NBA: James wants to team up with me

Chapter 198: Defeat the Spurs and reborn the Bulls

The Bulls vs Spurs game officially begins.

The Spurs' starting lineup is exactly the same as last season's championship lineup, with point guard Parker, shooting guard Bowen, small forward Finley, power forward Duncan, and center Oberto.

The Bulls, who had six games with the Spurs in the Finals three months ago, have already undergone a major lineup overhaul, replacing three of their starting five.

Point guard Billups, shooting guard James Jones, small forward Wang Chong, power forward Garnett, and center Gasol.

Looking at this lineup, Spurs coach Popovich has a headache.

In last year's finals, although the Spurs won relatively easily, he was already a little worried. The Bulls' lineup was too young, and their future growth was limitless. As long as a few young players were more powerful, Even if the Spurs have a tactical advantage, they may be able to close the gap with their superior personal ability.

But he never expected that the Bulls would choose a more radical approach, using a five-for-one stud to bring in Garnett.

As a result, the Bulls' complete lineup was directly split, and two 31-year-old veterans in Garnett and Billups were added to the lineup.

Judging from the strength of the lineup on paper, the Bulls have assembled a Big Three lineup with two regular season MVPs in their prime years, plus an All-Star point guard. But if Popovich’s team coach and general manager is From a perspective, this is tantamount to forcing the seedlings to grow.

If the Big Three of the Bulls fail to win the championship within three years, they will lose everything except Wang Chong, and potential new players will become old and highly paid veterans. While firmly locking the team's salary space, the team's combat strength will also change. As the age of the two veterans increases, they continue to decline and lose their competitiveness.

But it is undeniable that, at least this season, the pressure brought by the Bulls' Big Three lineup on Popovich is quite strong.

After all, whether it is Wang Chong or Garnett, their personal abilities are enough to give the Spurs a drink.

The two teams jumped the ball in the midfield, and Garnett stopped at the midline. The Spurs completely lost their desire to compete for the ball.

Duncan has static talent that is not inferior to Garnett in terms of height and wingspan, but he is completely unable to compare with the Wolf King in terms of jumping and explosive power.

At this time, Garnett is not in his twilight state a few years later, and still has good jumping and explosive power.

When the referee threw the basketball into the sky, he immediately jumped up to the sky and moved the basketball to his side.

Bulls offense.

Billups steadily controlled the ball through half court and stood at the top of the arc. At the same time, the Bulls all stretched out.

Just looking at the positions of the five Bulls players, Popovich couldn't help but raise his eyebrows.

The positions are too scattered. Billups, Wang Chong and Jones are standing in a triangle outside the three-point line. One is the top arc, one is 45 degrees to the left, and the other is the bottom corner to the right.

At the same time, Garnett stood in the corner, and even Gasol did not go inside. He stood in the left corner at least twelve feet away from the basket.

In just three months, the Bulls' tactics have made Popovich feel very unfamiliar.

Needless to say, the shooting abilities of the two guards are natural. Wang Chong and Garnett are also forward players who are proficient in mid-to-long-range shooting.

"Could it be that Pau Gasol's younger brother is also proficient in mid-range shooting?"

As soon as the idea came to Popovich's mind, he laughed at his own stupidity.

Is not this nonsensical? Among the big men from Europe who have also played in European professional leagues, how many can’t shoot?

But as a result, the Spurs' defensive front was completely stretched.

Garnett, who was standing in the corner, just lifted up slightly and immediately formed a pick-and-roll for Billups. The latter accelerated into the penalty area with the ball, and made an easy layup before Duncan's defense came up.

Billups' main style of play is exactly the same as last season. It is still a pick-and-roll breakthrough and three-point shooting from the outside, but the players in the pick-and-roll are different, and the effect is completely different.

In the past, neither Chandler nor Luol Deng of the Bulls had the ability to shoot. The Spurs could arrange players to sit in the penalty area and wait for work, but against this new Bulls, this trick did not work.

The Bulls' changes are not only reflected on the offensive end, but also on the defensive end.

Although Tyson Chandler won the best defensive player, a large part of the reason was due to the team's 69 wins in the regular season. In terms of true defensive level, Chandler wants to compete with Garnett. , there is obviously still a big gap compared to top interior defensive players like Duncan.

When the Spurs attack, Tony Parker follows suit and chooses a pick-and-roll attack like Billups.

After Duncan pulled up to the high post to screen for Parker, the latter accelerated with the ball and took advantage of his speed to rush straight into the penalty area.

But a tall figure quickly followed up, spreading his arms to completely cover Parker like a sun!

It was Garnett who came.

Looking at the history of the league, Garnett's speed in assisting defense is rare among the top post players. His speed and explosiveness are too fast among big players. Not big) and Howard of Warcraft is comparable to it.

Seeing that there was no room for action, Parker, who did not want to be served by Garnett, could only run back to the outside in a circle, and suddenly made a cold arrow shot from the outside. Of course, the hasty attack failed to hit.

Gasol, who was stuck in position under the basket in advance, steadily protected the rebound.

The Bulls' second offense.

Popovich stood up and came to the sideline, and gave center Oberto a few words while returning to defense.

After the players on both sides were in position, Gasol discovered that Oberto, who was facing him, directly retreated into the penalty area and did not follow him as closely as he did in the previous round.

After being slightly stunned, Gasol immediately understood that the opponent did not believe in his mid-range shooting ability.

But he also knew very well that when he first arrived, despite his excellent luck, he encountered a situation where the Bulls did not have a main center. As a result, he was placed in the center position, but it was impossible to really play as the team's main attacker.

But when he was thinking this, Billups' pass passed directly to his hands the next moment.

Gasol was stunned for a moment after receiving the ball, and then subconsciously raised his hand to shoot. Oberto, who took the initiative to retreat to the basket, was too late to defend him at this time.

"Shh!"

<divclass="contentadv">Gasol, who was standing in the corner on the right, steadily hit the shot nearly fifteen feet from the basket.

Others may not know Gasol's technical characteristics, but how could Wang Chong not know?

Although he is slightly inferior to his brother Pau Gasol in terms of mid- and long-range shooting, Gasol's open mid-range shooting ability is definitely not bad, especially shooting from the free throw line.

In the original 08-09 season, Gasol's best mid-range area when he first landed in the NBA was near the right side of the free throw line. His shooting percentage was as high as 55.8%, which was almost as close as the 57.3% shooting rate at the basket.

Gasol's main offensive method is actually at the basket. After all, his weight of over 250 kilograms makes him not as flexible as Pau Gasol. It is easier to score when squatting in the penalty area, but absolutely no one dares to do so on the court. Easily let go of his mid- to long-range shots.

Later in his career, Gasol even developed his three-point shooting ability. In the 16-17 season, Gasol averaged 3.6 three-pointers per game and could make 1.4, with a three-point shooting percentage of 38.8. %.

Of course, Gasol is definitely not that strong at this stage, and his skills are not comprehensive, but the problem is that he is not the Bulls' main offensive point at all. As long as he has such shooting ability, it is enough to contain the opponent's defensive space.

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The fans at the Spurs' home court felt that something was not right. Why were the Spurs beaten by the Bulls just after the game started?

The Bulls' various scores can easily tear apart the Spurs' defense, but switching to the Spurs' offense, it is extremely difficult to score, including Duncan, who can only use his strength advantage to squeeze in due to Garnett's entanglement. Scored a forced dunk under the basket.

This resulted in the two teams ending the first quarter with the score reaching 29:22, with the Spurs trailing by 7 points at home.

And that's not the worst thing, because Wang Chong obviously didn't exert any force in the first quarter. Many times he just stood in the bottom corner or 45-degree position outside the three-point line, making no big moves.

But the more this happens, the more psychological pressure he brings to the Spurs.

Wang Chong's three-pointers are no joke. Last season, he averaged more than 40% shooting per game, especially in the two corners. With the blessing of the gold-level corner three-point shooter badge, Wang Chong's accuracy was terrifying.

The Spurs couldn't even imagine what kind of powerful offensive firepower Wang Chong would unleash in the remaining three quarters after failing to exert any force in the first quarter.

They knew it right away.

Wang Chong, who only made 3 of 2 shots in the first quarter and scored 5 points, began to significantly increase the number of shots in the second quarter.

Wang Chong played the entire second quarter, making 12 of 7 shots and 4 of 4 free throws. He scored 18 points in a single quarter and 21 points in the half!

The sudden outburst caught the Spurs off guard and they were completely unable to defend.

In the finals last season, the Spurs arranged for Duncan to defend Wang Chong. Wang Chong happened to be playing the power forward position in the Bulls at the time, so the two were in a matchup situation.

But now the situation has changed significantly. After Garnett arrived, Wang Chong seamlessly switched from the power forward position to the small forward position, but Duncan could not follow Wang Chong to the small forward position. Besides, the Bulls also had Garnett inside. He needs to be guarded.

Don't underestimate Garnett's scoring ability. Although Garnett's main offensive method is fadeaway jumpers, although his scoring explosiveness and upper limit are not high enough, Duncan has averaged 20+ points per game for nine consecutive seasons. Did it.

When Duncan went to face Garnett, it was difficult for the Spurs to find a player who could match up with Wang Chong.

Bruce Bowen, who was selected as the best first defense last season?

Bowen's real height is 2 meters, which is a huge height gap between him and Wang Chong. The huge disparity in size makes any defensive skills meaningless. The only way Bowen wants to limit Wang Chong's scoring is to step on his feet. Wang Chong's offense mostly focuses on jump shots. , there is still a chance of being injured by malicious stepping.

But the problem is that Bowen is notorious, so how could Wang Chong not take precautions?

Whenever he faced Bowen's defense, Wang Chong was extra careful. After a jump shot, he would also pay special attention to whether there would be a sinister black foot in the landing position.

Both are the best defensive players on the outside with a height of 2 meters. There is still a big difference between Bowen and the future Leonard. Although Leonard is only 01 meters tall, he has a wingspan of 2 meters and a pair of Exaggeratedly big hands make him quite disruptive when pressing closely against the defender.

Bowen does not have Leonard's exaggerated wingspan, and his strength and confrontation ability are far inferior to Leonard's.

Even for Leonard, there are few situations where he can completely limit his scoring ability when directly facing off against Durant.

To be precise, if Durant holds the ball on the outside and the two are directly duel one-on-one, Leonard's signature death entanglement will make Durant confused. After all, Durant's height is doomed to his luck. His ability to play the ball is not as smooth as that of a defender, which is one of the reasons why he is afraid of double-teaming.

But if it is in the mid-range and low post, as long as Durant gets the ball, Leonard can only watch the opponent's jumper and score without any help.

The topic has gone a bit far, and the perspective returns to the playing field.

The Spurs couldn't find a player suitable to face Wang Chong, and they didn't bother to target Wang Chong.

In fact, they also know that Wang Chong cannot be restricted. When Duncan personally guarded Wang Chong in the finals last season, he scored 50 points in a single game. How to defend him?

But the problem is that the Bulls now are no longer the Bulls of the Finals.

At the end of the second quarter, after halftime, the third quarter began. Wang Chong rested off the court, but the Bulls were still on par with the Spurs led by Ginobili.

At this time, the Bulls' lineup has become half the main force of point guard Billups, shooting guard Ramon Sessions, small forward Michael Swetney, power forward Paul Millsap, and center Garnett. Substitute lineup.

During the second quarter when Wang Chong was mainly attacking, Billups and Garnett both got a lot of rest time, so they could step in when Wang Chong was resting off the court in the third quarter.

Although this lineup includes a second-round pick like Sessions and Sweetney, a backup player signed with a minimum salary in the offseason, the Bulls can only rely on the pick-and-roll cooperation between Billups and Garnett. Can compete with the Spurs.

In addition, Millsap's skills as a substitute are obviously more mature than last season.

Millsap's main offensive method is post-up singles, and his scoring basically all comes from the paint area.

Originally, with his low-key personality and playing style, Thibodeau would not notice him at all, but Wang Chong knew Millsap's ability very well and naturally would not waste it.

Before the start of the new season, the Bulls had Millsap's inside singles tactic on the Bulls' tactical board. Wang Chong positioned Millsap as the Bulls' sixth man, sharing inside playing time with Gasol.

According to Wang Chong’s plan, Gasol and Millsap should both play more than 30 minutes this season. When Garnett was resting, the two of them also appeared on the court at the same time, cosplaying the Grizzlies black and white duo. Judging from the cooperation in the preseason, the effect of the combination should not be too bad.

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In the third quarter, the Spurs failed to take any advantage. In the fourth quarter, when Wang Chong returned from a rest and had full blood, there was no suspense in the game.

At 106:94, the Bulls defeated the Spurs in an away game, winning a good start to the new season and avenging their defeat in the finals.

Of course, the new season has just begun, and the battle between the two teams will continue until the playoffs and even the finals.

But no matter what, the Bulls in the new season have already taken the lead at the starting line.