I just play ball

Chapter 88 Dilemma
Li Yue had discussed this topic with Kobe at the training base yesterday, and the two had reached a preliminary conclusion.

The Spurs' record this season ranks third in the league. The team is strong, and there are no serious injuries in the playoffs. The losses in the previous two games were all small scores. There are no major problems on both offensive and defensive ends. The only thing lacking is luck.

As long as the Lakers miss even one goal, the results of the two games will be rewritten.

With Popovich's character, he is absolutely unconvinced and continues to play according to the previous thinking. In addition, it is only two days before the last game, even if there are major changes, there is no time to rehearse, so there is no need to take risks.

Most likely, Duncan reduced the number of free throw line support, and even gave up the organization of center play, and went directly to the basket at the beginning of the game, forcing the Lakers to double-team, thereby creating more open opportunities for the Spurs such as Danny Green.

As long as the Spurs open the outside line, the Lakers' defense will be exhausted, and the number of fast break counterattacks will be greatly reduced.

Thinking of this, Li Yue spoke first, "I had a discussion with Kobe yesterday, and we think..."

After listening to his speech, everyone expressed their opinions one after another. After seven or eight minutes of discussion, D'Antoni announced that the offensive and defensive strategy would remain the same, Li Yue would continue to be the shooting guard, and Artest would still be the starting small forward.

...

Ten past seven, Staples Center.

After the last stanza of music, the singing of the national anthem ended, the lights were turned on, and the audience cheered one after another.

Li Yue got up from the bench and entered the field, high-fiving the five starting players of the Spurs one by one.

The long whistle sounded, the players of the two teams settled down, and Howard and Duncan jumped the ball from the center line.

Under the touch of the two at the same time, the basketball flew towards the Lakers half court, and Blake picked it up and pushed forward.

Li Yue quickly ran to the right wing and stood still, with his back to Green, took over the pass, and turned left and right to try to break through, but Green didn't entangle himself, but took the initiative to move back, leaving at least two body spaces .

With such an action, it is clear that he will not let go.

Li Yue decisively pulled the ball back half a step, jumped up to face Green, and rushed to shoot a three-pointer.

The basketball went into the net, the Lakers led 3-0, and the Staples Center erupted in cheers.

Li Yue retreated quickly, followed Green to the left wing, and observed the movement of the Spurs players sideways.

As expected before the game, Duncan did not stay at the free throw line to support, but directly made a high screen, and then immediately ran to the low post on the left, receiving a pass from Parker and playing post-up singles, looking anxious as if rushing to work.

Duncan also turned around continuously, and Howard was struggling to deal with it, and he was about to lose his position visible to the naked eye.

Li Yue suppressed his inner impulse to avoid the game going according to the Spurs' ideas, and stayed where he was and did not step forward to help defend.

Duncan was at ease, hit the board at 45 degrees in the old routine, and the basketball bounced into the net.

The ball was transferred to the Lakers' offense, and Li Yue turned his head and ran forward, landing on the right wing again.

Blake dribbles the ball across the halfway line, and Green circles forward to block the pass.

Li Yue followed his plan, ran back to the bottom corner, received a sling pass from Blake, raised his hands high, and was about to pass the ball inside, but saw Splitter and Duncan also go forward to block the pass route, Howard and Gasol did not want to The meaning of hitting.

Many thoughts flashed through Li Yue's mind in an instant, and he finally decided to take advantage of the heat to shoot a three-pointer.

The basketball hit the front and rebounded, and Spley got the rebound, landed and threw it forward.

Parker received the ball from the center line, stepped on hot wheels and rushed to the top of the frontcourt arc, hitting the ground and making a long pass to the left sideline.

Leonard received the ball, just turned around to defend Artest after a one-step pass, and three-step to the basket with a one-handed dunk.

The Spurs lead 4-3.

The Lakers attack, and Blake runs to the right wing with the ball.

Li Yue waved his hand from a distance, indicating to play a high pick-and-roll, not because he was worried that he would not be able to score, but because he felt that the Spurs' defense was a little off. .

Blake immediately diverted to the top of the arc, and cooperated with Gasol in the pick-and-roll, breaking through and running down at the same time.

Split did not delay the grab, only Parker was chasing after him, Blake hesitated for a while, and scored the ball to the left wing.

Artest received the ball with both hands raised high, and passed to the left position.

Howard took the ball to Duncan's side, stepped forward with his right foot, and then kicked the ground with force to break through the baseline.

The Spurs directly intercepted the three horizontally. Howard's position was too small, and he failed to force the ball into the net.

In the chaotic scramble, the basketball flew to the top of the free throw coil, and Leonard picked it up and pushed it quickly.

Artest held his breath and chased close to him, and finally stuck to the top of the arc, but was intercepted by Splitter's wall. Leonard took advantage of the screen to get rid of it, rushed to the free throw line and made an emergency stop to take off and shoot a two-pointer.

The basketball bounced off the back edge of the rim, and Blake got the rebound and made a fast forward in turn.

Li Yue turned around and followed up along the wing, ran to the right wing to stand still according to the tactics he often trained, and bent his knees to catch the ball.

At this time, the basket was empty, and Blake went in without hesitation. After being double-teamed by Splitter and Parker, he immediately handed the ball to Howard, who followed up in the middle.

Howard took the ball off the spot and threw it to the basket. Almost at the same time, the referee whistled and called Splitter for a foul.

The basketball hit the basket and hit the iron, failing to form a 2+1 chance, and the audience applauded and cheered.

Taking advantage of free throw time, Li Yue walked to Blake and reminded that the next pick-and-roll against Parker and Duncan needs to be delayed in advance.

While chatting, Howard missed both free throws, and made the second free throw suddenly, scaring the two of them to retreat.

Duncan grabbed the rebound and made a long pass from the left sideline under the basket. Parker received the ball and started super-running speed to advance straight to the basket.The Lakers team shrunk and intercepted, Parker circled along the baseline to the free throw line, and handed the ball to Duncan who followed behind.

The Lakers team scattered man-to-man, Duncan passed the ball back, and went to the wall to set up a screen.

Blake took a step forward to make a big delay, and successfully blocked Parker who wanted to break through, but also blocked Howard.

Parker again gave the ball to Duncan, who took off with a long two-pointer.

The basketball crashed into the net and the Spurs led 6-3.

The Lakers attack, and Li Yue is in the bottom corner on the right.

Blake dribbles the ball to the right wing, passes it to Gasol, and strides toward the corner.

Li Yue went up to meet him, ran to the low post on the right under the cover of positioning, put his back against Green, and received a pass from Gasol for a single.

Relying on his height advantage, he turned back directly with a small hook, and the basketball hit the circle and bounced into the net.

The big-screen camera immediately showed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar sitting in the high-level VIP room, and the audience cheered and shouted.

The Spurs attacked, Parker dribbled the ball across the center line, handed it to Duncan on the right wing, and ran to the right corner in small steps.Duncan held the ball high, looked left and right, and threw it to Splitter, who used Leonard's cover to cut outside to the left 45-degree three-point line.

Li Yue hurriedly stood sideways in front of Green, trying to block the pass and slow down the Spurs' offensive rhythm.

I thought, after Leonard finished the side screen for Splitter, he took advantage of the situation and made a back screen to block Howard. Duncan took the opportunity to cut to the basket, received Splitter's high-throw pass, jumped high and hung up with one hand. buckle.

Li Yue was stunned for half a second, and couldn't remember when Duncan made an alley-oop last time. It was really hard to guard against.

Easy side Lakers attack, Li Yue is in the bottom corner on the right.

Blake dribbled to the top of the arc, covered by Gasol, and drove to the three-point line from the left.

Except for Green, the Spurs team concentrated on the left half of the court, forming a siege in an instant, and Blake quickly threw the ball back to the top of the arc.Gasol received the ball and turned his left hand to the left elbow, blocking the Spurs with Blake.

Artest received the ball from the left wing and did not dare to take the first shot. Facing Leonard's defense, he rushed to the top of the arc under the cover of Gasol, pretending to hit the inside line to attract Green to shrink and intercept, but actually stopped and passed the ball back to the outside. to Blake on the right wing.

At this time, the entire right half was empty, Blake received the ball and was unguarded, and directly shot a three-pointer.

The basketball hit the basket and bounced back, and several spectators on the sidelines spread their hands and shouted: "Why didn't you pass the ball to Li?"

Before the words fell, Howard took off like a rocket into the sky, and made a one-handed dunk!

It's a pity that the force was too strong and he couldn't grasp it firmly, and the basketball rebounded again.

Fortunately, to attract all the attention of the Spurs, Gasol successfully grabbed an offensive rebound, landed and handed it to Blake to reorganize the offense.

Blake made a pass back, Gasol caught the ball and played back singles, feinted twice and turned back twice, falsely jumping off Duncan, using the time difference to hit the rebound and hit a shot, the Lakers chased 7-8.

Li Yue stood in the right corner all the time, raised his arms and shouted when he saw the goal, and when he turned back to defend, he shook his finger at the audience on the sidelines, indicating that he must not speak like before.

The Spurs attacked and Parker dribbled the ball across the center line.

After a little observation, Parker passed the ball to Green at the top of the arc, slipped the baseline along the left sideline, made a large circle to the right half, and used Deng's position to cover to get rid of Blake, and finally received the pass back on the right wing, and then Step down the ball and make a strong breakthrough.

Gasol took a step across to help defend, Parker immediately passed the ball to the short corner on the right, Duncan received the ball and made another two-pointer.

The basketball crashed into the net and the Spurs led 10-7.

Li Yue slapped his head violently when he saw this. He underestimated the Spurs' adjustment ability before, and Duncan turned into a pitcher.

The Lakers attacked, Blake took the ball to the right wing, and moved to the top of the arc with the help of Howard and Gasol.

The two insiders of the Spurs resolutely contracted, and Blake took off without hesitation. The basketball hit the board and rebounded and fell.

The Spurs counterattacked, Parker took the ball to the right sideline, and continued to change directions and shake it. He waited until the last 10 seconds of the offensive clock before passing the ball to the right elbow.

Duncan received the ball and raised it high. Seeing that he failed to touch Howard, he turned to the ball and forced it.

Howard moved sideways to catch up, and with a bang, the big cap slapped Duncan with a hook shot.

The referee blew his whistle and whistled for the Spurs to have the ball in the frontcourt, but because the basketball did not touch the basket, there were only 5 seconds left in the attack time.

Taking advantage of the time when the referee arranged the sideline kick-off, Li Yue hurried to the technical table and suggested that D'Antoni adjust his defensive strategy: Let Gasol, who has a better outside defense, stare at Duncan, and leave Splitter, who has no ball-holding threat, to D'Antoni. howard.

D'Antoni hesitated for a moment and nodded in agreement, Li Yue quickly returned to the half court, stood beside Green and waited.

The referee blew his whistle, Duncan held up the basketball in the right corner, and the other four of the Spurs began to move.

Green ran from the basket to the top of the arc, and Splitter moved from the short corner on the right to the left. The two met and formed a goal instantly. Leonard crossed from the free throw line and Duncan threw the ball to the hoop.

With a bang, Leonard made an empty catch for a dunk.

The Spurs lead 12-7.

The Lakers attack and Blake advances with the ball.

Li Yue landed on the right wing, received the pass and faced Green's defense. He bowed down and put on a three-threat posture. He was about to break through with a cross step when Howard asked for the ball. .

But at this time, the audience was cheering loudly, as if celebrating his shot in advance.

In the blink of an eye, Li Yue made up his mind to hit the ground and pass the ball.

The cheers stopped abruptly. Howard took the ball and lowered his center of gravity to hit. His movements and strength were very small, and Duncan remained motionless.

Green suddenly stepped forward to press, and Howard hurriedly passed back.

As soon as Li Yue received the ball, Leonard had already made up his defense and decisively split the top of the arc.

Artest was open, and after receiving the ball, he shot a three-pointer without any scruples, and the basketball hit the basket and hit the iron.

Split grabbed the rebound and the Spurs launched a counterattack.

Leonard pushed forward with the ball, and Li Yue chased closely. The two crossed the center line at the same time and stopped at the low position on the right to single out.

The audience booed wildly when they saw this, Leonard played steadily, patted the ball with his left hand and separated the space with his right hand, crushing it like a heavy robot.Li Yue slammed four times to the limit, and suddenly went around to the front to attack, but Leonard turned around and threw the shot.

The basketball hit the backboard and bounced off the net. The Spurs led 14 to 7, and the Lakers requested a timeout.

...

Timeout, Lakers bench.

D'Antoni quickly painted on the tactical board, "We underestimated the changes of the Spurs before. Next, Paul will defend Duncan, and Dwight will defend Splitter. In addition, we need to react faster on the defensive end, and we need to be more defensive. More communication and rotation, like Duncan's air-cut dunk before, I hope that the number of occurrences in the next game will be zero."

After the words fell, all the Lakers nodded one after another.

Before Duncan made an air cut, Artest could switch defenses and intercept instead of waiting for Gasol to bypass the screen to catch up.

D'Antoni paused for a moment, then took another tactical board, "After the timeout, let Li Yue lead the two offenses first, try to destroy the Spurs' defensive rotation, if there is a chance, try a strong attack, and first suppress the Spurs' momentum."

Li Yue frowned slightly, then nodded again and again with a smile on his face, feeling very entangled in his heart.

...

The timeout ends and the Lakers attack.

Blake received the ball from the backcourt and pushed forward, Li Yue quickly ran to the right wing, and the team settled in a V-shaped formation.

The two cooperated hand in hand, and Li Yue took the ball to face Green, with his right foot as the axis, and his left foot continued to test the ground.

It was originally just a normal heads-up, but many spectators stood up and cheered. Howard and Gasol quickly exited the three-second zone.

Li Yue probed for a while, and found that Green did not prevent him from entering the inside line like G2 did, but left space as in the opening game, and continued to shoot without letting go, as if he was determined not to give him a chance to destroy the Spurs' defensive system.

After thinking for a while, Li Yue stepped down the ball and walked in. Seeing that Green moved laterally to intercept, he stopped and pulled the ball and retreated. Before Green swooped, he shot a three-pointer.

when!Basketball hits the basket and hits the iron.

Duncan grabbed the rebound, the Spurs launched a counterattack, and Parker pushed Blake to the inside and scored two points.

The Lakers attacked again, and Li Yue continued to play singles with the ball.

This time he was not in a hurry to make a shot, but after gaining enough space and time through multiple shakings, he calmly made a two-point shot.

The basketball went into the net, and the audience cheered and applauded, but there was no excitement on Li Yue's face, not because he was behind, but because the attack took a total of 18 seconds, and the other teammates watched the whole process, with zero sense of participation.

The Spurs' strategy is obvious. The single-defense team does not give them the chance to score points and assist teammates.

But right now other teammates can't provide firepower for the time being, if they don't play alone, the point difference will get bigger and bigger.

Li Yue stepped back and thought about how to solve it. When he was frowning, Kobe, who was sitting on the bench, gestured at him.

(End of this chapter)