NBA: I am a master dealer

Chapter 248: Changes in formation in the fifth battle

The next day.

The series between the Western Conference Rockets and the Warriors has already been divided into high and low.

The Golden State Warriors easily defeated the Rockets with a big score of 4:1 and reached the finals.

This means that the small ball era has officially begun.

This result is quite unexpected.

Although the Warriors are invincible this season and have achieved an astonishing 66 wins, in the eyes of the public, especially in the eyes of traditional basketball people, it is difficult for the jump shooting team to make a difference.

Many celebrities and media believe that it will not be easy for the Warriors to break out of the Western Conference.

result.

一路过关斩将，4:0横扫鹈鹕，4:2干翻卫冕冠军马刺，接着4:1挑落火箭。

The playoff journey never seemed to be a challenge.

This is eye-popping.

In fact, at this time, people have not realized that three points can kill people.

They are still immersed in the old era and always feel that the insider wins the world, and the closer they are to the basket, the easier it is to score.

One of the representatives is Barkley. He said more than once in the live broadcast commentary that you cannot win the championship by just shooting three-pointers. He never believes that the Warriors have championship potential.

The mainstream media's view is the same as Barkley's, and they are also not very optimistic about the Golden State Warriors.

It wasn't until the Warriors finally reached the top that everyone was in a trance, slowly woke up, and began to develop their three-point shooting ability.

The next season, the Warriors won an earth-shattering 73 games, and everyone suddenly discovered that a new era had already arrived.

At this time, shooting three-pointers became a required course for all players, including inside players such as Gasol and Lopez, who also began to try to shoot three-pointers.

And now.

The Warriors have reached the finals. Although they are still not favored, they have attracted a lot of attention.

Reporters rushed to interview Curry.

Reporter: “Who do you think your opponent in the finals will be?”

Curry said: "From a personal perspective, the person I want to beat more is Xue Liancheng, but the person who appears on the finals stage must be LeBron James."

Reporter: "In other words, you are not optimistic that the Miami Heat can make a comeback?"

Curry: "Yes, no team in history has been able to do it. Xue Liancheng is very strong, but obviously he has not yet reached that height. It is really difficult to chase four games in a row."

Reporter: "Would you be surprised if Miami ultimately pulled off a comeback?"

Curry shook his head and said, "This is unlikely..."

Curry's remarks made the already turbulent topic of handicap 3 chasing 4 even more explosive.

It's like a boiling oil pan, sprinkled with a few drops of water, and it boils in an instant.

This caused dissatisfaction among Heat fans, and they all said: Wait for me.

But in fact, Curry has already assumed the role of Xue Liancheng. If it were him, he would not have the confidence to chase four games in a row.

Although it sounds ugly, it is the truth.

Xue Liancheng and others have returned to Miami to prepare for the battle, and the fifth battle is about to begin.

28 number.

American Airlines Center.

The Heat meet the Cavaliers' challenge.

In the desperate situation with a score of 1:3, the Heat also had no room for mistakes. They still upheld the determination of life or death to play this game.

The Cavaliers also feel tremendous pressure. This is their second chance to end the series and they must seize it.

If we lose again, the situation will not be good.

and so.

They are also determined to win and vow to end this series.

The game is about to start.

The player enters the field.

What is unexpected is that the Cavaliers made adjustments to the starting lineup in this game.

Irving, Shumpert, James, Love, Mozgov.

Remove JR Smith from the starting lineup and replace him with Shumpert.

The effect of this adjustment is obviously to strengthen defense.

It can even be understood that he came for Xue Liancheng.

Shumpert is 196cm tall and weighs 100 kilograms, which is almost the same as Xue Liancheng in terms of tonnage. He may not be able to compete with Xue Liancheng in terms of strength, but he is not completely mismatched like JR Smith.

Besides.

Shumpert is a standard 3D player who started out as a defender. His advantages are very obvious. He dares to fight, has excellent jumping, and has much better speed and lateral movement than Xue Liancheng. He is particularly good at entangled defense and has a certain three-point ability. Can effectively open up space for the team.

And his weaknesses are also obvious. In addition to catching and shooting three-pointers, his finishing ability at the basket is very poor, and he has almost no offense with the ball.

This means that his role on the offensive end is just a pitcher.

of course.

In the current Cavaliers lineup, this is enough.

The result was no surprise.

The game begins.

Shumpert came up.

Looking at Han Han with the broom head in front of him, Xue Liancheng felt inexplicably funny.

but.

He didn't dare to underestimate this guy.

When he pushed forward just now, he gave it a try. Although Shumpert's power was not as strong as his, it was actually not weak.

The point is, this guy has a very good defensive awareness, coordination and flexibility, even better than James.

After all, there is a full 10cm difference in height between the two. Shumpert has a guard figure, so his coordination and flexibility are naturally better than that of the stout James.

James purely uses his size, height, wingspan, and strength to defend.

Even after you break through, James can still use his speed and explosive power to chase shots.

So in defense, James actually has a huge advantage.

As long as James is focused and not distracted, he will definitely be an elite defensive player.

But Xue Liancheng is not afraid of James.

wrong……

It should be said that he was no longer afraid of James after his predictive ability evolved.

At the beginning.

Facing a tall player like James who has advantages in tonnage, strength, speed, and confrontation, his bulldozer style of play simply cannot break through.

It can be said that James, a player with tremendous physical talent, is the nemesis of his bulldozing style of play.

It wasn't until his precognitive ability evolved that he used the adjustment rhythm, focused on the center of gravity, and discerned the deviation of James' body, and it became much easier to pass James.

Because James' coordination and flexibility are actually not good, he looks very stiff.

This is why James has been playing basketball for 20 years, but his jump shot is still a zombie jump, with crab-shaped movements, unable to turn when breaking through, and seems to have no skills at all.

The only flaw brought about by James's hexagonal body talent is his lack of coordination and flexibility.

of course.

Even if it breaks through, with James' speed and explosive power, he can definitely recover.

The repeated occurrences of nail-board hating are evidence of this.

But Xue Liancheng has dynamic images of players in his mind, and every move of James is captured by him.

He can completely use pauses, blocking, blocking by assisting defenders, or switching his left and right hands to finish at the basket.

As long as he breaks through, it will be almost impossible for James to chase the shot.

and so……

His ability to predict and the dynamic images in his mind have in turn become a weapon to restrain James.

That's why he's not afraid of James.

And if James relies on his absolute physical advantage to defend, then Shumpert is that kind of skilled defensive player.

Maybe in the eyes of others, Shumpert's defense is not as good as James.

But here in Xue Liancheng, it's just the opposite.

Shumpert is much more difficult to deal with than James.

In the first round, Xue Liancheng wanted to attack on his own, adjust the rhythm, and after deflecting Shumpert's center of gravity, he tried to break through from the other side.

result.

Shumpert actually pulled back and quickly engaged in physical confrontation, making his breakthrough pace less swift.

In addition, Shumpert's strength is not weak, and their body tonnage is almost the same.

After fighting all the way in, he didn't get any advantage.

In the end, the ball can only be released before the help of defense arrives.

Gasol singled out Mozgov, and the hook completed the end.

The ball was scored though.

But Xue Liancheng couldn't be happy.

Shumpert's interference with his single defense was obviously greater than that of James, which made him a little uncomfortable.

Even vaguely worried.

result.

As expected.

Shumpert is a very smart guy.

When he was on the pick-and-roll, after going around, with the help of his teammates to delay, he stabbed directly in front, causing the entire pick-and-roll effect to plummet.

When he was running without the ball, Shumpert stood on the inside and defended from beginning to end. In other words, he was not given any space to break into the interior. Such a defensive position made him very uncomfortable.

The most important thing is that Shumpert kept his mission in mind and followed him without distraction or distraction.

Unlike James, who sometimes keeps his eye on the ball.

In this case, Xue Liancheng could easily find an opportunity to attack.

just now.

This opportunity is no longer available.

Shumpert only watches people, not the ball.

This is also the essential difference in the defensive awareness of James and Shumpert.

When he broke into the basket and wanted to use his footsteps to finish, Shumpert raised his hands high and just defended him closely.

He doesn't jump, he doesn't make predictions, and he doesn't try to steal the ball boldly.

This degraded his finishing ability again.

It made him very uncomfortable to do this.

The first quarter is over.

Xue Liancheng took 7 shots and only hit 2 goals. Fortunately, he used the porcelain method to get 4 free throw opportunities. Otherwise, he would have been very miserable.

He scored a total of 8 points, plus 2 assists.

That's right.

Only 2 assists.

Because the Cavaliers are still implementing a single defense strategy in this game.

Still the same sentence: If you can, beat me to death.

But the difference is that Shumpert replaced LeBron and killed him one-on-one.

Apart from necessary assistance and delays, they never conducted a decent flanking attack from beginning to end.

The other Cavaliers players only need to follow the person they are marking.

As a result, the rest of the Heat couldn't get a chance at all, and Xue Liancheng couldn't send out too many shells.

Except for defensive counterattacks and fast breaks, he did not give out a single assist in positional battles.

It can be imagined that the Cavaliers really fought hard in this game.certainly.

Xue Liancheng's downturn is not solely due to Shumpert.

The most important thing is his own touch, and there are some problems.

A pick-and-roll screen without the ball and an open three-pointer.

Wade passed the ball very timely, but he failed to make the shot.

In another elevator door tactic, he also successfully got an open opportunity.

Also did not invest.

Xue Liancheng failed to open it, which caused the Heat's entire offense to come to a halt.

After the first quarter.

The Heat trailed by 24 points at 31:7.

And the knight here.

James finally found his form. He made 4 three-pointers and hit 3 of them. He scored 13 points in a single quarter, laying the foundation for the Cavaliers to take the lead.

If Irving and Love hadn't stretched their hips, the score might have been even wider.

This time.

It was Heat fans' turn to fall silent.

Their expressions looked extremely solemn, and they also had a bad feeling.

Judging from this trend, this is going to be ink!

Lost.

That’s all about going home.

Never again then.

During the break.

Si Bo came over and said, "Xue, how do you feel?"

Xue Liancheng: "Shumpart's defense is good. I can't get rid of him at all now."

That's right.

It means: Shumpert guarded me.

It's so straightforward, and it doesn't matter what matters of face or shame.

He has nothing to worry about now.

Because they can't afford to lose. If they lose, there will be nothing.

What else can’t be said?

Spoelstra: "I see your struggle, let's do this, I will arrange the pick-and-roll and stagger him."

Xue Liancheng shook his head: "I don't feel good right now. They will never change defense."

He tried this method.

The Cavaliers have no intention of changing defense at all.

Si Bo frowned and couldn't think of a good solution for a while.

Xue Liancheng suggested: "I think we can try to let Dwayne focus on the attack, and Gasol will support him from the high position. Maybe it will have some effect."

Si Bo thought for a moment and asked, "What about you?"

Xue Liancheng: "I'll be the bait."

Now he has no time to think about whether the data is good or not.

He just wants to win and retain the last glimmer of hope.

As long as there is another game, he can find a way to break through Shumpert's blockade.

If there is no next game, it is superfluous to think about anything.

Si Bo couldn't figure out how to get rid of Shumpert for Xue Liancheng for a while, so he could only nod in agreement: "Okay, let's try this method first."

But after a pause, he continued: "Xue, I hope you can get back into shape as soon as possible and think about how to hold Shumpert down."

Xue Liancheng also nodded repeatedly, "I will."

The MVP, the best player this season, was actually restrained by a role player. This really made him feel embarrassed.

Although Shumpert is a well-known defensive player, the problem is that this guy's defensive ability is not among the best in the league.

Didn't even make the All-Defensive team.

He couldn't get any benefits, so he was naturally unconvinced.

The second quarter started soon.

Xue Liancheng sat down to rest, thinking about how to blow up this broomstick.

I thought about it for a long time.

He finally came up with a solution that might work.

That is to return to the original stage and regain the bulldozer style of play.

Although Shumpert's tonnage is here, his height is the same.

But in terms of strength, he still has some advantages.

But now, when there is no other way out, this advantage needs to be brought into play.

make up one's mind.

When he appears again.

He is not in a hurry to attack, but is more responsible for receiving the ball.

Except for fast breaks or counterattacks, he mostly plays his role on the court by attracting defensive attention.

The effect is not bad.

Gasol assisted, and Wade took the main attack, finally stopping the decline.

When the time of the second quarter came to the last minute.

The Heat still trailed 51:55.

After Xue Liancheng came over with the ball, he raised his hand to signal.

The players on the Heat field were stunned for a moment.

This is the signal to pull off the singles.

By the end of the game, Xue Liancheng had not played singles in the second quarter except for an occasional appearance in the first quarter.

The sudden request for singles at this time naturally surprised them.

but.

They didn't hesitate.

After all, as the boss of the team, it is natural for Xue Liancheng to play singles.

Shumpert suddenly laughed and said, "Come here."

Xue Liancheng didn't say a word.

After seeing his teammates pull away.

There is no debugging rhythm, just fight.

By surprise.

Shumpert stumbled and almost fell.

Xue Liancheng's eyes lit up.

Then retreat abruptly.

Raise your hand and shoot a three-pointer.

In this game, he never made a three-pointer.

But even so, no one dares to look down upon it.

Shumpert almost didn't think and rushed over.

But after he jumped up, he realized that he had been deceived.

Because Xue Liancheng was there and didn't take off at all, he just watched Shumpert take off and turn his body sideways.

at this time.

Shumpert, who was lying in the air, tilted his body desperately to avoid colliding with Xue Liancheng.

But what Xue Liancheng caught was Shumpert's prediction error.

That's right.

He just wants to get into trouble.

Originally, he wanted to give Shumpert a try and use the bulldozer style to see how it worked.

result.

Given such a big opportunity, he naturally had to take advantage of it.

only.

Shumpert's body flexibility and coordination are really good, and he can adjust very quickly.

With Shumpert's current tilted body, he was not sure whether the referee would give a whistle after he hit him.

But the arrow was on the string and had to be sent.

At worst, use 100% hit skills.

Thinking like this, Xue Liancheng has already taken off.

boom!
The moment of physical contact.

beep!
The referee's whistle blew.

It’s better to give face!

When he took off, he seemed to be leaning forward, so the referee didn't give a whistle, which was understandable.

And in the end, it was given, which shows that the home field advantage is still very obvious.

It may also be that he made the league go crazy and forced the league to punish the referee. The shock was enough to make the referee a little scared, so he gave it to him.

When Xue Liancheng heard the whistle, he did not activate the 100% hit skill.

Although 3+1 is very tempting.

But these two 100% hit skills need to be reserved for him to use when he needs them most.

Get to the free throw line.

3 free throws.

54:55
1 points difference.

In this quarter, we chased a full 6 points, which is very good.

Look back.

James made another three-pointer.

No.

Off-site attack and defense.

Xue Liancheng gestured again.

After his teammates pulled away, he directly challenged Shumpert again.

Shumpert was well prepared this time and did not stumble.

but.

Xue Liancheng's impact is still very strong.

Pressed Shumpert all the way to the basket.

In the end, he forced himself against the person and finished the shot forcefully.

Wipe the board into the frame.

After landing.

Xue Liancheng breathed a sigh of relief.

Although the breakthrough was very difficult, it finally proved that the bulldozer method was effective.

This made him feel anxious and finally relieved.

(End of this chapter)