So I am the god of basketball?

Chapter 188 Restraint
After the timeout, the game resumes.

Meng Lang started a pick-and-roll match as agreed with Barkley before. Karl Malone's attitude became much tougher after being taught by Jerry Sloan. At least he dared to fight.

But the first time Meng Lang came into contact with him, he passed the ball towards Barkley.

Barkley faced Russell without any hesitation, turned around, stuck out his butt and rolled in.

Russell, who had been able to resist Meng Lang just now, met Barkley, and he felt as if he had eighteen women pinned to the bed for three days and three nights. His calves were so soft that they swayed, and he kept retreating under the impact of Barkley.

In the end, there was no way to retreat and the space under the basket was given up.

The center goal was wide open and Barkley finished with an easy layup.

It has to be Barkley!
This guy is 1 meters tall but weighs 96kg!
With a low center of gravity, heavy tonnage and such a big butt, it really answers the words of Nicholas Zhao Si:
There is no defender who can't be solved by pouting once. If there is, then do it again!
Jerry Sloan roared in dissatisfaction again.

In his opinion, there is no need for Karl Malone and Russell to switch defenses!

Because Russell's defense against Meng Lang just now was quite effective!
"It's okay, let's fight back!" Stockton stabilized his teammates' emotions, and also stabilized Jerry Sloan's emotions.

He did what he said, holding the ball to the frontcourt. Facing Jones's forced defense, he protected the ball very well. After the players were all in position, he started running with the ball. Everything is done step by step. You can see this word on Stockton:

This time he wanted to see if Russell and Karl Malone listened to what he just yelled...

Seeing Karl Malone and Russell successfully avoid each other, Jerry Sloan breathed a sigh of relief...and quickly breathed it back.

What makes him a little embarrassed now is...

The reason that made Jerry Sloan take a breath was that Meng Lang accelerated directly when facing Russell, successfully squeezed out of the basket and then easily picked up the basket to score. This made him realize that the main reason why Meng Lang failed to show his strength advantage against Russell before was that he had no room to accelerate. With the cooperation with Barkley, he can easily get the starting space, which allows him to better display his strength.

The main reason why he was able to hold off Meng Lang in the beginning was that he stood firm and had enough time to accumulate strength.

Meng Lang and Barkley are already very skilled in cooperating with this pick-and-roll tactic. As soon as Meng Lang stepped on the three-point line, Barkley quickly stepped forward to start a pick-and-roll. This is the point where the two of them feel most comfortable with each other, and there are many tricks.

Then make up for it in advance?

Although Jones' pressing was fierce, overall, Stockton was at his own pace, so the Jazz played their own tactics and successfully responded.

In comparison, Karl Malone, who is more mobile, must follow Barkley's footsteps. The only one inside was the "Big White Bear" who was as slow as a snail. If he had time to make up the defense, Meng Lang wouldn't be able to get a layup so easily.

He really didn't know how to limit Meng Lang's breakthrough layup after the pick-and-roll.

But now he was on the move and had no time to stand firm. On the contrary, after Meng Lang had more room to accelerate, his strength advantage in the confrontation became more obvious. It was not surprising that it was so easy to squeeze Russell away!

In the next round, Divac used a hard dunk under the basket to tell Jerry Sloan:

Russell and Karl Malone gave each other a position to make it easier for them to follow their respective goals.

Jerry Sloan can understand why.

You'd better keep Greg Ostertag out of my presence, or the Dunk Soul in me won't be able to contain it anymore.

Russell's height, weight and strength are similar to Meng Lang, but except for weight, he is inferior to Meng Lang in other aspects.

Jerry Sloan's expression softened. But it was only for a moment that his face became solemn again.

"Sigh~"

The reason is also very simple. The pick-and-roll between Meng Lang and Barkley came again. Just now they relied on the pick-and-roll to easily score.

stable!
As steady as an old dog!

Jerry Sloan was just stunned.

He never thought that one day, he would be helpless with his best pick-and-roll tactics...

Fortunately, the Jazz's offense during this period has been quite stable. Stockton and Malone's pick-and-roll, as well as outside shooting, the firepower is evenly distributed. While the Lakers relied on Meng Lang and Barkley's pick-and-roll to score consecutively, they Almost everyone responded.

When both sides replaced the starting lineup, the Jazz were only 3 points behind.

The difference of one ball cannot be considered as a difference!

However, in the second quarter, Chuck Daly had another change of formation. He got the Lakers' "Five Littles" on the court. And he replaced Johnson's "ultimate young and energetic version of the Five" with Kobe!
The first round belonged to the Jazz. They still played like the first quarter, using various screens to help their teammates get open shots.

Their trick worked very well in the first quarter!

Meng Lang's own ability to chase off the ball is really not enough under this kind of continuous cover.

But there is actually another problem that is also affecting the Lakers' offensive system of defending the Jazz...that is, Johnson at the third position is too slow.

Covering defense is also a very important thing. Although Meng Lang is not shameless enough to be like someone, asking his teammates why they don't come to cover when he is not guarding, so that this teammate will stand up and break the news from time to time. Some embarrassing moments from LeBron’s time with the Heat. But if you really want to say it, with the continuous screens from the opposite side, when Meng Lang is defending, he actually needs his teammates to step up and help him defend at this time.

This is a very normal request.

It's just that Johnson's defensive ability is not up to this level, so he keeps missing people.

It's not all Johnson, there are also "European tanks" inside... Such a defensive ability naturally cannot cope with the Jazz's continuous cover tactics.

But, it's different now. Kobe came up with all his strength useless, and now he just wants to vent on the defensive end. Not to mention Ben Wallace, who is definitely a top defender in this league.

The "Death Ray Gun" was just like the many runs that had ended in the first round. After successfully getting rid of Meng Lang, he came to his "sweet spot". Just when he was about to take action, Ben Wallace didn't know where to come from. flew out.

"Death Gun" has the ability to pass, but now he has jumped up and has taken a shooting posture. In addition, Ben Wallace's big hands seem to be magical, and he takes action unconsciously. The ball was "delivered" to the hands of the "explosion man" in front of him.

"Snapped!"

In the first round, Ben Wallace liked to mention a hot pot.

The emotions of the fans at the scene were immediately ignited by this big hat.

Amidst the cheers, Eddie Jones controlled the ball firmly and gave it to Kobe Bryant, the winner of this year's slam dunk contest.

The "Afro" that the future "Peter Pan" grew in advance is also very fluffy.

Then his classic "Big Bang Dunk" picture was released in advance.

"Bang!" The screams in the audience suddenly rose to another level.

After a successful hit, the Lakers became obviously more excited on the defensive end. The Jazz once again demonstrated their outstanding teamwork. Under the defensive pressure of the Lakers, they can still coordinate and move smoothly. It is inevitable that the frequency of passes will slow down to ensure safety, but under such a defense, it also appears to be very fast.

The ball was in the hands of "Death Gun" again, and this time he waited with experience. But Ben Wallace was also very experienced. He didn't pounce immediately, but took a big step away, straightened his arms, and just looked at it "silly".

Is this guy really a rookie?
"Death Gun" knows very well that if he raises his hand to shoot, Ben Wallace can quickly jump in front of him.

And if he passes the ball to the inside, he is too short and may be destroyed by Ben Wallace. If he passes the lob ball, Ben Wallace can smoothly return to his defender during that period. In short, this defensive position is very experienced.

He could only keep passing the ball.

Time passed by second by second, and it was time to test someone from the Jazz team to step up and make a hard solution.

But this is the ability that this team lacks the most.

Karl Malone got the ball while walking, but Barkley still interfered well, and the ball hit the basket and bounced out.

There was a scramble under the basket, and in the end Ben Wallace jumped high and pushed the ball out. Meng Lang protected the rebound.

Jerry Sloan was dissatisfied.

Currently, the height of the two Lakers insiders is less than 2 meters. It is said that the Jazz, which occupies the absolute height, has a lot of "second attack" opportunities. But the Lakers protected this rebound that should have been lost.

With a quick counterattack, the Jazz's "Big White Bear" mobility became a breakthrough on the court. The Lakers naturally had a "5-on-4" fast break opportunity. With several people passing the ball and cooperating, Meng Lang completed a one-arm dunk.

Jerry Sloan couldn't bear it now. He started using all kinds of dirty words. It was the late 90s, otherwise his words would have become a hot search topic.

The Lakers' entire defensive struggle became more fierce, and even tended to spread to the half court. Under this kind of defense, the Jazz did not take advantage of the "vacuum zone" that might appear in a large-scale defense. Instead, they made another hasty shot and ended up striking.

Although the Lakers did not take advantage of this opportunity to complete the fast break.

But Barkley grabbed the offensive rebound and then found Meng Lang outside the three-point line.

The familiar feeling of catching and shooting, the three-point shot, the hand rises and falls.

The Lakers went on a 7-0 "scoring surge" at the beginning of the second quarter, and Jerry Sloan had to call a timeout.

Chuck Daly was very satisfied and stepped forward to high-five each one.

He didn't expect that the "five small" lineup would be so effective against the Jazz. ——He just wants to use the outstanding defensive ability of this lineup to curb the Jazz's unlimited cover tactics.

Unexpectedly, not only did it achieve its tactical purpose, but it also exposed the Jazz's lack of hard-hitting ability.

Meng Lang was not that surprised.

Because he knows very well that the Jazz's "five small" lineup is not that easy to play, but is a bit restrained.

Why did some media later believe that the Jazz were the least competitive opponent the Bulls had ever encountered?

In addition to being beaten in both finals, the Bulls even allowed the Bulls to defend an embarrassing record of 56 points in the second finals.

Here’s why…

Is the Jazz strong?

Definitely strong!
The reason they were able to sweep the Western Conference was definitely not because there were no opponents in the Western Conference.

It's because of the strength of their lineup.

It just happened that they encountered this "five small lineups" that were more restrained against them.

The Jazz's offensive style of play is the simplest and most basic infinite screen and pick-and-roll. To deal with such a team, the method is both simple and difficult. Because you only need to do two things:
The first point is to switch defenses in a timely manner, and ensure that you can match up after changing defenses; the second point is to make up for the defense in a more timely manner!

And it is precisely the "five small lineups" that can take these two points to the extreme.

The Jazz's offense was so limited.

Let’s talk about defense…

The Jazz's defense is constantly confronting and colliding, so this team has a lot of fouls.

They can only get 11 free throws per game, while their opponents can get 18.

In the playoffs, their average number of free throws per game increased, but it was only 13.5 points. Correspondingly, their opponents' number of free throws also reached 19.3!
The ultimate reason for the big move is because of the defensive talent of this team, that is, the lack of physical talent.

The "second veteran" on the outside has no explosive power, Karl Malone on the inside has no height, and the fifth position only has tonnage and height. There is a very big problem in terms of movement speed...

The Lakers' counterattack just now reflected the Jazz's slow movement at the fifth position.

But this is only a small part of the Jazz's roster problems.

The Lakers' advantage of switching defenses against Stockton and having the "death ray gun" has not been reflected yet!

Therefore, this "scoring wave" can only be regarded as an "appetizer". The Jazz can no longer occupy both ends. They can only give up defense or offense and concentrate on one end. Maybe there is a stalemate with the Lakers. If they still want to do both ends well, then this game will probably make the Lakers increasingly unable to do what they do.

This was Meng Lang's judgment.

And he made this judgment when he knew that the "five small" lineup could restrain the Jazz.

But Jerry Sloan didn't know that during his coaching career, there was obviously no saying that he was "looking at the head but not the bottom". He focused on both defense and offense.

Chuck Daly saw that the "five small" lineup was so effective, so he stopped pretending and went straight to the showdown. He continued to keep the "five small lineup" on the court and played the entire second quarter. The Lakers' own momentum was Very good, the game got better and better, and we successfully led by 15 points in the first half.

Not only in the second quarter, but also in the second half, Chuck Daly showed no respect at all and directly came up with the "five small lineups". Before the third quarter was over, the Jazz were completely unable to hold on.

With a score difference of 25 points, it entered "garbage time".

The Lakers lead 1-0!

(End of this chapter)