Bishop of the Abyss

Chapter 148 148. Sweeping the Lakers: Popovich under doubt;

The Lakers also struggled hard in the next two games.

Under the leadership of the head star Kobe Bryant, they played two good games. In the fourth game, they even tied the score with the Timberwolves, but unfortunately, they lost to the Timberwolves by three points in the end.

These two losses also made the Timberwolves sweep and advance 4:0, becoming the first team to advance to the semifinals this season.

The first round of the playoffs was swept by the Timberwolves 4:0, which made the Lakers a bit depressed, especially the head coach "Zen Master" Jackson, who looked at Luke not only with envy, but also with a touch of panic.

The reason for the panic is not that Luke led the team to sweep the Lakers. With the Lakers lineup this season, Jackson didn't even think about winning the championship.

Although being swept in the first round was something Jackson did not expect, but if the opponent is the Timberwolves, Jackson is not unacceptable.

The point is that after this round of the series, Jackson found that Luke knew him too well, and every tactical change he made seemed to be within Luke's expectations.

As for the triangle offense that "Zen Master" Jackson has always been proud of, it was targeted by the Timberwolves as tasteless.

The essence of the triangle offense lies in the movement of people and the ball. This set of tactics can release the performance of other role players through the personal abilities of the stars.

"Zen Master" Jackson first used this tactic to target the Pistons. At that time, the Pistons were the only team in the league that resolutely did not use double-teams when defending Jordan.

The Pistons' defense against Jordan was to send someone close to harass and harass, allowing Jordan to let go of the game alone, cutting off the connection between Jordan and other teammates, which also made the Bulls fall at the feet of the Pistons for many years in the playoffs.

Later, in order to use Jordan's personal ability to release the performance of other players, Jackson organized the Bulls to play a triangle offense.

It is precisely because of the triangle offense that the Bulls were able to defeat the Bad Boys and achieve three consecutive championships to officially establish a dynasty.

Since then, the triangle offense has become the main tactic of "Zen Master" Jackson. No matter where Jackson goes, the triangle offense must be integrated into the team.

But in this round of the series, the excellent defensive ability of the Timberwolves completely restricted the movement of the triangle offense, making it impossible for the triangle offense to play the characteristics of people reaching the ball, and it has been stuck on the court.

Gerald Wallace is still very young. Although his ability to assist in defense is excellent, he is obviously a bit poor in experience, but Garnett and "Glove" Payton are old guards on the defensive end.

When the two start to adapt to the running position of the Lakers players, they can even get stuck at that point before the Lakers players, reducing the Lakers' passing routes, so that the players can only be forced to return to individual singles.

The Timberwolves' defensive system was very restrained against the Lakers' triangle offense, and Luke knew the core of "Zen Master" Jackson's tactics very well, which made Jackson feel uncomfortable all over, as if there were a pair of invisible eyes staring at him all the time.

The team was swept out in the first round. Jackson and Kobe both thought a lot. After Kobe wanted to leave O'Neal, when would he be able to lead the team to win the championship trophy with a single core.

As for Jackson, he is wondering whether the Timberwolves' current defensive system, even if the Lakers reinforce it next season, will he be able to lead the team to victory.

"Zen Master" Jackson has never been an unconfident coach. It is not difficult to see from Jackson's Buddhist attitude that Jackson only cares about power and beauty, and self-doubt has nothing to do with Jackson.

But now Jackson is really a little panicked, panicked that he will meet the Timberwolves again next season, and meet Luke, a monster who knows more about the triangle offense than himself!
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With the Timberwolves sweeping the Lakers in the first round, other matchups in the Western Conference are also very clear.

In addition to the Spurs and Clippers series, the Suns currently lead the Grizzlies 3:1, and the Mavericks lead the Nuggets 3:1. The two teams are only one step away from advancing.

If nothing else, the Suns and the Mavericks have already booked the semi-final places in advance, and it is only a matter of time before they advance.

Due to divisional reasons, the Mavericks ranked fourth in the West in the regular season, which means that the opponent of the Timberwolves in the semifinals will most likely be the Mavericks. This is not good news for the Timberwolves, and it is even a bit bad.

The Mavericks are the only team that double-killed the Timberwolves in the regular season this season. Even though the Timberwolves lost in these two games, they did not lose too much.

But being able to play so anxiously with the defending champion for two consecutive games, and also won the final victory, is enough to prove the strength of the Mavericks this season.

If Luke was asked to choose a team that he least wanted to meet in the playoffs, Luke would not choose the Heat, the Pistons, or the Spurs. Luke would only choose the Dallas Mavericks.

Like the Phoenix Suns, the Mavericks are a team with very strong offensive firepower. The average points per game in the regular season ranks second in the league after the Suns.

But compared with the Suns, the Mavericks' overall defense is significantly higher, with Josh Howard on the front line and Eric Dampier on the inside.

Among them, Eric Dampier claimed to be the second center in the Western Conference after "Shark" O'Neal traveled east to the Heat.

Although Dampier's words are obviously bragging, bullying, and raising his own value in the contract year, the reason why the Mavericks are willing to give Dampier a big contract during the offseason is not because of the cerebral palsy of the Mavericks management. But Dampier's defense is indeed commendable.

Dampier can't defend against dominant centers like Shaquille O'Neal and Yao Ming in the low post, but for regular centers, Dampier's excellent core strength is already considered difficult.

Nuggets center Marcus Camby has the most say on this point. His 41% field goal percentage in the first round of the playoffs made this "data brush" questionable. He lost all face when he was defended by Dampier, and the efficiency of the penalty area was so low. Outrageous.

But the really strong part of this Mavericks is the offense. Nowitzki, Jason Terry, Stackhouse, and the three of them can contribute an average of 64 points per game in the first round of the playoffs.

And except for Stackhouse, the other two have very efficient offensive efficiency, so that the Nuggets don't know who to focus on defensively.

季后赛首轮诺维斯基场均可以轰出27分12篮板3助攻1.1抢断以及0.8次封盖，全面的进攻手段让诺维斯基变得很难防守。

Once they face the Mavericks in the semifinals, Nowitzki will be a test for Garnett. These two are definitely the players with the strongest offensive and defensive capabilities at the power forward position in the league today.

When the active power forward with the strongest offensive ability meets the active power forward with the strongest defensive ability, this is destined to be a battle between dragons and tigers.

Even if Luke doesn't want to face the Mavericks anymore, he can only give it a go and stage a round of spear and shield competition.

As for the second-ranked Spurs in the Western Conference, they encountered some troubles. Bruce Bowen played a few games after his comeback in April, but was reimbursed for another season due to a recurrence of an ankle injury.

The absence of Bruce Bowen prevented the Spurs from perfecting their defensive system. In the first round of the playoffs, they faced the Clippers, ranked seventh in the Western Conference. Just when the fans thought it was an unspectacular game, "Captain" Brand The two teamed up with Corey Maggette to show off their power, and they were on par with the Spurs.

At present, the Spurs and the Clippers are tied at 2:2. Although the Spurs have the home court advantage, judging from the recent competitive state of the Clippers, the probability of an upset in this round of the series is still very high.

If the Spurs finally fall in the first round of the playoffs, I am afraid that Popovich's reputation will plummet again.

Originally, fans were looking forward to the reunion between the Spurs and the Timberwolves in this year's playoffs. Combined with the previous team's grievances, they will see if the Spurs can stage a round of revenge.

As a result, the Spurs, who had won 62 games in the regular season, ran into trouble in the first round, and even the Timberwolves couldn't see their backs.

Looking at the gap between the Spurs and the Timberwolves, the fans only felt that Luke was right. Popovich is really a waste. He played a good hand and played poorly.

Holding the troika of Tony Parker, Ginobili, and Tim Duncan in their hands, plus Ricky Davis, Robert Horry and many other outstanding players, they can only do their best for the semi-final tickets.

No wonder Luke's eyes were full of disdain when he looked at Popovich. Now even the fans are starting to think that Popovich is not so amazing. The two championship trophies in his coaching career are thanks to Duncan's thigh.

If you leave Duncan, Popovich will never touch the championship level in his life.

In addition to setting up a decent personality, Popovich's coaching ability has been questioned by fans for the first time!

(End of this chapter)