God of NBA point guards

Chapter 217 We Lost the Threat of Holding the Ball
Jordan caught the ball on the right-wing three-point line, Zhou Quan concentrated on it, bent slightly, like a leopard, with the momentum to pounce at any time.

The steals leader with 3.3 steals in the regular season and Jordan 4 steals in a single game, so Jordan had to play 120 points in the face of Zhou Quan.

"This guy has made 5 of 4 shots. No, my defense needs to be more active."

Zhou Quan knew that when Jordan broke out, passive defense could not prevent the opponent at all, and he had to actively defend to have some chances.

"squeak!"

At this moment, he suddenly scrambled up with his feet and reached out to poke the ball.

His steal was premeditated, and this sudden steal would most likely force Jordan to retreat, and then he took the opportunity to go up close to him, seal Jordan's left side, and squeeze him to the right line.

Jordan, who was also engrossed, reacted quickly, pulling the ball back with his right hand, taking a step back at the same time, and then crossed the ball under his crotch, preparing to break through from the left.

His goal is to break into the right elbow area, and if he can't get in, he will stop there for a jumper, which is the area where his shooting rate is very high.

But just before he dribbled the ball under his crotch and was about to break through, Zhou Quan took a step forward and stuck it to his front left side, sealing off the angle of his breakthrough to the left.

"boom!"

He dribbled the ball under the crotch again, and pulled up with his right hand behind him. He immediately started to break through from the outside. Zhou Quan's position was a bit off, and the opportunity was very good.

Zhou Quan squeezed his chest hard, and at the same time, he walked around Jordan with his left hand and stabbed the ball in front of him. Jordan's breakthrough was destroyed, and his speed couldn't help but slow down.

At this time, Zhou Quan suddenly dodged sideways, and Jordan, who was pushing forward to break through, had no resistance, and couldn't help rushing forward, and the ball in his right hand lost control instantly.

"Snapped!"

In the confrontation, Zhou Quan immediately squeezed up from behind Jordan, squeezed the opponent away, controlled the ball in his hands, and completed the steal.

"This defense is so beautiful!" Zhang Lili said excitedly.

Jordan chased Zhou Quan angrily, and Zhou Quan advanced in front, but he didn't push forward with all his strength, because there were assassins in the middle, and Joe Dumas on the right. Side, the Assassin or Joe Dumars completes the attack.

"squeak!"

He stopped on the left-wing three-point line, and Jordan had to stop in front.

At this time, Joe Dumars threw off Pippen and went diagonally to the basket from the right wing, and the assassin also stopped at the top of the arc.

"Whoosh!"

With Zhou Quan's push, the ball flew out of the right side of the basket.

"boom!"

Joe Dumars took off from the right waist, caught the ball in the air, and dunked with one hand, blasting the Bulls' basket.

"44:37, the Pistons lead again by 7 points." Zhang Lili laughed.

"Jordan broke Zhou Quan just once, and now he's back." Sun Zhenping laughed.

"The steal king is not fake." Zhang Lili laughed.

Next, Jordan missed a shot, and the Pistons attacked again.

The Bulls still use a dense crowd to limit Zhou Quan's penetration. The effect is still good. With more and more defensive experience, Zhou Quan's off-ball running position is becoming more and more difficult. The first two runs can run out One opportunity, now three offensive opportunities can only be run once.

Just when Zhou Quan used his running position to disrupt the Bulls' penalty area, Sekali suddenly pulled out from the penalty area to catch the ball. Scott Williams had no time to keep up, and Sekali made an open jumper and hit a mid-range shot.

"46:37, the Pistons led by 9 points, Phil Jackson couldn't sit still, he called a timeout." Bill Wharton said.

"Using dense crowds to limit Tekken's off-the-ball movement is indeed feasible, but the defensive attention is on Tekken, and it is easy to leave opportunities for others." Williams said.

Bill Walton said with a smile: "Iron Fist's vision is indeed amazing. His ability to penetrate people must come from his vision ability."

"Why so sure?" Williams asked cooperatively.

Bill Wharton said: "Because in terms of agility, Iron Fist is not top-notch. This can be seen from his continuous direction-changing movement ability. He rarely does that kind of continuous direction-changing movements. If he does, it must be slowing down." made under circumstances.

His agility is not top-notch, and he is not that kind of thin and small, so why is he so good at drilling people?

Only the field of vision, I have observed, when he suddenly changed direction and passed through those gaps, there was no pause at all, as if everything was planned.

He saw the gap that needed to be passed before the defender, and the defender ran behind in the crowd, like a blindfolded donkey, trying not to catch up with a hound. "

"Haha, Bill, what do you describe Michael Jordan as, a blindfolded donkey?" Williams laughed.

After the two joked, Bill Walton reminded: "The situation of the Pistons is good now, but be careful. At the critical moment, when you are in a desperate situation, Jordan is very likely to explode, and the Pistons currently have no such people. There is no such ability to stand up in a desperate situation."

"Just can't let the Bulls get up, can't make Michael Jordan go crazy." Williams nodded.

"What are we doing? What are we doing? Bastard..."

On the Bulls bench, Jordan was growling in a low voice, venting his dissatisfaction. He was not only dissatisfied with his teammates, but also dissatisfied with himself.

"Phil, we need to make changes. We must not lose this game, absolutely not!"

After venting for a while, he raised his head and stared at Phil Jackson with fierce eyes. The red eyeballs made everyone who saw it palpitate. Numb shock.

Phil Jackson nodded and said: "Now we need to strengthen the defense against the assassins and strengthen the confrontation. We can't let him pass the ball to Iron Fist whenever he wants. We must prevent him from passing. BJ..."

He fixed his eyes on BJ's face, and said very seriously: "The confrontation just now was not strong enough, he no longer has the ability to break through with the ball, and when the iron fist moved in the penalty area, it was full of people, so he didn't break through space, so you need to defend against the shot and the pass but not the rush, as long as you can stop him for a second or two, we can complete the defense."

"I will do it."

BJ nodded heavily, his tone was very sure, he wanted to get back the main position.

The timeout ends and the game restarts.

"brush!"

Even though Zhou Quan was stuck, Jordan still used a very resolute turnaround jumper, hit a ball, and the shot was very resolute.

46:39, Pistons attack.

In the following time, the assassin found some troubles. BJ Armstrong in front of him kept pestering him, which made him very uncomfortable. The injury could not make him make big moves, and his passing was affected.

Zhou Quan turned around in the penalty area, and finally got around, and found that the assassin's ball was not passed, and then Jordan chased him, and the open space disappeared.

In the end, the assassin made a strong shot and missed, and the Bulls protected the rebound.

After the second quarter, 50:48, the Bulls were only two points behind.

Zhang Lili looked serious and said: "Zhou Quan couldn't catch the ball behind him. He only took one shot and didn't make a shot. Now he is 13 of 8 shots, 61.5% from the field, 16 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 1 turnover and 2 fouls. No free throws.

The Pistons have to make some changes now. The Bulls were passive in tactics before, but now their own tactics are passive. "

Sun Zhenping said: "Jordan just made 4 of 2 shots, and he has made 21 of 10 shots, with a shooting percentage of 47.6%, and his shooting percentage is slowly improving.

But there was no breakthrough today, there were too many people inside, and there was no chance of a breakthrough. He made few free throws, made 2 of 2 free throws, and scored a total of 22 points. "

"Look at how the two teams played in the second half." Zhang Lili said.

Back in the locker room, Chuck Daly said after thinking about it: "In the second half, we changed formation. Iron Fist, you still come back to control the ball and attack with the ball."

Assistant coach Musk nodded: "Although Iron Fist played well off the ball, we lost the threat of holding the ball, which is terrible."

Isaiah Thomas felt sad, he was no longer an assassin, he had no threat with the ball, and a small role player could lock him up.

Assistant coach Relo Wilt suggested: "What about Joe holding the ball?"

Chuck Daly shook his head: "Pippen's defense is not vegetarian."

Next, he began to arrange the lineup and tactics, the guard Zhou Quan and Joe Dumars, the inside Sekali and Rodman, the small forward, the candidate for this position, he decided to let Darnell Walker play.

Darnell Walton is the most serious injury for the Pistons this season. He only played 9 games in total. When arranging the roster for the playoffs, he still put this guy in.

Darlworks is a veteran player. He was the 83th pick in the first round of 12. Now his offensive strength is almost gone, but he still has a little defense.

"I?"

Darnell Walker was pleasantly surprised.

Chuck Daly nodded and said: "Darnell, I don't need you to attack, you just need to use your small size advantage to entangle Pippen.

You can let him shoot from the outside, but you can't let him drive in, you can't let him pass the ball casually, understand? "

"clear."

Darnell Walker nodded.

After the intermission, the third quarter began, and the Pistons attacked.

BJ is still number one on the Bulls side, and the other four are in the starting lineup.

"Oh, Darnell Walker?" Bill Wharton was a little surprised.

Williams analyzed: "After the serious injury, he has no other role. It should be let him hold Pippen."

"Now Iron Fist is holding the ball again, facing Jordan, and Sekali is different from the first half. He pulled it out, the penalty area is much empty, and there is room for breakthrough. Iron Fist will definitely break through with the ball." Bill Walton said.

"Let's see if Jordan can stop Tekken's breakthrough with the ball." Williams said with a smile.

"Boom bang bang..."

Zhou Quan dribbled the ball to the top of the arc, but instead of attacking, he gave the ball to Joe Dumars on the right wing.

"John?"

In front of the Bulls bench, Phil Jackson turned to look at Paxson.

John Paxson nodded, stood up and pulled off his buttoned pants, ready to go on the field.

Like the Assassin, he's actually not very good. He played as a substitute for a season, and now he is forced to start in the second round, and his body can't hold on anymore.

"brush!"

Joe Dumars jumps and hits a ball over BJ's head.

Bulls attack.

"Sure enough, Darnell guards Pippen," Bill Walton said.

Instead of Phil Jackson's instructions, Pippen asked for the ball from BJ and began to single Darnell Walker on the left wing.

The height difference between the two is ten centimeters, and with the wingspan, the height difference is even bigger. Although Darnell Walker only has a tonnage of 82 kilograms, he is not afraid of confrontation. It was as if a plaster had been stuck to his body, and he couldn't shake it off.

"boom!"

Pippen missed a strong shot, Rodman protected the backcourt rebound, and the Pistons attacked.

"It's also a small defense against big players. Darnell Walker is better than BJ." Bill Walton said.

Williams shook his head and said, "No, Bill, Joe Dumars' offense is better than Pippen's. In fact, Pippen's offense is weak and defense is strong, and Joe Dumars is both offense and defense."

Then, knowing that he was going to be replaced, BJ sent himself off the field with an active foul and replaced him with John Paxson.

"Joe, strengthen the confrontation and beat him down."

Thinking of BJ's defense against the Assassins after the second quarter, Zhou Quan immediately said to Joe Dumars.

Joe Dumars nodded, no problem.

Next, Zhou Quan himself did not attack too much, but gave Joe Dumars the ball with all his strength, and let him toss John Paxson.

Joe Dumars stepped up his running on the offensive end, and stepped up his confrontation on the defensive end. John Paxson only played for 5 minutes, and some parts of his body couldn't bear it, such as the knee joint.

John Paxson, who was seriously injured, couldn't hold on after consecutive starts. He couldn't guard Joe Dumars. He made 6 of 3 shots, 2 of 1 three-pointers, and 2 free throws in half a quarter. In the half quarter, he scored 2 points.

Zhou Quan didn't attack much, and spent all his energy on defending Jordan. He stopped Jordan once and made Jordan 5 of 2 shots.

Including the first goal, Jordan made 6 of 3 shots in the second half. The efficiency is actually good, and his state is still slowly improving.

Facing Darnell Walton, Pippen made 3 of 1 shots within half a quarter. The dislocation advantage was not played out, and the offensive state was average.

Instead, Grant seized the opportunity to cut inside continuously and made 3 of 2 shots in the half quarter, playing well.

In the 6th minute of the third quarter, 64:58, the Bulls trailed by 6 points at home and called a timeout.

Phil Jackson is also facing the problem of Chuck Daly. The Pistons have no suitable person at the third position, the Bulls have no suitable person at the guard line, and Jordan has no suitable person to deal with Joe Dumars when he switches defenses. All have a weakness that has been caught.

John Paxson is dead, he can only replace the 82-year veteran Trent Tucker, there is no other choice, just like Chuck Daly.

After the timeout, Chuck Daly took a look at the Bulls' lineup, and immediately instructed Darnell Walker to defend Tucker, and Pippen handed it over to Joe Dumars.

Although Darnell Walker's defense against Pippen was not bad in the first half, his temporary performance was not enough to make him believe in Walker. After all, it was Pippen, and Walker was a veteran after a serious injury. Now let Walker and Tucker Let's peck each other, old and wounded.

In the second half, Jordan broke out on Zhou Quan's head, constantly breaking through with the ball, making 5 of 3 shots and 3 of 3 free throws. He scored 9 points in the half quarter and 15 points in a single quarter.

Joe Dumars faced Pippen, and Zhou Quan took over the offense. Like Jordan, he also strengthened the breakthrough with the ball and made kills at the same time. Within half a quarter, he made 6 of 3 shots and 2 of 2 free throws, scoring 8 points .

The two formed a confrontation, but Jordan still had the upper hand.

After the third quarter, 76:73, the Bulls were still 3 points behind.

Bill Walton smiled and said: "From the current situation, no one has a clear advantage. The Bulls definitely have a chance to turn over. The Pistons can't be careless."

Williams nodded and said: "Jordan made 32 of 16 shots in three quarters, and his shooting percentage has increased to 50%. He made 3 of 1 three-pointers, 5 of 5 free throws, and scored 38 points. His condition is getting better and better. While the Iron Fist defended well, Jordan was unstoppable."

Bill Walton said: "Iron Fist didn't attack much in the first half of the third quarter. He missed a goal and made 2 free throws. The second half was good. He scored 2 points and 8 points in a single quarter. Currently, he made 10 of 20 shots and made 11 of 55 shots. The rate is 24%, 4 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 3 turnovers and [-] fouls.

Joe Dumars was in a mediocre state in the first half, but he was good in the third quarter. He has now scored 19 points, 3 assists and 2 steals.

In the next final quarter, let's see who plays better. Jordan and Iron Fist should both stand up and preside over the team's offense. "

"At the same time, we have to work hard on the defensive end to reduce each other's offensive efficiency." Williams added.

(End of this chapter)