roccoschili Chapter 138 2 consecutive victories, unexpected situation (4000, please subscribe)
Chapter 138 2 consecutive victories, unexpected situation (4000, please subscribe)
Chapter 138 Two consecutive victories, unexpected situation (4000, please subscribe)
In the first quarter and a half of the game, Carlisle has been clearly told that the Pacers cannot guard against Huo Song inside.
If they play zone defense and double-team Huo Song inside, then many opportunities may be exposed outside.
The Pacers want to reverse this game, and the only thing they can do now is to fight against the Pistons.
After Huo Song's brave performance, the Pacers continued their previous defensive strategy.
It's just that the starting players are brought up in advance, and they are paired with talented players like Al Harrington and Jonathan Bender. They focus on offense and score by talent.
Both Harrington and Bender are strikers. They are not low in height. Not only are they in good shape, they are also very athletic.
Both have good shots, but the defense is a bit weak.
Harrington has a thin body and poor defensive habits.
Bender has the height inside, the skills of a guard, and the shooting from the outside. Unfortunately, he has had a knee injury since high school. Otherwise, Bender is expected to become the No. 99 pick in the [-] draft.
Bender can jump and dunk from the free throw line, and he has a height of [-] meters.
It can be said that Antetokounmpo was born ten years earlier.
If he is not affected by injuries, he will definitely occupy a place in the league.
It's a pity that now in the Pacers team, he can only be a glass man who averages more than ten minutes per game.
Closer to home, after Carlisle adjusted the lineup, the Pistons hadn't adapted at first.
On the one hand, the height of the Pacers has suddenly increased a lot. Ben played on the court. Originally, O'Neal was enough to block the position. Now that there are more Harrington and Bender, the rebounds cannot be protected.
On the other hand, both Harrington and Bender can shoot three-pointers, and the Pacers' space is suddenly widened.
The Pacers use Reggie Miller as a guest point guard. Once Reggie Miller uses his ability to attract defenses and distributes the ball to Harrington and Bender, the latter is likely to raise his hand and shoot.
Hamilton and Prince's height, as well as defensive habits, also had some problems for a while.
Fortunately, Pistons players have a strong ability to adjust.
After adapting for a period of time, I found that the Pacers mainly rely on jump shots outside, and not many inside.
Even O'Neal got mixed up.
As long as the Pistons pay attention to shrinking the basket and controlling the rebounds, there is no possibility of being narrowed.
After the second quarter, the Pistons still had a 14-point lead.
After passing the midfield and entering the third quarter, the Pacers' main force was a little immobile.
The intensity and pressure of the Eastern Conference Finals doubled the physical strength of the players of the two teams. The Pistons have always been in the lead, putting constant pressure on the Pacers.
Although the Pacers rely on substitute players to make up for their outside firepower, they lack inside scoring and can only stalemate the situation for a while.
Ever since, in the third quarter, the Pistons played more calmly.
Taking advantage of the decline in the Pacers lineup, Big Ben came up again to lead other teammates to guard against the Pacers.
Having experienced the Pacers' three axes, Larry Brown knows how to deal with the Pacers' offense.
Once Carlisle removed Artest and got Harrington and Bender, he replaced Big Ben first and used Rasheed Wallace to support the height.
The Pistons protect the rebound, which is equivalent to winning more than half.
Sure enough, after the Pacers suffered another scoring drought in the third quarter, they could only replace with two reliable substitute players.
O'Neal was also replaced for a period of rest because he played too long, otherwise no one could resist the pressure at the critical moment of the fourth quarter.
The same is true for the Pistons.
Larry Brown wanted to fuck Huo Song to death, but considering that this was a series, Huo Song basically played low post-ups in the first half, exhausting a lot of energy.
So, for the time being, play Okur with Rasheed Wallace.
Recently, Okur has been on the bench, and occasionally played in garbage time.
Therefore, the third quarter didn't feel good, and the offensive end went undercover.
Fortunately, no one gave him the ball, so he made two shots, and one of them was an offensive rebound he grabbed himself, which was not a problem.
At least on the defensive end, Okur's performance is okay, with both rim protection and rebounding, that's it.
It's just that the Pacers' outside touch in the third quarter was good, and the Pistons couldn't widen the point difference. They were basically in the original situation, and even narrowed a little.
With 2 minutes left in the third quarter, Huo Song re-entered the court. This time, he didn't play much singles, but squatted in the corner to save time and effort, and shot two three-pointers from the corner.
Not to mention, Huo Song scored a three-pointer, which also helped the Pistons widen the space.
71 to 83, the Pistons led by 12 points into the fourth quarter.
Because the Pacers have been at a disadvantage, they had to send the main players directly in the fourth quarter.
The same is true for the Pistons.
As soon as the fourth quarter came up, Billups used the sideline pick-and-roll, used Huo Song to attract defensive attention, and took the initiative to drive the ball to the basket.
Seeing this kind of ball, Jermaine O'Neal had to defend and could only make it to the basket.
Not wanting Billups to fake a real pass, he jumped up and returned the carbine, passing the ball to Huo Song who was following him.
After taking off, Huo Song made an alley-oop, dunked the ball with both hands, and dunked the ball directly into the basket.
Jermaine O'Neal took off a beat slower, in fact, it would be better not to defend, but this time he was defended, but was dunked by Huo Song and paid for a foul.
"And One!"
Huo Song got a chance of two plus one!
In the fourth quarter, Huo Song had to be more cautious. Even though his hands were not sweaty at the beginning, he still found a chance to wet his fingers, and then he patted the ball to find a rhythm and threw the ball.
Feeling good, Huo Song made a free throw, and the point difference just returned to 15 points.
But it didn't take long for Huo Song to be happy, the Pacers relied on Artest's strong outside three-pointer to narrow the point difference to 12 points again.
The lead of the Pistons is indeed not small, but there is no absolute advantage.
Huo Song wanted to clock in early to leave work, but I'm afraid he can't do it today.
The critical moment has not yet come, and the Pistons know that they need to step up their defense and seize every offensive opportunity.
In the offensive round of the Pistons, Prince initiated the top arc, but failed to find a breakthrough space, and the ball was returned to Billups.
The latter didn't stop the ball, and threw the ball directly to the basket. The ball looked very casual, but it was still within Huo Song's ability to return.
It was too late, but soon, Huo Song cut to the basket, took off with one foot, flew in the air at once, and caught the ball, then put the ball into the basket with both hands, and just dunked lightly.
After dunking, Huo Song continued to choose to hang on the basket, and then got down from the basket after finding out the landing point.
The critical moment has not arrived, but it does not hinder the ability to play more talented balls, which will make the Pacers a lot of envy.
The Pacers' offense was relatively difficult, and it was basically the players who forced their shots with their excellent touch and honed shots.
The same goes for most of the Pistons' balls, but occasionally there's this aerial tie-in.
If the Pacers are hard enough inside, it may be more difficult for the Pistons to play like this.
But it happens that the Pacers are relatively ordinary inside, and the Pistons can find such and such opportunities from time to time.
In addition, it is also the reason why Huo Song has rich offensive methods.
In the third quarter, he squatted in the corner and missed a three-pointer. In this quarter, he first picked and rolled the ball, and then made an air cut to catch the ball and attack the basket.
Huo Song's wide range of movement is also completely different from the traditional inside line.
It is actually very difficult for the Pacers to send an athletic inside player to follow Huo Song.
Maybe Artest can play with Huo Song a little bit, but the Pacers are at a disadvantage, and Artest still needs to help the Pacers make some contributions on the offensive end.
"The piston is still relatively stable, basically did not give the Pacers any chance."
"Today is the first game of the Eastern Conference Finals. The Pistons know how to take the lead, and now they control the rhythm of the game in their own hands."
"We all know Coach Larry Brown, I don't want to comment too much on his greatness.
In today's game, it was Rick Carlisle who really surprised me!
His on-the-spot command actually lags behind Larry Brown at all. "
"Yeah, you're right. The Pacers and the Pistons look like there's a big gap.
Although in this game, the Pacers have been at a disadvantage, not even leading by a second.
But at the last moment of the game, I think the Pacers still have a chance to comeback. "
101 to 107, the Pistons finally won G1 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
However, after this game, many people have changed their views on Carlisle.
Carlisle led the Pistons to the Eastern Conference finals last year. It turned out that it was not luck or accidental.
It is true that the Pistons were swept last year, but after all, they lacked Huo Song and Rasheed Wallace.
In this year's G1 round, the Pacers were almost outplayed by Carlisle when they were at a disadvantage in the lineup.
Halfway through the fourth quarter, Carlisle put on a substitute player on the inside and outside in advance, specifically to foul.
The Pacers don't need to defend, just fight for time and rounds.
The Pistons encountered foul tactics early, and they were a little uncomfortable at first.
Especially Huo Song and Da Ben were punished a bit.
The main reason is that he made a sudden wave of free throws, not free throws made by himself, so that Huo Song didn't find the feeling of free throws.
Big Ben has always been a sucker for free throws.
The Pacers picked soft persimmons and pinched them, which must have been premeditated.
When Larry Brown took the initiative to call a timeout and let the outside line hold the ball more to avoid being fouled just after halftime, the Pacers also made adjustments.
The Pacers suddenly resorted to zone defense tactics. In the first round after the timeout, the Pistons were blocked from the ball. The Pacers took the opportunity to play a fast break and recovered 2 points.
Fortunately, the Pacers chased points in the fourth quarter, but the game time was not enough to cope.
When the Pistons figured it out, they adopted a strategy of staying the same and responding to all changes.
Billups held the ball to keep the time down and dribbled far in the top arc.
The Pacers pressed forward from the outside line, and Huo Song responded with the corner position, and he could directly break through the basket when he received the ball.
The Pacers can't directly foul, and Billups' free throw level is absolutely fine.
As time slowly ran out, the Pacers lacked the possibility of a comeback.
However, the Pacers still played the main force for most of the fourth quarter.
In the last minute, seeing that the last 1 points could not catch up, he replaced the substitute.
On the Pistons side, most of the main players were replaced as early as 3 minutes left in the fourth quarter, leaving only Billups and Rasheed Wallace on the court.
Having said that, everything is difficult at the beginning. The Pistons won the Eastern Conference Finals G1, and the next game will be much easier.
G1 can be said to be a test, to see if we can test out the Pacers' cards.
Obviously, the Pacers don't have many cards, at least they didn't show their precious cards in the first game.
If the Pacers still don't turn over their cards in the next few games, it also means that the Pacers have no new tricks and no cards to play.
Then, the Pistons have this lineup, just kill the Pacers.
If possible, it is also a good thing to enter the finals earlier and wait for work with ease.
On May 5, G24 of the Eastern Conference Finals kicked off.
For today's game, the Pacers came prepared.
In response to the problem of the inside line, the Pacers adopted defensive tactics around the front and defense against pick-and-rolls from the beginning.
Harrington entered the starting lineup and was specially used to pester Huo Song. Artest not only had to pay attention to the perimeter defense, Billups and Huo Song also came to make up defenses when they picked and rolled.
In this way, Prince will have many offensive opportunities.
However, the Pacers have increased the height of the inside line, there are more forward players, and the flexibility is relatively strong. It is not a big problem to make up for it occasionally.
Compared with the adequate tactical preparation of the Pacers, Larry Brown seems too comfortable.
Fortunately, the piston is strong enough, so it's not a problem to mix it up.
It is worth mentioning that in today's game, the Pacers players put more energy and physical strength into the defensive end, so all the players are relatively strong.
After one game, the Pacers only scored 78 points.
Among them, there is naturally the effect of the Pistons' strict defense, and it is also affected by the intensity of the game.
It is also due to the fact that the Pacers' shooting is relatively strong. Even though the offense is restricted, the Pistons still won the G85 game with an 2-point scoring advantage.
And Huo Song made 18 of 9 shots, 2 of 0 three-pointers, 4 of 2 free throws, and scored 20 points. He also became the player with the highest score and the highest scoring efficiency in the game.
In the past three months, Huo Song rarely had a game where his shooting percentage was lower than 60%. Today's game was only 50%, but after all, it was the playoffs, and he played under a high-intensity defense. It can be said that it is quite good show.
Only one day later, the Pistons arrived in Indianapolis to prepare for the G3 game of the Eastern Conference Finals.
However, on the afternoon of the opening day, a bad news suddenly came out.
Billups' left arm muscles are a little sore. Although his left hand is not a shooter, it has little effect on shooting, but Billups is a point guard, and his left hand injury will affect the rhythm of dribbling, layups, passing and other aspects.
It's not that the Pistons don't have a backup point guard, but after all, it's not Billups, and they haven't played much time with the starters.
Sudden substitutions will definitely affect the team's chemical reaction.
In order to avoid a situation in the Eastern Conference Finals, Billups agreed with the decision made by the team, and both believed that they should play with injuries, and minor injuries should not leave the line of fire.
However, Billups' ball handling work will be shared by Prince and other players.
As Billups reduced his possession of the ball, Huo Song's inside offense was also affected.
After all, no matter whether it is a high pick-and-roll or a low-post single, Billups needs to pass the ball before Huo Song can act.
Huo Song also has Wade's dribbling bag, but after all, he is too tall on the inside, and his dribbling height is too high, so he can't hold the ball from the outside like a striker.
Therefore, it affects the whole body. Billups' situation also affected Huo Song's influence on the court and his offensive performance.
(End of this chapter)