The Whip of the God of Basketball

"The Celtics didn't play their characteristics at all in the first fifteen minutes. Although I don't know what their characteristics are yet, my intuition tells me that this Celtics should not be like this." Bill Walton saw the Celtics trailing by eight points and Leon called a timeout, shaking his head at their performance.

Obviously, in the first quarter, the Celtics did not have the momentum that they had at the beginning of the previous games. It seemed that the consecutive victories had made the players less excited mentally. They played a mediocre offense and performed mediocre performances. Weird defense. Garnett tried to encourage the team on the offensive end, but tonight Brad Miller, a veteran, made Garnett very uncomfortable. He tried several low-post singles without success. Obviously Kevin's touch didn't count. Great.

This is not a good sign. Players' enthusiasm and concentration are very important in the game, and may even be more important than skills and tactics. If a team's players do not devote 100% to the game, victory will also abandon them.

"I'm sorry I made a mistake. How could we roam around the North Shore Garden Arena like zombies, and I've been like a zombie so far!" Leon made a short self-criticism during the pause. There is no doubt that some things distracted him before the start of this game. At the same time, facing an old stubborn like Adelman, he himself gave up the change and chose to accept it. This was undoubtedly a mistake.

Leon quickly made adjustments. He first replaced Brown with Anderson to increase the vitality of the team inside. He asked Anderson not to give up any opportunity to fight for offensive rebounds. He then replaced Posey, replaced Pierce, and replaced Reed with Malik Sealy, while keeping Arenas on the court.

"Your substitutions are really confusing." After the timeout, Carlisle couldn't help but said to Leon.

"Fox's substitution pattern is irregular." Dave Cowens took a sip of Gatorade and said with his legs crossed. Cowens's words made Siegfried amused. He was originally talking to Reid discussed the performance on the field just now, and Cowens' words made the old man couldn't help laughing.

"There is an old saying in China, which is that there is no trick to win without a trick!" Leon responded with an old saying that came out of nowhere, and turned his attention to the court. He was no longer sitting on the bench, but He squatted on the sidelines and devoted himself fully to the confrontation between the two sides.

The matchup between the substitute lineups is the moment that most tests the team's depth, the coach's tactics, and the team's morale. After the main lineups clash, both sides will want to use the substitute lineups to continue or improve the situation on the field. Therefore, the rotation and tactics of the substitute lineup will be full of pertinence, and the impact on the situation is often immediate.

The lineup deployed by Leon in this game is completely different from the substitutes used against the Pistons. Facing the Pistons, Leon hopes that Carlisle will go to Alston and let Reed and Pierce take charge of the outside offense. The small twin towers inside will protect the backcourt rebounds. ; Facing the Kings, the situation is completely opposite. Leon believes that Alston cannot be allowed to go up and let the team and opponents attack. They must use violent methods to break the boring situation!

Therefore, Arenas became a key candidate for the substitute lineup, but in the first quarter, Arenas always felt a little powerless when facing his old senior Mike Bibby. In college, he has always been a supporter of Bibby. In the NBA, he is always said to be following Bibby's path. With his strong upper body and outstanding strong shooting ability, Arenas has never been able to escape the evaluation of Bibby's second best.

"Whether a point guard can control the team's game is not determined by the coach, but by his game performance and strength. Do your job well, Gilbert." Arenas thought of Leon and what he said. If so, he tried his best to forget about what happened with Bibby and focus more on the game.

However, during the first attack after the timeout, Arenas made a mistake. He hesitated after completing the pick-and-roll with Garnett. As a result, Christie saw through the ball and the ball was intercepted. Massenberg held the ball on a fast break, but just when he thought he could score an easy layup, Chris Anderson fell from the sky. He took off directly from the free throw line and slapped Massenberg's layup from behind. Lose!

Siri, who was following, got the ball and immediately passed it to Arenas. This time Arenas didn't hesitate anymore. He quickly counterattacked and advanced to the top of the key. Then he slowed down, then suddenly put on gear and made a strong breakthrough. He went directly to the inside and easily hit the ball. Basket score.

With one defense and one offense, the Celtics instantly regained their blood. On the Kings side, looking back, Miller passed a good ball in the high post. Bobby Jackson received the ball under the basket and made an open layup. At this time, Anderson did not know It came out of nowhere and jumped two meters away from Jackson. His finger slightly touched the ball, but it was enough to make Jackson's layup miss.

Garnett took the ball into his arms. He turned around and observed that Arenas was running on the fast break again. Garnett handed the ball to Arenas with a long pass!

"Central, flank, no wide range transfer..." Arenas' mind was echoing with the precautions Leon taught him, so he ignored Posey's hand for the ball on the left bottom side and observed it briefly. The movement of a nearby player was followed by Malik Siry.

Arenas made a sure close pass. Siri took the ball and jumped with his legs that were no longer bright. He avoided Christie's kick and succeeded in a layup with his right hand!

"I think Mike Bibby may not necessarily be able to pass such a ball in a quick counterattack. Maybe he will choose the corner, maybe he will directly force the shot, but he will not have the delicate hand-to-hand passing ability of Arenas. , This is the style I had back then." Bill Walton continued to comment shamelessly. In fact, his words are not bragging. After all, Walton's passing is top-notch among centers.

Arenas scored once and passed once, and Anderson blocked two shots, completely rekindling the Celtics' momentum. Garnett, who was a bit sluggish before, when his teammates are able to rise up, he is like dry wood in the fire, exploding faster than anyone else!

Looking back, when Bibby tried to find an opportunity through the pick-and-roll with Miller, Garnett stepped forward like a panther out of the cage to engage in biting defense. Bibby was caught off guard and fell into a dead ball state.

Bobby Jackson stepped forward to respond. Bibby wanted to hand the ball to Jackson, but Garnett took the ball away regardless of losing his balance, then lay on the ground and handed the ball to Arenas.

This time Arenas did not rush without thinking. He rushed across the half court at a constant speed and observed the situation. Posey returned to the right corner and continued to attract and open the defense. Garnett fell to the ground, so Anderson followed closely. From the side to the center, this is the most basic Celtics second fast break routine, which has been practiced countless times in Leon's daily off-ball simulation training.

For a moment, Arenas had the feeling of a poor student who followed the teacher's stupid method and did dozens of sets of simulation training questions, then came to the examination room and suddenly discovered that he had seen and done all the questions on the test paper. , simply feeling relaxed and refreshed.

Sure enough, Siri's route was blocked this time, but Anderson, who followed, immediately came around to provide Arenas with a pick-and-roll screen, and then he fell to the top of the arc - where Garnett should have been. He just got up and ran back.

Arenas took advantage of the cover and suddenly accelerated inward. At this time, Siri had already vacated his position. Arenas tore apart the Kings' poorly established defense. He attracted three people, but instead of making a layup directly, he circled around in the three-second zone and then passed the ball outward with a through pass. , handed over to Garnett, who had already followed!

Anderson rushed forward like a wall to block Massenberg who was trying to interfere with Garnett. Garnett made a steady mid-range shot from a 20-foot position and scored another 2 points. The Celtics scored 6:0. , narrowing the point difference to 2 points!

At this time, in Leon's mind, the Celtics were already ahead. After struggling at the beginning of the season, Arenas finally began to shine in this game.

"Beep!" At this time, the referee's whistle sounded, and Adelman called a timeout. It seemed that he was about to make a substitution.

However, Leon could guess with his toes what kind of lineup Adelman would put in place.