Healthy basketball, starting from eating the old Lakers F4

Chapter 339: Core style of play, iron wall (I wish everyone a happy New Year and good luck in the Year of the Dragon)

"Let's fight like this next..."

Spoelstra picked up the tactical board and redrawn several tactics for Wade, James and others. This is also the tactics that the Heat will focus on in the next three quarters.

Mainly the combination of inside and outside and the pick-and-roll.

The so-called combination of inside and outside is Inside out. Usually, inside players hold the ball in the low post to attract defense, creating opportunities for outside players to open shots or layups.

Pick-and-roll and breakout are two tactics that can also be combined together. The outside ball holder is the core of the tactic, the inside players cover for it, and the outside shooter opens up space for the ball holder to better break through to the basket. end.

Combining the combination of inside and outside and pick-and-roll breakthroughs, it is not difficult to see that Spoelstra intentionally strengthened James' role in the next game.

After all, the Bulls' death front three directly hit the Heat's seven inches!

As we all know, the Heat's core tactic is defensive counterattack.

Wade, Battier, James, and Bosh, just the defensive quality brought by the unlimited defense changes of these four people is enough for all teams in the league to drink.

Wade and Battier's ability to defend outside players is quite good. There are four or five players in the Heat who average one steal per game. In addition, Wade and James are masters of chasing shots.

It has to be said that Wade and James are both famous pick-and-roll men in the league.

After all, with Wade and James as the core, a more common style of play is to pick and roll small guards to pick out the weak ones.

But now it's the playoffs, and with the Bulls' dead front three, especially with Bosh absent due to injury, the Heat's talent can no longer be used.

This is also where the Bulls' three death fronts restrained the Heat.

If it were just the regular season, the Heat could rely on the Big Three to play talented ball and win one victory after another.

These days, NBA teams can usually only score about 100 points, but after encountering the Heat, they are usually limited to around 90 points.

Two different styles of play are enough for the Heat to overcome the perimeter defense of most teams in the league.

The Heat rely on defense to create more turnovers for their opponents and get more defensive rebounds, and then use this to attack transition offenses.

However, the configurations of the Heat's Big Three are incompatible to a certain extent.

However, defensive counterattack is still based on defense after all.

Or even if he rushed forward two steps forward, he was still intercepted in the penalty area.

Therefore, just by relying on defensive counterattacks, the Heat can create a gap of nearly 20 points with ordinary teams.

One has enough explosive power and fast breakthrough speed. A body of sufficient size and strength, capable of elbow clearance and walking.

Especially in the playoffs, Wade and James' inconsistent shooting limited the Heat's scoring ability in positional battles.

James can also rely on fantasy walking and physical talent to finish with one or two people hanging on him.

If the Heat want to win more games, they need more support from offensive tactics.

Most teams in the league only average about 20 points in transition offense per game, but the Heat exceed 30 points.

Even if he encounters a team that is good at zone defense, Wade can use explosive power, footsteps and fake moves to score the ball in the crowd.

However, the Bulls' top three forwards are able to switch defenses and make up defense as soon as Wade and James start the pick-and-roll, making it impossible for Wade and James to rush forward.

To put it bluntly, as long as Wade and James are allowed to rush forward and let them give full play to their running and jumping abilities, the Heat will not be under pressure to score.

At this time, Wade and James can either go for layups and throws, or they can only break through and pass the ball to their teammates on the outside for them to finish.

The former is a difficult shot, and it is normal for the hit rate to be low.

The latter happens to be in the playoffs again, and they face the Bulls, who are among the top five in defensive efficiency in the league. It is normal for shooters to miss shots.

With Wade and James, their breakthroughs were restricted and they couldn't get to the basket and score as easily as before.

Instead, they are forced to take difficult shots, and then strike frequently to give the Bulls some transition attack opportunities. When this happens, the Heat can easily fall behind.

In order to break the scoring drought and increase scoring efficiency, Spoelstra hopes that the Heat players can attack more in the low post and score more inside points.

In fact, last year's Heat defeat in the Finals was due to the Lakers' strong perimeter defense, which led to the failure of regular season scoring methods such as defensive counterattacks and pick-and-roll breakthroughs.

As a result, even if James didn't hit the mountains in Puerto Rico, he hit the mountains in other places and got into trouble.

Why did James study under Olajuwon in the summer, and why did he gain weight and play the fourth position? Just to be able to score more points in the paint and bully the smaller players in the paint.

In order to help James get better low-post singles opportunities, the Heat also gave James the Inside out tactics they used to assign to O'Neal.

James does not have the terrifying low post skills and finishing ability at the basket like O'Neal, but he has excellent passing vision and passing ability.

Wade's off-ball cuts, coupled with Chalmers and Battier's three-pointers, can create post-up singles opportunities for James.

At the same time, James' passing can also help Wade and others score.

However, the plan could not keep up with the changes. Bosh was injured and absent, leaving the Heat without other players who can attract defense in the low post.

The Bulls' inside players can attack James unscrupulously, which makes James, who originally had average ball-handling and back-up skills, even more uncomfortable.

James played a few times in the low post. Either he was cut by the defensive player behind him, or he was forced to lose the ball after being flanked, or he was blocked when he turned around and prepared to shoot.

Spoelstra arranged targeted tactics for James, but not only did they not have any effect, but they further widened the point difference.

However, James is not easily discouraged.

If one plan fails, try another.

If you can't play in the low post, you can still hold the ball in the high post.

James also knew how powerful the Bulls' death front three were. So he pretended to dribble the ball from his hips continuously, pretending to change his rhythm to break through, and then returned to the position of observing his teammates.

Perhaps because no one ran out of space and no one came forward to respond, James dribbled the ball with his hips again, suddenly joined the ball and stepped back to the side, shooting a cold arrow.

Although James has gained weight this season, his three-point production has actually increased compared to last season.

However, when it comes to three-point shooting percentage, it's hard to say.

The regular season actually improved a bit, and it can be seen that hard work has been put in.

But in the playoffs, it often takes three or four shots to score one, and the shooting rate remains below 30%.

This also means that in the playoffs, James does not need to shoot more three-pointers.

However, points still have to be scored and the ball rights have to be consumed.

It is said that the Heat are Wade's team. They shoot a few more three-pointers, get the points they deserve, and let Wade take the rest. Is this reasonable?

To be honest, Wade's three-point ability is worse than James.

Against the Bulls' three deadly fronts, and with the defenders naturally at a disadvantage against the forwards' size, Wade didn't hesitate to rush to the basket.

Wade also tried a three-pointer to save his life and put his luck on the line.

So I don’t think there’s anything wrong with James’ 6-of-1 three-pointers.

However, after G1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, the Bulls beat the Heat by 28 points, which was a problem.

Compared with last year, the Bulls' lineup actually hasn't changed much. The main reason is that the rookies have grown up.

As for the Heat, their defense has obviously become better, their cooperation has become more tacit, and their lineup has been reinforced and solid.

But it was also the Eastern Conference Finals. Last year the Heat dominated the Bulls, but this year they were beaten!

It was obvious that Bosh was missing, and James scored a lot, but the situation of the game was completely different.

"What went wrong?" Wade wanted to know the answer.

(End of this chapter)