Bishop of the Abyss

Chapter 80 80. Sorry Coach, I Can't Help It! (two chapters in one)

On May 5, the Western Conference Finals between the Timberwolves and the Spurs officially kicked off.

This round of the series was very popular before the start of the game. Since the two teams had some ties during the regular season, this also made this round of the series more interesting.

And for the pre-match dialogue between Timberwolves coach Luke and Spurs coach Popovich, the league did not intervene, as if it hadn't heard it.

Obviously, the heated duel between the Spurs and the Timberwolves is exactly what league president David Stern wants to see.

In the eyes of others, this round of the series is full of dangerous sparks, but in the eyes of David Stern, it is a lot of money and heat.

The current atmosphere is exactly the game effect that David Stern is trying to achieve. Fans expect, the game is fierce, the topic is constant, and the ratings are exploding. This is simply David Stern's dream.

It's just that the reason for all of this was the conflict between the Timberwolves and the Spurs. Stern was somewhat helpless about this, but fortunately, the result made Stern very satisfied.

So as long as the Spurs and Timberwolves don't do too much on the court, David Stern doesn't intend to interfere in this round of the series, because no matter how good the program is, the effect is not as natural as it is now.

For David Stern, who dreams of promoting the NBA, he has been waiting for this day for a long time!

This season, the Timberwolves, Spurs and Suns are the biggest favorites in the league. The Suns have been eliminated by the Spurs. The Western Conference Finals will be a contest between the two strongest teams in the Western Conference. This is definitely a visual feast.

The Spurs still maintain a high level of defensive efficiency in the playoffs. So far, the Spurs have conceded only 91.6 points per game, which is slightly better than the Timberwolves' 94.8 points. It is the best team among the 16 teams that entered the playoffs.

However, this Spurs team is not without flaws. Although the average of 96.9 points per game in the playoffs is good, it is obviously far behind the Timberwolves, who averaged 108 points per game.

The entire Spurs relied entirely on the "troika" to score in the playoffs, and no other players scored in double figures. Even Robert Horry, the team's fourth scoring point, could only contribute an average of 9.3 points per game.

The good news for the Timberwolves is that Tony Parker did not perform well in the playoffs, and his three-point shooting percentage, which is not good at all, dropped to 18.8%.

And Devin Brown's accidental injury also affected the Spurs' rotation, even though Devin Brown's performance in the playoffs was very hip.

The bad news is that the three-point shooting percentage of the Spurs' outside shooters has soared after entering the playoffs. Among them, Manu Ginobili, Robert Horry, Bruce Bowen and Brent Barry have all reached more than 40%.

Especially Ginobili's performance in the playoffs is as unsolvable as a plug-in.

与太阳这轮系列赛吉诺比利场均可以轰出24.6分5.4篮板4.8助攻以及1.6次抢断，且投篮命中率高达53%。三分球命中率同样有42.1%。

This efficiency is really worthy of the title "Demon Sword". It has to be said that before Ginobili was bald by Duncan, Ginobili's offensive ability was definitely the top in the league.

If he hadn't played under Popovich, I believe it would be easy for Kenobili to average 20+ per game. After all, Argentina's most coquettish man is by no means a vain name!

.........

Before the start of the game, the players of both sides were warming up in their respective halfs. Popovich called Robert Horry and Bruce Bowen aside alone, and it seemed that he was telling something.

As for Duncan, he still has facial paralysis, practicing shooting repeatedly like a robot on the court.

The most relaxed mentality of the entire Spurs team is probably Tony Parker from France.

As the Western Conference finals were approaching, Parker not only didn't show any signs of fear, but also stood on the sidelines laughing and chatting with beautiful fans. This old-fashioned and critical mentality can't be hidden at all!
On the other hand, the Timberwolves players also did not fluctuate, but when Hudson looked at Robert Horry, the anger in his eyes was more obvious.

In the last match, Hudson was fouled maliciously by Robert Horry, which caused his shoulder to hit the billboard and was injured for a long time, which made Hudson always worried.

If it wasn't for the coach not speaking, I believe Hudson would want to go up and play a PK with him now.

"Lu, there is a lot of attention from the outside world in the first game. It is better not to have conflicts in this game."

"Even if both sides are expelled from the field at the same time, the outside world's reputation will be unfavorable to us. Now there are many people waiting to see us having fun."

"We are not inferior to the Spurs in a head-to-head match, but if there is an accident, there will be many variables in this round of the series." Assistant coach Raymond reminded softly as he moved his head close to Luke.

After working together for a season, Raymond knows that Luke is a ticking time bomb. Even though Luke may not listen to what he says, what Raymond needs to do at this time is to keep Luke sane, not stand aside Fan the flames.

"I know it in my heart." Luke waved his hand lightly, never taking his eyes off the court.

Luke's answer made Raymond a little helpless, and at the same time made Raymond more focused, always watching every move on the field.

"dudu~"

As the whistle sounded to start the game, players from both sides stood in the middle circle and prepared to jump the ball.

The Spurs' starting lineup for this game is: Parker, Ginobili, Bruce Bowen, Duncan, and Muhammad.

The Timberwolves are: Madman, Nehbar, Szczerbiak, Garnett, and Karl Malone.

In this round of the series, Luke chose to start "Alien" Cassel, but instead let Nehbar take on the heavy responsibility.

Tony Parker is currently in his youth, and Parker, known as the "French Sports Car", is one of the fastest starting point guards in the league today. This alone is powerless for Cassel.

As he gets older, his feet move slowly. This is a defect that no skill can make up for. Therefore, Luke can only take Cassel as the starting lineup and try to avoid Cassel from defending Parker head-on.

As for Nehbar and Ginobili, they both belong to European players, and their playing styles are relatively similar, so they are naturally at home in defense.

After the game started, the Timberwolves got the ball first.

The Spurs' overall defensive ability is very strong. Duncan acts as the core of the Spurs' defensive system. Like Garnett, both of them can quickly help defend players.

As a defensive sharp knife, Bruce Bowen can also go one-on-one to mark the opponent's offensive core. After this whole process, the Spurs' defensive efficiency is naturally the top in the league.

But as soon as the game started, when Bruce Bowen went to defend the Timberwolves outside core "Madman" Sprewell, Parker on the defensive end suddenly became a little dazed, and the whole person stood on the court and gradually became a little messy.

Bruce Bowen went to defend "Madman" and Ginobili went to defend Szczerbiak. In this way, the person Parker needed to defend became the [-]-meter-tall Nehbar.

Seeing this set of matchups, Parker looked at the head coach Popovich with a little doubt on the field, as if to say, "Me? Guard him!"

Tony Parker is 1.8 meters tall. He is not too short for a point guard, but he is also not outstanding. However, compared with Nehbar in front of him, Parker is nearly 20 centimeters shorter. The same disadvantage is obvious.

This scene made Tony Parker feel a little nonsense. What is even more nonsense is that Nehbar, who has an excellent golf quotient, saw the opportunity. Before the rest of the Spurs came to help defend, he pushed Parker with his back and then used a standard European turn. Steadily hit the shot, depending on Parker's defense as easy as the air.

At the beginning of the game, Nehbar was equivalent to a misplacement. The key point was that the Spurs took the initiative to give this opportunity to the misplacement. The Timberwolves had no reason to refuse it.

Tony Parker, who was easily bullied by Nehbar, turned his head and looked at Popovich again, his helpless eyes widened.

Not to mention Tony Parker, even coach Popovich was surprised by this scene on the field.

Popovich didn't expect that Luke would put Kassel on the bench. When Luke brought Nehbar into the starting lineup, it meant that the overall height of the Timberwolves was a bit scary.

The smallest difference in height between the Timberwolves and Tony Parker is "Madman" Sprewell's 1.9 meters six.

But "Madman" is the second scorer of this Timberwolves, and the outside offensive firepower is unsolvable, otherwise Popovich would not call Bruce Bowen to defend close.

But the current headache for Popovich is that no matter how he arranges it, Tony Parker will become the Timberwolves' offensive breakthrough at this point.

Regardless of whether Parker is allowed to defend the Madman, or Parker is allowed to continue to enjoy dislocation singles, Parker will definitely be beaten out of the shit.

After all, Parker's defensive ability is already poor, and now when this kind of thing happens again, even Popovich doesn't know what to do for a while.

Replace Parker?

This kind of thought only stayed in Popovich's mind for a moment and was thrown away. Parker is one of the most important players on the offensive end of the Spurs. When Parker is off the court, the Spurs' offensive efficiency is simply unbearable.

So Popovich can only let it go temporarily and see what will happen in the next offensive round.

The Spurs attacked, and Parker used the pick-and-roll to kill inside. Before Karl Malone came out of the defense, Parker chose the best equestrian archery and raised his hand to finish.

"boom!"

The throw was slightly stronger, and the rebound was firmly accepted by Garnett on the side.

After accepting the backcourt rebound, Garnett looked up and found that the Spurs were returning to defense very quickly, and it seemed that they did not give the Timberwolves a chance to defend and counterattack at all.

In a positional battle, Garnett, who could see the situation clearly, took the initiative to pull away to the right, and lobbed the ball to Nehbar, who was obviously in the upper hand.

Facing Parker with the ball, Nehbar simply took advantage of his height to hit high, and completed a shot close to Tony Parker.

"Shu~"

This time the defense Tony Parker has taken off with all his strength, but there is still a long way to go to block Nehbar. He can only watch Nehbar domineering over his head, eating himself raw twice in a row and scoring easily. ball.

After landing, Tony Parker felt desperate. Looking at Bruce Bowen, who turned his eyes to him, Parker spread his hands and decisively chose to switch defenses: "I've had enough, switch defenses next round, let me defend Latrier, I've had enough of this defense!"

In the Spurs' offensive round, Parker broke into the paint and gave the ball to Duncan. Duncan received the ball from mid-range and made a feint.

Seeing that Garnett didn't hesitate at all on the defensive end, Duncan decisively chose to shoot on the spot.

"Bang, swish~"

Even though Garnett's quick reaction speed and his excellent height and wingspan interfered with the ball to the extreme, Duncan still hit the mid-range shot steadily.

Playing the mid-range shot is Duncan's specialty in his career. When it comes to hitting the board, no player in history has done better than Duncan.

As Duncan was "steady like an old dog" as always, Garnett showed a look of displeasure on his face. Garnett has defended very well this round.

There is no loss of position in the position, and there is enough interference in the defense, but Duncan can hit the shot steadily, which is really uncomfortable.

"Tim's stability is really enviable. His offense has always been so stable. I don't know what shit luck the Spurs took back then to win Tim."

Seeing Duncan hit a shot under Garnett's extreme interference, assistant coach Raymond had a sour taste in his words.

"But the really difficult person for the Spurs has never been Tim." Luke looked at the court calmly, and said something meaningful while sitting on the sidelines.

The Timberwolves attacked again. This time Tony Parker chose to switch defenses with Bruce Bowen. Nehbar used his height advantage to overwhelm him for two consecutive defensive rounds. This made Parker really fed up with this matchup.

Sprewell is 1.9 meters [-] tall, and Parker is only eight centimeters shorter than "Madman" in height, and Parker can readily accept this gap.

Finding that the Spurs chose to switch defenses on the defensive end, Garnett directly gestured for everyone to pull away, and then handed the ball to Sprewell for singles.

Obviously, the Timberwolves are targeting Tony Parker. Even if Parker no longer defends Nehbar, he is still at a disadvantage against "Madman" Parker, and it may even be more difficult to defend.

Holding the ball and facing Parker, the madman showed disdain on his face: "Choose to defend me actively, and I will make you regret your decision."

Facing Parker, the "Madman" did not have any bells and whistles on the offensive end, and directly accelerated and broke through from the right side with all his strength.

Even though Parker's reaction speed was fast and he kept up with the pace without losing his position, but before Parker could react, the madman who was sprinting with all his strength directly pulled the ball back with his crotch.

This time the madman's rhythm changed continuously, and Parker failed to change his center of gravity immediately. After Parker reacted, the madman had already completed the shot with no defense within half a meter in front of him.

"Shu~"

The ball hit the net again, and the madman looked at Parker with disdain, as if expressing, "Garbage is garbage wherever it goes."

On the defensive end, he was hit by the Timberwolves for three consecutive offensive rounds, which made Parker's mentality gradually burst, and he even felt that the entire Timberwolves team was targeting him, and he was as ridiculous as a clown on the court!
For the next period of time, the Spurs will still maintain their regular style of play on the offensive end, mainly relying on the personal performance of the "troika" to lead the team.

The Spurs are not a good offensive team. This has been the case since the regular season. Compared with offense, the Spurs have always relied on defense to win.

It's just that compared to a purely defensive team like the Pistons, the Spurs' advantage lies in having Duncan, a superstar, who is more confident than the Pistons in the fourth quarter.

As long as the Spurs do not have Duncan, Popovich is at most a Budenholzer-level coach.

As for the Timberwolves on the offensive end, they have been targeting Parker. Whether Parker is defending "Madman" or defending Nehbar, the final result is the same, that is, the Timberwolves easily win the score.

"Shu~"

Until "Madman" Sprewell made another three-pointer against Parker, the Timberwolves had extended their lead to seven points.

The situation on the field made Spurs coach Popovich completely unbearable. He stood on the sidelines and called a timeout angrily, looking at Parker as if he wanted to tear him alive.

Obviously, Parker's defense has been so poor that Popovich can't bear to look directly at him. If Parker was targeted by the Timberwolves at first because of a misplacement on the field, then Parker's attitude in the next two defensive rounds was completely problematic.

This makes Popovich, who has always emphasized team discipline, unacceptable, even if it is not Parker's fault alone.

After the timeout, Popovich really replaced Parker off the court and chose to let Brent Barry play to increase the height of the Spurs' lineup on the court.

Even if Parker's end will make the Spurs struggle on the offensive end, Parker's defense seriously drags down the Spurs. Popovich can only let Ginobili play the first position, choosing to increase the height of the lineup to achieve a balance with the Timberwolves.

With the Spurs' substitution adjustments, the Timberwolves' offensive breakthrough disappeared, which made the Timberwolves have to compete with the Spurs for tactical execution.

The two teams fell into anxiety throughout the second half, and it became extremely difficult to score every time. Whether it was the Timberwolves or the Spurs, they could only let the stars use their personal abilities to barely score.

Fortunately, the Timberwolves have been leading the score by virtue of their advantage at the beginning of the game.

At the end of the first quarter, the Timberwolves led the Spurs by 25 points 19:6 at home, and Tony Parker never came up after leaving the field. It is estimated that Popovich wanted Parker to lead the rotation to catch up with the score in the second quarter.

This will also ensure that Tony Parker will not be continuously targeted by the Timberwolves.

Back in the second quarter, the two sides sent out a rotation lineup to compete. The depth of the Spurs' lineup this season is not bad, but Popovich has been using a nine-man rotation after entering the playoffs.

Among them, Glenn Robinson's average playing time is only 8.5 minutes per game, and Udri's average playing time is also only 11 minutes per game.

In most cases, Popovich still chooses to believe in the starting lineup, which is very different from the coaching style in the regular season. It can only be said that Popovich is a guy who knows how to pretend.

In the second team contest, the Timberwolves have a slight advantage here. This is still in the case of Tony Parker leading the bench in the second quarter, otherwise the Timberwolves may beat the Spurs in one fell swoop.

The fight between the two sides in the entire second quarter was still a little boring. Facing a defensive team like the Spurs, the Timberwolves could not play a defensive counterattack on the offensive end. The score was played very low.

However, unlike the first quarter, the second quarter became full of gunpowder, mainly because Eddie Griffin and Robert Horry sweared at each other on the court.

In the last match, Horry was pressed to the ground by Griffin and slapped wildly in the face, which made a rift between the two of them long ago.

When the enemy met, they were extremely jealous, and both of them appeared as power forwards. They were perfect in physical confrontation with each other. If it wasn't for the wrong occasion, I believe Griffin would have gone up and beat Horry again. Dog.

Even this scene made the referee hesitant, always considering whether to give a technical foul by one person, so as to avoid a conflict between the two on the court.

After all, Eddie Griffin has long been on the referee's blacklist. When he is on the court, even senior referees will tremble, fearing that this guy will cause any trouble again.

As Robert Horry and Eddie Griffin both got bigger and bigger, until a rebound scrambled, Horry elbowed Griffin's jaw, causing Griffin to fall to the ground, and the scene was immediately overshadowed by the sideline. The referee catches.

Immediately blew a first-degree flagrant foul on Horry.

The referee's penalty made Robert Holly dissatisfied, but Horry knew very well that if he complained to the referee at this time, he might be directly expelled by an additional technical offender.

So Horry turned around and taunted Eddie Griffin with his yin and yang: "Some trash will only flop to get attention. I really don't know what qualifications this kind of person has to play basketball."

"If I were you, I'd be embarrassed to appear on stage, you soft-legged shrimp who only know how to flop!"

After saying this, Robert Horry looked at Griffin vigilantly, fearing that Griffin would sneak up again like last time, and knock him down on the ground and beat him.

But what is abnormal is that Griffin, who has a bad temper, didn't get angry immediately this time, but rubbed his chin calmly, and turned his head to look at the head coach Luke who was sitting off the court.

"Sure enough, you coward!"

"If it wasn't for a sneak attack, I would have beaten you all over the place last time!" Robert Horry said mockingly.

Seeing coach Luke frowning, Griffin seemed to be apologizing, "I'm sorry coach, I can't help it."

"Go to hell you bastard!"

Hearing Eddie Griffin growl, he suddenly turned around and punched Horry in the face. The punch was so fast that Horry, who was vigilant, was caught off guard.

Obviously Eddie Griffin was looking at Luke from the bench just now, but he suddenly turned around and punched Horry.

When Robert Horry regained his composure, Griffin had already rushed forward and kicked him to the ground, and before the others rushed over, Griffin punched Horry in the head several times. Horry could only lie on the ground covering his head, unable to get up at all.

This scene made Bruce Bowen rush to this side immediately, but before Bowen rushed forward, the madman put his arms around Bowen's shoulders. From the fans' point of view, it was like a greeting between two good brothers.

"I advise you to stay still, or I will really beat you to death!" Strangling Bowen's neck, the madman calmly revealed a sneer.

　There are no chapters, they are put together, and it will be on the shelves this Friday (16th), and it has basically been confirmed.

　　Ask for a recommendation ticket, ask for a monthly ticket!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)