The Pope of Basketball Community

At the press conference to eliminate the Heat, Pacers coach Larry Bird was particularly low-key. He said: "We will try to cause trouble for the Raptors and find ways to defeat them."

The reporter asked: "Jerry Young won the best coach this season. What do you think?"

Bird replied: "He is a young man with great personality, leading a group of talented players. The Raptors have achieved a record-breaking record. This is the reason why he won the title again."

Bird's tone is a bit sour. As an NBA coach, who doesn't want to win the honor of winning the best coach again? This record was set by the youngest coach, and all coaches felt a little uncomfortable.

No matter what, Yang Rui walked in front of everyone in the shortest time.

On May 21, the first game of the Eastern Conference Finals was held in Toronto.

CCTV5 broadcast the game live. Sun Zhengping said: "The Raptors are also the home court of the league's devils. The atmosphere in the arena is already very heated even before the game starts."

Zhang Li said with a smile: "It only took Yang Rui two seasons to build the team into a championship contender. The Raptors are the top favorites. Their pressure comes from the fact that many players are free agents after the season."

Everyone feels that it is difficult for the Raptors to keep their lineup intact, which is a tragedy for the Canadian team.

Before the game started, Carter accepted the MVP trophy and gave a speech, thanking his teammates and coaches for making the Raptors' home game even stronger.

Yang Rui took the opportunity to emphasize the tactics on the sidelines. "Brad went to cover outside the three-point line, helped Vince catch the ball, and attracted the defense. If Schmitz didn't defend him, he passed it to Jermaine for a single, opened up and waited for an opportunity to shoot. If Schmitz defended him, , Vince just shoots jumpers or holds the ball to attack."

Raptors unchanged: Billups, Christie, Carter, O'Neal, Miller.

The Pacers are also fixed: Mark Jackson, Reggie Miller, Jaylen Rose, Dale Davis, Rick Schmitz.

O'Neal won the jump ball and the game began.

Carter caught the ball across half court, and Rose immediately got close to him. Carter backed up and waited for Brad Miller to cover. He only took one step to the left, and Davis defended him.

At this time, Rose was not the mobile background that Kobe scored 81 points in the future. He was excellent both offensively and defensively.

Bird arranged for the two best defenders on the team to focus on taking care of Carter. He dribbled out a little space and passed the ball to O'Neal who was asking for the ball with his back on the left.

Schmitz was on defense, and O'Neal leaned against him at a 45-degree angle. He shook his left shoulder, turned quickly toward the baseline, passed his opponent in one step, and pulled the ball into the basket to force a shot.

Schmitz raised his arms sideways, and before he could jump up, O'Neal Jr. hit the board and scored. 2 to 0.

The Pacers attacked, the Raptors were man-to-man, and inside Brad Miller withstood Schmitz. As the team's third attacking point, Schmitz has an obvious height advantage of 224cm, and it is difficult to block him once he enters the penalty area.

Schmitz has mid-range shooting ability, but his thin body is destined to be weak. He weighs only 113 kilograms and cannot squeeze Brad Miller. He pulled out to cover, Rose broke through with the ball, Brad Miller switched defenses in time, and interfered along the penalty area line. Carter also avoided the screen and pursued the defense to form a double team.

Rose passed the ball to Schmitz, and O'Neal Jr. defended in the corner, leaving Davis open.

Schmitz passed the ball, but Davis hesitated in the open position and did not shoot. He waited for Reggie Miller to run and receive the ball, and then passed the ball.

If there is a player on the court with poor scoring ability, it is easy to miss opportunities. Davis lacked confidence on the offensive end and averaged only 8 shots per game. Entering the playoffs, that dropped to 6.6.

Reggie Miller was tangled up by Christie and couldn't get a good shot, passing the ball again.

Until 24 seconds were almost used up, Jackson singled out Billups, missed a pull-up jumper, and the rebound was grabbed by O'Neal.

This year the league introduced a new rule that made Jackson very uncomfortable, that is, the "5-second violation against the basket."

In Yang Rui's previous life, it is said that Barkley used his huge hips to push the defensive player to the basket in the first 23 seconds, and then used the 24 seconds to easily shoot under the basket. Therefore, many people believe that the NBA introduced this rule specifically to restrict Barkley, or that Barkley forced the league to formulate this rule, so the "5-second back-to-the-basket violation" was named the "Barkley Rule."

But in fact, what really caused the "5-second back-to-the-basket violation" was Jackson, who is also good at post-up offense. Because Jackson often posted up the opponent's defender for more than 15 seconds during the offense, making the game extremely boring, NBA officials decided to introduce a new rule, which is officially referred to as the "Mark Jackson Rule."

Even if he is allowed to arch his back casually, Billups will not accept this trick. He is stronger and taller.

Billups slowly dribbled the ball to the frontcourt and passed it to Miller who was outside the three-point line. The latter passed it to O'Neal who was 70 degrees to the left and one step inside the three-point line.

O'Neal Jr. feinted after catching the ball, and seeing that Schmitz was far away, he directly made a pull-up jumper from 17 feet away. He dodged the block and the ball went hollow into the net. 4 to 0.

Yang Rui hates long-range mid-range shots, but he has no problem with O'Neal hitting him like this. He can force Schmitz to defend him. If he fails to make a shot, his teammates may also grab offensive rebounds.

In the next round, the Pacers also opened up the situation. Jackson and Schmitz played a pick-and-roll and then distributed the ball to the center. Schmitz faced Billups and scored in a mid-range shot. 4 to 2.

The Raptors attacked, and after Carter attracted the defense, the ball was handed to O'Neal Jr. who was asking for the ball with his back on the left.

He turned his back to Schmitz, shook his left shoulder slightly, turned towards the baseline, and once again relied on speed to break through. He jumped up in two steps and dunked with both hands to score. 6 to 2.

All the fans applauded together, this goal was very domineering!

The Pacers attacked, Rose used a screen to cut the ball, passed Brad Miller, and scored a layup. 6 to 4.

When the Raptors attacked, the ball was still passed to O'Neal. This time he received the ball with his left side facing the frame. He feinted far away from the basket, stepped back with his left foot, and shot a jumper to avoid Schmitz's block, and hit again. . 8 to 4.

O'Neal Jr. scored 8 points in a row. Just as Yang Rui predicted before the game, Schmitz couldn't guard him one-on-one.

Many people say that O'Neal Jr. is soft. In fact, he is very strong in one-on-one situations whether facing the frame or behind the back. If the defender is slow or short, he is a big killer on the offensive end. This type of player is very powerful.

In Yang Rui's previous life, in the 2014 playoffs between the Rockets and Trail Blazers, Aldridge averaged 37.3 points, 12 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game, overwhelming the Rockets forward group. The Pacers asked Schmitz to guard O'Neal, which was purely seeking death.

Bird realized this and asked Schmitz to guard Brad Miller. In this way, Carter can hold the ball in the middle and play pick-and-rolls. Whether it is a breakthrough or a pull-up jump shot, Schmitz's lateral speed will be tested.

The two sides mainly fought one-on-one, with the Pacers mainly attacking Rose and Miller. After 5 and a half minutes, the Raptors led 18-10, and Bird requested a timeout first.

O'Neal Jr. scored 10 points and 3 rebounds. Thibodeau and D'Antoni are both ready to go back and write their impressions of the game. One-on-one is also a science, and Yang Rui's tactical arrangements have obvious effects.

Zhang Lili said with a smile: "In the NBA, everyone named O'Neal is not simple. O'Neal Jr. stopped the Pacers with his personal ability."

Sun Zhengping said easily: "T-Mac has not played yet. If the Pacers cannot take the lead, it will be difficult to win. The Raptors bench is recognized as the strongest in the league."

Bird's first adjustment was to replace Schmitz and replace him with Austin Crohill, a white power forward who is 208cm tall and can shoot three-pointers. The formation changed.