Millsap's appearance was a surprise for Adrian. And the effect he produced was a complete surprise for Jerry Sloan.
Millsap's first defense after coming on the field successfully controlled Adrian's performance in the low post. His strong physique and similar height to Adrian made him completely unafraid of Adrian's back attack.
A pair of long arms seemed to tell Adrian that trying to shoot over his head was simply wishful thinking.
Turning back and cutting in with a fake move is a good offensive option, but Millsap's footsteps may be considered slow among outside players. This slow pace and weak ball control ability prevent him from playing the small forward position.
, but his speed is definitely above the qualified line among inside players. In addition, the distance to the basket is short, and he can also keep up with Adrian's footsteps to interfere.
In the first defense, he successfully interfered with Adrian's shooting. In the second defense, he directly pushed Andre into a layup and slapped him out of the court.
On the sidelines of the Jazz, coach Sloan opened his eyes in surprise.
The Jazz's selection of Millsap in the second round is indeed a helpless choice. There are basically no good players at this position with the 47th pick in the second round. Players worthy of selection have already been selected by the previous teams.
It's all gone. The Jazz chose Millsap at that time mainly because of his strong body, believing that as long as he could be properly polished, Millsap could still become a qualified corner player to enhance the thickness of the Jazz's bench.
But he never expected that Millsap could have such a good effect in low post defense.
"Maybe I found a treasure after all."
However, because of two consecutive successful defenses against Adrian on the court, Millsap seemed a little too excited. When he defended Adrian's back attack again, he was easily shaken by Adrian and jumped up.
, but he refused to give up his defense. While he was in the air, he reached out to pull the jersey of Adrian, who had broken through from his side.
His long arms indeed allowed him to succeed, but how could Adrian let go of such an opportunity? He noticed Millsap's movements and immediately threw the ball toward the basket indiscriminately.
"Beep!" The referee blew the whistle decisively, and Millsap committed a defensive foul. At the same time, Adrian's shot fell into the basket after stumbling for a while.
2+1!
"Hey, after all, I still have no experience." Sloan was also discouraged on the sidelines. Millsap seemed to have potential, at least the potential to develop into a first-class low-post defender, but if he is not given enough playing time to hone,
Obviously that's not possible. After all, he is just a rookie this year. In two or three years, it is difficult to expect him to grow to a perfect level. But...
Jerry Sloan couldn't help but cast his eyes on Adrian, who was preparing for a free throw on the court.
As a rookie this year, Adrian is too mature. This maturity does not refer to his skills, but his consciousness. Technically speaking, Adrian has many shortcomings. Although he looks
He is very versatile, looks like he can play both inside and outside, and has good post-up skills, but in fact he lacks long-range shooting ability, and his mid-range shooting ability seems to have only been developed recently.
But in terms of consciousness, Adrian seemed extremely mature. Although he only stood on the sidelines and watched for a while, Jerry Sloan could easily see Adrian's mental state on the court.
He doesn't have all the nervousness and eagerness of rookies, he is never impatient, he always knows what he should do and what he shouldn't do, he always understands when is the best and most appropriate time to handle the ball, and he is always able to use his own advantages to attack the opponent.
disadvantages, and use your own advantages to make up for your disadvantages.
It's like... completely controlling the entire arena!
He is not looking at it with his eyes on the court, but looking down from above the court!
"You're still so lucky, you always meet good players!" Jerry Sloan was quite envious and jealous of Phil Jackson. As the league's most famous championship coach, Phil Jackson is most famous for not only
What kind of miraculous tactical commanding ability does he have, but in his coaching career, he always encounters superstars who can dominate an era, such as the Bulls dynasty, the Lakers dynasty, etc.
We are both coaches, and Jerry Sloan doesn't think he is any worse than Phil Jackson at all. Naturally, he is envious, jealous, and resentful of his good luck!
And now, there is Adrian, and he entered the NBA as a non-draft player!
This undoubtedly made Jerry Sloan very emotional.
Adrian made a steady free throw, raising his personal score to 16 points and widening the point difference to eight points.
Deron Williams was replaced by Jerry Sloan. He has played for too long. Since coming on in the first quarter, Deron Williams has not been able to take a rest. If you want him to stay in the second half,
If he is not strong enough, he must be replaced at this time, and the player who replaces him is Derek Fisher.
For Kobe, Derek Fisher had a special meaning. The two of them entered the NBA in the same year and came to the Lakers in the same year, and together they built the glory of the Purple and Gold Dynasty.
But on the court, since they are opponents, there is nothing to say. Adrian had been guarding Deron Williams before, but after Fisher came on the court, Adrian's defensive goal changed to
Brewer.
Minimize the physical energy consumed by Kobe on the defensive end as much as possible, allowing him to use more strength on the offensive end to maximize his value. This is the Lakers' consistent tactical goal, so you can see that Kobe basically spends a lot of time on the court.
He won't face off against the opponent's outside core on the defensive end. Most of the objects he defends are relatively easy to defend.
On the court, winning and losing come first, and there are countless topics between Fisher and Kobe, but these can only be left to talk after the game.
After Deron Williams came off the court, Adrian switched his position to the high post. Millsap defended him quite successfully. Adrian is not the kind of person who is single-minded. Since he can't achieve good results in the low post,
As a result, Adrian returned to the high post and resumed his job as point guard. The low post position was occupied by Lamar Odom.
Odom has quite an advantage in playing Millsap in the low post. He defends Adrian well, but his height is insufficient to defend Odom. At the same time, his disadvantage in footwork is also exposed in front of the experienced Odom.
At the same time, Kobe had no intention of shutting down, and instead played more proactively. Sloan never wanted to replace Deron and Boozer, letting them just sit off the court and rest, although the point difference between the two teams continued to widen.
Big, but Sloan said nothing.
By the end of the second quarter, the Lakers had led the Jazz by 14 points with a score of 50:64.
As soon as the second quarter ended, Jerry Sloan walked to the locker room first without looking back, much to the dismay of reporters who wanted to interview him.
Phil Jackson, on the other hand, accepted interviews with reporters easily.
There was also a relaxed atmosphere in the Lakers locker room. Not only did they take the lead in the first half, but they also suppressed the Utah Jazz on the scene. All of this made the Lakers feel that the victory or defeat was determined. In the second half, they only
Just wait until they come on the court to clean up the mess. In this case, during the halftime break, the atmosphere in the Lakers' locker room was naturally very relaxed.
Phil Jackson did not lay out too many tactics, but casually mentioned it and praised the performance of the players in the first half. Phil Jackson deliberately reminded his players not to underestimate the enemy, but looking at the players
He looked relaxed and at ease, and said nothing.
At this time, no player on the Lakers thought that what they would face in the second half would be another Utah Jazz team, the one that would truly brand Salt Lake City and the Triangle Center Arena as the home of the devil!
"You all seem to have forgotten some important things!" Jerry Sloan's face was as unpredictable as a piece of ice, but you could feel the chill coming from his bones.
The atmosphere in the Jazz locker room is anything but relaxed.
"I don't know what you were doing in the first half. Obviously you forgot some key things, and our opponents didn't feel it either." Jerry Sloan widened his eyes and stared at each player.
Regardless of whether they have played or not, whether they are the main players or substitutes, they are all under Jerry Sloan's oppressive momentum and dare not even take a breath!
"This is Salt Lake City! This is the Triangle Center Arena!" Jerry Sloan pointed to the wooden floor under his feet, his eyes becoming colder, and he said word by word: "Remember this sentence well.
Then let those Hollywood boys from Los Angeles also understand the meaning of this sentence!"
