basketball player

Chapter 97 096: Teach you how to play a small lineup
The Trail Blazers have recently won a wave of four consecutive victories, and the team is in very good condition.

So after seeing the Pacers trailing by 12 points in the first quarter and Aldridge made 6 of 5 shots in a single quarter, McMillan also believed that he would win the game.

Everyone knows that Henson Joe likes to play his small lineup. In order to keep up with the Pacers' offensive speed, their opponents will even adjust the lineup to a small size.

However, McMillan didn't do that because he has a good power forward who can dominate the four position.The first quarter of the game also proved that McMillan's trust in Aldridge was extremely correct.

But McMillan did not expect that the Trail Blazers' advantage was almost exhausted so quickly.Aldridge hasn't scored a point since Henson asked Horford to defend Aldridge in the second quarter.

"Increase your personal shots, don't be led by the nose by Horford! As long as you can score a few goals on his head, we will naturally take the initiative again!"

McMillan needs Aldridge to take more shots, and he is the only player on the Trail Blazers who has an advantage in the matchup.

Aldridge is a cautious guy. If the opportunity is not good or he doesn't like the shooting position, then he would rather not shoot than mess around.

The advantage of this is that Aldridge's scoring efficiency is extremely high.But the downside is that whenever it comes to critical moments, when you need Aldridge to score in a difficult situation, he will disappear instead.

Now, the Pacers are approaching the point difference to only 4 points, and the Blazers undoubtedly ushered in the first critical moment of today.

Therefore, Aldridge must shoulder the task of scoring.If he couldn't do it, McMillan "forced" him to do it.

After the timeout ended, the Trail Blazers replaced Pulzbila, who was not performing well, and replaced him with Sean Marks, the first New Zealand player in NBA history who entered the league in 98.

Sean Max is not a very outstanding player. He has been wandering in the league and has changed 6 teams.And even in the "peak season", Max's average data is only 4 points and 3 rebounds per game.

The reason why McMillan went to him was also a helpless move.Pulzbilla's poor rebounding performance forced McMillan to try with Sean, the only remaining center.Marcus Camby's injury left McMillan without a center.

Moreover, McMillan can't use Aldridge to play the fifth position like in the previous games.Because in that case, one big and four small ones are just right for Henson.

Seeing the 40-year-old veteran center Sean play, a new idea suddenly appeared in Henson's mind.He patted his forehead, why didn't he think of it just now?If you do this in the first quarter, the Blazers are struggling to chase points now!

He immediately yelled at the players and gestured.

No one knew what Henson said, but the players knew very well that the coach made them play inside!
McMillan's adjustment did not make the Blazers' offense better. Aldridge made a decisive shot this time, but because of Horford's interference, Aldridge's shot still failed to hit.

So far in the second quarter, the Trail Blazers haven't scored yet.

This time the Pacers attacked, Mike Roberts did not stay on the outside, but sat in the inside position!The abnormal behavior of the Pacers made McMillan swallow his saliva.

Generally speaking, Mike Roberts does not have the ability to play low singles.But in the face of the aging New Zealander, Henson is full of confidence in Mike Roberts.

Holiday hung the ball to Mike Roberts, and the others tried to open space for Mike Roberts as much as possible. Horford even pulled it outside the three-point line.

Ever since, the inside line became a one-on-one battle between Mike Roberts and Sean Marks.

I saw Mike Roberts suddenly turned his back after holding the ball, and with just one step, he got rid of the extremely slow New Zealand center.

Mike Roberts walked to the basket and looked back at Mochizuki for an easy layup.Sean was too slow, too slow in both reflexes and speed.Mike Roberts smiled happily, he didn't expect that he would have a day in the low position like a fish in water.

Henson also grinned. This may be the first time since he became the head coach that the team has an inside advantage!
Subsequently, Batum's mid-range jumper allowed the Trail Blazers to stop the bleeding and pull the point difference back to 4 points.However, the resistance of the French is really painless.

After one round, McRoberts intends to continue to single Sean in the low post.

Perhaps for Sean, who is already 40 years old, this singles is not fair.But in the field of competitive sports, if you want to play, you must abandon absolute fairness!
Aldridge couldn't sit back any longer, and double-teamed McRoberts before he could make a move.

But don't forget, Mike Roberts is the "large magician" of the Pacers.

McRoberts pretended to turn his back, but turned his wrist and sent the ball to Horford, who was ambushing in the right corner.

It must be too late for Aldridge to make up the defense. For Horford, who is full of hot spots outside the three-point line, it is not difficult to hit this long shot from the bottom corner.

Horford made another three-pointer, and the 12-point difference became only 1 point!
"Switch, switch!" McMillan's desperate roar made Henson hear it clearly, and Sean was simply a big colander.

20 seconds later, the Pacers came back aggressively.McMillan had Aldridge switch on Mike Roberts, and Sean had to deal with Horford, who was floating on the perimeter.

However, Horford and McRoberts are not stupid, they also switched positions.

As a result, people desperately saw Sean confront Horford in the low post, and Aldridge had to mark Mike Roberts, who could also shoot threes.

McMillan covered his head in despair, he was completely defeated by the general!

After shaking his shoulders, Horford easily turned over and made a jumper, allowing the Pacers to finally overtake the score!At the same time, the referee's whistle sounded and McMillan had to replace Sean.The New Zealander may be very dedicated, but his playing is indeed a disaster for the Blazers!
"It's unbelievable that the Pacers actually used their inside advantage to gain the upper hand. Inside advantage! Before today, the word inside advantage had nothing to do with the Pacers, but today, Coach Henson showed us another possibility for the Pacers!"

Barkley in the studio was very anxious, unable to explain in front of him, he could not relieve his pressure by complaining about Henson, so he could only worry about it on the big screen.

Maybe now, Barkley can't wait to put on his jersey and go inside himself.

"Great job Josh, then you take a break, George, you go up, keep attacking their inside line! Granger, you go back to the fourth position!" Henson waved his hand, replacing Mike Roberts, and played his favorite big and four juniors.

"Aren't you afraid that they will regain their advantage?" Vogel was more conservative, so he asked one more question.

"Afraid? They are the ones to be afraid of! Could it be that they still dare to put the weak center forward on the field to wait for the slaughter?" Henson's mouth curled up slightly, and he should have taken the initiative long ago!

Whether it is Przybilla or old Sean, they are not good centers.But Henson's inertial thinking made him still call the team to attack from the outside.

In fact, the Trail Blazers' interior defense is simply in a precarious state.Whether it is Sean or Przybilla, the Pacers' inside players can easily sling.

The few rounds just now were the best experiments.As long as the inside is pulled away, McMillan has nothing to do with the Pacers' offense.

Therefore, it is impossible for McMillan to let Sean and Pulzbila play for a long time. As long as they play, the Trail Blazers will have an additional defensive loophole.

After the timeout ended, something surprising happened.

The Trail Blazers replaced Sean with Dante Cunningham, a second-year forward with a height of 2 meters. That is to say, Aldridge is now the only "center" of the Trail Blazers!
"Coach McMillan actually came up with a lineup of one big and four small!? What's going on!?"

Kevin Harlan was extremely surprised, but Henson looked calm.

He knew that letting Aldridge play center was McMillan's only option.It's just that McMillan didn't expect that Henson had already changed to a lineup of one big and four small, waiting for him.

When it comes to playing primary and secondary school, McMillan is like a younger brother in front of Henson!

Callingham doesn't have any three-point ability. He can play the fourth position because this guy is active and strong enough.

Although they are all big and four small, the offense of the Trail Blazers is obviously not as smooth as the Pacers.

Aldridge continued to hold the ball in the low post, and Granger immediately double-teamed without even thinking about it.

In desperation, Aldridge had no choice but to pass the ball to Cunningham who was emptied. Cunningham didn't even take a three-pointer last season, and he was not known for three-pointers in college.

Facing the big open space, Callingham didn't dare to make a move.

The chance of a wide open was wasted, and he finally passed the ball to Batum, but Batum's breakthrough layup was not successful under George's excellent defense.

The Blazers still didn't score, and Aldridge fell into a scoring drought.

After Holiday attacked with the ball, Horford made a strong attack on the inside, but actually scored the ball subtly, allowing Matthews, who got a chance through the off-ball screen, to hit a three-pointer again.

Matthews feels hot today. Strictly speaking, this year is Matthews' real rookie season.However, in his rookie season, he averaged 13.5 points per game.The scoring ability of this undrafted pick is definitely seriously underestimated.

With a gap of 4 points, McMillan felt that he had no good solution. He used all the available people on the bench.

At this time, he must miss Brandon Roy and Greg Oden very much.
The duel between one big and four small ones gave the Pacers full offensive firepower.It is also a big and four small, but the Pacers are obviously much more mature than the Trail Blazers.

Matthews' sniper shot, Granger's high efficiency and Paul George's aggressiveness today gave the Blazers a 12-point lead in the first quarter. After the second quarter, they entered the second half with an 8-point disadvantage!
The sudden change of the game in the second quarter made the Trail Blazers fans who were in ecstasy 12 minutes ago undecided in shock!
During the intermission, the reporter naturally found Henson for a sideline interview.

Henson did not intend to answer the reporter's question of "what adjustments were made to lead the team to the lead".

"I won't say why we can take the lead, I just hope that the air conditioner in the studio behind T.NT is warm enough."

Henson smiled his signature smile at Today, but Barkley couldn't help it.

Maybe all yellow-skinned guys will bring him misfortune.

(End of this chapter)