The Whip of the God of Basketball

Tonight, Byron Scott led Leon by the nose most of the time. The regular season has always been about "I take the lead and make decisions based on my situation." Since the Nets have the advantage in lineup and hard power, Then Scott allows the players to perform normally, and the Nets have a high chance of winning the game.

In the absence of Mutombo, Scott let Collins, Scalabrine, Rogers, Aaron Williams and others take turns to play, consuming Antoine Walker and allowing the Nets' outside players to have more opportunities. Plenty of energy to deal with the Celtics' perimeter without leaving Walker open, requiring outside players to help defend.

Although Grant Long was an unexpected surprise to Scott, his performance was limited to part of the time. At the critical moment, Long, who lacked independent offensive ability, still could not make up for the hole caused by Walker's cold hands. As long as the Nets maintain their normal offensive and defensive status in the last minute, if you score one and I score another, or if you defend the Celtics one, the game will be over.

However, Wang Zhizhi's unexpected three-pointer became the key goal to turn the situation around, and then a foul allowed the Celtics to take the initiative. After that, it is the reflection of the player's personal ability. Paul Pierce was in good shape in this game, and his decisive breakthrough also directly stopped the Nets.

With a three-point lead, Scott of course still has to play steadily, but the biggest problem with the Nets as a defensive team is that they do not have a very reliable and stable scoring point. Looking at the Nets' schedule this season, you can find that the Nets either win by about 10 points or lose by about 10 points. There are very few games with a score difference of less than 5 points.

In the few games with close scores, the Nets mostly lost, such as losing to Seattle 95:96, losing to the Knicks 99:101, losing to the 76ers 107:108, and losing to the Jazz 103:106. , lost to the Wizards 86:89, lost to the Jazz 90:91, and so on in this series of losses, the Nets all had a chance to win, but at critical moments, it was difficult for them to score.

The reason is simple: their team's number one player, point guard Jason Kidd, can't shoot.

The only long-range jumper Kidd made in this game was the three-pointer he made before Wang Zhizhi came on the court. It almost killed the Celtics at home.

"I would rather let Kidd shoot a two-pointer than let him try a three-pointer! We need a defensive trap. No matter who is holding the ball on the outside, we have to attract them to a 45-degree position. Don't let them go to the middle. Don't let them go." They slide the baseline, 45 degrees, remember, go to PJ and Chris. However, you must pay attention to the player you are marking, don't lose position, remember not to lose position! If it is cleanly penetrated to the inside, we only have a foul. , be tougher when committing a foul, jump directly towards the arm, if anyone gives them a 2+1, I will twist his head off." During the timeout, Leon asked Dick Hart to give the players Arranging defensive tactics, the old man directly said harsh words.

Because the Nets don't have an offensive point man, the Celtics can continue to maintain their average defense and man-to-man coverage. At the same time, Leon replaced Wang Zhizhi and replaced him with Chris Anderson. Although Anderson was not trusted by Cowens and was not as stable as Dalembert on the defensive end, Leon still valued his mobility at critical moments. With his shot-blocking and interference abilities, put him on the court to build an interior defense with P.J. Brown.

For the Celtics' outside players, it is inevitable to block the middle. Let Kidd enter the free throw line in the middle, and all opportunities will be leaked to him from all directions, so Kidd or other ball-handlers of the Nets must be blocked. Rush to both sides. And because Kenyon Martin is very capable of cutting through the middle, we can't just let them go to the baseline to prevent bottom passes and directly attack the basket. This will make the inside very passive.

The best strategy is to drive them to 45 degrees. 45 degrees is the world of low-post attackers, but the Nets do not have super low-post attackers, not even the same as Paul Pierce. Perhaps they rely on the most in the final stage. It's Kidd's breakthrough and Martin's offensive rebound. For the breakthrough player, the position of 45 degrees is really not good. It is a funnel. The position of the basket is not conducive to direct attack, and the passing is awkward.

Therefore, there is no problem with Hart's strategy. The problem depends on what strategy the Nets will take and the performance of the Celtics players.

"Don't focus on Kidd, let him shoot if he has a chance to shoot, watch his passing, not only Martin, but also other people ambushing on the wings. Disrupt them, that's your job, OK ?" After Hart finished the arrangement, Leon pulled Anderson aside to discuss the matter alone.

Leon knows that Kidd's passing is far more threatening than his shooting. At a 45-degree angle, players often face a dilemma when shooting at critical moments: Should they hit the board or make a hollow shot? Once you hesitate, the ball will be inaccurate. If Kidd can make the shot, Leon has nothing to do, but he cannot allow Kidd to tear through the Celtics' defense through passing the ball and let the Nets succeed directly at the basket.

As for three-pointers, Hart and Leon have made it clear that if they are allowed to shoot, Leon bets that with Scott's more conservative coaching style, unless there is a perfect opportunity, he will not allow players to score just one point. If you can win reliably, you can shoot a very risky three-pointer.

The timeout ends, and the last few dozen seconds are the moment that determines the outcome of the game.

Jason Kidd had a hard time catching the foul ball under Arenas's entanglement. Obviously the Nets' foul ball tactic did not work. They wanted to use a stacking tactic, with four people gathering together on the right side of the half. The two weak-side cuts feint, and then Richardson serves as the final actual attack point. With the help of Kidd, he can choose to shoot or directly break through after receiving the ball.

However, the Celtics players were very focused, especially Pierce, who saw through Richard Jefferson's intentions and kept a close eye on him. The Nets had to go to plan B, letting Kidd hold the ball for a long time while waiting for new opportunities. .

After Kidd got the ball, he found that the center was very blocked. Anderson and Brown were attacking the goal with one left and one right. Kidd tried to set up a pick-and-roll with Martin, and then found that Anderson Arenas directly bypassed Martin to follow the defense. , this is obviously to let Kidd shoot and prevent him from breaking out.

Kidd hesitated for a moment but still didn't shoot. He really didn't have much confidence. Besides, there were still more than ten seconds left, and he had to spend more time.

At this time, Arenas stood in front of Kidd and began to press, and then turned sideways, leaving a 45-degree position. Kidd knew that this was a defensive trap, but he glanced around, and the Celtics were man-marked. People, if there is no good passing opportunity, it seems that even if they know it is a trap, they will dig in.

Kidd tried to go to the baseline, and Skiles bypassed Reed's defense from the baseline, but Reed stopped following him near the basket, and actually let Skiles go, and then blocked the baseline. Location. Skiles was free, Kidd immediately transferred the ball to Martin in the middle, and then Martin passed the ball directly to the open Skiles!

At this time, the Nets on the weak side had formed a pattern of overplaying and underplaying, but Skiles hesitated. He did not shoot after receiving the ball, but continued to hold the ball and break through from near the baseline, trying to make a reverse basket from the right side.

But this time Chris Anderson made a contribution. He jumped high into the air and hit a nail board, pushed the basketball on the backboard, and took off the second time to get the ball. A very precious ball! At this time, there are 11 seconds left before the end of the game.

At this time, Leon used his last short pause, 20 seconds, which was enough for him to deploy a tactic.

However, Leon did not take out his tactical board and draw a precise and numbered killing tactic as usual. Instead, he threw away the board and pen, and then said: "The last attack, 11 seconds, my tactic." It's very simple, single screen, three-pointers, offensive rebounds. That's it. Remember, offensive rebounds, this is the key! Surprise!"

Leon's several arrangements at the last moment tonight highlighted a surprise. The reason is very simple. He has tactics in his mind. The problem is that the Celtics players are in such a state tonight that they cannot use those tactics in front of the Nets' perimeter defense. type it out.

Only surprise, hard work, and belief in the players' abilities ensured that the Celtics reached this final step. At this time, Antoine Walker was still sitting on the bench and watching.

Leon replaced Wang Zhizhi again instead of Walker.