NBA: Start by torturing Jordan and add points to upgrade

In the next few minutes, the Knicks, who were eager to set the pace and play a run-and-gun offense, were incredibly frustrated. Unless they could grab the rebounds and find Felton to launch a counterattack, they could hardly get their pace going at all!

Their quick baseline serve tactic was severely disrupted.

As for the reason?

Boozer would intentionally or unintentionally kick the ball after a dunk, Rose would cleverly slap it after a layup, and even after DeRozan made a mid-range shot, Boozer would raise his arms in celebration and cheer, only to accidentally swat the ball away again...

As this continued, in less than a quarter, the Knicks missed at least 6-7 opportunities that would have allowed them to quickly inbound the ball from the baseline and launch a fast break.

While the Bobcats' actions might only buy their team 3-5 seconds or less to get back on defense, for NBA players, that little bit of time is enough for them to do a lot more.

Old Nelson, sitting on the bench, was about to explode.

I've never seen anything so shameless!

I've never seen such shamelessness, so blatant and undisguised.

"Our coach said, 'I'll send you to your death, I'll send you to hell!'"

After the first official timeout in the first quarter, Crawford, who had just come on for the Knicks, dutifully ran to Lin Tian's side and conveyed Don Nelson's sincere and undisguised blessings.

Old Nelson was truly frustrated; he genuinely hadn't expected Lin Tian to act this way.

He understood Lin Tian and knew that Lin Tian understood him. He had long been prepared that Lin Tian would target and counter his baseline ball tactics and fast-paced run-and-gun style.

If this tactic doesn't work, then try something else!

They're all NBA coaches, how could they possibly execute every tactic flawlessly?

Old Nelson had made thorough contingency plans and preparations, and had thought of various countermeasures, but he really didn't expect Lin Tian to play like this.

How do you describe that feeling?

Think about it: in those domineering CEO dramas, one side is fully prepared, launches a full-scale attack, conducts careful research, uses all kinds of means to buy low and sell high, mobilizes its network, and holds countless meetings, all in order to win this business war and wipe out the opponent's business empire.

So what was the response from the other side?

They bribed your security guards and cleaning staff.

The security guard sprayed a few drops of glyphosate on your money tree under the cover of darkness, poisoning it to death. The cleaning staff, while cleaning, threw five times the amount of fish food into the fish tank, causing your auspicious fish to overeat and die.

What is high-end business warfare?

Old Nelson was furious.

What kind of dirty way of playing?
He had never heard of, or even imagined, anything that could be so dirty in his life.

Lin Tian: Just tell me if it's useful or not.

It was definitely useful, regardless of how many points the Knicks scored less or how many turnovers they actually committed.

But Felton was absolutely furious.

If you can make the opponent's key defender so angry that their mentality collapses, that's the start of a successful game.

So far, Lin Tian's move has only prevented the Knicks from launching fast breaks and dampened the morale of their players.

The Bobcats did not have a lead at the end of the first quarter.

23: 26.

The Bobcats trailed by 3 points going into the second quarter.

The reason the team was behind was that even though Lin Tian repeatedly emphasized that the Bobcats were not doing well enough in terms of rebounding.

They had no way to deal with the Knicks' group of physically gifted, high-flying players.

Yao Ming still couldn't hold his position; his movement wasn't fast enough, and his rebounding ability and talent were just so-so to begin with.

As for Boozer, although his speed and rebounding ability are even better than Yao Ming's, his size and physical attributes are not superior at all.

The Knicks' two big men and two forwards are all the type with explosive athleticism and incredible speed.

If you let Stoudemire and Landry stand still and fight against Yao Ming and Boozer, they won't have much of an advantage, and Landry might even be a liability.

But if they just went straight for the kill, the two of them would definitely not be at a disadvantage and might even have the upper hand.

In the first quarter, although the Knicks were inefficient due to their inability to execute fast breaks, they still managed to take the lead thanks to 6 offensive rebounds and 10 points on 2-off offense!

All aspects prove that Nelson's strategy was effective.

Of course, if you look at Felton's two mistakes and one unnecessary foul, you'll know that Lin Tian's strategy was not wrong either.

Felton was really anxious and angry. He was substituted after playing only 9 minutes in the first quarter. Old Nelson put his arm around Felton's shoulder and comforted his younger brother.

If there's anything that could be detrimental to the Bobcats, it's that Lin Tian's underhanded tactics might no longer be effective.

Old Nelson made the first move.

In the first possession of the second quarter, DeRozan tried to repeat his old trick. After a dunk, he was about to celebrate and cheer while waving the ball away when suddenly, a thunderclap came out of nowhere.

"What the hell are you doing!" Old Nelson suddenly stood up on the sidelines, pointing at the court and yelling, "Are you all blind?! Are all three of you blind?! Did you eat shit? Or did you just smear your own shit in your eyes?"

"They've been doing this for a whole quarter! A whole quarter! This is fucking obstruction of the game, this is fucking malicious interference with the game!"

"They're idiots, and you're even more idiotic than idiots! This completely violates the principles of fair competition! I've never seen such blatantly underhanded tactics from Black Sea in my entire life!"

"You all think it doesn't matter, right? You all think this is nothing and there's no need to blow the whistle, right? I'm not playing anymore! I'm not playing anymore! Come on, come on, come on, give me two Ts and kick me out! I'm not playing anymore!"

"Technical foul!"

Old Nelson's sudden, unstoppable outburst earned him the T position, just as he had hoped.

Yes, it worked!
He stood up and raged, all because of this T.

If the referee issues a T, it means the referee is aware of the matter.

From now on, the Bobcats can forget about playing so casually anymore.

The referee will teach them a lesson!

Getting a technical foul and paying a fine is always part of the coach's job; it's part of putting pressure on the referees, and it's something they're supposed to do.

The effect of Old Nelson's move was truly immediate.

Less than two minutes into the second quarter, after scoring a layup, Odom subtly nudged the ball again. This time, the referee ignored it and quickly gestured to Odom: "Technical foul!"

"From now on, none of you on your team are allowed to intentionally touch the basketball after a basket or when the ball is dead, or I will give each of you a technical foul."

"You also tell all of you to watch out. I guarantee that every single one of you who does this will get a T! Understand?"

Odom shrugged at the referee's threats without saying anything, but the smart guy knew that things couldn't continue like this.

At the very least, we can't do it so openly and blatantly anymore.

Next, we need to be more strategic and more secretive.

Nelson's technical foul was well worth it.

The Bobcats could no longer recklessly disrupt their baseline play; they could only rely on Odom and others to try and interfere with their serves. However, it was clear that neither Odom nor Boozer, who played alongside him, were adept at this kind of thing.

In the next two minutes, the Knicks finally launched their fast break. While they weren't exactly unstoppable or perfect, they certainly executed their strategy and gradually extended their lead.

Eight minutes into the second quarter, their lead had already extended to nine points!

At this moment, Lin Tian called a pause and gathered everyone together.

“If they want to go fast, then we’ll slow down and prevent them from going fast! Everyone, pay attention, press back, and fight slowly!” “But of course, Derek, I mean, under normal circumstances, if you feel you have a chance, if you feel you can handle it, then go for it! I trust your judgment! But at other times, in the vast majority of other times, press back.”

"Slow down the pace and focus on attacking the paint. For every offensive play, try to hold off on shooting for at least 20 seconds."

"Yao Ming, especially you, you played too politely and too cleanly in the first quarter. That won't do! Be more aggressive! Be more fierce! It's just Landry, just Landry. If you can't even get him into the paint, that's a joke!"

"Push in, sit in there! Push straight to the basket. I want you to be able to attack immediately after getting the ball! Just like we've been doing in practice these past two days, understand?"

"For the next few minutes, let's test our patience! Aside from the opportunities that Derrick thinks he can drive and score directly, we'll wait for Yao! We'll wait until he enters the paint before we start our attack!"

After giving his instructions, Lin Tian clapped his hands to encourage his team and once again fielded his full starting lineup. The game continued!

At this time, the Knicks also brought in their full starting lineup, and both sides returned to a showdown between their strongest lineups.

28: 37!

Rose calmly dribbled the ball up the court. This time, the Bobcats played with incredible composure and patience. He kept passing the ball back and forth with Hayward and DeRozan on the perimeter, but didn't rush to attack at all.

With only 7 seconds left on the shot clock, Rose once again got the ball at the top of the arc, and it was at this moment that Yao Ming finally got his chance, and he took two steps inward.

Landry, who had to go all out to barely hold his own against Yao Ming, was immediately overwhelmed and unable to resist Yao Ming if he wasn't careful.

Rose's basketball immediately fell into Yao Ming's hands. Yao Ming was already inside the three-second zone, and there was no time for any help defense.

The Knicks could only watch as Yao Ming almost turned around and jumped, then slammed the ball into the basket!
This was Yao Ming's first score under the basket tonight!

This was an absolutely crucial point for the Bobcats!

Yao Ming is about to fire!

"Hey kid, where are you?" Yao Ming, after scoring, was back on defense while unusually trash-talking with his head down: "Oh, I see you. So you're here."

"Sorry, I still don't really like talking with my head down while looking for someone, but that's not important. What's important is that I'm going to start putting in the effort!"

"You held your own against me in the first quarter, well done! Interesting, but I didn't go all out in the first quarter! Now, if I just exert myself a little, you're finished!"

"I'll crush you like a piece of toilet paper, you won't be able to stop me!"

"Can someone teach him how to trash talk?" Lin Tian sat on the bench, looking disgusted. "It's so long-winded and complicated, and there's not a single offensive part to it."

"If I were his opponent, I would be asleep by now. Is his trash talk meant to put his opponent to sleep or to make them angry? I hope Landry's emotions, which were about to get heated after listening to Yao Ming's trash talk, suddenly calmed down."

No one responded to Lin Tian's question.

The Bobcats players all strongly disapproved of Lin Tian's behavior of criticizing their star player.

But Lin Tian was right.

At the very least, Yao Ming's barrage of criticism was far less damaging than Lin Tian's casual remark.

That person is so dirty!
Stevens couldn't help but glance at Lin Tian again, thinking to himself, "Could it be that I'll become like this someday? Do I have to become like this to become an excellent head coach?"

"What are you thinking?" Lin Tian suddenly attacked Stevens.

"I don't want to become that kind of person! This head coach, I..." Stevens was caught off guard and almost blurted out that he didn't want to be the head coach anymore, but after seeing Lin Tian's squinting smile, Stevens immediately backed down.

"My head coach, Lin! You are truly the person I respect most in my life! I will take you as my role model and grow step by step into becoming the top head coach in this league!"

"What you just said doesn't seem to be the same thing at all, does it?"

"Who said that? That's exactly what I was going to say!" Stevens shouted defiantly, insisting that this was exactly what he was going to say!

Of course, Stevens himself was completely unaware that he had lost his way and was beginning to become the kind of person he didn't want to be.

Without realizing it, he began to gravitate towards Lin Tian.

Yes, he's starting to move closer to becoming a top-tier head coach in the league.

Lin Tian squinted and bullied Stevens. On the court, Stoudemire's strong attack under the basket failed to score. Landry wanted to grab the rebound, but this time he was blocked by Yao Ming, who did not give Landry any direct opportunity to attack.

If Landry could still grab a rebound with such a big and thick wall in between, that would be a miracle.

Yao Ming secured the rebound and quickly passed it to Derrick Rose.

Felton, who fully implemented Nelson's tactical ideas, retreated quickly at this moment, without putting any pressure on Rose. It was as if he was letting Rose attack freely and quickly advance to gain momentum.

He wanted to lure Rose into playing a fast-paced game with his team.

Unfortunately, Ross didn't fall for it. Instead, after glancing at it, he calmly pressed his palm down to reassure everyone and put them at ease.

We'll take it slow and steady!
The Bobcats' next offensive move was naturally characterized by the team taking their time, patiently passing the ball around, waiting for opportunities, and looking for weaknesses in the Knicks' defense.

Strictly speaking, finding weaknesses in the Knicks' defense is not difficult at all; you can easily create opportunities by simply passing the ball around a couple of times.

But the Bobcats were playing with incredible composure; they weren't in a hurry, they were waiting.

Yao Ming, who was inside, was also waiting. He could feel that Landry was putting all his effort into blocking him and preventing him from entering the three-second zone.

So Yao Ming isn't in a hurry at all.

He was waiting for the kid to lose his temper; no one can hold their breath and exert force indefinitely.

He will always slack off; there will always be times when he can't resist letting his guard down.

That would be the chance for Yao Ming to suddenly unleash his power again and sit directly in the three-second zone once more.

With 4 seconds left on the shot clock, Yao Ming suddenly made a move!

He stuck out his butt again, moved his big foot back, and once again chased Landry into the paint.

The basketball arrived at just the right time once again. After a whole season of adjustment and teamwork, Rose's passing skills are now superb, and the ball accurately landed in Yao Ming's hands.

After receiving the ball, Yao Ming only needed to turn halfway to face the basket directly, and then he pulled up and slammed the ball into the basket again with one hand!

"boom!"

After a loud bang, the Bobcats scored 4 consecutive points, bringing the gap between the two teams down to just 5 points!
For a long stretch of the second quarter, Lin Tian didn't adjust his tactics and just played like that!

As long as the Knicks don't make any substitutions or adjustments, Lin Tian doesn't plan to change his playing style.

Anyway, there's plenty of time, so take your time and have fun!

The Bobcats played at a slow pace, making it even more difficult for the Knicks to pick up the pace. However, tonight was a do-or-die situation for the Knicks, and at least in terms of player preparation and determination, the Knicks were more aggressive than the Bobcats.

So even though Yao Ming and Carlos Boozer had worked harder to position themselves and grab rebounds under Lin Tian's instructions, the team's offensive rebounding was still not good enough. Therefore, although the Bobcats' rebounding situation was much better in the second quarter, they still lost 4 offensive rebounds.

And as a result, the Knicks scored 7 points in 2 more possessions!
Although they had fewer rebounds than in the first quarter, they still lost 10 offensive rebounds in the first half and were outrebounded by the Knicks by 13 in total, indicating that their rebounding was clearly inadequate.

But the good news is that Yao Ming turned on his killer mode in the second quarter. He completely adapted to Landry's defensive rhythm and bullied Landry with ease! This guy made 6 of 6 shots and 4 of 4 free throws in the second quarter, scoring 16 points.

In this quarter, Yao Ming didn't go out to shoot from beyond the three-point line at all; he stayed under the basket and attacked the basket repeatedly!

Thanks to Yao Ming's efficient output with a 100% shooting percentage in this quarter, the Bobcats did not fall behind the Knicks even though they lost 4 offensive rebounds in this quarter.

Even though the Knicks once pulled ahead by as many as 9 points, they managed to catch up under Lin Tian's command and direction, and even took the lead midway through the game.

Although they couldn't hold onto that slight lead, and the Knicks quickly regained the lead, they were unable to widen the gap again by the end of the first half.

50: 52!

At the end of the first half, the score difference between the two sides had narrowed by 1 point compared to the first quarter.

Both sides in the competition are basically on the same starting line. (End of Chapter)