On the evening of November 2nd, Eastern Time, the NBA, which basketball fans around the world have been waiting for for a long time, finally reignited the war.
The Houston Rockets faced the Pistons at home to kick off the league's opening game.
As the defending champion, the Pistons have retained the main lineup that won the championship last season, and at the same time added strong veteran McDyess. Although Okur and others have left, overall their strength has not declined but has risen, and they are still the favorite to win this year's championship.
Candidate.
The Houston Rockets went through a major shakeup in the summer, sending away their original backcourt duo of Francis and Mobley in exchange for Kidd and "Kidney Warrior" Mourning from the Nets. As for whether it can play a good role
The chemical reaction has yet to be tested in the competition.
In fact, from the perspective of the fans, this game is not good to watch. Both teams started out as defensive players, and are good at half-court offense and defense, so the game is like a millstone grinding beans, with both sides grinding back and forth.
No passion at all.
The final score was fixed at 88-93, with the home team in front and the visiting team in behind.
The Pistons were superior, with all five starting players scoring in double figures, making a good start to the new season.
On the other hand, the Rockets actually played very well. Yao Ming scored 26 points and 9 rebounds, and Kidd also had a near-triple-double of 18 points, 8 rebounds and 10 assists. In fact, the Rockets were in the lead for a long time in the game, but in the end
The problem with losing still lies in the lack of guaranteed scoring in the fourth quarter.
There were two games left on the opening day, and the final result was that the Kings lost to the Mavericks 98-102. The Kings, who had performed well in the past few seasons, were showing their age.
The Nuggets defeated the bleeding Lakers 98-92. Anthony scored 30 points, while Kobe, who led the team alone, scored 28 points. In this game, the two of them became outstanding.
If the three games on the opening day were appetizers, that day was a feast, with a total of 13 games, including the Magic's first game of the new season, an away game against the Bucks.
At 7 pm on November 3, all 18,717 seats in the Bradley Center were packed. All Milwaukee fans came here to watch the Bucks' first show.
In the Bucks' away locker room, Edison was still arranging tactics and introducing running moves. In fact, he had said the same thing countless times, but today he still couldn't help but keep saying it, always feeling that he
I didn't say much before.
Finally, Howard in the audience couldn't help it anymore, "Coach, you've said this three times about running coordination from just now to now."
Since that heart-to-heart talk, the relationship between Howard and Edison has become much closer. The two are now obviously master and apprentice, but in Howard's heart, Edison is like his brother, so sometimes he is more relaxed and dares to
Joking with Edison.
After hearing this, Edison shook his head helplessly, "I know, but I just can't help but say it again. Do you have any opinions?" At the beginning, Edison was still a little self-blame, but he quickly regained his momentum, and the ropeway finally hit hard
He glared at Howard.
"No." Howard looked at Edison resentfully.
"Okay, stop talking and get ready to play."
So the players all stood up and prepared to play, but when Howard, who was walking at the front, opened the door, he heard Edison's last words.
"We will definitely win today."
All the players looked at Edison, knowing that this young coach who usually seemed kind and stern was a little nervous today. After all, this was the most meaningful game in his life and his first as a head coach.
NBA official games. (PS: In those two games last season, I was the acting head coach. There are only two more words, but the meaning is very different.)
All the players looked at each other and said in unison, "We will definitely win today."….
In their intertwined eyes, Thibodeau and others saw a strange light, which was firm, exciting, and fanatical. It was complex and elusive, but Thibodeau could easily read something clear from these emotions.
, that is the desire for victory.
The starting lineup for the Bucks is, point guard: Mo Williams, shooting guard: Reid, small forward: Desmond Mason, power forward: Joe Smith, center: Gadzuric.
The Magic are Nash, Iguodala, Marion, Josh and Howard.
Howard still routinely jumped for the ball, and then routinely won the jump. Then other players routinely handed the ball to Nash, and then Nash routinely dribbled the ball forward quickly.
The biggest feature of the Bucks' lineup is the huge height gap. The three backcourt players are all less than 200cm tall, while the two frontcourt players are 210cm tall.
Nash carried the ball and rushed to the Bucks' half with the wind at his feet. Josh came over and set a screen with Nash. Nash did not go directly to the bottom line because he found that Marion had a good opportunity.
Mason, who is guarding Marion, is 1.96cm tall. Although he can jump, resist and has enough strength, he is still relatively reluctant to play small forward. It seems that the Bucks' Porter made a special statement today. When he saw Nash and Josh doing a pick-and-roll,
He immediately took a step inside, ready to double-team at any time.
But by doing so, he gave Marion space. As soon as Nash saw the opportunity, he threw the ball to Marion.
Marion didn't hesitate when he received the ball, and shot a three-pointer directly. The ball basically had no arc, it was very flat, but it was very accurate, and he scored a three-pointer.
Marion scored the Magic's first goal of the new season.
When Edison saw the three-pointer, he raised his arms and was even more excited than Marion.
The Bucks' home commentator laughed at him when he saw it, "If you don't know, you think he shot the ball just now."
The Bucks turned around and launched an offensive. Reid, who was the Bucks' number one star last season, took over the offensive right without hesitation. But unfortunately, Iguodala defended very carefully, and in the end Reid could only take a hasty shot and missed.
Howard beat Gadzuric to get the rebound, and then handed the ball to Nash immediately, and the Magic fast break.
The Bucks' backcourt retreated quickly, but the two inside players were slower. Josh rushed into the paint before the opponent's big man came back, and had an alley-oop with Nash.
The explosive goal directly ignited the enthusiasm of the fans in the audience - this is also a characteristic of the Bucks' home court. Many fans come just to watch the stars dunk. It is best if their home team can win, but it does not matter if they cannot win. If the visiting team performs well
Fans often rebel.
From the time Howard grabbed the rebound, to Nash's push, and Josh's dunk, only 6 seconds passed. In just 6 seconds, the ball completed its journey from one end of the court to the other. This is the speed of the Magic.
0-5, international convention is that the home team goes first and the visiting team goes last.
After Mason sent the ball, Mo Williams also quickly brought the ball across the half court, and then called the ball to Reid. However, Reid was very close to Iguodala and had no chance to take action, so he handed the ball to Reid again.
Pour it to Mason.
As mentioned before, although Mason plays as a small forward, he is very short. However, the advantage of a small man is that he is more flexible than a big man. Flexibility does not mean being fast, but a lower center of gravity, making it easier to change direction.
Mason relied on his flexibility to get rid of Marion, dared to make a layup before Josh's defense, and opened the door for the Bucks.
So the two sides started fighting back and forth.
Edison looked at the performance of the players on the field and said to Thibodeau who was sitting: "As expected, we won this game."
Thibodeau was very surprised when he heard this. The game was only half a quarter, and you dare to say that you can win? So he looked at Edison with a puzzled look...
Edison, smiled, and gave the answer, "The buck's rhythm is out of whack."
No one can say clearly what rhythm is. It is not a quantifiable standard, but a feeling. Although rhythm is expressed by speed, it is not simply speed, but a transformation of the two.
law.
The Bucks originally had a problem with their offensive rhythm. As mentioned before, their height gap is huge, with 3 small guys and 2 big guys.
Generally speaking, if your players are taller, the tempo will be slower and more of a half-court position will be played. This tactic requires the defender to wait for the inside line to get into position before starting the attack.
If the player is shorter, he will generally play faster and not give the opponent a chance to defend in the penalty area.
But the Bucks' starting lineup is obviously polarizing. If you play on the outside, you have to be fast, and the inside will not be able to keep up. If you play on the inside, you have to slow down, and there will be less space on the outside.
Therefore, the Bucks' usual game rhythm completely depends on the touch of the outside players. If the outside touch is good, then go faster. If it is not good, then slow down and play inside.
This kind of team that does not have its own fixed rhythm has one of the biggest disadvantages, that is, as long as the opponent has a distinct tactical rhythm, it will be easily influenced by the opponent and be carried away by the opponent's rhythm. When you encounter a team that plays slowly, you
When I play a position, I also play a position, and everyone slows down; when I encounter a fast team, you have just finished playing, and I must return it to you immediately, so I subconsciously speed up.
This situation has caused two disadvantages. First: the opponent can always play at a rhythm that they are more familiar with, and their strength can be easily displayed. Second: the Bucks cannot adjust to a suitable and correct game rhythm.
If you lead in the fourth quarter, you should slow down, but in many cases you can't.
The Bucks are now in this state, completely entering the rhythm of magic.
Because the Magic's game is very fast-paced, the Bucks' three little guys are slowly speeding up the pace. However, today's starting outside shooting of the Bucks is not very good. Normally, if you are not shooting accurately from the outside, you should shoot more.
Playing under the basket, after all, the closer you are to the basket, the higher your shooting percentage. But now the Bucks have picked up the rhythm, and as a result, there are often two inside players running over, Reid, Mo Williams, etc.
The player has already taken action and can only run back with a bang. The two insiders are completely useless on the court.
And the fast pace is accompanied by an increase in mistakes. After all, in the process of fast passing, a little accident will cause unexpected consequences. But compared with the Bucks, the Magic are more adaptable to this fast pace. After all, this is who they are.
Characteristics, this is how they usually train, and the players already know what they should pay attention to in this situation. But the Bucks are not, they are not used to it, they have not played so fast, so the mistakes gradually increase.
But Bucks head coach Porter has nothing to do about this, because there is no one in the Bucks who is good at controlling the rhythm, or has a very clear idea of playing. The clear thinking of playing here does not refer to tactics like the Spurs and Pistons.
Clarity, knowing how to communicate, how to lead, when to do what, and what is the most reasonable way. But clearly knowing how I want to fight, how I want to fight, and putting my thoughts into action. This is in a sense already
It's not a question of golf quotient, but a manifestation of leadership.
For example, Baron Davis, I believe no one would say that he plays reasonably, but he is very good at controlling the rhythm. He can anticipate, control, and turn the rhythm of the game to his advantage. No matter what the opponent is,
It doesn't matter whether it's fast or slow. As long as it's my turn to get the ball, I will follow my own ideas. If I want to be aggressive, I will lead the team to rush forward. If I want to be slower, I will push forward a little looser...
But it is a pity that the Bucks do not have such a person. Although Reid is very good, his advantage is his ability to shoot and score accurately. His golf intelligence is more reflected in running in the gap rather than controlling the offense.
So the only thing Porter could do was to call a timeout to allow his players to calm down and stop being affected by the Magic, and at the same time disrupt the Magic's original rhythm through rest.
Edison and the players who came off the field applauded one by one, "Well done. Now 8 minutes into the first quarter, we lead 21-15 by 6 points. Although the lead is not much, the Bucks have begun to mess up. We have to do
The only thing is to continue this trend, their head coach will definitely ask them to slow down, so we will slow down for a while, and then gradually speed up to pick up the rhythm again."
Sure enough, after the game restarted, the Bucks deliberately slowed down and played steadily for 24 seconds. The Magic were well prepared and did not bombard anymore. Instead, they asked Nash to single out William on the wing.
S.
After playing two rounds, Edison shouted, and Nash began to gradually speed up, and then gradually picked up the rhythm again.
Some people may wonder why Nash is not allowed to continue the high-speed fast break.
Because if you keep going so fast, the opponent will be able to notice it clearly, and then consciously control yourself to slow down the pace. But if you go faster each round like now, the buck will not easily notice it, and will relax its vigilance, and will be led away instead.
Go to the rhythm.
At the end of the first quarter, 25-32, the Magic led by 7 points.
After the start of the second quarter, the two teams gradually replaced their main players.
The Bucks' bench is very good, with three capable players.
Keith Van Horn is an anomaly who plays small forward with a height of 211cm. The second overall pick in 1997, he is an outside shooter and also has certain offensive abilities in the low post. He was the main small forward of the Bucks last season and will continue to serve as the Bucks this season.
The deer's starting small forward. Last season, Van Horn played in a total of 72 games, averaging 16.1 points and 7 rebounds per game.
Toni Kukoc, a member of the Bulls' Triple Crown, is now 35, but his experience allows him to stabilize his position.
Mike James is an offensive maniac. He later came to the Rockets and everyone is familiar with him.
The Bucks originally had T.J. Ford, but he was sidelined for the season due to a spinal cord injury.
This combination of the Bucks needs experience, speed, height, offense and offense, and the defense is not bad. It looks beautiful. However, it is exactly the same as the main lineup. There is a disconnect between the front and backcourt, and it is also not fixed.
Rhythm.
The main force of the Bucks is Mason, who is 196, playing small forward, and the substitute is Van Horn, who is 211, playing small forward. There is no one who can connect the front and backcourts. Height is not the most important thing in basketball, but under normal circumstances, 5 people
It is better to gradually increase your height, unless you have Barkley's incredible ability.
Kukoc is old and slow, and Van Horn is too tall and slow, but James, the main scoring point, is a master of fast breaks and chaos, so no matter how you arrange it, some people will not be able to fully utilize their abilities.
On the Magic side, the main substitutes are of the same origin, and they are all fast. After running in in the preseason, the Magic's substitute lineup has been determined to have Diaw and Martin as the main attackers, and the other three are Tony Allen, Wallace, and Varejao.
defensive tactics.
Diaw and Martin are both masters of off-the-ball running and coordination. Their offensive abilities with the ball are not bad either, and they were playing well for a while.
"The performance of these two substitutes of the Magic is very outstanding. In the previous preseason games, the two of them could jointly score about 25 points in every game. If they can maintain this state in the regular season, then the two of them will
They will all become strong contenders for the sixth man."
Edison watched the game off the court and felt that the Bucks' Kukoc had completely lost his offensive ability, so he decided to further strengthen his offense and use the substitute lineup to open up the score, so he replaced Wallace and replaced Uncle Huo.
.….
As soon as Uncle Huo came on the court, the Magic's attack points increased from 2 to 3, making the Bucks even more unable to defend themselves.
As the score gradually widened, Bucks coach Porter could only bring in one more player to start the attack, while Edison remained unmoved and waited to see what would happen.
By the end of the second quarter, the score was 50-55, and the Magic still maintained the lead.
During the halftime break, Edison praised all the players and believed that the team performed very well in the first half and that as long as they kept winning the game in the second half, there would be no problem.
But after the second half started, the situation on the field changed. Reed and Mo Williams suddenly found their touch.
Although Mo Williams is known as the "passer", he only has eyes on the basket and no one else, but he does have a few shots in his hands. As soon as the game started, he made two consecutive three-pointers, reducing the score to 56-57.
Only one point behind.
After seeing this, Edison quickly asked Iguodala and Nash to switch defensive positions, and asked Iguodala to defend Mo Williams. But this itself was a bad idea of tearing down the east wall to make up for the west wall. The result was that Mo Bu was restricted from passing.
But Reed started to show off.
From Iguodala's airtight defense to Nash's stream-of-consciousness defense, Reid felt like a spring breeze in an instant. He also hit 2 consecutive mid-range shots and 1 three-pointer, scoring 7 points. On the Magic side, Marion missed two shots.
Entering, the Bucks instantly overtook the score.
Edison was very angry when he saw Nash's colander-like defense, and roared at Nash.
Nash was also very aggrieved and thought to himself, "Brother, you don't know how good I am on defense. Besides, I have worked very hard, but he just can score. What can I do?"
Seeing that the score was overtaken, Thibodeau came to Edison and said, "Don't you need to call a timeout?"
"It doesn't matter. It was an accident for them. Aren't you very excited if you didn't see them overtaking the score? It's okay. The initiative is still in our hands."
Although the Bucks players on the court were not excited, the fans off the court cheered. Under the leadership of DJ, they shouted "defense, defense".
But is the Magic's offense something that you think the defense can prevent?
Nash vented his frustration on defense to offense. After dribbling the ball across half court, he stretched out a finger and pointed upward. When other players saw this, their eyes suddenly lit up and they ran more actively.
"Nash made the gesture of 1. Is this the No. 1 tactic arranged by the Magic? We will wait and see."
Edison was also surprised that this gesture was not included in the tactics he arranged, so he looked at Thibodeau and said, "This is your arrangement, your new training routine."
Thibodeau shook his head, and the two looked at each other. But they found that the players off the court suddenly became excited and looked at the court intently, "Do you know what that gesture means?"
Tony Allen, who had already come off the field, looked at the coach and asked him, but he did not answer directly. Instead, he said: "Coach, don't worry, it's not a random fight, it's still the tactics you arranged. It's just a little different. Just take a look."
knew."
Edison turned his attention back to the playing field in confusion.
Nash and others were still in the standard V-shape position, and they were still preparing to come to cover from the inside. Except that the others were more active and did not stand waiting for the pass, there was no difference. But Edison immediately knew the meaning of this gesture.
After Nash and Howard picked and rolled, they quickly threw the ball toward the basket. Josh blocked another inside line. Howard rushed to the basket and jumped high. His head was already higher than the basket, and then he heard "boom"
Suddenly, Howard slammed the ball into the basket.
"alley~~oop." The Bucks' DJ rebelled again and started cheering for the away team.
The Magic's bench had been prepared long ago. When they saw Howard's dunk, everyone waved their towels and beat their chests, so excited...
The home fans were also stunned by the ball. It jumped too high and dunked too hard. After a second of silence, the audience burst into cheers like a mountain roar and a tsunami.
Edison looked at Thibodeau, and Thibodeau looked at Edison. The two of them said at the same time, "It turns out that doesn't mean No. 1, it means up, and it's the code for the alley-oop."
This ball suppressed the momentum that the Bucks had just had, while the Magic's momentum was high. Everyone was as excited as if they had been pumped.
In the next round, Nash stole Mo Bu's pass and launched a fast break to find Marion. Marion lived up to expectations and also made a pass, once again igniting the enthusiasm of the audience.
After these two goals, the Magic became unstoppable. The players could do whatever they wanted for a while. They wanted three-pointers and three-pointers and dunks and dunks. They finally managed to miss a shot under the curse of everyone in the Bucks.
Can grab offensive rebounds.
Although the Bucks have been holding on to the score without any scoring breaks, their momentum has been completely suppressed by the Magic. At this time, the Bucks are very dangerous. They have already carried the load to the extreme. As long as one ball is not caught, they will be completely finished.
Already.
The last straw for the Bucks soon appeared.
Mason broke through Marion, entered the Magic's paint area, and tried for a layup. Unexpectedly, Josh, who was guarding him, slapped the ball onto the backboard. If Josh's ball is as domineering as Howard's, Howard
He hugged Josh tightly from behind, and Marion stood in front of him and punched him in the chest.
The Bucks quickly requested a timeout, but it was too late. The Magic's momentum could no longer be stopped.
After the timeout, the game completely entered the rhythm of the Magic. At this time, everyone in the Magic was already out of a sense of fun. They stopped shooting if they could and had to make a second pass. The score was quickly opened.
In the end, the timer reached zero, and the Magic defeated the Bucks 101-118 in an away game to get a good start to the new season.
Nash scored 16 points and 13 assists, Howard had 15 points, 14 rebounds and 4 blocks, Josh had 23 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks, and Marion had 18 points and 8 rebounds. Iguodala, Diaw, Martin and Uncle Huo also scored.
pair.
At the post-game press conference, Edison greatly praised his team's performance, and also approved of the Bucks' performance, thinking that the Bucks were a good opponent.
,
------------Dividing line--------
Thanks again to Changhun for the reward. His book is getting better and better. You can go and read "Basketball Strikers". Now I vote for him.
In addition, I would like to thank the readers who gave me their opinions. It is true that the writing last week did not feel very good and was a bit delayed. I have noticed it myself. I am starting to correct it now and the pace will speed up in the future.
There is another very important thing. Tomorrow is Monday, and it is no longer in the recommendation list. Please give more recommendation votes tomorrow so that this book can stay on the list.
Finally, I would like to say something from the bottom of my heart. Judging from the current situation, it is probably impossible to finish this book. I will not be able to finish it before December 21st.
