king of defenders

Chapter 615 Raptors' Defense

May 5, Scotiabank Arena.

Canada is a small ball market, but there are a lot of fans who came to the scene today.

The Raptors played very well this season. Under the leadership of DeRozan and Lowry, the regular season record ranked second in the Eastern Conference. Fans are also full of expectations for them.Although there is a behemoth like the Cavaliers in the East, the Raptors are not weak, so they can't wrestle with the Cavaliers to see who is the king of the East.

Players from both sides have already played and started to warm up.

It was very calm, there were no explosive dunks, and there was no competition in the air. It wasn't because the two sides didn't pay much attention to this game, but at this level of the game, those things were meaningless.

After some warm-up, the game is about to start.

"Okay, come here, let me talk about tactics."

Glancing at the Raptors, Spoelstra spread out the tactical board and began to arrange: "The opponent's advantage is balanced, and there is nothing to exploit, so we can only start from ourselves. Meng Yun, Wei Wei De, you are the key. Meng Yun, use your speed and breakthrough to tear through the opponent's defense. The opponent's lineup is balanced and the defense is very good. It is difficult to break through the opponent's defense with tactics alone, so we need yours as a sharp knife."

"Yes." Meng Yun replied.

"Wade." Spoelstra said again: "You are facing off against DeRozan. You don't need me to say that you know him well enough. Try to guard against him. He is the Raptors' strongest scoring point. .”

Wade nodded, expressing his understanding.

Next, Spoelstra drew a few tactics. Although the opponent's lineup is balanced and there are no shortcomings that can be exploited, some details are still worth exploring, and he urged them one by one.

Not far away, Raptors players surrounded the head coach.

The head coach of the Pacers, Dwayne Casey, has moved through many teams, and finally settled down in the Raptors. He coached the Raptors for several seasons. Coach Casey brought the Raptors into the playoffs, and from From the 13-14 season to the present, under his leadership, the Raptors have reached the playoffs for three consecutive years.

Just in February, Coach Casey also won the best coach in the East.

In March, Coach Casey won his 200th victory in coaching the Raptors, becoming the first head coach in Raptors history to win 200 games.

This season is a milestone season for Coach Casey, the best coach in the Eastern Conference, coaching the Raptors to 200 wins, leading the Raptors to rank second in the Eastern Conference in the regular season. Everyone thinks that Tyronn Lue is not qualified to be the coach of the Eastern All-Star team, but Casey should be.

And in Coach Casey’s heart, he also wants to lead the team further this season. Last season, their regular season record ranked fourth in the East, but they were swept 4-0 in the first round by the fifth Wizards in the East. Coach Casey regards it as a great shame and a great humiliation, and is determined to get rid of the shame this season, not only to reject the first round, but also to enter the second round, enter the Eastern Conference Finals, and compete with the Cavaliers.

Although he has the belief that he must win, Coach Casey is still very serious and cautious: "The opponents are very strong, especially Wade and Meng. I don't need to say more about Wade. Don't underestimate him. Don't think that he has three years. In his teens, long past his prime, he was the Heat's most consistent player when it mattered."

"As for Meng"

"I also have to admit that his talent is amazing, and his speed of improvement is even more terrifying. I have never seen a player improve as fast as him."

"We must be careful to guard against him. He is very fast and has a sharp breakthrough. If I am not wrong, he will definitely choose to break through more later, so we must pay attention to supplementary defense."

After some arrangements, the players agreed one after another.

After several seasons, the Raptors' system has been formed. They have stars, such as DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry, but they are not very dependent on stars. They actually play more like the Spurs, which is team basketball .

Of course, Casey is not Popovich, and the Raptors are not the Spurs, but the Spurs have the Spurs' system, and the Raptors also have their own Raptors' system. Coach Casey's orders are also prohibited.

"beep"

The game officially begins.

The Heat's starters are still Meng Yun, Wade, Green, Luol Deng, and Whiteside.

The Raptors started with Jonas Valanciunas, Luis Scola, DeMarre Carroll, DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry.

Among them, DeRozan and Lowry are the core, but Valanciunas, Carroll, and Scola also have outstanding abilities. Valanciunas and Scola are on the inside, and Carroll is on the front line. , Maybe the three role players on offense are considered good, but they must not be underestimated on the defensive end. As far as the starting lineup is concerned, the Raptors and the Heat are neck and neck.

Snapped!
Valanciunas patted the ball to the backcourt and the Raptors launched an offense.

Lowry was only 185 centimeters tall, nearly 20 centimeters shorter than Meng Yun. When he saw Meng Yunfang coming up, Lowry gestured and asked for a pick-and-roll, but Meng Yun appeared in front of him the next moment.

"Such a height can still have such a fast speed, this is a talent." Lowry sighed, without any reluctance, he shook his hands and passed the ball.

Meng Yun's current height is 203 cm, which is exactly the height of a small forward, but he has the skills and speed of a guard, especially his speed, which is no worse than Wall and Westbrook. He is definitely at the peak level of the NBA.

The height of a small forward and the speed at the top of the NBA, the combination of these two things is very scary. It makes Meng Yun's breakthrough threat very large. His speed allows him to successfully pass the defender, and his height allows him to face the opponent in the inside. As an inside player, he can throw the ball more calmly.

On the defensive end, defenders like Meng Yun are equally threatening.

Carroll received the ball and passed it to DeRozan. DeRozan made a sudden point and turned over to face Paul. The basketball hit the net and the Raptors took the lead.

Fight back.

"Pick and roll." Meng Yun gestured, Whiteside came up to pick and roll, Meng Yun accelerated, his speed was faster than Lowry, it was difficult for Lowry to get rid of Meng Yun with a simple pick and roll, but Meng Yun could Throwing him away, and then sprinting inside, the Raptors quickly covered the defense, and Valanciunas pounced.

Meng Yun passed the ball and passed it back to Whiteside. At the same time, Wade ran over. Whiteside turned sideways to help Wade cover, and passed to Wade hand-to-hand.

But the next moment, a figure flashed, and Carol appeared in front of Wade.

Wade looks at the others, Lowry has caught up with Meng Yun again, DeRozan is blocked by Whiteside, Valanciunas shrinks to a low position, but not far from Green, Scola and Luol Deng are entangled Together, the Raptors switched defenses in an instant without missing anyone.

Seeing this, Wade decided to play singles. With an emergency stop jump shot, the basketball crossed an arc and made a precise hit.

Although the goal was scored, Wade was not happy at all. The defense of the Raptors is much stronger than that of the Pacers, giving people a strong pressure.

(End of this chapter)