readytorunbook Chapter 428 Sacrifice and Consecration
Chapter 428 Sacrifice and Consecration
Chapter 428 Sacrifice and Consecration
After returning to the home court, Popovich did not change the starting lineup of the previous game. He knew that the current lineup of one major and four minors was his trump card, and he planned to use this lineup until the Blazers cracked it.Although the old man likes to play cards not according to the rules, but facing the unfavorable situation that one step back is the abyss, he has to deal with it carefully, so as not to mess up and give up the victory of the whole series.
When seeing the Blazers' starting lineup, Popovich smiled slightly. Even if the opponent saw the clues and wanted to use the same lineup, so what?Although the Spurs' offensive firepower is not the top in the league, they have never been afraid of any opponent.
But at the beginning of the game, he found that something was wrong. He didn't pay much attention to the player Hickson, after all, he was just a rotation player for the Blazers.However, this time he clung to Duncan, who organized the offense at a high position, like a piece of brown sugar. Although his defensive skills were still immature, his attitude was enough to make up for many things.
As long as Duncan gets the ball near the free throw line, he will rush up immediately, cling to Duncan and wait for an opportunity to steal the ball, completely denying the opponent a chance to pass the ball easily.And his style of play is in the form of hard bridge and hard horse. Duncan, who is 12 years older than him, can't stand it.
The most important thing is that there are also Spurs players looking for opportunities to slip to the bottom line for layups, but Ginobili was blocked by Hickson.Although it is normal for a player to be blocked by the opponent once or twice on the field, Popovich saw that the No. 21 of the Blazers has a movement speed comparable to that of a guard, and can return to the bottom line in time to directly interfere The Spurs player's layup, and the backdoor tactic that the Spurs played so well in the previous game was suppressed by Hickson alone.
Of course, there are also contributions from other Trail Blazers players. Under the leadership of Ye Feng and Matthews, they tried their best to cut off Duncan's passing route in one-on-one. Dunton also followed Parker closely with all his breastfeeding strength.
And when Duncan was about to attack with the ball, Hickson played his own strengths and blocked Duncan's back.And even if he can't defend, the Spurs' tactics are meaningless. Putting Duncan to the high post is not for him to attack with the ball.
It was only then that Ye Feng and the others admired McMillan's judgment. They saw that Duncan was the core of the Spurs' tactics and made targeted arrangements.And McMillan is indeed very courageous, daring to remove the two starting insiders of Oden and Aldridge, and instead trust the team's backup power forward Hickson.Any cautious head coach would not be able to do such a thing, but McMillan did it, and the effect looks very good.
Therefore, even if the Blazers unexpectedly won the championship last season, he has not been questioned much. Obviously, there are two brushes.
Watching Hickson follow Duncan closely like a shadow on the court, Popovich couldn't help but smile wryly. You must know that Duncan, who was born in 1976, is already 36 years old this year, and no one knows how long he can maintain his state.Now he is no longer as comfortable facing insiders at Hickson's level as before. It seems that it is time for the Spurs to start cultivating the next core of the team. Leonard may be the most suitable one among others. ?
However, the current game situation does not allow Popovich to think about the next core of the team. At the end of the first quarter, although the Blazers only led by 27 points 24 to 3, everyone could see that They have the upper hand.McMillan has already made a move, and it depends on how Popovich responds.
In fact, Popovich has no good solution for the time being. Let's go to a purely small lineup, and the Blazers can do the same; let's return to the normal starting lineup. The first three games of the series have proved that it won't work. He will be restrained for a while. Feeling like I don't know how to deal with it.
Although both GDP and Leonard are trying their best to score points, they consume too much energy on the offensive end, which makes them unable to maintain consistent intensity on the defensive end.For them, a decrease in defensive intensity means a decrease in the probability of winning. After all, defense is their foundation.Especially facing a young team like the Blazers with strong firepower, the points they get on the offensive end cannot make up for the points they lost on the defensive end.
This is fatal to the Spurs. If it is an offensive team such as the Trail Blazers and Thunder, they will use higher scores to make up for the high loss, but the Spurs can’t. Players with [-] points, Duncan may be able to when he was young, but now...
At halftime Popovich surprisingly refrained from berating the Spurs' mediocre first-half performances, just letting them enjoy the game.After watching the first half of the game, Popovich finally made up his mind to rebuild the core lineup of the new generation of the Spurs. The time has come for the Black Legion to be replaced.
However, the Spurs, who put down their burdens in the second half, still played the team offense they are good at for a period of time, and once narrowed the point difference to 7 points.But soon the Blazers widened the gap again, and Hickson played a very important role in this.
There is no doubt that the biggest sacrifice in this game was Hickson. Although the team scored 115 points, he only scored 5 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocks. He was completely blue-collar inside. data.If you just look at the statistics, it is easy to think that he is playing soy sauce in this game except for rebounding, but only when he arrives at the scene will he know how much Hickson sacrificed for the victory of this game.
Among other things, just looking at Duncan only scoring 13 points and sending out 5 assists in this game, you can know what kind of contribution Hickson has made to the Blazers as the main defender against him. Duncan almost hit a triple-double in the first game: 22 points, 13 rebounds and 8 assists.This game can almost cut Duncan's assists in half, and Hickson contributed a lot.
In this league where data is king, Hickson's performance is often underestimated. Only the head coach and senior commentators know how good this player is and see their true value.For the Blazers, Hickson's sacrifice in this game is meaningful. It is not an exaggeration to say that he is the number one hero of the Blazers. McMillan is not a person who only pays attention to technical statistics.
(End of this chapter)