When you can average a triple-double without shooting, and when you can beat most opponents without shooting, will you still practice shooting hard?

Maybe in the future, Simmons can develop his shooting.But at least now, you can completely ignore Simmons' three-pointer.

Once again, the only statistic from Simmons' shot was adding a rebound to Antetokounmpo.

Antetokounmpo just ran out two steps after getting the rebound, and he swung his long arms and threw the ball forward.

Because in the frontcourt, "Little Peja" Bogdanovic is ready!He stood on the right horn, unmarked, just waiting for the "ammunition" to be delivered.

"When did he run over!?" Reggie Miller and most of the fans looked horrified.

But this issue is no longer important, because Bogdanovic's open three-pointer directly wiped out the efforts of the 76ers in the first 12 minutes.

The 76ers have worked so hard to gain an advantage in one quarter of the game. The Pacers only need two offenses to tie the game!
Seeing Bogdanovic raising three fingers to celebrate the goal, Henson sat back on the bench with confidence.Now, Simmons and Embiid are both out, and Jimmy Butler has only one way to go.

But even that way, Henson has prepared many difficulties for Jimmy Butler.

(End of this chapter)