In the basketball world, starting from the 99 World Youth Championship

Chapter 63 The Detail-Oriented Poppy

Popovich is also very specific about this game. He only pays attention to two points-Reggie Miller and Zhang Tian.

When the latter was in the U19 World Youth Championship, the general manager of the Spurs, Buford, once visited him, and he wanted to use a relatively late pick to train him, but he did not expect the Pacers to be so majestic. He traded the starting No. [-] pick for the No. [-] pick.Let the Spurs' idea come to nothing.

Since you can't become a soldier under your own command, then just destroy it. From Popovich's perspective, there are only two options: enemy and non-enemy. This may be related to his young experience.

"Mario, Chuck, Terry, you guys are always on standby, and so is Malik. We have to play this game."

The Spurs' starting lineup basically won't change much, with Johnson, Mario Alley, Chucky Brown, Tim Duncan and David Robinson.

In the jump ball between the two sides, the Spurs won. The general did not rush to the Pacers' half court, and Mark Jackson also did not steal.

In terms of the compatibility of the two veteran point guards, Mark Jackson has a stronger organization and the young general's defense is more stable.The little general came in front of the big-ass point guard, and directly asked for a pick-and-roll with Duncan on the inside.

The No. 21 rookie quickly came out of the inside and gave Avery Johnson a very beautiful screen. The latter broke through to the inside, but the picture of Zhang Tian's defense that Popovich expected did not appear.

The third position of the Pacers is still looking at Mario Eli. As for the little general, he can shoot as much as he wants. Although his mid-range shooting is average in the league, he is not a threat at all compared to Mario Eli. grade.

Swipe, when the Pacers had no one to help defend, the little general hit the first goal of the game.Popovich lifted his chin on the sidelines, and his eyes turned to the player in the Pacers' yellow No. [-] jersey. Could it be that this guy was just entangled by Avery, so it was too late to help defend?
The two sides switched offense and defense, and gave Popovich the answer. Mario Oli was close to Zhang Tian, ​​and at the same time, his hands would move in parts that the referee could not see. The latter also retaliated.

Before Popovich brought out Bowen and Horry, Avery was the dirtiest player on the Spurs.

Zhang Tian took the initiative to reach out for the ball. Although Reggie Miller had no difficulty playing Chucky Brown in the second position, Mark Jackson still passed the ball to Zhang Tian.

Zhang Tian got the ball and shook it. Of course Avery would not jump up like a normal fool. The former also understood that he chose to turn his back on his back, leaned twice, stepped forward with his left foot, and turned around. Inside, when the Spurs' No. [-] position did not respond, they shot directly.Swipe, the ball is scored.

Cross-step turnaround shooting is not generally easy to use against the old, weak, sick and disabled. Jordan, Pierce, and Kobe have all proved it, especially Jordan and Kobe. It is even more difficult to make the defender more difficult.

Zhang Tian can't fall back, but his shot speed is faster than Kobe and Jordan, so Mario Eli can't react at all, and the ball is scored.

"Beautiful score, I thought that Zhang would enter the rookie wall after the game against Jamal Mashburn. I didn't expect that his performance would be normal again in the next few games. This guy really doesn't look like a guy. 18-year-old young man."

Skipcare is very curious about Zhang Tian, ​​and this guy is considered an evergreen tree in the American sports commentary circle.

"Zhang, this rookie, what impresses me the most is his ability to learn and read the game. His three-point level is already top-notch in the league, but the opponent is not obsessed with this offense like Boston's No. [-] , this is the point that makes me most happy.”

Hubie Brown also spoke. As an old-school head coach, he doesn't like young people like Zhang Tian who shoot [-]-pointers indiscriminately. But after seven games, Zhang Tian has conquered some diehards with his performance. .

The Spurs' offense continued, Duncan got the ball in the low post, Jermaine didn't put it up immediately, which gave him room to turn around, and then shot directly near the penalty area, bang, the Pacers' [-]th position seems to have been waiting for this for a long time Engraved.

Referee No. 13 didn't call a foul, but gave the Spurs the ball. Duncan glanced at Xiao Ao. This baby face didn't look like he was delivering food.

With nearly 15 seconds left for the Spurs to attack, Avery Johnson organized at the top of the arc for a long time, and finally chose to hand the ball to Mario Avery. Avery received the ball, and Zhang Tian immediately pressed for it. He chose to dribble behind his back to avoid. He escaped Zhang Tian's steal, but there was not much time left to attack.

With less than two seconds left in the shot clock, Mario Alley chose a three-point shot. Zhang Tian jumped up in front of him and wanted to block the shot, but he couldn't reach it at all. Bang, the ball hit the iron. The rebound was taken by Xiao Ao.The latter made a long pass and found Zhang Tian. Zhang Tian wanted to break fast, but was interrupted by a foul by Mario Eli, and the Spurs also called a timeout.

Although only a few short rounds of offense, Popovich has already discovered the disadvantages of the Spurs lineup. Except for Duncan, everyone else in their starting lineup is uncles over 30 years old, and the most cheating thing is that these uncles are completely Not the stream of consciousness, but the stream of the body.What aging brings them is that they can't run fast, jump high, and can't do anything. Apart from being able to count their WeChat steps back and forth on the field, they can't do anything else.

"Run, have you forgotten what I said, Tim and David need space on the inside, and you have to run on the outside, I don't want to see everyone catch the ball statically. Malik you go , Chucky down, Mario goes to number two."

Malik Rose, a small forward who can play the fourth position, came up, and the opponent was one of the few immediate combat powers in the Spurs' bench. As for Terry Porter, Jeremy Kersey and others, they were completely confused Just days.

Rose is a typical physical player. You can think of him as a poor version of James. His scoring area comes entirely from the three-second zone, except for that area, which is just a decoration.

But the opponent's defense is still very good, at least stronger than Mario Oli's old arms and legs. Popovich let the opponent come up to consume Zhang Tian's energy.

The Spurs coach knows very well that Zhang Tian is the X factor of the Pacers this season, and his performance will directly affect the victory or defeat of the Cornfields, even though his statistics are not the best in the team.But the head coach of Slavic descent from the KGB will not let go of any detail.

(End of this chapter)