The Whip of the God of Basketball

The Conseco Arena was very lively at night. This stadium, which can accommodate more than 20,000 people, once again became a sea of ​​yellow tonight, like the endless cornfields of Indiana. In order to welcome this nationally broadcast game, most fans spontaneously put on bright yellow T-shirts representing the Pacers, giving this game a playoff atmosphere. In fact, this is only the eighth game since the start of the season, and everything is still in its infancy, but the Pacers' excellent performance at the beginning of the season has undoubtedly inspired the fans, not to mention that their opponent tonight is the Celtics.

The two best teams in the Eastern Conference currently, whoever wins will temporarily ascend to the top of the Eastern Conference and even the league. At the same time, this is also likely to be a practice battle in the regular season between the two teams that will compete in the Eastern Conference this year, so from now on From top to bottom, from players to reporters, everyone attaches great importance to this game.

Fox-Leon is no exception. The Celtics have suffered consecutive fierce battles at the beginning of the season. This will be a great challenge and test for the entire team’s mental state, tactical level and adjustment ability. It is also an opportunity for the team to further unite and unite. The boost of unity. The turbulent war of words before the game is an external manifestation. Leon hopes to use this war of words to put pressure on the players and arouse their will to fight.

Of course, Leon knows that Larry Bird, the master of war of words, has not said anything yet. He is obviously waiting for the result of this game. Once the Celtics lose in Conseco, they will get the Big Bird. Elegant and ruthless irony, this was not what he expected.

Therefore, before the game started, in the locker room, he conducted a rare pre-game mobilization, used a concise and powerful speech to encourage the players, and told everyone, "Everyone here tonight will be thinking in their hearts. Kill us, and the only way for us to get out alive is to win!"

Maybe Leon should change "let us get out alive" to "let me get out alive". After all, he is Indiana's number one public enemy. When the players from both sides entered the court and the DJ introduced the players, when the DJ announced Leon in a lifeless voice, When Ang's name was called, the audience burst into loud boos.

This is still quite rare in NBA games. In many games, fans will boo players because the two teams may have some grudges. For example, Bill Laimbeer, a tough guy, gets booed in every away game. Essential background music. Coaches are different. Most of them are gentle and gentle. They scold Fang Qiu from the sidelines without causing any conflicts with players or fans. At most, they attract some disdain from fans when they argue with referees. At other times, they are supporting characters on the court after all.

Leon is different. After all, he can be said to have punched Conseco and kicked the Pacers. A fight with many enemies made him the villain in the hearts of Indiana fans. Many fans at the scene tonight brought mocking slogans. Dedicated to Leon, one child even wore a mask made of Leon’s poster on his face, but it was painted as a vicious thug with several scars and a black eye patch. The brushwork was ridiculous and Cola.

Leon turned a blind eye to this. He just stood coldly on the sidelines with his arms folded and faced the boos and thumbs down from the audience. He neither pretended to be relaxed nor frustrated, but just waited for the start of the game like a stone statue. Perhaps in the past six months, Leon deliberately showed too much of his violent and personal side to the public, so that many people ignored that he is a peaceful, calm and focused person at heart.

Leon's performance has undoubtedly infected the Celtic players. Playing away from home requires not only passionate encouragement, but also a calm and calm response, especially at the beginning. The home team is often full of momentum, and the visiting team must remain focused enough. degree and not be disturbed by factors outside the arena.

The Pacers players' entering ceremony ended, Kevin Garnett finished taking his powder, Pierce straightened his headgear, Arenas touched the soles of his shoes, Reid loosened his arm guards, and PJ Brown Standing in the center circle, the Celtics' five tigers are ready.

Tonight's referee is the league's famous master of balance, Steve Jarvie. This referee, who is known for his ability to control situations, was named to officiate this game. This is enough to show that the league attaches great importance to this pizza, and it also illustrates the importance of this game. Well, I really don’t want anything to happen to the two teams, especially Leon.

O'Neal Jr. and P.J. Brown jumped the ball, O'Neal took the lead in hitting the ball, the Pacers attacked, Tinsley controlled the ball, and the game officially began.

There are some differences between the Pacers' starting lineup and last season. They successfully grabbed Stephen Jackson before the Atlanta Hawks in the summer, and then they traded away Brad Miller, got Pollard, and strengthened Jayson. Lee Foster, in the starting lineup, they actually lined up a lineup of O'Neal Jr., Jackson, Artest, Tinsley, plus Reggie Miller. This lineup was also played after the start of the season. Amazing results.

There is no doubt that this is a bold tactical attempt by O'Brien and Vogel, which not only inherited Pitino's tactical ideas, but also was consolidated and strengthened by Leon during his time with the Celtics, especially with the powerful The data supports this, which is why O'Brien and Vogel were able to get the support of Larry Bird, so that he finally gave up on Carlisle and was willing to recruit them to take charge of the Pacers.

Of course, facing the two Celtics insiders Garnett and Brown, they still dared to use this lineup. Leon knew that O'Brien must be prepared.

"They used such a risky lineup at the beginning. What was the opponent thinking?" Carlisle couldn't help but muttered. It's okay if it's against other teams. The Celtics are not a vegetarian with two players inside. How can O'Neal Jr. stand up to him? Can you live there?

On the first offense, the Pacers played a simple No. 5 tactic, giving O'Neal the ball. O'Neal was able to receive Artest's pass from a good position on the left, then turned over and hit a shot, opening the scoring. .

"Simpler but more effective than Thomas' tactics..." Leon thought in his mind while watching O'Neal's goal. Thomas's offensive tactics are too complicated, and he also relies too much on the strikers' low-post attacks. Now that the space is becoming more and more crowded, and everyone is looking for ways to expand the space, he is undoubtedly falling behind.

Before Leon could finish sighing, Arenas dribbled the ball just past half-court when he was suddenly double-teamed by Artest and Stephen Jackson! Before Arenas could react, the ball had been intercepted by Artest. Jackson rushed forward with a whip, Artest passed the ball, and Jackson dunked!

Pseudo full-court double team.

The ball just now was originally played by Tinsley against Arenas. Just after Arenas passed halftime, Tinsley suddenly let go of Arenas to chase Pierce. Jackson and Artest were in the corner of the half. Press Arenas. O'Neal Jr. blocked Garnett and Brown alone near the top of the arc. Miller stared at Reid, which resulted in Arenas's mistake.

"This is a defensive tactic derived from Pitino's full-court double-teaming. They were supposed to start double-teaming as soon as the ball was served. Now they wait for Arenas to pass halftime before double-teaming, although this way it is easy for the opponent to pass the ball. The ball penetrated, but the effect was better because our space was compressed by half..." Leon evaluated this defense in his heart. It was indeed a good and unexpected defense, which was obviously designed.

Then the Celtics attacked again, and the Pacers no longer used this defense, but started man-to-man. O'Neal Jr. faced Brown, and Stephen Jackson went to face Garnett, starting to circle forward crazily. Defense.

Before the game, Leon arranged for the players to have more small coordination and one-on-one singles in the opening, because he knew that the Pacers would definitely use more one-on-one defense. This is Vogel's favorite, and it is best to deal with single defense. The best way is naturally to use singles to force the Pacers to make changes in defensive formation.

However, Jackson's defense was very brave. Garnett was not in place for a while, and Jarvi's whistle did not move, even though some of Jackson's actions included pushing and pulling.

On the other hand, Artest kept the tightest guard on Pierce. In the end, Arenas had to complete a pick-and-roll with Brown, break through to the mid-range and force a jumper. The ball flew quickly through the air and then hit the board and into the basket!

An important goal. The three front lines of the Pacers are all black and hard all-around defenders. If you want to find a breakthrough, you must work hard on the defenders.

But then, when Jackson pulled up a three-point jumper directly after a pick-and-roll outside the three-point line, Leon knew that tonight's game would definitely be very difficult.

There were supposed to be two updates tonight, but the network adapter of the computer I was writing on suddenly broke down, the network was interrupted, and some keys were wrong. All the things I wrote on the Internet suddenly disappeared, so I had to do one update. I feel very sorry for this.