The Whip of the God of Basketball

Arenas has been a little depressed in the past month. After Leon left Boston and was replaced by Cowens, his data has steadily declined. His scoring average has dropped from 19.3 points per game before, the third player in the team, to 15.7 points. Behind Michael Reid. In the entire 15 games, he averaged only 12.7 points per game, and the drop in statistics is only superficial. What is more profound is the reduction of his tactical status in the team.

During the period when Cowens took over, his coaching style, defensive training and game rhythm were all very different from Leon. As the assistant coach of the Celtics, Cowens is mainly responsible for the basic technical training of players, especially the defensive training of inside players. He is less involved in the team's tactical design and practice.

So he had to pick up what he did in the Hornets after becoming the acting head coach. Defense relied on hard work and offense relied on grinding. It was exactly the same style in the 1990s. The Celtics' half-court offense number increased as a result. Thirty percent, and the overall number of offensive rounds dropped by 12 percent.

Many times Arenas is unable to get all the way to the three-point line and chooses to break through, make a pull-up jump shot, or quickly cut the ball in. Instead, he slowly hands the ball to Pierce or Walker across the half court to complete the offense, and he acts as the An off-ball attacker.

This makes Arenas very uncomfortable, and Cowens is also not adaptable. He cannot spend time every day like Leon to correct Arenas' detailed mistakes in organizing the offense. He does not have the energy and vision. Therefore, Arenas' playing time is also declining. In many cases, Cowens prefers Steve Kerr, who is proficient in positional offense. If Cole is not old, Cowens may simply let Cole be the starter. .

Now that Arenas has finally endured until Leon returns, he is also one of the most excited people on the team. He has already thought about how he will show off his power in tonight's game and score points on the Spurs' head.

Leon understood Arenas's mood. He did not try to persuade Arenas to calm down. On the contrary, he wanted to make full use of Arenas' excitement. Now he is like a bomb that has been silent for a long time, and Leon is his fuse. If he is not careful, he may blow up himself, but if he explodes in the opponent's position, it will have unexpected killing effects.

The game started at 6 p.m. Eastern time, more than an hour earlier than usual. Although the tickets were sold out early, some fans had not yet arrived. Because today is not a weekend, some fans are still stuck on the way to the North Shore Garden, so the arena looks a little sparse, with empty seats often appearing in a row, like Laizi's hair.

In this atmosphere that was not yet hot, the Spurs' starting five, wearing black away jerseys, walked onto the court with a cold face and started the game with a jump ball from David Robinson and Dalembert.

"Dalembert and Robinson jumped the ball...Today's Celtics' starting lineup is Dalembert, Walker, Brown, Reid and Arenas, the same as the last game. Paul Pierce is said to have recovered Although he was healthy, he was not put into the starting lineup. It seems that he is still a little worried about his health." Kenny Smith has commented on the Celtics' games for two consecutive games. He knew that when Pierce was injured and absent, the test Enns sent Dalembert to play center and Walker to play small forward.

In this way, the defensive ability and height of the inside are enhanced, and offensive rebounds are mainly used in the offense to make up for the lack of team tactical coordination.

"I don't think Leon did this because of health issues. The groin strain is not a big problem. If he can play, he can start. Moreover, Pierce has not missed many games, so there is no problem at all in starting. When Leon did this, I think he wanted to use Dalembert and Brown to play at the same time to deal with the Spurs' twin towers. After all, it was a joke to rely on Walker to deal with Duncan. Did he think Walker was me?" Barkley commented on Kyle Te Ren’s starting set makes sense except for the last sentence.

While they were talking, the Spurs, who had won the ball, had already started their first attack. The Spurs used traditional inside-out tactics. It would be a waste not to have Duncan's super strong point. Tony Parker handed the ball to Duncan at the beginning, and Duncan was naturally defended by the Celtics' best low-post defender, PJ Brown.

PJ Brown has solid low-post defensive skills, a strong body, rich experience, and strong strength. He can be said to be the best candidate to deal with Duncan. But Duncan is undoubtedly very smart. He saw that Brown was trying hard to defend himself, and his position was not deep after receiving the ball. So after setting a fake screen with Parker, he suddenly turned around and faced the basket with a Sigma Step, and on the left A 45-degree jump shot was taken directly from the side. PJ Brown failed to block the shot and the ball hit the board and went into the basket.

The Spurs took the lead with two points, courtesy of Duncan's signature play. Leon stood on the sidelines and watched Duncan score first. He knew that it was almost impossible to directly contain Duncan on the court, even for an excellent defender like PJ Brown. It would be even worse if Dalembert was added, which would only leave Robinson completely empty.

Therefore, Leon went to Dalembert not to be able to fight against the Spurs Twin Towers on the defensive end. He had only one real purpose. Since there is no way to contain Duncan on the court, let Duncan stay off the court.

……………………

Popovich always adheres to a principle when using the twin towers on the defensive end, trying to let David Robinson face the more difficult one, allowing Duncan to focus more on offense and defense.

After Popovich knew the Celtics' starting lineup, he decisively asked David Robinson to deal with PJ Brown, a somewhat difficult guy. His mid-range and offensive rebounds were a strong threat. As for Dalembert's young talent, hand him over to Duncan, and Duncan will be able to do both solo defense and assisting defense. Anyway, this guy's threat on the offensive end is almost zero.

After Duncan scored, it was the Celtics' turn to attack. They did not serve quickly from the backcourt and play a quick second attack like in the past. In fact, it is difficult to do this against the Spurs because the Spurs' retreat speed is too fast. It's fast, and the defensive formation is formed very quickly. Duncan's defensive position is quite sophisticated. He ignores Dalembert and now stands near the free throw line to block this most important opening.

Then, before the referee whistled for defense for three seconds, he pretended to grab Dalembert with his hands and moved a few steps with his feet, which meant that he was staring at the opponent, and the referee would naturally not blow the whistle.

At this time, PJ Brown suddenly lifted up and was 45 degrees above the left side. At this time, Arenas was 45 degrees outside the left side of the three-point line. At the same time, Dalembert mentioned the position at the top of the arc, and the two people inside provided Arenas with a high double screen in the same direction!

Brown's first block was very solid, completely blocking Parker. David Robinson, sandwiched between Brown and Dalembert, could not attack Arenas. When Arenas bypassed him again, When Dalembert plays, the right side is completely empty, and he can choose to make a pull-up jumper. But he didn't, instead he accelerated and rushed in.

Duncan was completely exposed in front of Arenas. At this time, Steve Jackson in the right corner wanted to leave Reed behind and help defend, but he was a little late because he did not dare to let Reed go. In the past month, the Celtics have been a very stable and deadly three-point shooting point. Popovich told him to take good care of Reid.

Facing the loophole, Duncan was quite calm, his defensive steps were undisturbed, his long arms were raised straight, and he followed Arenas all the way to the basket. At this time, Arenas' speed and shoulder width came into play. He started to get rid of Duncan a little bit, and then he held the ball with both hands and shouldered Duncan for a layup!

"Beep!" The referee's whistle sounded and Duncan was given a defensive foul. The referee believed that Duncan violated Arenas' cylinder. This is the benefit of shoulder width. The cylinder is thicker than that of ordinary players.

Duncan's eyes widened with an innocent look on his face, but this did not change the referee's decision. Arenas made two free throws to equalize the score.

Popovich couldn't sit still for a while. He saw Fox-Leon's trick at a glance and wanted to use a foul to beat Duncan in advance! But if Duncan fouled out so easily, he wouldn't be Tim Duncan. Duncan is one of the best inside players in the league in controlling fouls.

Sure enough, in the next few rounds, Duncan became more careful on the defensive end. At the same time, he was still unstoppable on the offensive end. The Celtics insisted on not double-teaming Duncan. With his fiery touch, Duncan scored 6 consecutive goals on PJ Brown. point. On the Celtics side, in addition to Arenas's free throw, Antoine Walker also responded with a three-pointer, 5:6. The two sides had a back and forth at the beginning.

"The key to making Duncan foul is not to gain the upper hand in the confrontation with Duncan, but to gain the upper hand in the confrontation with Tony Parker. As long as he passes Parker, Duncan will be exposed. There will be double screens at the beginning, but not much. , this trick is useless if used too much. You have to rely on your own speed and escape. Remember you only have five minutes. You are a blaster. You must blast Duncan within five minutes, otherwise your first quarter will be a failure. "." Arenas, who was in control of the ball on the court, thought of Leon's words.

Leon gave him five minutes and arranged tactical cooperation for him, asking him to attack the inside with all his strength, trying to shorten Duncan's playing time in the first quarter and let him foul out and rest.

The first double screen was unexpectedly successful, but the next two attempts were unsuccessful. Duncan's defense was watertight. Although Arenas is good at shooting, he is also very fast. As Leon said, he only has five minutes. After five minutes, not only does it mean much less for Duncan to come off the court, but his ankle also needs rest.

Tony Parker, Arenas looked at this defender from France, and Leon used him to acquire Cole and Anderson from the Spurs. Arenas has been compared to Parker more than once. Some people believed that the Celtics should have chosen Parker instead of Arenas.

The thought flashed past, and Arenas started with all his strength. Obviously Parker's defense was not sophisticated enough, and he did not get up in time to sense Arenas' position with his hands. Arenas quickly started and changed direction, and Parker was almost knocked down.

At this time, PJ Brown has pulled David Robinson away, Dalembert has opened a way for Arenas, and there is only Duncan under the basket again. This is a good opportunity for Arenas.

At this time, Arenas is not holding a basketball, but a bag of explosives. He does not want to put the ball into the basket, but wants to blow up Duncan with the bag of explosives!

During the aerial confrontation, Arenas did not go for a layup at all. Instead, he grabbed the ball with both hands and swung it with both arms, directly touching Duncan's arm - this was what Siegfried taught him.

"Beep!" The referee's whistle sounded again. Arenas looked at Popovich and yelled angrily, "He is just cheating for a foul." He knew that he succeeded. He blasted the Spurs' strongest fortress. At least In the first quarter, Duncan could only spend the first quarter on the bench.