The strongest champion puzzle

Chapter 481 Lineup Problem
"Son, let me teach you a few tricks so that you can win at the starting line."

"Get rid of it, he's not yet a year old, okay, you can just let him hold a basketball to play with... You'd better go and practice more equipment for me honestly."

"Honey, don't you love me... No, I'm playing with the little guy now because it's your exercise time, don't be lazy."

In fact, Leonard has to rest for a while, and Zhang Xiaotian was still worried. Now that the team has started smoothly, his mood has improved a lot, and he is very happy to go home and make a fuss.

The Spurs' schedule in October is not tight, and Zhang Xiaotian is also quickly adapting to the rhythm of the game.

On October 10, the Spurs came to Miami to play against the new Heat.

The so-called brand new is because Zhang Xiaotian no longer sees his good teammates from the beginning on the field.

The start of this season is a little tricky. Many teams have injuries. The Bulls and Raptors are not in the same lineup. The same is true for the Heat. Their insider Whiteside cannot play.

The Heat also spent a lot of money in the summer, and it is not cheap to renew the contract or recruit Olynyk.

However, it does not depend on how much money is spent on reinforcement.

Players with the same price can be said to be very different in terms of combat effectiveness.

In terms of recruiting players, the Heat after the disintegration of the Big Three are not very attractive.

This time the Spurs launched an offense from the heart. Without Whiteside, the Heat not only had a problem with the defense, but also had some problems with the Spurs' inside defense.

Now they can only rely on the back line to score, but they are in a mess defensively. Both Zhang Xiaotian and Aldridge can blow up the opposing players.

However, during the rotation period, the Heat's substitute players performed well, and Taylor Johnson and Kelly Olynyk, two tens of millions of substitutes, performed very actively.

The performance of the Spurs' substitute players was a bit unstable, but the Heat got a respite.

But after the main players played in the second quarter, the Heat's defense was torn to pieces again.

Zhang Xiaotian is also a top all-star now, enough to determine the outcome of the game.

The Heat don't have players of his level, so it takes a lot of effort to play.

What's more, Zhang Xiaotian fought extremely easily when the Heat had the upper hand.

In the first half, the Heat could still rely on Dragic, Waiters and other outside firepower to fight hard. After the Spurs' defensive strategy was fine-tuned and became more targeted, the Heat's resistance collapsed.

The Spurs gained a double-digit advantage in one fell swoop in the third quarter, and they were able to withdraw after halfway through the final quarter.

Zhang Xiaotian and Aldridge scored 69 points, completely dominating inside and outside.

The Spurs also easily started their four-game winning streak, which was much better than the Warriors and Cavaliers.

However, several strong teams this season have not played enough amazing start, and the Spurs have followed suit a lot. They lost to the Magic away.

The Magic, a small team, started the season very well.

Fournier, Aaron Gordon, and Vucevic are all in good shape. The Spurs were blinded by the opponent's high shooting percentage when they came up, and they didn't turn over even after they tried their best to catch up in the second half.

Of course, Popovich controls the playing time of the players, but he is not as desperate as he was in the playoffs.

In fact, it's not that embarrassing. The Magic only beat the Cavaliers in front of them, and now they have sat on the number one throne in the Eastern Conference.

In the competitive arena, there will always be some unexpected things happening, which is also the charm of sports.

However, as the season progresses, there will be fewer and fewer dark horses.

The loss of this game also made the Spurs see the team's current shortcomings, which is the problem of three-pointers.

The Magic have an inside assist defense, Aldridge is restricted, Zhang Xiaotian is often flanked, and then the ball is passed out and the outside hit rate is not good.

Murray didn't have a three-pointer, and Danny Green's strikes were getting more and more.

If Popovich knew that this was the result of Zhang Xiaotian's cheating, he would probably be angry.

Dedmond's short board has also been exposed. His attack range is relatively small and he can't open up space.

In fact, if Leonard was involved in these issues, the relative impact would not be so great, and now it is magnified.

Because of the need to take into account the defense, the Spurs' starting problem is really not easy to adjust hastily.

The old man must be scolding. He didn't practice shooting well in Xia Tian, ​​so it's normal to be scolded.

If the outside line can't be improved, Murray and Danny Green will always have to be on the bench, or play a big and a small, which will increase Aldridge's burden, and it's better not to use it often in the regular season.

Mr. Evans has also considered it, but he still needs to observe it, because the style of play requires possession of the ball, it is better to put it in the sixth man position first.

On October 10, the Spurs challenged the Pacers away.

Paul George left, and the Pacers also changed a lot, but they got some good returns through trading, such as Oladipo and Sabonis.

In addition, they signed Darren Collison and Bogdanovic, and now the lineup is not weak. It belongs to the inside, outside and bench gangsters.

The Pacers also suffered injuries, and their center Myles Turner was unable to play, but Sabonis' top starter did not weaken the team, at least on the offensive end.

At the beginning of the game, Zhang Xiaotian was under strict defense again. The Magic played well in that game, and other teams will definitely follow suit. As for the Spurs’ current starting lineup, Danny Green is the only one who can support him from beyond the three-point line. They are embarrassing on the offensive end.

The old man was also a little embarrassed, but fortunately their substitute lineup was better than the opponent's.

In fact, if the team plays a small lineup with Ginobili, Evans, Gerald Green and others outside, the offensive efficiency will be much better, but there will be problems in defense.

The Spurs' running-in this season will definitely be more troublesome than last season. When Parker and Leonard return, there will be running-in problems again. If they are not willing to spend more money to maintain the original lineup, running-in cannot be omitted.

Relatively speaking, the Spurs' defense fluctuates little. The Pacers mainly rely on Oladipo and Sabonis to support their offense. However, they have several European players on the court, and the teamwork is much smoother than last season. .

The two sides fought for half the game, and the Spurs were behind.

It's not easy for Popovich to swear. This really has something to do with his formation. Leonard is not around, so he has to deploy shooters beside Zhang Xiaotian.

Regarding the ratio of offense and defense, you can also adjust it. If you can't get in on the offensive end, you can't win by defense alone.

Popovich is not an ignorant coach, but some details have not been considered.

The Pacers' defensive strategy remained unchanged in the second half, and Zhang Xiaotian simply became tougher, taking all kinds of defensive shots.

Not to mention, the efficiency is higher, this is the impact of personal ability on the game.

(End of this chapter)