Although everyone thinks that the Cavaliers are James' team, in fact, this team still has several available talents, such as Larry Hughes and Damon Jones.
One of the two outside combinations is good at breakthroughs and the other is good at long-range shots. The two complement each other very well, and defensive players often cannot take care of both ends. It's just that they usually can't get the ball and can't display their own characteristics and abilities. First text
But today, when James, who has always held the dominance of the team, can no longer play, the two of them have room to perform.
When it comes to this, the words have to be divided into two parts. This is also a characteristic of James. Although he is a ball tyrant and always likes to hold the ball by himself, once he feels bad, he will give away the control and his participation in the offense remains unchanged.
Under the premise of reducing the time you hold the ball and even the number of shots. This is very rare. The bosses of other teams in the league generally do not do this as long as they are not point guards.
They will still maintain a certain number of shots, and then use games as training to regain their touch.[
Therefore, for James' behavior, you can either say that he plays with a brain and does not mess around, or you can say that he is irresponsible and cannot stand up at critical moments. As for which statement to choose, it depends on personal preference.
"Facing Larry Hughes is our super rookie Roy. I believe he can restrain Hughes as well as Iguodala." The commentator at the Magic home court was very excited and fully trusted his players.
.
But Edison was not as optimistic.
Edison knew that although Roy performed well on both ends of the offense and defense, he mainly relied on his ability to combine man and ball, as well as his golf intelligence. In terms of physical fitness, he was not the best in the league.
Hughes is just the opposite. What he relies on to survive in the league is not abstract things like brains and insights, but physical fitness and superhuman speed at the same position.
How fast was Hughes' breakthrough speed? There was a saying in the industry that when you describe a basketball player as being fast, there are generally two levels. Usually, "as fast as Hughes" is enough. "
"As fast as Allen Iverson" is used to describe the speed limit.
Although this evaluation focuses on Iverson, Hughes can be used as a reference coordinate together with the "answer". It is conceivable that the speed is not ordinary.
After Hughes received the ball on the right side of the top of the arc, he began to move horizontally. Gooden, who was inside, pulled out and stepped on the three-point line to set a screen for him, blocking Roy. Then Gooden quickly returned.
Back to the paint area.
This is a classic tactical routine. Whether it is a triangle offense or an Eagles offense, this tactical movement can be reflected. The only change is the subsequent handling of the ball. Some are shot directly, some are played back to the inside, and
Hughes's choice was to put the gear into gear, accelerate, and go straight in.
Roy was originally slower than Hughes, not as good as Hughes in terms of top speed or explosive power. Now that he was blocked again, he couldn't even touch the hem of his clothes.
Hughes reached the basket in two steps, giving Howard and Brand no chance to come back to make up the position. He raised his hand and easily scored two points.
"It's so fast." Thibodeau couldn't help but admired Hughes' shot.
"Not only fast, but also very determined." After listening to Thibodeau's words, Edison began to analyze from another angle, "Hughes has not found his position in the past six months since he came to the Cavaliers. He doesn't know how to integrate into James' team.
The two of them are not on the same beat. So he always seems confused during the game and rarely makes the decisive decision he did just now. If he had hesitated just a little bit, our inside line could make up for it."
"Well, it's true, that ball just now really felt like he was in the Wizards. It seems that after the transfer deadline passed, he has become a lot more practical." Thibodeau actually knows what Edison said, but the positions of the two of them are
It's different, so Thibodeau's vision is not as high as Edison's. He can only see what's in front of him. But with Edison's touch, he can understand.
It was the Magic's turn to attack, and Roy took the initiative to ask for the ball, intending to return the ball to Hughes.
Roy's breakthrough does not have the superhuman first step of Tracy McGrady, nor the dexterity of Iverson, nor the crushing power of James' machine. His breakthrough is very similar to Kobe's, with a very good combination of man and ball, and he likes to incorporate turns.
Action. And he has a basket on the outside, so even if he is blocked, he can change his sudden shot into a shot, changing his finishing method in an instant, making it difficult for defensive players to grasp.
Facing Hughes, Roy put on a triple-threat posture, but Hughes could feel that Roy would not pass the ball if nothing unexpected happened, and he would definitely hit him. Therefore, Hughes had less to worry about.
A lot, just to prevent a single person.
Roy didn't use a screen. He dribbled the ball to get a feel for it and then rushed directly to the basket from the side of Hughes. However, Hughes was not a soft persimmon. He took half a step back to block his path and beat Roy.
Press towards Ilgauskas' defensive zone.
As soon as the two people came into contact, Roy knew that he couldn't get through it, so he turned around habitually, intending to move away from the angle, then step back and lean back. However, as soon as he turned around, he felt that something was wrong with him, and he heard "Da" in his ears.
"There was a soft sound, "No, it was interrupted." [
By the time Roy reacted, Hughes had already thrown off his arms and rushed forward with long strides.
With Hughes's speed, he steals the ball and goes straight for a fast break. Most people have no choice but to follow him and eat the dust, or if they are passive, they just pay attention.
When Hughes made a layup after the steal, Edison knew that today's game had exceeded his prediction.
For an academic coach, it doesn't matter if you can't guard someone, because if one person is beaten to death, it will only be 40 points. As long as you predict this amount in advance, and then find it from other places to make up for it. This is the scary thing.
The sudden outburst of an unexpected person completely messed up the coach's original plan, and the preparations before the game were in vain.
But Edison did not call a timeout. First, he planned to observe and see if the players could adjust. After all, the first participants in the game are the players, and 90% of the things on the court are performed by the players. If they can solve the problem
, then the head coach does not need to intervene more.
Of course, the more critical reason is that Edison did not come up with any good ideas.
A breakthrough player like Hughes is different from a shooting player. If Kobe starts to show his strength, Edison will call a timeout no matter what he can do. As long as it disrupts the opponent's shooting rhythm and cools his touch. But a breakthrough player
Their requirements for touch are much lower. As long as they can rush into the paint area, they don't need to have any touch for layups.
So if you call a timeout, not only will it not help you much, but it will give them time to rest.
But one round later, Hughes made a comeback and handed the ball to Damon Jones, who had been waiting for a long time on the baseline. Jones raised his hand and hit a three-pointer, which actually expanded the lead to 7 points. Edison saw that the momentum was not right, and the opponent already had
I'm about to have a climax. I can't waste any more and can only apply for a timeout.
"What the hell is this? I managed to guard James, and then another Hughes came. It's really a headache."
Although he had a headache but still had to think of a way, Edison glanced at his bench and called Rondo up. "You will replace Roy later. You are going up to defend Hughes. You don't have to worry about the offense. Your speed and flexibility
I'm not worried about sex, but you must be careful about their big guys' cover. Do you understand?"
After listening to Edison's words, Rondo quickly put down the Gatorade in his hand, and then began to move his wrists and ankles. At this time, the starting players also returned to the bench.
"Roy, wait for you to get off the court. Iguodala, your defense today is very good. I am very satisfied. Keep working hard. Steve, our offensive pressure on the opponent is not enough. Gooden and Big Z's foot movements are not good enough."
It's very slow. Apart from these two people, the Cavaliers have no other good inside options, so you have to find a way to mobilize them and make them commit more fouls and make more mistakes."
When Edison assigned Nash a task, he no longer mentioned specific tactics. He only told him the results he wanted and let the Canadians perform freely. This is a kind of laziness, a kind of trust, and a way of managing personnel.
20 seconds passed in the blink of an eye, and the players on both sides returned to the court.
"Edison asked Rondo to guard Larry Hughes. The height difference between the two was 15 centimeters. Edison now made it clear that he would guard against penetrations but not shots. He was optimistic that Hughes had no sight on the outside, so he took a bold gamble."
Hughes had never played head-to-head with Rondo before, and Rondo didn't play much in the Magic. He didn't take the rookie seriously. But once he played against him, he discovered that this little man was not that simple.
The speed that he is famous for has no advantage in front of this guy. This guy even slightly outshines him, and he keeps trying to use his long arms to steal the ball from him and interfere with his dribbling rhythm.
Preventing breakthroughs does not mean that you must stop the opponent. As long as you can delay his speed and allow your inside line to turn around for frontal defense, then you have achieved your goal.
Rondo's defense greatly delayed Hughes' speed, and Howard had the fastest turning speed and lateral movement in the league, so Hughes couldn't get an easy layup.
When Cavaliers head coach Mike Brown saw this, he kept shouting "shoot, shoot" from the sidelines, which meant that Hughes should use his height advantage to take more outside shots.
But although Rondo is short, he has a long wingspan and big hands. When he lifts it up, it is not much worse than Hughes. (ps: There are two opinions about Rondo’s wingspan, one is 198, and the other is 213. I
Personally, I think the former is too short, and the latter is too exaggerated, but I think it should be 200 anyway.)[
Moreover, Hughes' shooting has always been criticized, so he listened to Brown and failed to make two shots, so he gave up.
Hughes was suppressed, James fell into a slump again, and the Cavaliers suddenly entered a state of leadership. Damon Jones could only hand the ball to Gooden and Big Z inside to see if they could find space to attack.
Not to mention that the Cavaliers' inside line can really restrain Magic, especially Big Z, which particularly restrains Howard. There are really not many ways for Magic to defend European centers.
However, Big Z was old after all, and could no longer carry the team's offensive banner for a long time, so after two rounds, the Cavaliers began to have difficulty scoring, and the Magic caught up little by little and overtook the score.
