NBA: I really just want to be a second-in-command

Chapter 174

Everything was as Zen Master expected. In the second half of the second quarter, when the main lineups of both sides came on the field, the Spurs significantly increased their defensive intensity.

The biggest adjustment is that they began to use their perimeter defensive weapon Bruce Bowen to limit Lu Yusheng.

This strategy is very targeted, and Popovich can see clearly that the Lakers rely entirely on Lu Yusheng on both ends of the offense and defense.

As long as Lu Yusheng is restrained, it is tantamount to restraining the Lakers.

Lu Yusheng dribbled the ball to face Bruce Bowen, and Vujacic stepped up to pick and roll for him.

But Lu Yusheng refused, because after Bowen was replaced to defend him, the pick-and-roll between him and Vujacic would be meaningless.

The Spurs will definitely choose to switch defenses, so after the pick-and-roll, Lu Yusheng faced Tony Parker, while Vujacic faced Bowen. There was no advantage or dislocation, so such a pick-and-roll was meaningless.

He beckoned directly to Kwame Brown on the inside to come up with a pick-and-roll.

Get Duncan out.

One reason for this strategy is that if the Spurs switch defenses, Lu Yusheng will face Duncan and fight big.

Even if they don't switch defenses, choose to double-team or circle the back, Lu Yusheng has room to operate, and more importantly, after Duncan is called out, the Spurs will lose their inside defensive barrier. In this way, the ball passes inside Afterwards, other teammates will have less pressure to attack.

Kwame Brown's pick-and-roll was solid, keeping Bowen behind.

The Spurs did not choose to switch defenses, but chose to let Bowen circle the defense from behind Kwame Brown.

Lu Yusheng shot directly, but this time he shot, he still paid attention to the defenders of the Spurs flanking him on both sides.

Especially Ginobili, once he has a tendency to help defend, he is ready to pass the ball at any time.

Sure enough, Lu Yusheng caught a glimpse of Ginobili's tendency to move towards him from the corner of his eye!
But when Ginobili saw that Lu Yusheng noticed him, he didn't let go of his defenders and came to help him.

But this time, a scene he didn't expect appeared, Duncan suddenly let go of Kwame Brown, turned around and took off to block Lu Yusheng! !

Lu Yusheng didn't expect this move at all!
He has played seven games, and he is very familiar with this pick-and-roll. He thinks he has seen all kinds of defensive strategies and has a way to deal with them, but he has never encountered them this time!

Duncan didn't jump high, but with his exaggerated wingspan, he came first!

Lu Yusheng had to take the ball ahead of time, so he escaped the block!
But in this haste, he shot in a hurry and obviously lost his sight.

The ball hit the front of the basket and crashed out!

Fabrizio Oberto had already stuck Odom behind him and took the rebound firmly!

"Return to defense!" Lu Yusheng shouted!

He knew that in this case, the Spurs' counterattack fast break is almost their instinct.

Sure enough, after Fabrizio Oberto got the rebound, he handed it over to Tony Parker immediately!

Tony Parker dribbled the ball and immediately looked for his teammates who were going down quickly!
Of course, with Lu Yusheng's reminder and command, the Lakers returned to defense very quickly, without giving any chance to the Spurs players who were about to play!
No way, Tony Parker had no choice but to dribble the ball halfway, planning to play positional warfare!

"Duncan's defense was beautiful just now!" David Robinson praised, "When Lu Yusheng had already decided to shoot, he suddenly turned his gun and quickly blocked the block, which caught Lu Yusheng completely off guard. There is no chance."

On the court, while Lu Yusheng was defending, he was still replaying the Spurs' defense just now in his mind.

It's really wonderful!

He couldn't be sure whether Duncan made a temporary decision or whether the Spurs' defensive pick-and-roll system had this tactic.

In this way, Lu Yusheng's next pick-and-roll will be difficult.

Because he had to consider not only Bowen's defense, but also the defense of the flanking Spurs, and even Duncan's sudden turning back to block the shot like just now.

This is too scary!

Tony Parker dribbled the ball past half court, still calling the inside pick-and-roll.

This time, it was Duncan who came out to pick and roll for him.

Lu Yusheng still chose to go around behind Duncan.

But Duncan's pick-and-roll is too solid, and when he circled behind Lu Yusheng, he gave him a little resistance, so that he couldn't get rid of himself quickly.

Seeing this, Tony Parker was very decisive, and directly pulled up to shoot!
With this ball, Lu Yusheng couldn't interfere with him at all.

Easy to score!

When serving the baseline ball, Lu Yusheng said to Kwame Brown, "In the situation just now, when Tony Parker shoots, you can turn around and block him like Tim Duncan."

Kwame Brown was taken aback, "But in that case... wouldn't Duncan just let go? What if Tony Parker passes the ball?"

Lu Yusheng: ...

"Ok."

Lu Yusheng didn't say anything more, and he also knew that this was a bit difficult for Kwame Brown.

First of all, with his basketball wisdom, he would never have thought of the method of tit for tat, learning what he learned now, and defending the Spurs in the way the Spurs just did.

Secondly, even if he thought about it, with his defensive level, it might be difficult for him to grasp the timing.

After all, for this kind of defense, the choice of timing is very important. If you turn back early to block the block, Tony Parker will pass the ball, and if you turn back late, there will be no interference.

Only by seizing the right moment and waiting until Tony Parker has made a determined shot, and then turning back to block the shot, can it be effective.

For Kwame Brown, this is indeed unrealistic.

After all, Duncan is in the top ten in history, how can he compare.

Lu Yusheng advanced past halftime, but Kwame Brown still came out to pick and roll for himself.

This time the pick-and-roll was still very solid, but for Lu Yusheng, it was really difficult.

First of all, in his peripheral vision, he has already seen Ginobili on the flank ready to move, he must be on guard, and his attention must be on Duncan, beware of him suddenly turning around like just now.

Therefore, during this hesitation, Bowen has already made up for it!

Luke Wharton shouted anxiously, "You vote! You have to vote in this kind of gap!"

Lu Yusheng didn't speak, he didn't understand the defensive pressure of the Spurs that Lu Yusheng was facing at that second just now.

He had no way to pick and roll anymore, so he simply lobbed the ball to Luke Walton.

After all, Bruce Bowen is defending Lu Yusheng now, and Luke Walton is facing Ginobili. Although the matchup advantage is not great, after all, Ginobili will often defend the opposite third position. And Luke Walton's offensive ability in the third position is not strong.

However, Ginobili's defense is not as tough as Bowen, and Luke Walton can at least support him and play a triangle offense.

Luke Walton eats the ball near the free throw line with his back to Ginobili, and the rest of the team starts to use each other's screens to start running.

But at this time, Lu Yusheng felt the Spurs' defensive strength even more. Their response to the covering runs of the other Lakers was simply textbook-level!

Switch defenses at any time, and never give the Lakers a chance to open up. Moreover, once the Lakers have formed a matchup advantage after switching defenses, they will immediately find a way to switch defenses, and this kind of defense is carried out in an orderly manner. Perfect, just like a precision machine, with precise calculations and no flaws in its operation!
Lu Yusheng and other teammates ran for a long time, but they didn't run out of any open space!
This powerful defensive pressure!
It is simply suffocating!

There is no way, Luke Walton has no chance to pass the ball and can only choose to attack by himself.

At least it's a misplacement for Ginobili.

Luke Walton dribbled Ginobili into it.

Ginobili really couldn't stand Luke Walton a bit, and retreated steadily. When Luke Walton reached his attack area, he didn't hesitate to hook Ginobili directly!
But at this time, a huge monster suddenly flew up inside the Spurs, and slapped Luke Walton's shots away!

The ball is out of bounds!

Tim Duncan!

With him on the inside, this kind of hook is basically free.

And Lu Yusheng was very suspicious for a while, just now Ginobili deliberately let Luke Wharton beat him in.

Lu Yusheng felt troubled, this team's defense is too strong!
When the Spurs turned on their strength, they seemed to quickly disintegrate the two tactics that the Lakers relied on and were best at since their seven-game winning streak.

Triangle offense and Lu Yusheng's pick-and-roll.

"Wow, at the end of the second quarter, when the two sides switched to the main lineup, the Spurs suddenly increased their defensive strength, and suddenly seemed to lock the Lakers, making them a little caught off guard and at a loss." Connor said.

"Yes, this is Popovich's team. This is his defensive system built on the basis of Duncan and Bowen, one inside and one outside. On the basis of the individual defense ability of the team, a richer, more flexible and changeable small tactics are built to form a powerful system." David Robinson said.

"That's right," Connor said, "As I said, I've basically watched the Lakers' games this year. It's not like they haven't encountered a strong team, but I can guarantee that they have never encountered such a strong team." No matter what kind of defense they encountered in the past, they still had a way to deal with it, but facing the Spurs today, I feel that they seem to be very weak." Connor also said.

"This is the strength of the Spurs. The defensive system that Popovich tailored for them is almost flawless. Moreover, these Spurs players have played together for a long time, so the tacit understanding is stronger. , This defensive system has basically been integrated into their blood, and it is well integrated. Your seemingly incomparably exquisite defense and supplementary defense seem to be the result of communication, but in fact it is not. It's all muscle memory."

"What you said makes sense, but don't the Lakers have nothing to do?" Connor said, "Let's help them."

"There's only one way," David Robinson said.

"what?"

"Let Kobe take off his suit and play." David Robinson laughed, "I'm not joking, man, I have already said that Popovich's defensive system basically has no flaws, no matter you What an excellent offensive tactic and offensive system, it will be deflated in front of the Spurs' defensive system.

Brother, don’t believe me, think about it carefully, those teams with great offensive tactics in the league, the King’s Princeton system, the Suns’ running and bombing system, the Cavaliers’ one-star four-shot system, and the long-ago Pass and cut system, have these tactics played any advantage in front of the Spurs? "

Connor thought for a while, and sighed, "I didn't pay much attention to this before, but now that you say it like this, it seems that this is really the case."

"I can say this, as long as Duncan is around, coupled with a strong outside defensive player, Popovich's system will always be a magic weapon for the Spurs. Let's talk about Lu Yusheng's pick-and-roll tactics. He really played well. But is it better than Nash's pick-and-roll? Not necessarily? The Spurs can even handle Nash's pick-and-roll, can't they handle Lu Yusheng's pick-and-roll?"

"Then you said, do the Lakers only have a chance if they let Kobe play?"

"That's right. That's why people say that Kobe is the Lakers' nemesis. Popovich's defensive system is most afraid of Kobe's unreasonable style of play, because he has no tactics at all. Hit you with your strong personal ability, so you have no rules to follow, and your system fails.

A few years ago when the Lakers won three consecutive championships, although the Spurs were afraid of O'Neal, they were even more afraid of Kobe. You can check it out. In those series, Kobe performed much better than O'Neal, especially when there is a monster like O'Neal inside. When it comes to pinning down the defense, Kobe can get anything he wants playing for the Spurs. said David Robinson.

"It's impossible for Kobe to play," Connor laughed. "You have to give them a practical idea."

"That is to let Lu Yusheng play and use his personal ability to tear apart the Spurs' defensive system, but I don't think...he may be able to do it."

"But he just scored fifty points in the last game." Connor said.

"Oh, man," David Robinson said, "it's different. I watched the highlights of that game. He faced the Rockets. The defense of the Rockets' perimeter players is so fragile and vulnerable. The Spurs are different. , I don’t think he can score like that against a defense like the Spurs.”

On the court, Lu Yusheng once again missed the best opportunity to pass the ball because he was concerned about the Spurs' defense. This also declared that this pick-and-roll tactic was easily resolved by the Spurs again.

Lu Yusheng was at a loss for a moment, this was almost the biggest dilemma he had faced since playing in the NBA.

No matter what kind of difficulties he encountered before, he seemed to be able to come up with a strategy to deal with them.

But this time, facing the Spurs, he seemed completely helpless. He thought of countless solutions in his mind, and then considered it from the perspective of the Spurs. It turned out that they all seemed to have a solution...

Only then did he remember what Kobe said while driving that day, the Spurs are far more terrifying than you think.

You have thought about your strategy now, but when you actually get to the field, you find that it is completely different from what you thought.

Now, he really understands...

(End of this chapter)