The Magic have six preseason games in October, which Edison and the coaching staff attach great importance to because the team's tactics are definitely very different from last year due to personnel adjustments.
As mentioned before, Brand must be the starter, but there are many differences in styles between him and Josh.
Brand is the starter. The biggest difference between him and Josh is not his cutting ability, but his quick play ability and defensive ability.
Although Brand is very heavy, his lateral movement speed is not slow. He has explosive power, but his top speed is not as good as Josh. If Josh shoots arrows downward after the pick-and-roll, the defensive players did not wait.
When he reacts, he has already reached the basket and scored, so Brand is a battering ram. The defensive players know it, but they can't stop it. So although his cut is not as fast as Josh's, it is still very effective, that is, alley-oops.
It may not be as smooth, and the visual impact is not as good as that of Josh.
But Brand's mid-range shot is much better than Josh's, so after he sets a pick-and-roll for Nash, the two of them will have more choices, and it will be more difficult for the defensive players to deal with.
There is no problem with the pick-and-roll cut, but there is a problem with the quick release. How to explain this?
As mentioned just now, Brand's explosive power is not bad. Not to mention Josh, even Bolt can't get rid of him in the 3 or 5 meters distance in the penalty area, but after running for a whole game, the gap is out. About
Shi ran like a wild dog without a leash. The defensive player turned around slowly and was no longer able to touch him.
And as mentioned in the previous article, counterattack fast break is not as simple as one person passing the ball and one person running. A good fast break is three-dimensional, layered and echeloned, and pays attention to multiple arrows. Not only must there be a forward position.
When the dragon is running to the basket, there must be insiders to keep up. If the ball is passed a little too big, or the step point of receiving the ball is not adjusted well and the progress is not made, the insiders who keep up must hit the offensive rebounds as soon as possible and be ready to make up for the dunk.
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You can refer to the current Nuggets for this. They are the best team in the league with the most fast break points. They usually make a long pass, and then Ty Lawson, Iguodala, and Gallinelli catch the ball and run.
basket, but the half-orc Faried followed closely behind, and was only 2 big steps behind them. Once the ball popped out, he immediately made up for it.
And who is running the fast break for the Magic? Iguodala, Tony Allen, Martin, and Wallace. When these few run, I think everyone knows that they are like running on Hot Wheels. They are so fast.
. Josh can keep up with them, his speed is no problem, he may even run faster than them. But Brand can't, he can't keep up with the speed of these people.
Therefore, in order to ensure the efficiency of fast break, the Magic must make changes.
The first method Edison thought of was to slow down.
Brand's running fitness is there and it's difficult to change. So since it's impossible to make him faster, we can only make others slower. Let the other people not rush so hard and accommodate Brand.
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But this method has a fatal flaw, fast break and quick play, the key is the word "quick". If it is not fast, in order to let Brand follow up, the defensive players will retreat, then the gain will not be worth the loss. Besides, fast break
When we are playing, we often have to race against the opponent. Who can think of waiting for someone at this time?
Since slowing down doesn't work, the only other way is to use substitution.
If Brand can't keep up with the fast break rhythm, let someone else do it. I believe that at this time, the reader has already thought of a name-Howard.
Yes, Howard does run very fast. Although he is a little slower than Josh, he is definitely an outside line. He can definitely keep up with the Magic and a few wild dogs. But things are not that simple. He is not a casual player.
Just assign it.
As we said in the previous article, fast breaks are more directly initiated by stealing or grabbing backcourt rebounds. As a center, Howard has to be at the end no matter what situation is mentioned above, as long as he is defending,
Closest to the team's bottom line, because the center's responsibility is the last gate to the team's basket. Therefore, he takes a big step back than the power forward. A big step does not sound like much, but for basketball players, he
It takes less than 10 steps to run the entire field, so relatively speaking, the time of this step may change...
Therefore, replacing Howard as the second tier to play fast break is not a simple personnel change. It requires adjustments to the entire team's defensive system.
Fortunately, Edison was not primarily responsible for the Magic's defensive system, so Edison asked Thibodeau, "Do you think there's a problem?" Then Thibodeau replied, "Then I'll leave it to you."
Although Thibodeau felt that Edison's behavior was despicable and irresponsible, he did not complain because he had been prepared for it. As soon as Brand's deal was concluded, Thibodeau knew his defensive system last season.
It is no longer suitable.
Brand has a top-defense ability that is unmatched by all the current Magic insiders. It can be said that there are only a few people in the league who can squeeze him. However, neither Josh nor Marion, the Magic's previous insiders, have such strong top-defense capabilities.
, it’s not that they are not active defensively, but that they don’t have enough tonnage. Therefore, in the past, when facing players with big butts inside, Thibodeau’s defense was more of a semi-zone dynamic defense, relying on the unparalleled ability of forward players.
Athletic ability, constantly double-teaming, assisting defense and interfering with offensive players.
Now that he has Brand, it is impossible for Thibodeau not to use his advantage and let him defend alone.
But Brand is not completely better than Josh. Some of Josh's supplementary defenses are beyond the comparison of Brand.
Objectively speaking, Brand's lateral movement speed is not slow, but his shoulders are very wide, and due to his body shape, his turning is not flexible enough. So to paraphrase the sentence in "Conquering the Demons", his athletic ability and lateral movement
His ability is a little bit worse than Josh's. But on the field, a little bit is enough for some players to take action, enough to turn a block into a ball interference.
Therefore, the Magic's defensive system is destined to undergo major changes last season, so Thibodeau doesn't care if Edison makes another request.
But in general, after Brand replaces Josh and Howard as a partner, the Magic's inside strength is still better, so it's not a big problem.
But another problem is causing headaches.
Who will play small forward?
Although there are many people in the Magic who can play small forward, including Martin, Wallace, and Hardaway, the registered position is small forward, and Iguodala has grown to 200cm after a year of stretching, and is fully qualified to play small forward.
Josh Smith can also move down to play, after all, where is his athletic ability.
But these people all have their own problems.
Martin is too soft. He has no problem attacking as the starting small forward, but he can't defend. Originally, the Magic had a defensive paper man like Nash, and now there is another Martin, which is equivalent to the top of the key and the perimeter on one side.
There is no defense at all. As long as the opponent has a player with a sharp breakthrough, he can attack the Magic's heart from here without restraint. And with Brand replaced inside, the filling will definitely not be as good as before, and the effect of this pick-and-roll will also be worse.
a lot of.
Wallace is exactly the opposite of Martin. He is fine defensively as a starter, but not offensively. He has no three-point ability and cannot help the team expand space. His main offensive method is to break through. Remember what we said before?
Is it the theory of occupying a one-meter circle? If Wallace wants to break through, this requires the Magic's inside line to stay away from the three-second zone to give him space. But Brand is easily affected if he is far away from the paint area.
First: Although Brand has a mid-range shot, it is only one step away from the paint area, and he cannot do it further.
Second: He can't grab rebounds. As mentioned before, Brand is short, only 203cm, so his absolute height is not enough. He mainly relies on anticipation, positioning and continuous take-off ability to grab rebounds. Once he is three seconds away,
He can't make full use of these points.
So when Wallace starts, he and Brand can't complement each other in offense, and the result is 1+12...
Let’s talk about Hardaway. Some people may think that Hardaway is similar to Hill. If it is Hill, then he will definitely have no problem playing small forward, because although Hill is suffering from injuries, he has not suffered from the root of the disease and his athletic ability will not be too bad.
Much. But Hardaway is not Hill. He has forced his way back after every injury. Some of his meniscus and other cartilage have been worn out, and his athletic ability is no longer good. This is not what Edison brought Nelson and Carter to the Suns team later.
A combination of miracle doctors can solve it.
You must know that Hardaway had stayed in the Sun, and he was not cured. This was God's will to trick people. Back then, in magic, his Bodhi root was directly interrupted, and it would be useless to practice it for another hundred and eighty years. Now
Hardaway can only serve as a substitute, using his game experience to hold down the position when he comes off the bench.
As for Josh Smith, this is a last resort. He can only be used in extreme situations, such as taking turns guarding James with Wallace. He cannot be relied on in normal times.
Finally, Edison and others set their sights on Iguodala.
Iguodala plays small forward, so there is no problem. After a season of hard training, his three-point shooting has reached about 38%. Although it cannot be said to be particularly good, opponents are definitely afraid of it. There is no problem with defense, whether it is single defense or assist defense.
, whether facing speed flow, strength flow or technical flow, Iguodala can handle it well.
But Thibodeau raised a question, "If Iguodala goes to play small forward, who will play shooting guard?"
Thibodeau knew Edison very well. He just asked questions and did not question or refute, but everyone discovered the problem after following his train of thought.
If you play Martin and Hardaway, it's just a change of position. The players are still the same, and the above problems still exist. If you play Tony Allen, it's the same as playing Wallace at the small forward. The defense is fine, but the offense is not.
Edison didn't care, "Let Roy play shooting guard."
Nelson had to remind Edison at this time, "Roy will have to wait until December before he can appear. What will happen in the previous month?"
Mark Jackson, the new coach, directly expressed his disapproval, "Paul, you keep talking about how good Roy is, but we have never seen him play. Is he really as good as you say?"
Edison hated it when others questioned him like this, so he replied with a stern face, "If he wasn't that good, why would I choose him with the No. 10 pick? He must be fine. As for the previous month, several of our other
It’s up to the players to get used to it and let them realize their own shortcomings.”
Then, unable to be refuted by others, Edison made the final summary, "The starters for the new season are Howard, Brand, Iguodala, Roy and Nash. Before Roy came back, we arranged shooting guards according to the opponent's lineup.
Candidates. Okay, that's it. You can arrange your training according to this idea."
