The Pope of Basketball Community

Chapter 347 [The coach is the protagonist, adjustment is too critical]

The Timberwolves had the ball and Sanders requested a timeout.

The Timberwolves' offense was terrible in the second half. They only scored 16 points in the final quarter. The team's top scorer was veteran Kendall Gill, who scored 22 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists. Garnett scored 17 points, 15 rebounds and 4 assists. , Hudson had 17 points and 5 assists.

Sanders guessed that the Wizards would continue to use zone defense, with weaknesses on the wings and corners, so he arranged for Garnett to organize in the middle, Nesterovich to cover Gill on the right to help him catch the ball and shoot, and Hudson on the left Looking for opportunities while running sideways, forward Gary Trent is responsible for covering.

If Hudson receives the ball and does not have a direct chance to make a shot, he can break through with the ball and attract a defensive mismatch for a one-on-one challenge, or pass it to Trent, who is 203cm tall and weighs 113kg, and cut through to attack the basket.

Yang Rui also made adjustments, changing the zone defense to man-to-man, and replaced veteran Christian Laettner in the paint. At the 4th position were Wallace, small forward Jordan, shooting guard Bell, and point guard Wesley.

This lineup can be used both offensively and defensively, and each position is good at individual defense. With veterans, it's less likely to make mistakes at critical moments.

At the beginning of the game, an out-of-bounds ball was issued. Garnett received the ball in the middle and faced Jordan. This led Garnett to a one-on-one challenge. It was also Jordan's idea. He was confident that he would never be passed.

Garnett made 7 of 14 shots, half of the field goal percentage, and 3 of 3 free throws, but 12 of those points were scored in the first half. In the second half, he felt terrible and made 1 of 6 shots. At this time, Garnett took action, and the entire Wizards team was happy to see it.

Garnett also knew that his touch was poor, so he chose to pass the ball to Hudson, who took a step forward, but was double-teamed by Wallace and Wesley. He passed the ball to Trent, who took a step after receiving the ball. He was blocked outside the penalty area by Leitner again.

At this time, Nesterovich was left open and had the ability to make a mid-range shot, but Trent habitually passed the ball to Garnett because he knew that Garnett was the boss of this team.

The "Wolf King" has an amazing intimidating power in the team. When Szczerbiak was still a rookie, Garnett once said to him in the locker room: "Some people still don't know who the boss of this team is!" During a team training in 2000 , Garnett hit Szczerbiak in the face with a bold punch.

After that, all newcomers who joined the Timberwolves were very careful when cooperating with Garnett. They liked to pass key balls to him for attack. They are worried about angering Garnett, who is the absolute boss on this team. Trent does not seek merit but seeks no faults. His passing awareness is also very poor and he often cannot see the open space.

Garnett caught the ball and then passed to Nesterovich, and Laettner returned to defend in place.

After a few more passes,

24 seconds were running out and the ball was back in Garnett's hands. He could only hold the ball one-on-one, leaned against Jordan for a moment, relied on his height advantage to turn around and miss the jump shot, and the rebound was grabbed by Laettner.

Laettner passed to Jordan, and Jordan requested a 20-second timeout on the court.

Yang Rui immediately made a substitution. Maggette, Stoudemire, and Hamilton came on, replacing Laettner, Wallace, and Bell. Yang Rui arranged a tactic for the three of them on the sidelines.

The game continued. Jordan attracted Garnett's defense in the middle and moved to the right. Hamilton and Stoudemire got rid of Gill without the ball in the middle. They ran to the right to catch the ball at a 45-degree angle, attracting Nesterovich to switch defenses and half-turned to transfer the ball. Arrived in the middle.

Trent let go of Maggette to cover the basket. Stoudemire rushed up, took the ball and prepared to dunk, but was pulled by Trent.

Stoudemire made two free throws, 86 to 88.

The Timberwolves attacked, and Gill received the ball and was strictly guarded. He passed the ball to Garnett. After a move, everyone else stood still and watched the boss singled out. Garnett faced Jordan and swayed left and right to turn around and shoot, but missed again due to interference. Stoudemire grabbed the rebound and passed it to Wesley, who passed it to Maggette for a counterattack.

Maggette caught the ball in the frontcourt, lowered his head and started sprinting. He pulled the ball inside the three-point line and took three steps with the ball in both hands. He is extremely stable with the ball, and no one can try to cut it off. His muscles are so tight that he can play the devil's terminator.

Gill couldn't stop it, so he chose to pull for a foul, but he didn't stop it. Maggette staggered with his right hand and threw the ball to the basket. After hitting the board, he bumped on the basket and scored.

The referee blew the whistle, 2+1, and Maggette made an extra free throw, 89 to 88.

Sanders requested a timeout again and arranged the tactics without any substitutions.

The game continued. Trent first screened Hudson without the ball, and then cut to the basket to catch the ball. This attracted Stoudemire to retreat and defend and then passed it to Nesterovic on the right side at 45 degrees, the Slovenian center. I haven't pitched for a while, I didn't grasp the rhythm well, and missed the open mid-range shot.

Jordan grabbed the rebound and held it tightly in his arms, preventing his opponent from taking it away.

Wesley came to respond and also played the role of a veteran. He used his strong body to protect the basketball and slowly dribbled it across the half court. Garnett followed Jordan very closely. He did not pass the ball, but relied on his height of 185cm and weight of 77kg. Hudson, observing the movements of his teammates.

Stoudemire gave Hamilton a screen on the bottom line, Wesley passed the ball, and Gill caught up.

Hamilton took a step and passed to Maggette outside the left three-point line. At this time, there was a mismatch on the court, and Maggette, who was a guest power forward, faced Trent.

Trent is the Timberwolves' more mobile insider. He is 203cm tall and weighs 113kg. His lateral speed is not as good as Maggette's swingman.

Maggette caught the ball and quickly changed direction and entered the penalty area. He took a step to pull the ball up and rushed to the basket with the basketball. Trent was passed.

Nesterovich let go of Stoudemire to cover up the defense. Maggette jumped to the basket and made a move, passing the ball from Nesterovich to the right side.

Stoudemire caught the ball and took a step forward to dunk. Garnett retreated from the center to the basket to cover and couldn't stop him from taking off. He could only foul Stoudemire and pull him out of the air.

Stoudemire went to the free throw line again, and now showed excellent touch and made two free throws. 91 to 88.

There were only 21 seconds of attack time left for the Timberwolves, and embarrassingly, they lacked a three-point shooter.

Sanders called a long timeout and arranged a cover tactic for Hudson to catch the ball and shoot. Hudson is just an ordinary role player, not even an excellent point guard, and his three-pointer missed. Trent grabbed the offensive rebound and scored two points on the second offensive rebound. 91 to 90.

The situation was still favorable to the Wizards. The baseline ball was sent, Maggette received the ball and protected it, and Trent adopted a foul tactic.

This season, Maggette's free throw percentage is as high as 82%. He was not lenient at critical moments and made two free throws. 93 to 90.

Sanders called a timeout to arrange tactics again, and the Timberwolves could only gamble on three points at the last moment. Yang Rui replaced a mobile outside defender. The defensive Gill and Hudson couldn't catch the ball, and "Blacksmith" Piller was forced to shoot the last ball, which missed the basket.

When the buzzer sounded at the end of the game, Jordan raised his fists in excitement. At the critical moment, he was not the protagonist on the court and was not responsible for the main attack. The newcomers completed the task well.

Yang Rui's several adjustments were so critical, leading the players who collectively missed their shots to reverse the game.

The Timberwolves home commentator lamented: "The Wizards used more appropriate tactics in the second half. Every adjustment made by Jerry Young was effective. He is really an amazing coach."

Many Timberwolves fans sighed and couldn't sleep well tonight. The home team had been leading since the beginning, but in the end they were punished to death by the Wizards with free throws. The loss was too humiliating.

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