Basketball boy, starting to shine from the slam dunk

After watching the video analysis and Coach Scott gave instructions one by one, everyone left the video analysis room and went to the training gym for some simple training, mainly to do some advance rehearsals for the upcoming series against the Jazz.

For example, how to defend and how to attack.

Although the players are all professionals and their tactical skills are beyond doubt, it is still necessary to rehearse in advance to avoid any mistakes.

By the time the training was over, it was already 5pm and the players left.

At the same time, the Jazz coaching staff also gave the players some analysis and arrangements, and after the players left, they returned to the meeting room.

Several members of the coaching staff sat together.

Head coach Quin Snyder spoke first: "Does anyone have anything to add about the upcoming series against the Lakers?"

Several teaching assistants looked at each other and spoke one after another.

"I think we still can't relax our defense against other Lakers players. Although Zhuang Yu is really good, other players should not be underestimated either."

"The opponent's defense will definitely target Mitchell. I certainly believe in Mitchell's strength, but I think we should still be more prepared. We can't just rely on Mitchell. For players like Gobert, Rubio, Favors, and Ingles, we should formulate some tactics for them. When Mitchell can't open up, they need to stand up."

"No, I think the most important thing is to defend Zhuang Yu. Just double-team him and force him to pass the ball. If you're lucky..."

Several teaching assistants spoke one after another and expressed their opinions.

In fact, they had discussed how to defend and attack before and developed some response strategies.

Coach Schneider has just given instructions to the players.

But they all knew that their opponents were very strong, so they couldn't help but feel worried.

Listening to the comments from several people, Coach Schneider smiled bitterly in his heart. It's not that there is anything wrong with what the assistant coaches said, but knowing what to do and being able to do it are two different things.

It doesn't mean that the players will be able to execute whatever he gives as the head coach.

For example, regarding the defense against Zhuang Yu, does it mean that the Jazz players he arranges will definitely be able to defend against Zhuang Yu?

impossible.

Sometimes it is not a problem of tactics and strategy, but a problem of the players' personal abilities. Even if he racks his brains and comes up with a good solution, it will be useless if the players cannot execute it well.

After some discussion, nothing constructive came out.

Coach Schneider waved his hand, indicating that it was over for today. Seeing the assistant coaches leave, he sighed in his heart: "I hope the players can perform well."

......

Soon, the playoffs arrived.

On April 4, the Lakers faced the Utah Jazz at home in the first game of the first round of the playoffs.

The auditorium was packed with people, with the attendance rate reaching 70%.

This attendance rate is not low, but it is not very high either.

After all, this is only the first round of the playoffs, and there is an obvious gap in strength between the two sides, so fans are not that interested in this game.

Soon, players from both sides came out.

For a moment, boos and cheers sounded one after another, and the huge sound echoed in the stadium, forming a sharp contrast.

The players from both teams began to warm up, and the cheers from the audience became weaker, with people gathering in groups of three or four to whisper.

"It's a pity that they are playing against the Jazz. It would be better if they were playing against the Thunder. Zhuang Yu vs. Westbrook would definitely be exciting."

"Who made the Thunder so weak? Westbrook and George played so well, but they are only ranked seventh in the Western Conference."

"How many points do you think Zhuang Yu can get today?"

"At least 30 points. The Jazz will definitely not be able to defend him. But it doesn't matter how many points Zhuang Yu gets. We can definitely win the game..."

"Haha, yes."

The discussions of the home fans reached the ears of the Jazz players, making them very unhappy. We haven't even started the game yet, so why do they think we are going to lose?

.....

Soon the warm-up was over and the game was about to begin.

The players from both teams returned to the sidelines, the head coach made some arrangements, and then the game officially began and the starting players of both teams came onto the court.

The Lakers still have their regular starters, including Holiday, Zhuang Yu, Korver, Anderson, and Lopez.

The Jazz's starting lineup is Ricky Rubio, Donovan Mitchell, Joe Ingles, Derrick Favors, and Rudy Gobert.

First there was a jump ball, and Gobert touched the basketball first and hit it to the backcourt.

Mitchell controlled the ball and advanced, passed the ball to Rubio in the frontcourt, and then moved to the right, first crossing with his teammates, and then using the cover of his teammates to get rid of them, then running back and reaching out to Rubio for the ball.

Rubio pushed with both hands and immediately passed the ball to Mitchell.

At this time, Holiday was blocked and could not catch up in the first time, but the Lakers quickly made up for the defense, and Anderson rushed in front of Mitchell. Mitchell glanced at the basket, dribbled the ball to his left hand, lowered his left shoulder, and pretended to break through to the left, followed by a front body change, switched the ball to his right hand again, and accelerated again.

Mitchell is only 191cm tall, but in fact he may not be that tall. The reason why he can play so well is because of his excellent skills, explosive speed and explosive power.

When he changed direction and accelerated, he instantly passed Anderson by most of his body. Anderson hurriedly turned sideways and tried to stick to Mitchell, but he couldn't keep up with the speed.

"Back up the defense," Anderson yelled.

Lopez stood in the inside, hunched over, his eyes fixed on Mitchell, ready to jump up and block this guy at any time.

The next moment, Mitchell rushed to the inside, jumped up towards Lopez, first lifted the ball in the air, then bent his knees and tightened his abdomen, brought the lifted ball back and made an aerial dodge, and his curled up body stretched out when he fell.

Swish!

Pull the lever to hit.

At the beginning, Mitchell made a beautiful pull-up layup, which excited the Jazz bench. A group of substitute players cheered and applauded him.

......

Lakers offense.

Holiday dribbled the ball forward and looked at Zhuang Yu after reaching the frontcourt.

Zhuang Yu waved at him, Holiday nodded, and called a pick-and-roll. When Lopez mentioned the pick-and-roll, he moved to the left. At this time, it was not Mitchell but Rubio who faced Holiday. With the help of the pick-and-roll, Holiday got rid of Rubio, but Gobert appeared in front of him.

Gobert's delay came up quickly, but this also gave Holiday a chance. Holiday lowered his center of gravity, changed direction and accelerated to pass Gobert.

However, Holiday did not choose to layup himself. After passing Gobert, Favors rushed over to defend, and Holiday flicked the ball to Anderson with one hand.

At this time, Anderson cut along the right baseline, received the pass from Holiday, and made a one-handed jump shot.

The score is 2:2.

When the ball returned to the Jazz, Mitchell came to the frontcourt and asked for the ball again, then called a pick-and-roll, switched defense, and attacked the basket again.

This time he chose to confront first, leaning towards Lopez, forcing Lopez to be unable to jump up, while Mitchell made a layup in the air.

"Damn it, how did this guy score again?"

"Be careful."

In the audience stands, the home fans cheered loudly.

Both Holiday and Lopez frowned. Mitchell scored two goals in a row at the beginning. It was obvious that their defense was not good enough.

Zhuang Yu came over and said to the two of them, "We need to bypass the pick-and-roll in advance, shrink the defense line, and block the powerful position to prevent Mitchell from rushing."

For these two balls, Mitchell relied on his speed and explosiveness. After forming a pick-and-roll, he used his speed to break through. After getting into the inside, he used his strong explosiveness and fast bounce speed. Before Lopez had time to jump, he had already jumped up and leaned towards Lopez, so that Lopez could not jump.

Otherwise, given Lopez's height, it would not be easy for Mitchell to score over him.

"Ah."

"it is good."

The two agreed.

......

A moment later, Mitchell got the ball again and called for a pick-and-roll, but this time Holiday was prepared and went around him in advance and was not blocked.

Seeing this situation, Mitchell raised his eyebrows slightly, but didn't care. He made continuous crossover steps and tried to pass Holiday, but failed.

Mitchell frowned, hesitated for a moment, and passed the ball.

Just a few dozen seconds later, Mitchell tried to play one-on-one again.

This time he played decisively, changing direction under his hips, then stopping and starting quickly, using the change of rhythm and speed to pass Holiday. However, the Lakers quickly shrank their defense, and Lopez stood in the three-second zone, staring straight at Mitchell.

Mitchell didn't hesitate and jumped towards Lopez, trying to score over Lopez's head, but he failed this time.

Lopez jumped vertically with a very restrained movement, without any suspicion of foul. He just raised his arms high and covered Mitchell's head.

boom!

With a muffled sound, the ball hit the iron.

Coach Schneider on the sidelines gave a bitter smile, Mitchell's height was still a disadvantage.

This defeat made Mitchell a little unhappy, but he quickly adjusted his strategy and stopped attacking the inside line and shot from the outside...

......

"Shh!"

With a slight click, Mitchell made a mid-range jump shot.

The home fans were a little surprised. Mitchell was in such good shape today. He broke through and shot, and he could score no matter how he played.

Coach Scott couldn't help but frown, wondering whether to let Zhuang Yu defend Mitchell. Holiday's defense is very strong, but Mitchell is in too good a state today. He seems unable to hold Mitchell down. If it is replaced by Zhuang Yu...

At this moment, Zhuang Yu ran back to get the ball, held it at his waist, waved to his teammates, signaling them to move away, and he wanted to play one-on-one against Mitchell.