kingnovel Chapter 704 704. Leonard Always Wants to Smash Liu Ren
Chapter 704 704. Leonard Always Wants to Smash Liu Ren
Chapter 704 704. Leonard Always Wants to Smash Liu Ren
To pick and roll!This is a gesture made by Popovich on the sidelines.
After the pick-and-roll to shoot a three-pointer for Leonard, this is the first time Popovich came up with the method to deal with the Lakers' defense.
The zone defense of the Lakers is different from the 40.00-[-] zone defense when defending the Warriors, because almost [-]% of the Warriors' points are three-pointers, and the Lakers mainly defend against them. Lakers.
The defense against the Spurs is even more extreme than the defense against the Warriors, but it happens to be specifically aimed at a Spurs team. Popovich reacted very quickly, and it was only by playing pick-and-rolls for quick three-pointers that he could catch the slightest loophole in the Lakers' defense.
However, Leonard was once again rare willful.
Leonard went directly to the low post and asked Liu Ren for the ball!
Popovich fired for the second time within 1 minute, and the assistant coach next to him, Messina, asked weakly if he wanted to call a timeout. For the Spurs, calling a timeout after less than 1 minute of the opening game is nothing. Something particularly odd, but Popovich shook his head.
Popovich can only let Leonard play by himself, this guy is the future of the Spurs!No one thought that Leonard could grow to the point where he is today. Popovich originally planned to get a new version of Bowen back, but he didn't expect to get back a future core with a clean offensive end and top talent in the league. At the core, he has the right to compete with O'Neal just like Duncan did when he first entered the league.
Although the Spurs were eliminated by O'Neal and Kobe in the playoffs for three consecutive years, it also allowed Duncan to grow into the winner of the 03, 05, and 07 championships.
Seeing that Popovich wasn't roaring from the sidelines, Parker passed the ball to Leonard.
Liu Ren didn't expect Leonard to want to single him so much, and felt strange in his heart, if he wanted to single, it was also Aldridge's single!Among all the matchups of the Spurs, Aldridge has the greatest advantage. Not to mention why the Spurs didn't play tactically and actually played singles. Even if it was singles, it was Leonard's turn!
Liu Ren chose to stick to Leonard and push out. It has never been difficult for Liu Ren to defend against Leonard. Since the two men met for the first time at the end of the 2012-2013 season, Liu Ren has completely suppressed Leonard.
Leonard got the ball and tried to hit Liu Ren, but Liu Ren didn't move at all. Two years ago, Leonard might still have a weight advantage, but since last season, Leonard has lost even the weight advantage. They were all pressed and beaten by Liu Ren.
Just when Liu Ren thought Leonard was going to pass, Leonard suddenly turned around and picked up the ball!It looks like he's going to turn over and shoot a fadeaway!Liu Ren rushed forward.
But Leonard is a fake move!His pivot foot didn't move!After Liu Ren rushed forward, Leonard dodged Liu Ren's block with a cat waist, and bullied himself to face the basket to throw a shot!
Liu Ren said that he never saw Leonard do this singles move!
This rhythm, this time difference, the playing is really good!
only……
Whiteside had already made up for it when Leonard was doing this series of moves, and a cap swung Leonard's layup directly!
This agility, this awareness!Leonard was capped!
Whiteside's sense of blocking is absolutely amazing!
Whiteside passed the ball to Green as soon as he blocked and robbed, and Green immediately threw it forward. The Lakers had a very good sense of counterattack. When Clarkson saw Whiteside move towards Liu Ren and jumped up He got off immediately, got the ball in the frontcourt and counterattacked with a one-handed dunk and scored two points.
Leonard is still looking at Whiteside with astonished eyes. In his opinion, a player with Whiteside's defensive dominance around the basket has only seen Ben Wallace in his basketball career since he was a child. The Warriors, Howard, Garnett, and Duncan have owned it!
What made Leonard even more angry was that after Liu Ren and Whiteside high-fived, Whiteside glanced at him lightly, which clearly conveyed the meaning of "contempt"!
Leonard didn't know that Whiteside looked at all the outside players with that dead fish face. He felt humiliated. He thought that Liu Ren's defense was so impulsive because he knew that Whiteside was behind him, so he didn't care about it at all. He pays attention to it!
When Leonard meets Liu Ren, he always loses his mind so easily, and then he fights Liu Ren hard!
Liu Ren didn't expect that Leonard would be so stubborn that he wanted to fight him head on, this...it couldn't be better!
Liu Ren's own singles was originally a very important tactic for the Lakers, and Leonard's singles is not a regular tactic for the Spurs at least this year, or even does not have this tactic. The Lakers play stars, and the Spurs have been playing since 2010. They are all playing teams!
As soon as the Lakers and Spurs series started, the Spurs collapsed, which was beyond the expectations of the fans.
The strength of the Lakers is indeed stronger than that of the Spurs, but they are not so strong that they can be crushed, but when the game starts... it is completely bloody!The Lakers started with a 16-4!
Popovich looked angry, but still resisted sitting on the bench.
"Greg, let's replace Kawhi! He's 7-for-1!" Spurs assistant Messina said.
Popovich shook his head: "Let him fight."
Then Popovich began to think of plays that would give Leonard a better one-on-one chance for Leonard, who almost never officially had his own.
Popovich knew that if he forcibly reprimanded Leonard or replaced Leonard, the Spurs' decline would be reversed immediately.
Because the Spurs still have the troika, Aldridge and David West, five powerful players, even without Leonard, they can still maintain a good strength this year, although they are not the opponents of the Lakers. But the scene will certainly not be so embarrassing and ugly.
However, Leonard has the potential to be the best player in the league!
Originally, Popovich was planning to finish Duncan's vote, and then retired, because the Spurs no longer have the kind of players who have enough dominance on both offense and defense.
But now with Leonard, Popovich's dream of creating the third NBA giant seems to have another chance!With Leonard as the core, waiting for Leonard to grow further, there will definitely be a better chance of winning the championship in the future. As long as the current brutal lineup of the Lakers is over, at least the cheap contracts of the current group of players on the Lakers will be over. .
Popovich is a very pragmatic person. There are two monster teams, the Lakers and the Warriors this year. He doesn't have much expectation for winning the championship. He just wants to fight for the chance to win the championship.
As far as the current situation is concerned, Popovich will never replace Leonard.
Popovich is good at controlling. He knows that at this time, reprimanding Leonard to return to normal, preventing Leonard from continuing to challenge Liu Ren, or replacing Leonard, will be a big blow to Leonard. .
It's not just that he can't defeat Liu Ren in a one-on-one match, because this is already a fact. Liu Ren is really much better offensively than Leonard, a player who has only started to develop offensive capabilities in the past two years.
If he is forced to stop fighting when he can't beat his opponent, Leonard will definitely be confident that he will suffer a huge critical blow. Even the coach has no confidence in himself. Leonard has been training hard for the past two years, forcing his own offensive The strength of the end has changed from a 3D player to now being able to play inside and outside, and even the back-up has been developed. The momentum of one-year leap-forward progress will completely collapse, and it may just stagnate!
In 1998, Duncan as a rookie met Karl Malone in the second round of the playoffs. Malone was at his peak that year. Although Duncan was already a strong contender for the top player in history in his rookie season, Malone was undoubtedly Malone that year. Stronger, Duncan was so excited by Malone's trash talk and black elbows that he wanted to single out Malone, but was abused by Malone, the second highest scorer in NBA history, so hard to take care of himself.
But at that time, Popovich didn't stop it, but let Duncan know where he had gaps, and was almost swept by the Jazz.
As a result, Duncan developed a mid-range rebound shot in the second year. In the second year, the two teams continued to meet in the second round. When Duncan was not heavy enough inside to overpower Malone, he shot Malone to death from the mid-range. Returned the Jazz 4 to 1, and then played all the way to the finals to win the championship.
In Popovich's view, Leonard's skills are very comprehensive, and he already has a good offensive ability on the offensive end, but he has never played the role of a core scorer like Duncan back then. What should he pay attention to when playing singles? Completely unaware, that's why he was repeatedly guarded to death by the Lakers.
Therefore, Popovich chose to support Leonard and let Leonard learn from when he played against the most powerful defending champion in the league like the Lakers.
Playing star heads-up with the Lakers is undoubtedly the worst choice, and it is also the cruelest blow and failure.
However, Popovich felt that might be right for Leonard and best for the future of the Spurs.
The most brutal defeat has been encountered. If Leonard overcomes this difficulty, or overcomes this difficulty in the future, what else can make him suffer again?
……
……
In the small fishing village of Cleveland, James breathed a sigh of relief after beating the Celtics. He finally defeated the Celtics, and this year he was mentally prepared, and the players were prepared to prevent injuries. Prepare, although the Celtics played fiercely, but the two teams played fiercely, and injuries were prevented.
As long as there is no injury, everything is fine. If you are tired, you will be tired. James took a comfortable shower, and then went back to the locker room to prepare for physical therapy while watching the game between the Lakers and the Spurs, and then went home.
The Lakers are strong. James admitted that he basically failed against the Lakers in last year's Finals. Although two superstar teammates were injured, James knows better than anyone whether the opponent is strong or not.
And the Spurs have always been very strong. Even if they stopped in the first round last year, their strength has returned this year. Although they are not as good as those in 13 and 14, they are not too far behind.
In James' view, the Lakers and Spurs will definitely fight head-to-head. After he experienced a brutal game that was like a nightmare but finally defeated the nightmare, he wanted to see the game between the Lakers and the Spurs to find a psychological balance. , He really wanted to see Kobe and Liu Ren's deflated expressions, and being tortured terribly by their opponents. Of course, James wanted to find the same thing, so that he would feel better.
but……
After James saw the score on TV, the bath towel fell off, revealing a big big brother...
42 to 25?Less than halfway through the second quarter, the Lakers had already scored 42 points, while the Spurs had only scored 25 points!And next to Leonard's data, 15 rushed 6, scored 16 points...
What the hell?
James said whether he watched a fake game!
(End of this chapter)