The Basketball Court Swordsman

San Antonio Spurs, Henson will never underestimate this opponent. Greg Popovich, who is already full of silver hair, is definitely not a good soft persimmon. As a strong team that has been in the West for more than ten years, the Spurs’ combat effectiveness is enough to make all teams in the league fear.

Henson has not been arrogant enough to guarantee that he will win the Spurs, but this does not mean that he will be afraid of this duel.

Perhaps in the eyes of the media and fans, there is no suspense in this game. The experienced Spurs will make the young Pacers pay the price. But Henson felt that the current Indiana Pacers could still wrestle with the Spurs and Popovich!

“Speed, we need to play at the same speed as in training! If we fall into position with the Spurs, then we will wait to be beaten to death! Against a team like the Spurs, we must not be brought into their slow pace, give me Run, use your speed and shooting range to open up the offense. Defensive end, Al, you misplaced to defend Duncan. DeJuan Blair handed it to you, Granger. Don’t worry, Blair is a center, but he The height is only two meters, and there is no autonomous offensive ability. Once the Spurs misses a shot, Granger, if you grab a rebound, go straight to the offense! If Al, you grab a rebound, think of a way Get me on the ball quickly!”

Before the start of the game, Henson emphasized for the last time the things that need attention in this game. In fact, the players have been preparing for this game for a long time, and they have already memorized many tactical details. Henson doesn’t need to say too much, it will only make the players nervous and bored.

“Listen, I know that the comments from the outside world about us are not very good. But it doesn’t matter, we all know that we didn’t show our full strength in the preseason. Today, at the ATT center, everyone thought we were going to die. Here’s the joke, even if you want to die, you have to take off the Spurs today! Go, go on the court, and surprise those **** who look down on us!”

After Henson roared, he slammed the marker to the ground. This guy seemed to have turned on a switch, causing the players’ enthusiasm to gush out instantly.

This is a young team, and young teams are particularly emotional. Emotional is a double-edged sword, depending on how the head coach uses it.

Amid the cheers of the Spurs fans, Indiana Pacers players in yellow training uniforms filed out of the tunnel. All of them were blushing and looked extremely excited. It was in sharp contrast with the steady Spurs in the other half.

“Indiana Pacers, the Pacers have gone through a lot of changes this summer. From the owner, coach to the players, they have almost become a brand new team. I think this is Bird’s decision to completely overthrow and rebuild. A signal. Now the structure of this team is dominated by young people, even Pacers coach Henson Joe is only 31 years old! 31 years old, Charles, what were you doing when you were 31?” On the stage, Kenny Smith and his partner have begun to warm up for the game.

“At the age of 31, I averaged 21 points and 11 rebounds per game on the basketball court. I dragged the team to the Western Conference semifinals with an injury! Of course none of this matters. The important thing is that I was 31 years old. Don’t worry about being fired tomorrow.” Kenneth Smith’s partner named “Charles” is a famous dung stick in the American basketball circle, and of course he was also the once great superstar, “Flying Pig” Charles Barkley.

What Barkley said caused a burst of laughter from the fans in front of the TV. In addition to taking the opportunity to brag about himself, he also complained about Henson’s situation. It seems that no one thinks Henson’s position is safe.

“As we all know, the miracle of Coach Henson last season with 10 victories in the last 14 games was very famous. But at that time, he was just an assistant coach after all. The difference between the work of the head coach and the assistant coach is huge. From The poor record of the Pacers in the preseason is not difficult to see, Henson Joe is actually not ready to be head coach. Believe me, today’s game, the San Antonio Spurs will beat Henson crying home to find his mother. of.”

After Barkley’s complaint was over, the electronic buzzer sounded suddenly, and the referee signaled that the two sides started to stand at the designated position and the game was about to begin!

“Don’t fall into the rhythm of the Spurs, don’t grind positions with them, we have to play our own game! Our own game!” Before the players went on the field, Henson yelled at the crowd again.

Henson is still a little worried, because no matter what happens on the court, it is the players themselves that ultimately determine everything. No matter how brilliant the head coach’s plan is, if the players can’t implement it, everything is useless. ?

The Spurs are mature and sophisticated, while Henson’s team is young and young. He was worried that those little guys would be in a mess when they played.

“The starting players of both sides are on the field, hahahaha, look at Kenny, coach Henson Joe’s starter is different from that of the preseason.” Barkley smiled disdainfully, five games passed, Henson This rookie didn’t even finalize the starting five.

“Jue Holiday plays the starting point guard, Wesley Matthews plays the second position, Paul George small forward, Daniel Granger still plays the fourth position, and their important signings are Al this summer. Horford is playing center…too young, and…too messy.” Kenny Smith shook his head. Even players like Matthews who were still in the development league last season can The starting lineup shows how weak the Pacers lineup is.

Looking at the Spurs’ starting lineup, the gDP plus Richard Jefferson and DeJuan Blair, a very stable lineup. It seems that the two sides are not a team at all.

The referee blew a whistle, and the calm Duncan took the lead from Al Horford. Henson stood on the sidelines, he even felt that the sound from behind almost knocked him down!

Prior to this, Henson has coached the most summer league. Compared with real NBA games, the number of live spectators at the level of the summer league is not at all an order of magnitude.

Now, in a real NBA game, amidst the shaking cheers of the fans, Henson felt that his palms could not help but sweat, and his adrenaline rushed along.

But Henson stood on the sidelines as soon as he came out, not because he was nervous, he did it because he needed to remind the group of little guys on the court all the time: “Get your energy up, I can look at you!”

With the first goal at the beginning of the game, the Spurs used team moves to skillfully cut the Pacers’ defense in a positional battle.

Parker took advantage of the screen to break through, attracted the defense, and then distributed the ball to the No. 21 “Stone Man”. The guy with facial paralysis calmly shot over Horford’s head, as if there was no one in front of him. Basketball hollowed into the net, the San Antonio Spurs scored the first point of the season, and the cheers in the ATT Center were several times louder!

“Easily, the San Antonio Spurs broke the Pacers’ defense. If the person who just defended Duncan was Roy Hibbert, who is 2.18 meters tall, maybe they wouldn’t lose points.” Barkley smiled happily. Laughter, the trade for the Pacers this summer has been quite controversial. Of course, most controversy is actually an afterthought. After all, when the trade happened, most people didn’t know that Hibbert would perform so well this season.

He lost the ball as soon as he played, and Holiday seemed a little panicked. But he looked at Henson, only to find that his coach’s face remained unchanged, his hands encircled his chest, and he looked confident.

“Play our own game, our own rhythm.” Henson said to Holiday from the sidelines. Losing the ball at the beginning of the basketball game is nothing to be nervous about. They will lose the ball in this game. More…

Holiday passed halftime quickly, Al Horford pulled to a high screen, Matthews went to the right bottom corner, while Granger pulled outside and George cut inside.

A few runs, the Pacers’ offensive space is completely drawn out! Now that the Spurs have no insiders, it depends on Holiday’s breakthrough!

“That guy, he is not as unbearable as the media said.” Popovich sitting on the bench smiled. It seemed that the Pacers’ starting lineup was very strange and short, but in fact it was just in line with theirs. Tactical needs. All five positions have shooting ability and can open up space, which will make their offensive formation very three-dimensional and will not become flat. In doing so, it will give players many opportunities for easy shooting.

This seemingly simple and crude “sprint plus shooting” system, if you don’t spend a lot of thought, it is impossible to establish. On the surface, Henson has changed six starting sets in six games so far, but in fact, they must have used this set of starting drills countless times!

“Hidden strength? What a cunning guy!” Popovich touched his chin.

Holiday took advantage of the cover to break through the inside, DeJuan Blair immediately changed defense and pursued. Although Blair is a short center, he moves fast and has amazing jumping ability. He is a good player for defense.

He followed Holiday and Horford was still outside the three-point line. Horford does have shooting ability, but he is always a center and it is impossible to shoot three points. The fact is also true. In the Hawks last season, Horford did not have any record of three-pointers. Mid-range shooting seems to be the limit of a center’s range.

Seeing that he was entangled by Blair, Huo Ledi suddenly braked, his arm shook hard, and the basketball quickly rushed to the top of the arc outside the three-point line!

Horford received the basketball and felt that he was just a slight stepping foot, and he took the shot decisively just outside the three-point line!

Horford’s shooting action is different from outside. He hardly jumps, but his arms are raised very high and straight. Seeing Horford fire from beyond the three-point line with such awkward movements, Spurs fans and Barkley were amused.

“The center pulls out to shoot three pointers? Is this Henson’s idea?”

Barkley had just finished speaking, and before he had time to laugh, the Nets’ tumbling voice resounded through the audience!

“brush!”

With a three-pointer into the net, Horford used his awkward long-range posture to let the Pacers complete the lead!

After Horford scored a goal, he gave a light high-five with Holiday and retreated amidst everyone’s surprised eyes.

In 8 seconds, the Pacers completed the attack in 8 seconds, and it was a three-pointer made by the center. The Spurs and Popovich’s defenses were like iron walls and were broken by the Pacers in just 8 seconds! In just 8 seconds, Horford made the playful smile on everyone’s face disappear.

In this regard, Henson off the court is not excited. Because he knows that there are more goals like this! ?