I was determined to be bad, but I went straight to the Basketball Hall of Fame

Chapter 513 Missing
The Lakers' upset loss to the Grizzlies in the first game surprised people.

It was a somewhat disappointing night for Lakers fans at Staples Center.

But they are not worried. In the 09 championship season, they also lost the first game against the Rockets in the second round, and were taken first by the Houstonians.

Afterwards, they still advanced through the arduous tie-break, which is a test that almost any championship team must go through on the way to the championship.

After only one night, early the next morning, the arena staff began to replace the floor in preparation for the Clippers' game that night.

The first two games of the Western Conference semifinals are played in Los Angeles. Such a scene is really rare-in fact, this is the first time in history.

The Lakers have enough samples in the playoffs, but the Clippers' ancestors are too shabby.

In the past two years, the Clippers and the Lakers have more and more opportunities to compete in the same city.

The arena is once again filled with the shadow of a big war. Everyone knows that the battle between the Clippers and the Thunder will be extremely fierce.

This is a collision between talents. As the leader of the young team, they have to win or lose in the semi-finals for two consecutive years.

In the pre-match interview, Kevin Durant told reporters very seriously, "We are ready and we will win the series."

There is no doubt that the victory of the Grizzlies yesterday gave the Thunder confidence, and the flames of revenge made the morale of the Thunder very strong.

Before the game officially started, the live broadcast footage captured the audience on the sidelines, including Griffin, Jordan Jr., Conley and other Grizzlies players.

This is an extremely rare situation in the past playoffs, because how can the team that is playing go to another city to watch other teams play?

But the Grizzlies can. After watching the Clippers and Thunder after the game against the Lakers, maybe they can enter the next round?

And none of the Lakers players showed up at the game. Kobe and Paul, who lost the game, must have found a place to practice or have physical therapy to keep them in shape.

Min Congda booked a VIP room tonight to watch the game upstairs with the owner of the Staples Center, Anschutz, and of course the new Clippers owner Shelley Sterling.

Unlike Donald Sterling, Shelley doesn't like to sit on the sidelines and watch the game in public. She likes to hide in the private room and watch everything behind the beaded curtain.

The divorce lawsuit between Shelly and Sterling is progressing very smoothly. In the past, Sterling would definitely not want to get a divorce, and the property should be divided.

Now that Sterling knows that someone is going to mess with him and ask him to sell the Clippers, the divorce can keep the team in the hands of "his family", of course he agreed.

And once divorced, the sky is as high as the birds, and the sea is as wide as the fishes, he will be single and free again, and he will have more reasons to find a girlfriend.

Even at the age of 80, as long as the glory is still there, he is still a teenager when he wakes up.

"Smart, it's too dishonest for you to do the facts. Why don't you communicate with me for such a big job as building a new arena? Are you afraid that I will steal your business?"

Anschutz lit a cigar and said to Min Congda while puffing out smoke rings.

Min Congda never thought of asking Anschutz for help in raising funds for building a new arena.

The Staples Center and the new arena are competing with each other.

Once the new arena is built, it will overwhelm the Staples Center regardless of its location or equipment.

Anschutz also held a cold and unfavorable attitude towards this new arena. It is crazy to build a basketball arena for $12 billion.

Although Anschutz is rich, he doesn't want to get involved in this muddy water. He thinks that Smart must have some brain problems.

But recently, with the turn of the Sterling incident, Xie Li gave her full support to Min Congda, and things started to become more serious.

As a sports tycoon with a keen sense of smell, Anschutz does not want to miss any opportunity to increase his assets.

If Min Congda can really raise funds to put the new arena into construction, regardless of whether the Clippers will go bankrupt or not, this arena must be a high-quality asset.

Therefore, Anschutz, who was not interested before, became interested again, and said that Min Congda was not looking for him.

Min Congda thought to himself, did I ask you to talk to me before?
Min Congda smiled and said: "If you are willing to join in and invest, I think the foundation of this arena will be stronger. But by then, the Clippers will not pay you rent every year."

"The rent is nothing, and the assets are passed on forever. Some of my friends in the financial field are very interested in this project, but they also have some concerns. They need the Clippers to give a better record."

Anschutz, like all investors, is most concerned about the Clippers' performance, because it means the Clippers' box office appeal, future cash flow, and profitability.

Min Congda knew that the Clippers had to win the semifinals this time. It is a good sign to enter the Western Conference Finals consecutively, right?

Before the game, Min Congda participated in the Clippers' tactical preparation meeting and put forward important guiding opinions.

Of course, the tactical preparation for the Thunder is not complicated. It still focuses on two points: Perkins' flaws on both ends of the offense and defense, and the implementation of a wheel battle against Kevin Durant.

However, Min Congda made some suggestions for modification. He believes that Brooks will definitely make corresponding adjustments tonight. It is impossible to let Perkins' flaws be exposed, and Durant will not be caught in a tight siege.

The Thunder is likely to use Durant's defensive appeal to create more opportunities for the wings and the basket. Durant will pass the ball, let Westbrook drive the rhythm more, compress Perkins' playing time, and even let the Durant went inside, in the low post and ribs, to serve as the offensive node.

Min Congda repeatedly watched the first-round game between the Thunder and the Nuggets. Durant has this ability in the playoffs, but he is not very strong.

"If the Clippers want to win the Thunder, they must let the game return to the Thunder's familiar doubles and singles rhythm. With Gordon's singles on the bench, the Thunder's offense is completely divided. The first game of the series is to set the tone. Let the Thunder play new things, let them indulge in inertia."

In dealing with tactics and game rhythm, Min Congda is a master.

After three years of training, he has been able to see through tactics, confrontation and other things behind the surface, which is something related to the player's psychology.

Now that Min Congda plays less and less NBA2k or LIVE games, he realizes that no matter how accurate the values ​​in the game are, it cannot restore the game situation.

Because the players are human beings and the team is a collective of human beings, everyone has their own ideas and habits.

When they have the same ideas and are used to tacit understanding, the combat effectiveness of this team is very strong.

But once the ideas are misplaced and everyone plays their own way, the team's combat effectiveness will drop greatly.

Before the start of the first game of the series, both sides will be in a state of full confidence and unity.

However, as the series progresses, many problems will gradually be exposed. Some seem to be tactical problems, some are technical problems, but in fact they are more psychological problems.

Psychological problems cannot be simulated in the game. In the game, the players always obey the command and always play according to the established tactics and operations.

It is different in reality. With the victory or defeat, personal performance, and a series of events on the field, there will be subtle changes in people's hearts.

Some teams obviously cooperated well in the first game, were in good form, and had successful tactics, but in the latter part of the game, all those advantages will be lost.

Because the two sides are familiar with each other, and the tactics and moves are old, players will play more and more according to inertia and instinct, and those things corrected by the coach will be slowly discarded.

It's like two people fighting. At the beginning, they both put on a posture. You are a black tiger digging out your heart, and I am a white crane showing your wings. In the end, you are greeted with eight fists, and even put on bricks, folding stools, and beer bottles.

Min Congda knows this after watching too many games. He knows that playing against the Thunder doesn’t require too many fancy tactics. The Thunder rely on talent and hardness to face you head-on.

If the Thunder's tactical intentions are realized and the offense and defense play smoothly, especially if the Thunder grabs home court advantage, the series will be difficult to play.

Therefore, it is necessary to let the Thunder enter the inertia of the game as soon as possible.

In this kind of inertia, the Thunder can't beat the Clippers in the regular season.

The sooner this kind of inertia comes, the Thunder will enter a slow death. Even if they win one or two games by relying on the explosive performance of the double minors, the series will still be held by the Clippers.

Min Congda informed Tyronn Lu and Steve Kerr of these requirements and his own strategy, and both of them sighed in their hearts, Min Congda is simply Phil Jackson's second.

Phil Jackson is a master who is good at judging the psychology of opponents and his own players. His manipulation of the "potential" of the game is unmatched in NBA history.

But Phil Jackson usually sees the tricks, directs and dispatches them on the spot to deal with them, or makes adjustments after a game.

Like Min Congda, he set the tone for the entire series before the series started. I don't know if it is conceit or self-confidence?
As coaches, Lu and Cole also expect to see results in the game.

The game officially started at 07:30 in the evening. Under the eyes of everyone, the two teams started their first offense with a jump ball.

Min Congda paid close attention to the opening attack of the two sides. The starting style is very important, which means what kind of thinking the two sides use to start the fight.

The Clippers remain the same and respond to all changes. After the opening jump ball is successful, Gasol Jr. is allowed to support at a high position. The team's passing and cutting cooperation has become more proficient.

The Thunder is still a high-intensity man-to-man defense, but after repeated screens, Curry still found a gap in the three-second zone. After receiving a pass from Gasol, he then distributed the ball to the responding Paul George. George dunked successfully , scored the first point of the series.

Perkins' ball is still undoubtedly a loophole, because Gasol and Randolph are both stretched wide, and there must be a gap in the three-second zone.

However, Perkins' lack of mobility caused his help defense not to be timely enough.

Brooks looked at Perkins' defense and sighed in his heart.

Perkins plays very professionally and has sufficient defensive strength, but the Clippers' current style of play really kills this traditional center.

He pinned more hopes on the offensive end.

On the first goal of the opening, Westbrook and Ibaka's pick-and-roll broke through the middle and passed the ball to the wing Durant.

Durant faced George and was double-teamed by Gasol Jr.'s help defense. He immediately gave the ball to Ibaka in the high position. Ibaka made a mid-range jumper from the top of the arc.

This ball was also in Min Congda's expectation. Durant was passing the ball at the beginning, and wanted to use the pass to drive the team's offense.

"The core ball-handling attacker will transfer the ball and pass the ball to break the double-team." This has been the only way for an attacker-type star to grow in the past 15 years.

The reason why this time span is set at 15 years is because these 15 years are the time when superstar singles earn the highest income. In the team's offensive tactics, the position of single players with the ball has never been more prominent.

Going forward, although the NBA is also an alliance of stars, the singles of stars are relatively not so prominent. The two most shining superstars in the 80s, Bird and Magician, were not top singles masters.

Although Jordan is the originator of this situation and may be the strongest singles player in NBA history, but actually watching Jordan's games will know that in the regular season and relatively easy games, his singles are very few.

That is, during the period around the 21st century, a large number of one-on-one singles will appear in strong confrontational games. From O'Neal to Duncan to Kobe to Iverson, James, and even Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady, singles with the ball have become a landscape on the field. .

Fans love to watch it because it looks good, teams love to use it because it is easy to use, the league encourages it, and stars are very efficient in singles.

However, this obviously anti-team operation of singles, no matter how encouraged by the league, the game still follows the basic rules.

Winning depends on five players, so an excellent single player must be paired with excellent throwing and passing abilities to lead the team to victory.

Durant is walking on this path, and Brooks believes that this year's playoffs will be a year of real transformation for Durant.

In the first round of the series, Durant's average assists per game increased from 3.5 in the regular season to 4. He is trying to help the team in ways other than scoring.

Anyway, many NBA stories say this, like Kobe, when he learned to share the ball, victory and success beckoned to him.

The Thunder played well at the beginning, and the Clippers' offense was smooth. Both sides came and went, the offensive efficiency was quite high, and the score was also rising all the way.

At the end of the first quarter, the two sides scored 30:31. The Clippers led by 1 point. Durant did not score in the first quarter. He has been assisting and passing the ball. He has sent 4 assists, which has reached the average of the last series. up.

He also felt good, like the whole team was driven by him, he attracted the defense, teammates opened up, he passed, the ball went in, everything went smoothly.

In the second quarter, there were some changes in the situation of the game. The Clippers suddenly began to defend a zone defense to contain the Thunder's sudden score.

At the same time, Randolph succeeded in consecutive low-post attacks, and the Clippers beat the Thunder with a 7-0 spurt, and the point difference instantly widened to 8 points.

This is an important suggestion given by Min Congda at the pre-match preparation meeting, to use zone defense in a timely manner to change the situation on the field and make the Thunder uncomfortable.

Lei Ting must accept the trick, what trick to use?
Can Durant think of any tactics to crack the zone defense?

Of course you can, just find a 45-degree flank gap by moving the ball in time, and just shoot a three-pointer directly.

Hitting a three-pointer is the best way to crack the zone defense, or there is a passing center near the free throw line to support, this Thunder does not.

As a result, Durant tried to respond, commanding his teammates to move, looking for open passes, and allowing his teammates to score three points.

This requires a good coordination between him and Westbrook.

As a result, after a timeout, Westbrook rushed into the three-second zone with the ball and challenged Gasol.

Encircled, the pass was wrong, the Clippers counterattacked, Leonard killed the half court like a wind, caught the ball and easily dunked.

Durant ran over and could only take the ball and serve in the backcourt, and shouted at Westbrook: "Be smart, zone defense, don't rush, pass the ball well."

Westbrook nodded, but he thought in his heart that he had a chance to go to the basket and score directly just now...

The point difference came to 10 points at once.

At this time, Durant and the Thunder coaching staff suddenly missed James Harden a little bit.

If he was there, wouldn't there be the person in the middle commanding to break the defense?
(End of this chapter)