Legend of Tomorrow

When the Suns attacked, Guo Xu hit the pick-and-roll and broke out to the left, attracting Murphy to change defense and pass to Marion. The Warriors' zone defense system immediately became seriously misaligned. The person guarding Marion was Dampier.

Marion made an unlucky move and quickly pushed the ball from the baseline to make a mid-range shot. Dampier was too late to save and the ball went in.

7 to 4. Guo Xu sent out the first assist, and all the fans applauded him.

Battier lobbed the ball to Dampier in the low post on the right side. The latter leaned on Stoudemire, turned around to the baseline and hit the basket, scoring with one hand from close range. 7 to 6.

The Suns' defensive weaknesses are so obvious that all opponents can see them at a glance, so Stoudemire will be targeted in every game, which puts a lot of pressure on him and is a good exercise.

In his rookie season, Stoudemire's defensive ability was very poor for his draft template (Ben Wallace). He could only block shots, was poor at resisting people in the low post, and had poor defensive awareness.

Because Stoudemire often delivers wonderful blocks under the basket and can swing the ball as far as he can, and is a regular in the top five. Many pseudo-fans think that he defends well, saying that the Suns' overall defense is poor because of the outside line led by Guo Xu.

In fact, excellent interior defenders will not let opponents easily enter the penalty area like Stoudemire, nor will they deliberately keep a distance, wait for someone to shoot, and then jump to block the shot. The master is the one who can maintain his position. Regardless of whether he is facing the frame or backing up, he should try to disrupt the opponent's dribbling and shooting rhythm and interfere with the shooting, thereby reducing the opponent's shooting rate. As for blocking shots, they are all provided by assisting defense and supplementary defense. .

This standard also applies to outside players, which is why basketball experts generally believe that the Spurs' small forward Bruce Bowen, who has no statistics, is better defensively than the Jazz's Kirilenko, who is good at stealing and blocking shots.

Barkley commented: I think the only coach in the league who would let Amare play center is D'Antoni. The Suns' starting lineup has never cared much about defense in the penalty area.

Smith said: The Suns rely on zone defense to interfere with some shots in the low post. Nene's defense is better than Amare's. Amare started because D'Antoni values ​​offense more.

As bad as Stoudemire is on the defensive end, he is outstanding on the offensive end. He and Guo Xu played a pick-and-roll in the middle. Murphy switched defense in time. Stoudemire immediately started. Guo Xu attracted the two to attack back and forth, and passed the ball to the middle. .

Stoudemire caught the ball and jumped up with one hand. Dampier's defense didn't have time to take off. The opponent's explosive power was too strong and too fast.

9 to 6, Guo Xu got his second assist.

When the Warriors attacked, Arenas made a mistake in organizing and passed the ball directly out of the baseline. His idea was good.

But Murphy's cutting speed was overestimated. While his statistics have improved this season, his turnovers have also increased to 3.5.

When the Suns attacked, Guo Xu and Stoudemire played a pick-and-roll. Arenas finally bypassed the screen and caught up once. Guo Xu turned around to protect the ball and passed the ball to Marion from close range. The latter passed the ball from the left baseline. He ran to 50 degrees, caught the ball and made a mid-range shot. Once out of position, Dampier couldn't defend the ball well.

11 to 6, Guo Xu’s third assist.

In the first two games, the opponents were competing with the Suns for small ball. Garnett and P.J. Brown were both fast-moving insiders, and they did a very good job guarding Marion. Today, the Warriors' big man was not very fast, and Marion started to show his strength. . He practiced a lot of shooting this morning and feels good.

The Warriors attacked, Arenas and Murphy broke through in a pick-and-roll, and after Guo Xu caught up, he distributed the ball to the center.

Murphy caught the ball in front of the free throw line and feinted. Stoudemire let go of Dampier and flew up. Then Murphy bumped into him and shot and drew a foul. After two free throws, 11 to 7.

When the Suns attacked, Guo Xu protected the ball and observed the situation, and found that the Warriors had changed to man-to-man defense, and Battier went to guard Marion. The hacker point must be limited. Core Jamison saw the defensive weaknesses and asked his teammates to make adjustments on the court.

Guo Xu also adjusted, attracting the defense and then passing the ball to Joe Johnson. Marion was taken care of, and there was always someone to face off against Murphy.

Joe Johnson caught the ball and shot a three-point jumper. Murphy was a step behind when he defended the ball. It was only a slight interference, but the ball did not grasp the force well and bounced out of the frame. Jamison grabbed the backcourt rebound and passed it to launch a counterattack.

Arenas relied on Guo Xu to force a basketball and scored. 11 to 9.

Guo Xu had no choice. His opponent was too wide and couldn't jump up in a close confrontation. He could only stretch out his hand to slightly interfere.

If the point guard wants to defend Arenas, the best way is to follow him closely and reach out to cut the ball the moment he takes the ball. This defensive skill is not easy to practice and requires a good wingspan.

This is why Arenas is generally fast and can still become a super scorer. He will use his body to beat small opponents hard, and when mismatched, he can rely on technology to beat big men. When the opponent is far away, he will make pull-up jumpers.

A healthy Arenas is really good and is a template for Stephen Curry in the draft. In fact, his style is more like James Harden of the future Rockets.

Agent No. O, like Harden, has excellent touch and ball-handling ability. He also has a strong body. He can shoot and draw a lot of fouls. The disadvantage is that he makes a lot of mistakes.

When the Suns attacked, Guo Xu continued to pass the ball to Joe Johnson, who broke through with the ball, passed Murphy and threw a shot in front of Dampier's defense. Murphy picked up the rebound.

Arenas moved to the frontcourt to distribute the ball. Battier faced Kirisek and then made a pull-up three-pointer from the right, 11-12.

In the Warriors, Battier has to take on a lot of offensive tasks and is not a blue-collar outsider. This season he averaged 37 minutes per game, 13.3 points, 5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.3 steals, shooting 46.2% from the field, 39.8% from three-point range, and 82% from free throws. He had similar numbers last season and was named to the All-Rookie Team.

Battier was not a blue-collar player in college. As a senior, he was undoubtedly the most shining player in the NCAA. After Duke entered the Final Four, the game against the University of Maryland made Battier enter the annals of Duke history.

Trailing by 22 points in the first half, Duke struggled to catch up in the second half. Battier hit two consecutive three-pointers at the last moment, chasing the score to just one point. Then he forced the basket and caused the opponent to foul. , made two free throws, sealing the victory for Duke, creating the greatest comeback in the history of the NCAA Final Four.

In the final against the University of Arizona, Battier scored 18 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 blocks, helping Duke University lead the way and eventually win the championship. This year, Battier won collective and individual honors, including the National Player of the Year, Best Defensive Player, the Naismith Award and the John Wooden Award.

However, during the draft, scouts are very concerned about the players' physical fitness. An excellent team player like Battier who relies on his IQ has no chance of becoming the top pick.

In Guo Xu's previous life, most fans had the impression that Battier was a blue-collar outside player who could only catch and shoot. In fact, he gradually changed to this after joining the Rockets. He will do things that are beneficial to the team, and he will obey unconditionally whatever the coach arranges for him to do.

Guo Xu felt that it was a pity that Battier started his career with the Warriors. Although the statistics were good, his greatest talent was not recognized. If he joins the current Grizzlies, the team will definitely become a strong playoff team.

If the Warriors fail to make the playoffs for several consecutive years like in their previous lives, Battier will not be highly rated. When he becomes a free agent, Guo Xu will definitely propose to the Suns management to poach him.

In his previous life, when Battier renewed his contract with the Grizzlies, his contract was not big, worth 37 million over six years. He was renewed in advance in 2004 and expired in the summer of 2011. As long as the Suns have such a 3D swingman, wing defense will be no problem.

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