NBA: James wants to team up with me

Chapter 189 Bulls vs. Spurs in the finals, Li Gui meets Li Kui

Compared with Duncan, Wang Chong naturally has no advantage based on ability value. The Bulls' lineup has a clear advantage compared with the teams in the Eastern Conference, but this is not the case when facing the Spurs.

Although Billups is highly rated by Wang Chong, he is one of the top point guards currently ranked among the top point guards in terms of strength.

But Tony Parker obviously wants to be above Billups.

If you compare the two throughout their careers, they are almost on par. Their statistics are close, both averaging about 15 points and 5.5 assists per game.

In terms of personal honors, they also have an FMVP.

Billups was selected to the All-NBA Team three times in his career and to the All-Defensive Team twice.

Tony Parker has been selected to the All-NBA Team four times in his career, and is basically tied in this regard.

Of course, if you count the championship, Billups can't compare to Parker. After all, Parker has won four championships with the Spurs, which can be described as successful. Although Billups is also a championship guard and has the FMVP trophy, a championship and The four championships are definitely not worth comparing.

In terms of horizontal comparison in these aspects, it is indeed difficult to distinguish between the two. Parker's defense is slightly inferior to Billups, but it is definitely not a weakness, and his flexibility and mobility are not comparable to Billups. of.

But the difference between the two is precisely reflected here.

Parker is a standard speed defender, and his offense is mostly focused on breaking through with the ball.

Billups' lateral movement speed is relatively slow among guards. He is good at defending strong players, or simply directly defending the opponent's shooting guard.

The two played against each other in the 04-05 season finals. At that time, Parker had just entered the league for four years and was still Duncan's younger brother. He performed very well in the playoffs, averaging 17 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists per game. .

But in the finals, Parker was easily handled by Billups, and his average data plummeted to 13.9 points, 3.4 assists, and 3.1 turnovers.

On the other hand, Billups, with 20.4 points, 5 rebounds and 6.3 assists, is the core of the Pistons' offense and gives the Spurs a headache.

But that was two years ago after all. At that time, Billups was 28 years old and at his peak, while Parker was only 22 years old and still very immature.

But now, Parker is 24 years old and has become the core of the Spurs' outside offense. He is no longer the soft persimmon who was easily manipulated by Billups.

Wang Chong estimated that there is a high probability that the two of them can only compete at a 50-50 ratio on the court. Billups can use his physical and strength advantages to beat Parker, but his speed against Parker is not very good. coping methods.

But Ginobili, one of the GDP, Wang Chong doesn't think Bell can restrain. Although he was successfully selected to the All-Defensive Team this season and is recognized as the league's top perimeter defense expert, Ginobili, as the Spurs' third player Six players came off the bench, and their explosive scoring power in their limited playing time was no less impressive than those of the league's top superstars.

Someone once said that Ginobili is Michael Jordan for 30 minutes. Although this is a bit exaggerated, it can well explain Ginobili's characteristics.

With plenty of physical strength, Ginobili's offensive firepower is indeed powerful, and it would be difficult for Bell alone to prevent him.

The most important thing is that basketball is not a one-on-one game. Wang Chong and the Bulls have to face the entire Spurs team, from head coach Popovich to GDP and even the role players on the bench. , this is a whole, and their strong overall collaboration ability is also strong.

As the playoffs progressed to the finals, Wang Chongcai felt the pressure for the first time.

If possible, he naturally wants to lead the team to defeat the Spurs and win the championship this season, complete the system upgrade task in one go, and enter the upgrade path to improve his abilities early.

But facing the Spurs, the strongest and most dominant team in the 06-07 season, he really didn't have that confidence.

Or to put it another way, even if facing the defense of the Spurs and Bruce Bowen, Wang Chong can still stably average 30+ points per game and maintain a high scoring efficiency. But if he wants to win, he only needs to average 30+ points per game. It's definitely not enough, you also need the performance of your teammates.

Whether other Bulls players can perform normally when facing opponents of the Spurs' level is the key to winning. It's not a good feeling to feel that the fate of the team is not in their own hands.

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2007 6 Month 7 Day.

It's still the United Center, home of the Bulls.

NBA Finals opener, Bulls vs Spurs.

Bulls starting lineup: Billups, Bell, Luol Deng, Wang Chong, Chandler.

Spurs starting lineup: Tony Parker, Bowen, Michael Finley, Tim Duncan, Fabricio Oberto.

Simply looking at the starting lineup, there is not much difference between the two teams. Even the Bulls have regular season MVP Wang Chong, best defensive player DPOY Tyson Chandler and third-team point guard Billups. It still has some slight advantages.

But the Spurs also have Ginobili, Robert Horry and other players on the bench. On the other hand, on the Bulls' bench, the only one who can do anything is Paul Millsap, and he is also a first-year rookie. During this period, Millsap was basically not expected to contribute much.

Duncan and Chandler jumped the ball and the game officially began.

Wang Chong soon discovered that what he worried about happened.

The Spurs' defense is indeed at the same level as the Bulls, and it is the only one in the league. Especially after entering the playoffs, the defensive intensity has further improved. Just after they played against each other, Wang Chong clearly noticed the problem. severity.

The Bulls' offensive tactical system itself is much simpler than the defensive system. It mainly relies on Wang Chong's singles with the ball and point guard Billups' pick-and-roll tactics, supplemented by Luol Deng and Bell's off-ball play. Law, combined to build the Bulls' offense.

When facing other teams in the league, this kind of offense is enough. Wang Chong's singles with the ball itself is unsolvable. Combined with Billups' rich experience and pick-and-roll tactics, it can completely support the Bulls' offensive system.

But facing the Spurs, Wang Chong's singles still worked well, but other people's offense did not.

Bell and Luol Deng were both targeted. One had almost no chance to catch the ball outside the three-point line, and the other was completely left open on the outside. However, once he tried to move into the penalty area, he would immediately be taken care of.

Luol Deng's weaknesses were exposed.

As a defensive general, Luol Deng is very good on the defensive end, but he lacks the most important 3 for a 3D player.

Breaking down the top 3D players in the league, including Bell, Bowen and even Artest, the leader in forward defense, they are all players with excellent three-point shooting ability.

On the other hand, Luol Deng, although he averaged 16 points per game this season, almost all of his points came from attacking the basket. His three-point shooting rate was less than 30%, and he averaged less than 1 shot per game.

Wang Chong has actually been consciously letting Luol Deng practice his three-point shooting ability, but he also knows that even at his peak, Luol Deng's three-point shooting percentage was only 36.7%, and it was only %. It only lasted one season.

<divclass="contentadv">As a forward defensive warrior, Luol Deng is indeed not a qualified 3D player.

The Spurs keenly grasped Luol Deng's weakness and made a highly targeted defensive strategy.

The Spurs put the most effort into defending Billups.

Obviously Spurs head coach Popovich believes that Billups' performance is the key to victory or defeat.

This does not mean that Wang Chong is unimportant. On the contrary, Popovich has determined that even if they go out in full force, it will be difficult for them to limit Wang Chong's scoring, so he will defend other Bulls players and Wang Chong. One's strategy for scoring points.

The effect of this move is outstanding.

In the first quarter of the game, the Bulls had no offensive rhythm and could only rely on Wang Chong's personal singles to advance.

After the first quarter, the Spurs led by 26 points at 21:5.

王崇单节9投5中，罚球2中2，得到14分，但公牛队其他球员加起来仅得到7分。

That's not the worst.

The Bulls not only have problems on the offensive end, but also on the defensive end.

The Bulls averaged the lowest points per game in the league during the regular season, even lower than the Spurs. Chandler and Bell were selected as the best first defense, Wang Chong was selected as the second defense, and they also won the DPOY best defensive player. These are all What the Bulls accomplished on the defensive end.

But in fact, the Bulls' defensive system was born out of the Spurs.

Bulls head coach Scott Scales is not a talented coach with outstanding abilities and his own ideas. His coaching style is step-by-step and he simply does not have this ability.

Therefore, Wang Chongcai suggested that the team study more Spurs game videos and copy a defensive system from the Spurs almost like a mechanical copy.

Chandler imitated Duncan, while Luol Deng and Bell imitated Bowen or Finley.

The Bulls have an advantage over the Spurs in that Wang Chong, as a forward player, can be both inside and outside on the defensive end. In addition, Billups' defensive ability at the point guard position far exceeds that of Parker. The Bulls have high defensive efficiency during the regular season. It is also normal for the Spurs.

But when two teams really meet, genuine meets pirated, Li Gui meets Li Kui, it’s completely over.

The Spurs' defensive system was originally created by Popovich. With just one glance, he could see that the Bulls' defensive tactics were derived from the Spurs. Popovich, who has a deep understanding of the Spurs' defensive system, certainly knew that they were the most important. What kind of offense is he afraid of, and he obviously made arrangements in advance before the finals.

Whether it's Duncan's back-up singles with the ball in the penalty area, or Parker's breakthrough attack to the basket, the timing and location of the attack will be chosen when the Bulls' defensive transition is the most blunt, and it is quite easy to tear the Bulls apart. An unbreakable iron wall during the Eastern Conference playoffs.

Under normal circumstances, a master's duel is all about seeing every move. When the opponent cracks his own tactics, what the coach should do is to immediately make tactical adjustments to deal with the opponent's attacks.

But Scott Skiles obviously does not have this ability.

After the first quarter of the game, Scott took the tactical board and asked the players to gather around. However, after talking for a long time, it was just a roundabout talk. After talking for a long time, the result was just to educate the players. I had a meal of chicken soup for the soul and told them to work hard.

Wang Chong was a little speechless as he listened. This guy just told Wang Chong to think of a way, so that he could successfully transform Tyron Lu. Maybe it would really inspire Wang Chong's small universe and defeat his opponent with his own strength. .

But this cannot be forced.

Scott himself is not a famous head coach, and he has not achieved any achievements worth mentioning in his 14-year coaching career.

On the contrary, in the past two years with Wang Chong, Scott has become popular in the coaching circle. This season, he was even elected as the All-Star head coach and won the best coach in the season award with the Bulls' 69-win record.

Scott, who has been blessed with various auras, is obviously a little elated, and even having all this is due to his own hard work.

But the fact is obviously not the case. All the credit for the strength of the Bulls comes from Wang Chong. From the selection of the player lineup, the formulation of the team's tactics and even the training direction of key players are all suggestions provided by Wang Chong.

If it weren't for Wang Chong's in-depth study of tactics, he would be able to imitate James in the future, snatching away Tyronn Lue's tactical board and telling his teammates tactics, and then Tyronn Lue would listen to him in confusion, and from time to time The famous scene of nodding in agreement.

There is no way. After all, Wang Chong was just an ordinary fan before time travel. How could he have the professional knowledge of a professional coach? His advantage is that as a time traveler, he has tactical concepts ahead of this era and an understanding of the future development direction of each player.

To put it more simply, it's okay to let him plan the general direction by talking on paper, but if he goes into battle to command, it will be blinding.

Therefore, when the Bulls' tactics were targeted and the execution was not smooth, the Bulls players could only stare at the head coach with big eyes and small eyes, unable to figure out anything.

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In the subsequent games, the Bulls players could only play on their own. When Wang Chong was on the court, he would hand the ball to Wang Chong for singles. If Wang Chong came off the court to rest, Billups would continue to hold the ball and play pick-and-roll tactics. Although the offensive efficiency is not high, it is better than doing nothing and hanging up.

The results speak for themselves.

At 94:88, the Bulls suffered their first playoff defeat at home, and they suffered a head-on defeat.

王崇整场比赛24投14中，三分球7中3，罚球6中6，全场砍下37分11篮板5助攻，但公牛全队仅他与比卢普斯两人得分上双，而且比卢普斯15投5中得到14分，投篮命中率仅33%。

Looking back at the Spurs, Duncan easily scored 25 points, 14 rebounds and 5 blocks, dominating the penalty area.

At the same time, Parker scored 21 points and Ginobili scored 19 points.

It can be said that this game is not a gap in the team lineup or player level, but entirely a gap in tactical execution and changes.

This also made Wang Chong realize that if he wants to win, he must not only work hard on the players, but also have an excellent coach.

An excellent team lineup, a coach with excellent coaching ability, and an offensive core who will not stretch his hips at critical moments are the qualities that a winning team should have.

The best template in this regard is undoubtedly the Bulls dynasty that created two three consecutive championships.