Basketball's No. 1 Anti-Fan

Chapter 365 Flowers Will Bloom Again

About 9 minutes into the first quarter, both sides began to rotate.

At this time, the score on the field was 28 to 26, with the Warriors leading by a slight advantage.

The performance of the Cavaliers' role players tonight was disastrous. They took a total of 6 shots, but only Wade cut in and scored 1 goal.

The Cavaliers' offense basically revolves around Hansen and Jokic.

Jokic played bravely and scored 14 points and 4 rebounds in a single quarter, while Hansen contributed 10 points and 5 assists.

O'Neal felt that Jokic played like he did in his old days tonight, and the Cavaliers did play like the OK Lakers during this starting period.

Although the others played poorly, there was no solution for the dual-core game.

However, this is not good news for the Cavaliers. The two core players consumed so much energy at the beginning of the game, and the subsequent games will be difficult.

The fans at the scene were also in a state of confusion.

Last year, the Cavaliers’ championship ring night was ruined by the Celtics. Are they going to continue the “tradition” this year and suffer another black start?

Especially when both sides started rotating, the fans felt this more strongly.

Because JR was in such a bad state, Malone had to put Wade in the starting lineup; because Wade was in the starting lineup, the Cavaliers' bench became weaker, which was a vicious cycle.

At this time, the lineups of both teams are: Cavaliers: Rose, JR, Korver, West, Dedmon;

Warriors: Livingston, Thompson, Iguodala, Jordan Bell, McGee

The Warriors had the ball, Thompson cut away from JR, received the pass from Bell and made a layup to score, helping the Warriors continue to widen the gap.

Bell is the 38th second-round pick acquired by the Warriors in a trade this year. His body shape is very similar to Green, and his temper matches Green's. Green directly trains him as his younger brother, which makes him like a weakened version of Green on the court.

At this time, the camera turned to the Cavaliers bench.

Ma Long was still sitting on the sidelines, communicating with Han Sen beside him. He didn't seem to be worried about the situation on the court.

Hansen and Malone are discussing team tactics.

In the past two seasons, as Jokic's strength continued to improve, he and Hansen used pick-and-roll tactics more and more frequently.

This conflicts with the Cavaliers' original one-star-four-shooting tactical system.

More often than not, the pick-and-roll tactic is just a tactical supplement to the one-star-four-shooting system.

Including last season, it was also used as a trump card tactic.

But this season from the start of training camp until tonight, the rest of the team has been in really bad shape.

So Malone is preparing to adjust the tactics and use the two-person pick-and-roll tactics as a regular tactic.

But that would be a test for Hansen and Jokic's physical fitness.

Han Sen didn't think there was anything wrong with that.

If Malone suddenly switches from being a one-star player to a pick-and-roll tactic, it will not only be a test for him and the coaching staff, but for the entire team.

But this is actually a gradual process, which is nothing more than a matter of priority and the distribution of physical energy between him and Jokic.

And there is an even more important point.

The kind of targeting he experienced during his time with the Grizzlies in their final dynasty season was very evident.

No matter how strong a team is, by that stage, its tactics must have been thoroughly studied by its opponents.

So it seems that the Cavaliers' changing tactical system during a game is very risky, but in fact it catches opponents by surprise.

That's like an old artist going on stage to fight against someone. He originally had a set of moves, but suddenly you change your moves. That's called a sneak attack, and it's not in line with martial ethics.

As for the substitute transition section in front of us...

As soon as the two finished their conversation, cheers broke out at the scene.

After the pick-and-roll, Rose and Dedmon accelerated past McGee, broke into the paint and faced Bell's layup for a score.

In the Warriors' offense, Thompson played very smartly. He originally cut inside after the pick-and-roll, but suddenly he ran back and received the pass from Bell and shot.

However, as a former Warriors player, West predicted Thompson's choice. He rushed out to defend in advance, and Thompson's shot missed.

After Dedmon protected the defensive rebound, the Cavaliers launched a fast break. Rose took the ball and rushed all the way from the backcourt to the frontcourt. When he reached the three-point line, he slowed down and forced Livingston in front of him to slow down as well. Suddenly, he accelerated again, passed the opponent and went into the inside to score another layup.

This goal instantly ignited the scene, and the Cavaliers directly tied the score.

In fact, during the opening ceremony, some Cavaliers fans were confused. Rose played so well in the preseason. Why didn't Malone start Rose when JR was not in good shape?

If you are a Rose fan, you may even think that Malone is looking down on Rose and targeting her.

But in fact, this arrangement is precisely a recognition of Rose by Malone.

Because Rose's style is similar to that of Isaiah Thomas or Iverson. As scoring point guards, if they don't have enough ball possession, their role on the court will not be as good as that of a dedicated and skilled role player like Korver.

Moreover, in a tactical system with one star in all directions, the best solution is definitely to have the ball in Han Sen's hands.

So this is the same as Malone's arrangement for Wade last season. Putting Rose on the bench is to give him more ball rights and better play to his abilities.

You could also say that Rose won the competition with Wade from Malone with his outstanding performance in the preseason.

Livingston backed up Rose in the low post and made a textbook turnaround shot.

Looking back, Rose passed Livingston one-on-one, broke into the inside, caused Bell to commit a defensive foul, and got two free throw opportunities.

When Rose was at the free throw line, there were actually some sporadic shouts of MVP at the scene.

Han Sen also looked at Ross at this time.

This scene is somewhat similar to the one when the Cavaliers fans shouted MVP for him, but in fact there is a big difference.

Rose's MVP is more of the sentiment of some fans.

The youngest MVP has accumulated a lot of popularity for Rose.

And speaking of Rose now, his condition is actually fine, and he can completely start for a weak team.

It's just like Malone's arrangement for him, the ball rights of weak teams need to be used to train young people. Who would give it to a player whose career is basically over?

Even though he is only 29 years old, injuries have already tortured him to the point where he can no longer carry a team.

It couldn't be better for him to be the sixth man on a championship team.

Rose made both free throws and scored 6 points in a row after he came on the court.

This kind of performance made Malone show a Zhuge Malone-like smile, which was something that Kerr on the opposite side had never expected.

When Rose had the ball and broke through with Dedmon in a pick-and-roll, the Warriors double-teamed Rose.

Rose passed the ball to Dedmon who was outside while being double-teamed.

McGee took a look at Dedmon who was about to shoot the ball, then turned around and prepared to grab the rebound.

But after a while, he saw the basketball draw a high parabola in front of his eyes and then fall straight into the basket.

Not to mention McGee, even Kerr was stunned by this scene.

No, buddy, you have prepared so many "surprises" for this new season!

Let's not talk about Rose. Although he left the spotlight and was also brushing stats in a weak team, Rose's performance in the Knicks last season was the best since his injury. He played 64 games, averaging 47.1 points, 18 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game with a hit rate of 4.4%, and the number of turnovers was a career-low 2.3 times.

The only problem is that his three-point shooting percentage of 21.7% is very poor, and he takes less than one shot per game, which means he has basically given up on three-pointers.

But what is this Dedmon situation?
His impression of this guy is basically limited to the opening few minutes of the second quarter of Game 1 of the Finals last season, when this guy played tough defense.

But you suddenly know how to shoot three-pointers?

Cole's reaction is actually completely understandable.

Even Kenny Smith in the commentary booth started checking the data.

The result is that Dedmon has played in the league for four years, and has only taken one three-pointer in those four years, and he didn't make it. His previous three-point shooting percentage was 1%!

So the three-pointer that Dedmon just made made history for him personally.

But the posture and confidence he showed just now were obviously not accidental.

It's really surprising that this muscular man suddenly becomes talented in shooting three-pointers.

However, this is also because no one pays attention to the performance of a small role like Dedmon in the preseason.

Without this three-point shooting skill, he would never have been able to squeeze Nene out of the rotation.

After the substitute transition period between the first and second quarters, the score on the field became 36 to 41. The Cavaliers not only overtook the score, but also directly established a 5-point lead.

The Cavaliers fans at the scene were all beaming with joy.

At least people shouldn't always be unlucky. Although the Cavaliers' starters except the dual core players did not play well, the substitutes performed well!
This also forced Kerr to replace the main players earlier.

In response, Malone also replaced Hansen and Jokic, but made adjustments to several other positions, pairing them with Korver, Covington and Cunningham.

It was obvious that Ma Long was not just chatting with Han Sen just now, but he already had a detailed tactical arrangement.

These three people who form the dual core are the best spatial points of the team now, and can avoid the situation of being squeezed and double-teamed after the pick-and-roll tactics are initiated to the greatest extent.

However, as the game progressed, Ma Long's expected tactical intentions were not implemented.

It’s not that the changed tactical system is not suitable for the players. Just as Han Sen thought, there is no problem with this step-by-step tactical system.

The problem is that the Cavaliers really couldn't make shots tonight.

As a last resort, Malone traded Wade for Cunningham, and then let Jokic shoot more outside in the pick-and-roll, and then let Hansen attack the basket more.

After doing this, the pick-and-roll tactics finally began to work.

Jokic isn't just gaining muscle and weight this summer.

Curry: You want to test whether my three-point shooting is sharp?

Tank Jokic: My three-point shooting is not bad either!
If you tell someone that a player has increased his focus and improved his three-point shooting, he will most likely say it's bullshit.

But if you tell him that this person's name is Jokic, he will probably smile with relief.

No way, this is talent.

And once Jokic can pull Cousins ​​out of the interior, when Hansen and Wade are on the court at the same time, Green's defensive pressure in the interior will increase sharply.

Hansen received the pass from Jokic during an open cut, and when he saw Green coming to assist, he jumped up early and performed a gliding dunk.

Green knew he couldn't stop it, so he slowed down halfway through the run and didn't rush to be a background board.

"Where are you standing?" Han Sen turned around and asked Green after completing the dunk.

Green's face flushed.

Obviously, Hansen was targeting not only the choice of defense just now, but also the trash talk that Green said before the game.

You are indeed still on the Warriors, but I didn't seem to see you during the offense just now. It's like you are there and not there, as if you are there.

The Warriors were caught off guard by the Cavaliers' sudden tactical adjustment, and Kerr's fragmented on-the-spot command could not cope with this emergency.

The Cavaliers continued their efforts, and by the end of the first half, they were leading the Warriors by 58 points, 46 to 12.

In the second half, the Warriors did not use a small lineup.

In other words, after trading for Cousins, Kerr actually gave up the small lineup.

Because he can't keep Cousins ​​on the bench, that would not only be counterproductive, but also given Cousins's temper, if Kerr really did that, Cousins ​​would definitely start to rage on the spot.

Cousins: I can’t count the number of head coaches I’ve had on one hand.

However, although Cole was not good at on-the-spot performance, he did a good job in midfield adjustments.

The Warriors came back in the second half and added pick-and-roll tactics with Curry and Cousins.

Cousins' pick-and-roll ability is much stronger than Howard and others. He can block people and also has a good grasp of the timing of his passes.

At this time, the Cavaliers' inside line with Covington playing the power forward position was obviously unable to hold up, and more importantly, Curry got many opportunities to train Jokic.

Of course, the Warriors also couldn't defend against Hansen and Jokic's pick-and-roll.

Both teams changed their tactics, but they still fought a fierce offensive battle in this quarter, and no one wanted to put their main players on the field first.

About 10 minutes into the quarter, the score remained at 10 points.

Although playing like this consumes a lot of physical energy for Hansen and Jokic, as long as they can continue to maintain their advantage in the transition period with the substitutes, the Cavaliers will not suffer a loss at all in the start tonight.

In the last minute of this quarter, both sides began to rotate.

After the rotation, the Cavaliers attacked first this time.

Rose used West's screen to break into the paint and caused McGee to foul.

Because of injuries, Rose failed to meet the fans' expectations of him, but after playing in the league for so many years, it is impossible for him to have no progress at all.

His ability to handle the ball was evident in the first half, and the ball just now showed his experience.

Livingston continued to attack Rose in the low post and made another turnaround shot.

Rose failed to break through, and the Warriors seized the opportunity to counterattack, but West was quick to foul and send Iguodala to the free throw line.

If we talk about who knows the Warriors best, it has to be this old player. Iguodala is the least accurate free throw shooter on the Warriors court.

Iguodala made one of two free throws, Dedmon protected the rebound, and the Cavaliers had the last attack of this quarter.

Rose pressed the empty time in the frontcourt and waited until the last 8 seconds to start the attack.

This time Brown was directing on the sidelines, and the Warriors let Rose defend one meter away.

Rose is good at breaking through, but his three-point shooting is terrible.

He used his performance to force the Warriors to launch targeted defense against him.

Rose tried to break through using the pick-and-roll but had no chance, and in the end he had to take a three-pointer.

It was a forced choice, and the red lights on the sidelines came on immediately after the ball was thrown.

But what no one expected was that the ball was actually thrown in!
After making this three-pointer, Rose increased his personal score tonight to 16 points!
After scoring the goal, Ross seemed extremely excited and he looked up at the sky and roared.

People can never be young again, but flowers will bloom again!
(End of this chapter)