Bishop of the Abyss

Chapter 110 110. The Strength of the Timberwolves
After the game started, the Timberwolves got the ball first.

The Timberwolves' starting lineup for this game is: "Glove" Payton, Madman, Szczerbiak, Garnett, and Magloire.

The Heat are: "White Chocolate" Williams, Wade, James Posey, Antoine Walker, and Shaquille O'Neal.

In terms of starting, the Timberwolves and the Heat both continued their preseason matchups and did not make too many adjustments.

This season, Heat general manager Pat Riley chose to fire Stan Van Gundy to coach himself, which is enough to prove the Heat's determination to win the championship.

As a brilliant figure who has won the best coach three times in his career, Riley's coaching level is much higher than that of Stan Van Gundy.

However, because Stan Van Gundy studied under Riley, the two are similar in one thing, that is, the use of center players is far greater than that of other coaches.

Even if the younger Wade is the core of this Heat team in the future, but in terms of tactics, Shaq O'Neal is obviously the core player of this Heat team.

The Heat frantically made reinforcements during the offseason, which also led to a very big change in the Heat's starting lineup this season.

Except for the two superstar players Wade and O'Neal, the other three positions are not the same as last season.

Last season, the Heat's style of play was too one-sided. Wade and O'Neal used their personal abilities to create damage. The double Jones stood on the outside as shooters, opening up space for Wade and O'Neal.

Haslem played the role of the second center on the field to help O'Neal reduce the pressure on both ends of the offense and defense.

In the new season, the diversity of the Heat's lineup has significantly increased. "White Chocolate" Williams can become the second organization point after Wade is double-teamed, avoiding the heat once Wade is targeted like last season. The organizational ability on the outside dropped to zero in an instant.

As for James Posey and Antoine Walker, they also have the ability to shoot three-pointers. Among them, Antoine Walker, who is at the power forward position, is definitely a proper space-based insider.

It can help O'Neal to open up space to the greatest extent. If you only look at offense, Walker can provide O'Neal with far greater help than Haslem.

It's just that Walker and Haslem are not at the same level on the defensive end.

The biggest defensive colander on the Heat's side is naturally "Fat Toutuo" Walker, otherwise Walker's personal ability and average data per game will not only get a mere $700 million salary this season.

At the beginning of the game, the offensive breakthrough point of the Timberwolves was very obvious. Facing Antoine Walker, this point created many singles opportunities, allowing Garnett to hit two consecutive mid-range shots, helping the Timberwolves take the lead in opening up the situation.

Walker didn't dare to get close when defending Garnett. Even though Garnett's main scoring method came from mid-range jumpers, Garnett's scoring methods were never limited to jumpers.

Especially in terms of size, Garnett, who is two meters tall, has a visible advantage when playing Walker. As long as Garnett is determined to fight high, Walker can only defend Garnett through blindfold defense. interference.

Walker's lateral movement speed is already very slow, coupled with the Achilles tendon injury suffered last season, Walker's footsteps on the defensive end are now comparable to that of an uncle, and Garnett is completely accurate.

This situation on the court made Riley, the "magic operator", frown. If it weren't for Walker's excellent shooting ability that can help O'Neal completely liberate on the offensive end, with Walker's defensive efficiency, Riley would have put him on the court. Down!

However, for the Timberwolves, who won the last game with defense, Walker's offensive performance will be crucial.

The Heat's offense, the Timberwolves' defensive formation on the field is not much different from last season, and it still focuses on zone defense, but the existence of "Glove" Payton makes the Timberwolves' perimeter defense even better. Basically no flaws.

Although Magloire is a quasi-All-Star center player, he is far from "Shark" O'Neal in terms of size.

So as long as the Heat hit the ball to O'Neal in the low post in this game, the Timberwolves will double-team O'Neal without hesitation and resolutely not give O'Neal a chance to play one-on-one in the low post.

Magloire's weight is only 118 kilograms. In terms of strength alone, he will definitely be hoisted and beaten by O'Neal. If the Timberwolves want to limit O'Neal's performance, they must use flanking attacks on O'Neal.

Otherwise, this set of matchups is a replay of the peak O'Neal in the finals who tormented the best defensive player, Uncle Mu!
As for Wade, the Timberwolves' defensive strategy is still not letting go of shots. It's just that compared with last season, this year the Timberwolves only let Wade one step away, and they no longer let Wade go empty like before.

And the person who defends Wade in this game is not "Madman" Sprewell, but the famous defensive expert "Glove" Payton.

"Glove" Payton's official height is 1.9 meters three, which is the same as "Flash" Wade. In the case of deliberately pulling a step away, Payton can completely keep up with Wade's breakthrough speed, and the defensive end will definitely make Wade change. more uncomfortable.

Unless Wade can hit those open threes.

In the first few rounds, Wade boldly chose to shoot in the face of the empty defense, but with two consecutive three-point shots, Wade gradually became hesitant.

Especially the guy "Glove" Payton's chattering trash talk interference made Wade even more ashamed.

"You are like a moth on the field. I don't need to defend you at all. If I let you shoot from the outside, can you make it?"

"Hey, this is the three-point result you have trained for the whole summer? It really is a waste!"

"If I were five years younger, I would definitely be able to guard against you, because you are a scum, a scum, a scum that is not worthy of my eyes!"

Throughout the first quarter, "The Glove" Payton's trash talk lingered in Wade's ears like a curse. Several times, Wade clenched his fists angrily, wishing to punch Payton to death.

But whenever Wade looked at the players on the Timberwolves bench, Wade would instantly become calm.

No one wants to ruin his career in one game. Although Wade is angry, he will not foolishly challenge the Timberwolves bottom line!
In addition, Magloire performed fairly well in the first quarter. Facing the "Shark" O'Neal, Magloire has no advantage at all. He can only rely on mobility to grab offensive rebounds as much as possible to win more for the Timberwolves. Many offensive rounds.

Even Luke couldn't help sighing off the court seeing Magloire fighting hard for rebounds.

In the first game after joining the Timberwolves, he faced a monster like "Shark" O'Neal. Magloire had to take on this important task before he had time to get in touch with his teammates. From a certain point of view, it was indeed a bit embarrassing for Magloire. This guy.

Fortunately, Garnett, the two-time MVP winner, played bravely in the first quarter. Facing the defensive loophole Antoine Walker, Garnett used eighteen martial arts to hang "Fat Toutuo" and beat him.

With a mid-range pull-up, a jumper turned over, a dreamy footstep, and a high shot with the ball in front of the frame, Walker was like a "point-sending machine" in front of Garnett. It took only half a quarter to be beaten without the slightest temper.

Thanks to the "magic operator" Riley couldn't stand it and replaced Haslem in time, otherwise the Heat still don't know how many points they will lose.

But the fate of "Fat Toutuo" Walker made the Heat constipated on the offensive end. Haslem and Walker are like two extremes, one is good at defense and the other is good at offense.

However, it is difficult to be truly independent on the field alone.

At the end of the first quarter, the Timberwolves temporarily led by 6 points by virtue of Garnett.

This is still in the case of James Posey hitting two three-pointers in a single quarter, surrendering 8 points, 2 rebounds and 1 assist, otherwise Antoine Walker's downturn will only make it more difficult for the Heat.

(End of this chapter)