Coach: Coaching the Grizzlies at the beginning, playing the bantam

Chapter 56 The Finals of Two Young Teams!
Only one day later, the tickets for the Grizzlies home finals were sold out.

Experts and major media have predicted the outcome and analyzed the upcoming finals.

The mainstream media generally believe that the two sides are [-]-[-], and the Cavaliers ranked second in the Eastern Conference have only a [-]% chance of winning the championship.

Most of the fans are also optimistic about the Grizzlies, because the Grizzlies have eliminated the traditional strong teams Spurs and Mavericks in the playoffs, showing a strong tactical quality.

On the other hand, although the Cavaliers have defeated strong opponents and reached the finals, the main core of this team is too young, and their performance in the first three rounds of the playoffs was very unstable.

No one can guarantee that this young cavaliers will not suddenly lose power after entering the finals.

The biggest reason for the decline in the Cavaliers' support rate is that the main striker Alexander Pavlovich was injured, and his left knee meniscus was sprained in the Eastern Conference Finals, which has a high probability of being reimbursed for the season.

Pavlovic is the main rotation of the Cavaliers in the regular season. He averaged 22.9 minutes per game, scored 9 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists, and made 40.5% of his three-pointers. He is the most stable outside shooter around James.

Pavlovich also performed well in the first two rounds of the playoffs. He played 30.6 minutes, surrendered 9.2 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists, and made 34.5% of his three-pointers. He played well.

It's a pity that this white forward from Montenegro, the Yugoslav Federation, is too fragile. He was reimbursed for the season after only playing 53 games last season. This year, he still couldn't get rid of his injuries and fell before the finals.

Of course, in Lu Yong's opinion, it doesn't matter whether Pavlovich can play or not. This guy is just a substitute rotation, not even the sixth man, and has no power to change the trend of this round of finals.

However, the Cavaliers management is very good at hype. Before the finals, they asked the media to infinitely magnify the importance of Pavlovich to the team. They posted that Pavlovich's reimbursement for the season is likely to shatter the Cavaliers' championship dream.

Once this kind of voice reaches the fans' ears, many people will think that the Cavaliers are unlucky, even if they lose this round of finals, it is understandable.

Similar to this kind of marketing method, Lu Yong has seen a lot in later generations. It is nothing more than the Cavaliers' lack of confidence in themselves. They used the power of the media to lay the groundwork in advance and found an excuse for losing in advance.

If the situation is not right, he will blew himself up and the players are injured, and he will talk off the court. No one knows whether it is true or not.

Lu Yong can also guarantee that if the Cavaliers can get the match point first in this round of the finals, Pavlovich will definitely come back in the life-and-death battle.

The management also had to cover for him, saying that Pavlovich was fighting with injuries, and the team would get a good reputation no matter whether they win or lose.

Unfortunately, the small calculations made by the Cavaliers management are doomed to fail.

The Grizzlies will not give the Cavaliers any chance to counterattack, not to mention getting the match point in an upset, the team will have to scold the players bloody if the team loses a game. How can they lose in such a game with such disparity in strength?
In a parallel world, the Spurs swept the Cavaliers 4-0 to win the championship.

The Grizzlies defeated the Spurs 4-1 in this year's playoffs. Although the strength is not calculated in this way, the Grizzlies are on the strong side no matter how you look at it.

Losing is unforgivable, and Lu Yong can't accept the team's upset in the finals anyway.

The Cavaliers seem to have a poor lineup depth, but in fact no one dares to underestimate them, because youth is capital, and youth means that miracles are more likely to happen.

However, the strong strength shown by the Grizzlies made the fans forget that they are actually a very young team. They are not much different from the Cavaliers in terms of experience and age. It is a fair contest among young people.

The pressure on the Cavaliers is greater than that of the Grizzlies. Although most people are optimistic about the Grizzlies winning the championship, the coaching staff led by Mike Brown is not reconciled.

In the second year of his career as the head coach, he brought the team to the finals stage. Mike Brown is an ambitious man.

He wants to lead the team to win the championship without being favored by everyone outside. It is very difficult, but Brown is still unwilling to give up.

After the discussion, Brown decided to use the twin-tower lineup of "Big Z" Ilguskar and Varejao in the finals, and put Gooden, who was originally the starting power forward, on the bench.

In the second quarter, he is responsible for leading the offense off the bench, acting as a sixth man.

The reason is that Swift's defensive level in the Western Conference Finals series was too high, and even Nowitzki couldn't take advantage of it. Gooden, who was strong in offense and weak in defense, was free against him, and he could easily become a Cavalier on the defensive end. team's weaknesses.

Instead of betting that "Master Gooden" will suddenly awaken and kill all sides in the finals, Brown feels that it is more reliable to deploy a two-tower lineup.

When two big men with a height of more than [-] meters stand under the basket, the Cavaliers can not only better protect the rebounds, but also strengthen the defense of the penalty area, ensuring that the starting five have no obvious weaknesses.

The only thing to worry about is whether Varejao, who debuted as the starting power forward, can defend the pick-and-roll and throw to defend the Grizzlies' misplaced three-pointers.

Even if he is considered to be the fastest reaction among inside players, Mike Brown doesn't have much confidence, so he can only try boldly and try to walk out of a sunny road.

As for the core tactics of the team's offensive end, of course it revolves around LeBron James' breakthrough and scoring, and cooperates with the Twin Towers' advantage from the inside out.

On June 6, the first match between the two sides started at the FedEx Arena in Memphis.

CCTV5 live broadcast, Yu Jia introduced the two teams starting. "Today the Cavaliers have changed again. They won the Eastern Conference Finals Drew Gooden, who played well in the Eastern Conference Finals, and let the 2-meter-tall Brazilian insider Varejao partner with "Big Z". This is a very bold employment, representing the Cavaliers Their determination to win this round of the series, even if they are not favored by the outside world, they are not willing to give up easily."

Director Zhang said: "This round of the series is interesting. Three of the four starters in the double-serve are international players. Ilgauskas is from Lithuania, Varejao is from Brazil, Gasol is from Spain, and only Swift The special one is an insider in the United States. This situation is rare in previous finals, which is enough to prove that international players have received more and more attention in the past two years, and the NBA is no longer dominated by American players."

Going back ten years, almost all the main players in the NBA are from the United States, and only a small number of international players can secure a starting position.

However, with the promotion of the NBA to the world, more and more international players have emerged in the league in the past two years. Paul Gasol's winning the MVP of the regular season is a historic breakthrough, which is of great significance to basketball players all over the world. to the motivating effect.

In fact, when Lu Yong traveled here, the regular season MVP has not been won by American players for a long time, and it has been divided up by international players for many years.

The dominance of American players over the NBA is no longer as incomprehensible as it was in the 80s. Many outstanding players have emerged in the international market, and they will all be members of the future Hall of Fame.

At seven o'clock in the evening, the two teams announced their starting lineups.

Cavaliers: Damon Jones, Larry Hughes, James, Varejao, "Big Z" Ilgauskas.

Grizzlies: Eddie Jones, Mike Miller, Ariza, Swift, Pau Gasol.

It is the result of discussions between Lu Yong and Fratello to let Eddie Jones play the point guard.

With his height and long arms and rich experience, he is more suitable to help defend James than the "Little Flying Squirrel" who is only 1 meters tall.

Although the tone of the Grizzlies this round of the series is to execute a single defense against James, Eddie Jones is used to let him prevent James from breaking through. Jump shots, that's what he's good at.

On the offensive end, Jones can not only support the ball with the ball, but also pull to the bottom corner to ensure space. When there is an open space, he can shoot three-pointers, and his efficiency is guaranteed.

(End of this chapter)