Seeing the Warriors' starting lineup, A. Smith in the commentary box was a little surprised: "Deng Fang didn't play DeAndre Jordan! It seems he is still too young, so he won't be beaten to death by the Grizzlies inside man!"
Another commentator, Reggie Miller, also said: "Indeed, these two insiders of the Grizzlies are not easy to deal with. Is Deng Fang going to ask Prince to defend Randolph? How can he defend him?"
Indeed, it is indeed a bit troublesome to watch the Warriors.
Before the game, many people thought the Warriors were going to the Twin Towers.
This surprised many people.
Including the Grizzlies.
However, this was exactly the result Deng Fang wanted.
The referee blew the whistle, Gasol and Lopez jumped the ball, and the Grizzlies got the ball first.
Mike Conley dribbled the ball slowly to the frontcourt, called his teammates to move, and then he came to the left side of the 45-degree three-point line, preparing to hand the ball to Randolph in the low post.
It's obvious that the Grizzlies are well prepared.
If you don't go to the Twin Towers, I'll beat you to death from a low position!
The two Grizzlies insiders have different offensive capabilities.
In comparison, Randolph focuses on offense and Gasol focuses on defense.
Randolph has a soft touch and a variety of offensive methods, so teams usually let him lead the offense.
Gasol's low-post offensive skills in the early stages of his career were relatively simple, and his role was more on the defensive end.
However, after looking at the Warriors' defense, Conley frowned.
Defending Randolph is actually Lopez!
Logically speaking, Lopez is the center, and his opponent should be Gasol!
Prince was originally a three-position player, and he just barely played power forward.
Now Prince is asked to guard the fifth position. What is he doing?
Okay, since you are defending like this, then we will attack in another way.
Conley took the ball to the other side and handed the ball to Gasol inside.
Gasol is two sizes bigger than Prince, and since he has to occupy a position, it will be difficult for Prince to stop him from getting the ball.
Curry was guarding Mike Conley. Seeing Gasol get the ball, he immediately prepared to shrink back and defend.
Gasol held the ball high with one hand, looked left and right, and then started dribbling in.
Prince held up Gasol tightly to prevent him from getting to the inside too easily.
Seeing Gasol start dribbling, Curry quickly returned to defense and flanked Gasol.
Gasol's inside skills are not very good. If he doesn't go to a very deep position, he won't be able to complete the offense.
Therefore, Gasol needs to dribble the ball at least two or three times.
Curry double-attacked very decisively, and Gasol had no choice but to pass the ball out.
This is the result of incomplete offensive skills.
You have to get to the basket, and there are a lot more restrictions.
This is also the reason why Deng Fang dared to let Prince guard Gasol.
Just bully you for not having comprehensive offensive skills.
If this was Gasol in the later period, Deng Fang would not dare to do this.
In the later period, Gasol not only had assists, but also three-pointers, and his skills at the basket were also more comprehensive.
To flank Gasol, who had successfully leveled up, would be a dead end.
However, Gasol is still fine now.
As soon as Conley received the basketball, Lagabell stepped in front of him.
Conley quickly passed the ball to Mayo at the top of the key.
Taking advantage of this time difference, Curry had already made up the defense and came to Mayo.
Mayo's offensive ability is good, and it is better than Curry.
Seeing Curry switching defense in front of him, Mayo did not hesitate, made a triple threat, and then began to break through.
Curry was already prepared and stayed close to Mayo.
Deng Fang had already practiced this.
The first is a decisive pincer attack.
As long as the ball hits the inside, they will attack firmly.
The second is not to allow breakthroughs.
The defender stops once he reaches the three-point line, and must run forward in small steps, never in long strides.
What does it mean?
That is to say, you can shoot three-pointers, but there is no way to break through!
What the Grizzlies want is to slow down the pace and try to play inside.
Once outside players are allowed to break through, whether it's a layup, a foul, or a pass to the inside, the Warriors cannot afford it.
What about three points?
This is acceptable!
As long as you're not afraid that I'll really pounce on you, that's fine!
What if it goes in?
Then I’ll admit it!
Because this is not the way you are used to!
This is enough!
Mayo thought Curry was going to pounce, but he didn't expect Curry to be prepared, so he hesitated for a moment.
It's just this one move between masters.
What's more, Curry is a master of stealing the ball.
Curry slapped the ball down, then dribbled forward.
Mayo quickly chased back.
No one else was ready, and the two of them were near the top of the arc, so there was no one in front of Curry.
Soon, Curry came to the basket, glanced at Mayo's position behind him with the corner of his eye, and stopped for a moment.
Mayo was already ready to give Curry a big risk.
As a result, Curry stopped.
Mayo immediately flew over Curry's head.
Curry scored the ball easily.
Two points were valid and the referee made a gesture.
2:0!
Looking back, it was still the Grizzlies' offense.
This time Conley still has to beat Gasol.
Gasol was also ready, he was going to a very deep position.
Conley immediately passed the ball to Gasol.
This time, before Gasol could dribble, Azubuike on the other side ran over and flanked Gasol.
Last time, Gasol didn't have much preparation and wanted the ball farther outside, so Curry waited for him to dribble before coming up to double attack.
This time is different. Gasol requires a deep position and must attack in advance.
When double-attacking in advance, people from one side cannot come over. In this way, the opponent will have too many open spaces on the outside, and Gasol will be able to pass the ball better.
When someone comes over from the other side, Gasol needs to observe it, which will take some time.
The Warriors players will also have time to rotate.
In fact, the more important point is that Curry is guarding Conley, and Azubuike is guarding Rudy Gay.
Conley's three-pointers have always been reliable, but Rudy Gay has not been so consistent.
Rudy Gay is very tall, 2.03 meters tall. He has a height advantage when playing the third position.
However, Rudy Gay's three-pointers are not stable, and most of the time they just reach the league average.
Therefore, Rudy Gay, who gets the ball outside the three-point line, is still not used to shooting three-pointers directly. He prefers to score inside.
The Warriors know this, and they are taking advantage of this in Rudy Gay.
Seeing that the double attack was coming quickly, Gasol had no choice but to pass the ball out.
There was no way. Although the ball was requested from a deeper position this time, it was only on the edge of the penalty area.
There is a three-second limit on key positions in the penalty area. When Conley has not reached a position where he can pass the ball, Gasol cannot stay in the penalty area all the time.
Besides, Prince is only disadvantaged by his height and weight, but he has very rich defensive experience.
Rudy Gay received the ball and rushed to the basket.
But there are already five people under the basket at this time!
Gasol and Azubuike, Prince, Randolph and Lopez in front of him.
The restricted area is already overcrowded.
Rudy Gay still went straight to the basket.
There is no way, the coach said, go to the basket, where the shooting rate is high!
However, Azubuike has already stood in Rudy Gay's path.
Rudy Gay ran straight into Azubuike.
They both fell down together.
However, the referee did not blow the whistle.
Normal defense, normal contact. Since it’s difficult to judge, don’t blow the whistle and let the players decide the game themselves.
Prince, with his quick eyes and quick hands, grabbed the basketball and passed it directly to Curry at the top of the key.
Curry quickly rushed forward.
This time the Grizzlies were prepared, and Conley followed Curry closely.
Curry came to the outside of the three-point line, made an emergency stop, and Conley ran two meters away.
There was no other way, he wanted to block Curry's layup.
If there is a fast break opportunity, Curry will definitely go for a layup!
Even if you can't make progress, it's still appropriate to draw a foul.
Who would have thought that Curry stopped outside the three-point line!
No one has ever played like this before.
Even if there is, after doing this once or twice, he will be relegated to the sidelines by the coach and will never be hired!
The basket is where the shooting percentage is highest!
If you don't have a chance to create an opportunity, you have to hit it to the basket!
