The Whip of the God of Basketball

Nash looked very excited when the timeout came off the court. He and Leon high-fived each other, and the smile on his face made him look like a 1.9-meter-old child. D'Antoni looked on with some confusion. In the past, if the Suns needed Nash to start scoring, it meant that the team's offense was no longer good. Nash would be very tired at this time. The expression on his face was always serious, and he would never be as relaxed as now. freely.

But under Leon, he looks so relaxed. So far, D'Antoni feels that Nash has not exerted his strength yet. Could it be said that this year's Nash has been reborn and has improved his skills? But Nash will be 34 years old this year and has reached the end of his career as a professional player.

Of course Leon knew that Nash was older, and he also knew that it would be good if Nash could maintain his condition. Don't think about getting to the next level, so he had to use Nash sparingly, so Leon replaced Nash with Jaskovicius during the timeout. , let him sit off the court to rest, and the leader on the Suns' court became Stoudemire again.

This rotation method is completely different from the previous Suns, but Stoudemire's performance in the first half proved that he can currently support a team's offense. As for the Lakers, Kobe still stayed on the court. After experiencing a reasonable first half and then firing continuously in the second half, Kobe has entered the game state. When he enters the state, no one can stop him on the offensive end.

In the first attack after the timeout, Kobe opened his hand and hit a 3-pointer from the outside, narrowing the point difference to 1 point. Turning around, Jaskovicius, after picking and rolling Stoudemire in the high post, directly hit a three-pointer and hit an answer-ball.

Stoudemire's inside threat was too great, giving Jaskevicius plenty of space to shoot. This defender who is good at three-point long-range shots showed no mercy, because in Leon's offensive system, the point guard has If you have a chance to shoot, you must shoot. If you don't have a chance to create an opportunity, you must shoot. In this system, Jaskevicius no longer has to move in fixed positions, provide teammates with the ball and make tactics like he did with the Pacers, and then watch some people waste opportunities with the ball.

After both sides hit a three-pointer each, the shooting percentages of both sides suddenly dropped off a cliff in the middle and late third quarter. Kobe continued to hit the ground running on the offensive end, and his shots seemed a little impatient; but the Suns failed to do so. Taking the opportunity to expand the score advantage, Stoudemire was double-teamed and defended by the Lakers. The Lakers left Diaw open and did not allow him to support or pass the ball. They allowed him to move in the empty area in the mid-range. He could shoot casually and close the door if he wanted to break out.

Mid-range jump shots are not Diaw's strong point. This is only the second game. He is still a little unfamiliar with how to control the team's offense like a point guard, and his cooperation with Jaskovicius is also somewhat inconsistent. The Suns The attack came to a standstill. In this way, the offenses of both sides failed to score for many times in a row. The offense was in a mess, and the head coaches of both sides were still very calm. Each one sat on the bench more calmly than the other and watched his team play X**.

Phil Jackson whistled twice from time to time, but Leon was too lazy to look up at the situation on the court. Instead, he focused on chatting with Nash. In Leon's view, chatting with Nash was much more important than watching the game on the court. .

"I have an idea. Let you play for four or five minutes in the first and third quarters, and then give you more time before the end of the first half and at the end of the fourth quarter so that you can control the game." Leon When discussing with Nash about the allocation of his playing time, Leon wanted to save Nash on the one hand, but on the other hand, he wanted to maximize his function when he was on the court.

"I think this is a good idea. Today I feel that I am in good condition and my brain is used less." Nash said with a smile.

Originally, he was supposed to be lying on the sidelines watching the game, but it was Leon who called him to the bench to chat with him. He was chatting and laughing so much in such a game that D'Antoni sighed, thinking that this guy didn't care about the court. situation? During the timeout, there was no strategy arrangement, just letting the players solve the problem on their own. In his impression, Leon was not like this in the Celtics in the past. Anyway, as long as the Celtics had a timeout at that time, there would be immediate results after playing.

But judging from the first two games of the season, it seems that he is determined to be the hands-off manager.

More than half of the third quarter, with 4 minutes and 35 seconds left, Kobe drove into the basket and caused Stoudemire to foul and go to the free throw line. The score between the two sides was 82:79. The Lakers were only 3 points behind. Kobe made two free throws. The Suns also replaced Nash again, while Stoudemire took a rest. In the third quarter, his performance was mediocre and he failed to help the team support the offense. However, he did well on the defensive end, contributing two blocks, and the missed shots were not serious.

After Nash came on the court, Leon brought Brent Barry on the court again. The two white men on the outside of the Suns who were slow and average in defense made the Suns fans' eyes hurt when they saw them. But as soon as Barry came on the field, his role on the offensive end was obvious. Leon gave him a very clear positioning, a transfer station for the ball from the outside, and a three-pointer from the bottom corner. Old Barry was very clear about his responsibilities, and nothing else No, just do your job with peace of mind.

As for the defensive issues, leave it all to Marion, Bell and Turiaf. After the score reached 82:81, the Suns attacked, Nash and Turiaf set up a pick-and-roll, and then cleverly passed the ball to the bottom corner. Old Barry A three-pointer hit, 85:81.

Then in defense, Marion defended one and two, first blocking Kobe's breakthrough, and then flying up to interfere with Fisher's throw. Turiaf collected the backcourt rebound, and Nash quickly pushed back with the ball. In the counterattack, Nash made a three-pointer. After a short pause outside the dividing line, seeing that the opponent's defense was not coming up, he shot a three-pointer from the right side at a 45-degree angle! Nash's shooting speed is not fast, but without enough interference, his shooting arc is extremely stable and he can hit three-pointers steadily.

With two consecutive three-pointers, the Suns widened the point difference again. Leon continued his three-point shooting strategy in Boston to Phoenix. In fact, except for pure blue-collar insiders like Turiaf, the players in the Suns rotation All have three-point shooting capabilities, including Stoudemire.

The Lakers did not expect that Nash would be full of fire in this game and regard shooting as his first choice. Their preparations on the defensive end were obviously insufficient and they hardly gave Nash too much pressure from outside the three-point line. , allowing him to handle the ball more calmly, including shooting at a slower speed.

Jackson immediately called a short timeout to rearrange the defense. He replaced Sasha Vujacic. On the one hand, he enhanced his outside shooting, and on the other hand, he asked him to start a biting defense against Nash. This had a certain effect, but Nash is Nash after all. When the Lakers began to focus on defense against him, they seemed to forget that he was the assist leader in the past two seasons. He continuously assisted Marion for layups, and the point difference between the two sides further widened. open.

By the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Suns had led the Lakers by 10 points, 95:85. Their advantages in hard power began to show little by little, especially the advantages in players' personal abilities. Except for the shooting guard, they almost Better than the Lakers at every position.

However, the 10-point gap is not a big problem for Kobe. After taking a short break at the beginning of the fourth quarter, Kobe reappeared. He played a lot in the third quarter and changed his offensive method. , began to continuously attack the inside, and successfully hit two three-pointers in a row. Although Stoudemire also relied on singles to hit a layup, but turned around and Kobe hit another three-pointer. The score became 100:95. The Lakers were in a little bit. The approaching score.

D'Antoni looked at Kobe's offense and felt better and better. Thinking of Kobe's terrible performance in the playoffs of the previous two seasons, he began to feel anxious and couldn't sit still. He wanted to stand up several times, but when he thought that he was no longer the head coach, he couldn't stand. He got up to give orders, so he had to keep his butt glued to the bench.

As the Suns missed another attack, Kobe counterattacked with the ball. There was no one in his eyes, no teammates, and no opponents. He was like a snake, with his agile body and rhythmic dribbling, shuttling between multiple people. , the last change hand layup avoided Marion's block and scored two points, turning the score into 100:97, and the point difference was reduced to three points.

At this time, Leon finally stood up from the bench, asked the referee for a timeout, and took out a tactical note from the inner pocket of his suit. He knew it was time for him to show off his strategy, otherwise Others really thought that he didn't care about anything anymore - although no one dared to think so.