The Whip of the God of Basketball

When Duncan walked off the court with his head hanging down and sat on the bench, Leon also turned around from the sidelines and sat on the bench, which allowed Tim Duncan to leave the game early due to a foul problem. At least in the first half, the Celtics would occupy Advantages on paper. The Spurs replaced Duncan with Malik Rose, who was 6-foot-7 and played as a power forward. He was selected by the Hornets in the 1996 draft and was traded to the Spurs the next year, where he continues to play today.

This year is the peak year of Malik Rose's career, and it is also his contract year. His skills and physical condition are at their best, but he only averages 10 points and 6 rebounds per game. As soon as Popovich replaced Rose on the field, Leon immediately replaced Dalembert and put Paul Pierce on the field. In a short period of time, the Celtics suppressed the Spurs in the lineup.

Antoine Walker returned to the power forward position, and Paul Pierce threatened the Spurs' perimeter defense at the small forward position. Let's look at the on-the-spot performance of the Celtics players.

Arenas made both free throws, 7:6, and the Celtics took the lead by one point.

After the Spurs lost Duncan, their offensive focus shifted from the inside to the outside. David Robinson is no longer the omnipotent 7-foot small forward facing the basket. His role on the offensive end is more as a screen and offensive rebound. Parker dribbled the ball past half-court, and Robinson made a pick-and-roll in the high post. Then Robinson moved down, and Stephen Jackson in the bottom corner was raised to 45 degrees, ready to rush for rebounds or receive passes.

In the absence of Duncan, Parker is the engine of the Spurs' offense. Robinson's pass obviously has no effect. PJ Brown, while keeping an eye on Robinson, also reached out to block Parker. Parker hesitated and did not dare to directly lob the ball to him. Robinson lost an offensive opportunity.

Brown's delay gave Arenas time to catch up. Parker's breakthrough route was blocked. He had to turn around and jump to pass the ball to Jackson. This pass was not good, and Jackson's reception was not safe. , after getting the ball, there was no way to shoot directly or break through directly, so he had to adjust the ball. By this time, Reid's defense had already closed in.

Jackson finally had to force a shot at 19 feet. Under Reid's effective interference, the ball hit the neck of the basket. P.J. Brown steadily grabbed the backcourt rebound and quickly handed the ball to Arenas.

Arenas dribbled like the wind and passed half court quickly. The Spurs retreated very quickly, but without Duncan, their defensive position had holes. Antoine Walker had already occupied the most important corner of the free throw line. In the position, Reid fell to the bottom corner. Arenas paused for a moment, then suddenly started, using Walker's pick-and-roll to kill inside. This time he did not break through directly, but passed the ball to Walker, who stepped on the three-point line and hit a long two-point shot!

The classic second fast break relies on concise cooperation and precise positioning to quickly complete the attack. It does not pursue more hits and less in one fast break, but attacks the opponent's unstable foothold to find a relatively easy shooting space.

At this time, Celtics fans had already packed the North Shore Garden Arena. Although it was just a simple mid-range jumper, it allowed the fans to see the power of the Green Hussars under Fox-Leon. It seemed that Leon's The return really revitalized the Celtics on offense.

"I said when Fox-Leon comes back, the Celtics are going to get back to their fast offense, clean passing and beautiful jump shots that we saw from the Celtics in the first half of the season. People's team." Seeing Walker's goal, Kenny Smith couldn't help but praise the Celtics' fast attack in an orderly manner.

If the Spurs are the team with the best and fastest defense in the league, then the Celtics are the team with the most methodical quick counterattacks, and they do not have a super point guard to advance the offense. They are the engine most of the time. It's Arenas who is stubborn. The reason why the Celtics are able to carry out the counterattack without any chaos is because they have the best fast break trainer, Fox Leon, who has his own eagle eye.

During the whole day of training in Waltham yesterday, Leon did nothing but lead the players in simulated training without the ball. The players who had not done this training for a month were still a little uncomfortable at first, making various mistakes and stumbles. garlic. Leon yelled at everyone on the sidelines for nearly an hour before everyone adjusted. Many forgotten reactions and routines returned to the players' minds and nerve cells.

"Kenny, I have to say that your knowledge is as short as my hair. It's just a counterattack. How can you tell that the Celtics of the past are back? I believe the Celtics will still rely on what they have relied on recently." defense against the Spurs." Barkley still believes that it will not be easy for the Celtics to return to their past rhythm.

As soon as Barkley finished speaking, Spurs' Bruce Bowen got an open three-point shot from the bottom corner. The Spurs have a strong ability to move the ball from the outside. Recently, the Celtics no longer follow the past strict one-on-one rules on the defensive end, and have begun to rotate and make up positions. This makes up for the gap, and Bowen makes a three-pointer from the bottom corner!

"Rebound!" Leon stood on the sidelines and saw that the ball was crooked. He yelled for the rebound. Walker blocked Rose, Brown blocked Robinson, and Michael Reed grabbed the backboard before Jackson.

Reid did not hand the ball to Arenas or Pierce, but rushed forward with the ball by himself.

Dribbling breakthroughs are not Reid's strength. As a C\u0026amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;S shooter, his dribbling is relatively high, which makes it easier for him to take quick shots. At the same time, because he shoots left-handed, he is not left-handed but right-handed, so watching him break through will feel a little awkward.

But Reid still tried his best to squeeze away Parker who was following him, soared forward with the ball, and looped around with the ball to avoid Jackson's steal, and succeeded in a right-hand layup! The Celtics relied on counterattacks to score 4 points in a row, rewriting the score to 9:5.

Popovich immediately called a timeout. Obviously, the Spurs didn't know how to play after Duncan left the court. Robinson was old and Parker was too young. Neither of them could shoulder the burden on the offensive end. Popovich needed to rearrange the situation to stabilize the situation. .

"Well done, sometimes you just have to have the momentum to move forward. I have learned a lot this month, Michael." When the players came off the field, Leon patted Reid and said.

In the month of Leon's absence, Reid evolved from the team's fourth scorer to the third offensive point. His scoring average rose to 16.9 points per game. Although his three-point shooting percentage dropped, his number of shots increased by two. indivual. He no longer just lurks in the corner to make a feint as before, but is more involved in the active attack. Sometimes when the offense cannot be opened, Cowens will try to let Reid play one-on-one. .

In this era of super shooting guard blowouts, Reid may not be eye-catching, but he will be an important point in Leon's system. Leon is also very happy to see Reid gaining confidence in this month. This was much earlier than he expected.

On the Spurs side, there is a person who is very similar to Reid, and that is Stephen Jackson, who plays against Reid on the court.

"Stephen, now I need you to stand up and attack decisively. Pay attention to launching closer to the basket. Don't force a breakthrough or throw three-pointers casually. Use your body, strength, and score. I need to score." !" Popovich asked Jackson to take charge of the offense on the bench.

Apart from Tony Parker, Jackson is the team's only offensive point with the ball. It's not rotation time yet, and Ginobili can't play yet. Before the second team comes on to hand over the ball, Jackson's offensive attack with the ball is needed. To continue the Spurs' firepower on the field.

Jackson was born in poverty and grew up in Port Arthur, Texas, where the most famous place is the Port Arthur Prison. Like Reed, Jackson was born into a devout Christian family, but his upbringing was less like a Christian and more like a Crusader, relying on violence along the way. He has often fought with people since he was a child, and even gets into fights when he disagrees on the court. This also created his strong and tough style of play.

After being selected by the Suns to enter the NBA, his style was obviously incompatible with the Suns' style of play. He was waived, went to play in the Continental League, was signed by the Nets, was waived again, and finally settled in the Spurs and was hired by Pop. Veach single-handedly promoted and trained him and became an important scorer and outside defender for the Spurs. So far this season he is the team's third leading scorer.

After the timeout, the Spurs' offensive focus shifted to Jackson's side. With two screens and a cross change, Jackson got a one-on-one opportunity with Reid on the left side.

Jackson tried to light up Reed with a tentative step, but Reed remained motionless, just lowering his center of gravity and staring at Jackson. In the preparation meeting before the game, Leon reminded Reid that the main thing to pay attention to is his shooting and secondary rebounding. His first step is not fast, but he is very powerful and can find gaps to force shots.

Sure enough, seeing that he couldn't get rid of Reid, Jackson suddenly lowered his shoulders and charged with the ball. He suddenly pushed Reid away, then turned his back to the baseline, found a small space, and shot a jumper with a slight fade away.

The ball bounced on the basket, and finally fell into the net. A slightly lucky goal, but it stabilized the Spurs' situation.

Subsequently, Jackson made another mid-range shot, grabbed an offensive rebound and scored a layup. The Celtics relied on Pierce's personal ability to score 5 points in a row. The two sides were very tight in the first quarter.

Leon watched Jackson flexing his muscles after scoring a goal and constantly high-fiving his teammates. He knew it was time for him to take a break on the bench.