Chapter 223 Reasons not to be favored
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A small episode before the game did not affect the players of the two teams. The white-headed eagle, which was very majestic and beautiful in the eyes of American fans, was actually not yet adult. It was just a small eagle, with a body length of less than one meter and a wingspan of only more than one meter.
When David Lee and Horford jumped hard for the basketball, the white-headed eagle flying all over the field was just whining, rushing straight from the sky above the court, and gliding suddenly as they approached the basketball at high speed, but this action was so scared that neither of the two who had just jumped did not touch the basketball.
Horford took advantage of his height, and after landing, he hurriedly reached up and the basketball was transferred to the Hawks' half.
The fans at the scene couldn't help cheering in unison. This was the first time they saw a national bird hovering over the stadium, which might be a good omen for the Eagles.
"A bad luck!" Emperor Wu looked at the opponent in front of him who had forgotten his name, and took the initiative to go forward and use his weak body to play physically confront the other party.
Asilau was not afraid of Emperor Wu's collision, but he underestimated Emperor Wu's cunning and insidiousness. Emperor Wu did not use his muscles to collide with him, but used his own bones to kill his opponents. His bones were much more lethal than muscles.
Emperor Wu’s method of confrontation requires mastering exquisite skills, because you cannot use your fragile joints to fight the opponent’s hardest parts, it is your own pursuit of death! You must use your hardest bones to hit the opponent’s joints and weaknesses, so that you can have lethality.
Although Asilau is older than Emperor Wu, he lacks experience. He did not expect that Emperor Wu's physical confrontation would be so insidious. He could not control the basketball as soon as he came into contact with it.
Emperor Wu was quick-eyed and quickly took off the basketball in Asilau's hand!
The referee hesitated in his heart, whether this ball can be blown or not, if he would definitely not be blown at the Knicks' home court, but he could be blown away. However, Wu Huang's reputation is too great, and he hesitated again when he thought of this.
When the referee hesitated, Wu Huang immediately grabbed control of the basketball and turned around to launch a fast attack.
"Haha. I'll give me a big gift as soon as I come up!" Emperor Wu found that there was no one in front of him, and he was proud. Unexpectedly, the stupid eagle suddenly hovered over the court again. Emperor Wu heard a "guzzling" sound from his head, and the bald eagle's aggressiveness instantly thought of the bald eagle's aggression. He couldn't help but slow down and glanced upwards, and found that the stupid eagle was just passing by his head, but the Eagle players took the opportunity to return to the defensive position.
"Damn it, you uncle!" Emperor Wu immediately cursed in his heart!
At this moment, he suddenly thought that this stupid eagle was released by the Eagles on purpose? Didn’t it say it had received special training? If someone controlled it to fly around on his head, would he still be in good condition? And if it was not released on purpose, how could it be easily unlocked if it was tied up?
The Eagles fans were laughing so hard at this moment. They all saw that Wu Huang could have dribbled directly to the basket, but the white-headed eagle suddenly glided past his head. Wu Huang's speed immediately slowed down and looked up. This was really timid. A mere underage eagle scared him like this.
The fans at the scene immediately mocked Wu Huang for being timid... But they didn't think that this kind of bald-headed sea eagle is one of the most ferocious eagles, a large bird of prey with a fierce temperament. Even if his claws and beak were trapped, it would probably be a tragedy if he was hit by his speed of more than 50 kilometers at that time. Especially when Wu Huang was so afraid of death, it would be strange if he didn't look up when he heard the sound.
The Knicks' quick counterattack failed and they started to implement the high pick-and-roll tactic after landing in the frontcourt.
David Li quickly raised it up. Emperor Wu used the cover of his teammates' physical body to find a breakthrough opportunity.
The Hawks are very careful about his defense, with Marvin Williams and Joe Johnson on both wings staring at him, and Josh Smith and Horford on the inside are ready to assist in defense, which is the rhythm of preparing to make dumplings against him.
Emperor Wu subconsciously felt something was wrong. He just rushed out and passed the ball out.
Garlinari caught the basketball on the weak side and then rushed in, but ended up crashing into the siege originally designed for Emperor Wu, and the basketball was directly cut off by the Eagle players.
"Damn it, if you don't have a chance, you'll be spread!" Wu Huang cursed in his heart, but he didn't say anything. Gallinari should know where he did something wrong. As long as he didn't make mistakes one after another, he would not criticize the players easily. "Criticism" must be the key point, rather than complaining about his teammates' mistakes anytime and anywhere.
Both teams played very cautiously after the start of the game. Wu Huang found that the Eagles did play much better at home than the previous two games, mainly reflected in the defensive rotation and replacement. In fact, sometimes, as long as you perform a little better, the results may be very different. For example, now, as soon as the Eagles' defense improves, the Knicks' offense is in trouble today. Perhaps because the first two games were played too smoothly, the Knicks' players always feel a little worse today, and they always can't make it in a few attacks.
It was not until 9 minutes and 25 seconds in the first quarter that the Knicks scored their first goal. David Lee scored his own shot at the basket this time, using his explosive power to force a frontcourt rebound on Horford and then made up the ball. The New York center's condition looks good today.
There is a reason for this. It is said that his Polish girlfriend finally made up with him. David Lee successfully saved his love. When he was in a good mood, his condition was naturally different from before. In fact, he and Horford were only a little different, so as long as he was in good condition and dared to face Horford to make moves, at least he could play at the level he deserved on the offensive end.
The Eagles changed their defense method against Wu Huang today. In the previous two games, the Eagles have been using two players to double-team him on the first line of defense, but Wu Huang's speed and explosive power are too outstanding, and he has strong ability to seize opportunities and flaws. The Knicks have long been prepared for such double-teams. The Eagles' outside players' defense ability is very average... So although it's two people double-teaming, they often don't have time to lay out the defense line, Wu Huang has already used the ball to kill with the help of his teammates' cover.
The Eagles' defense has changed today. Emperor Wu found that the first line of defense he faced was no longer double-teaming. Today he faced only one person, Asilau, who was not taken seriously by him at all.
Wu Huang really didn't take this person seriously. He felt that he could pass him with his eyes closed. In fact, it was almost the same. Asilao's defense was almost useless to him, but the Eagles did not intend to use their first line of defense to stop Wu Huang. The Eagles' killer moves were arranged in the second line of defense today!
Larry Drew used two players to assist in defense of Wu Huang in the interior today. Asirao would not need to worry about it as long as he was broken through. He would directly make up for the weak side to replace Garinali or Iguodala. The rest of the Eagles all shrank to the basket. At the same time, Wu Huang's passing route to the outside line was cut off, and he would not give him any chance to score or assist, so he could even let Iguodala go.
Wu Huang was a little uncomfortable with this kind of defense. In the first quarter, he had just broken through Asilau. The latter turned around and changed defense in Gallinari. Mark Williams threw the Italians and rushed to the basket. Wu Huang was surrounded by three Hawks players in the inside line in a blink of an eye. In the end, he passed the basketball to Iguodala who was empty, but was cut off by Joe Johnson in the middle. The Hawks easily counterattacked and scored two points.
The score was 8:2. The Knicks who fell behind in the game became the Knicks. Wu Huang was targeted by the Eagles today. The opponent's position and defense choices were obviously a practice routine. D'Antoni could only request a timeout for adjustment.
But someone was tricked. The mustache didn't have a good idea for a while. This is the playoff game, full of targeting and anti-targeting, routines and counter-routines... The Hawks spent several days, not knowing how many brain cells it took to come up with. If you cracked it with a long timeout, it can only be said that the gap between the two sides is too much, which is obviously impossible.
So after the timeout, Iguodala began to take more ball possession, which is the Knicks' only option at the moment.
Today, the Hawks' defense and routines are obviously aimed at Emperor Wu. The Knicks changed to Iguodala to increase the proportion of holding the ball. This is equivalent to bypassing these traps, and the Eagles can no longer use this defensive routine. However, the Eagles' goal has been achieved. Iguodala's threat to hold the ball is not as great as Emperor Wu, even if he lets him hold the ball more, it doesn't matter. This result is beneficial to the Eagles, so the tactics are successful.
Wu Huang can also play at a star level when he is out of the ball. Many experts believe that this is his most terrifying thing. There are very few players in the league who can play at a high level with the ball like him, and who can also become a magical pitcher when he is out of the ball.
Ray Allen transformed into an unball pitcher after his athletic ability declined in the later stage. Although Kobe and Wade can both play without the ball, their threats will decrease a lot when they are without the ball. Except for Wu Huang, only Durant has the hope of playing as a superstar level in the future when both have the ball and without the ball.
After the Knicks were held by Iguodala, Wu Huang became a bit like Iverson when he was in the 76ers. The roles of the two were completely changed, and Wu Huang is now the shooting guard.
Asilau was soon substituted, but he still couldn't defend against Wu Huang when he was out of the ball. At this time, he could not let the opponent go like before. Wu Huang when he was out of the ball, and if he accidentally got rid of the defense, he would get an open shot.
In the first quarter, Wu Huang took advantage of the team's positioning cover and first threw away Crawford, who was following behind, and received the basketball. Then he didn't even hesitate to change defense against Josh, and immediately started to break through to the basket. However, after taking a step, he immediately changed direction and turned to the low post on the left. This continuous breakthrough action flashed a big gap. Wu Huang jumped out a picturesque backward shot, and the blue ball fell to the goal net with a "swish" sound!
As soon as the second quarter came, the Knicks attacked first, Wu Huang pushed the ball into the frontcourt, and Crawford stared at him tightly in front of him. But there was still only one person.
As long as Wu Huang holds the ball, the Eagles insist on using one-man defense today, but players on the inside and the two wings will be ready to retract their defense at any time. In fact, this is still a time difference. If the assisting defense of the inside or both wings is a little slower, Wu Huang can directly enter. However, it can be seen that the Eagles must have spent time practicing this set of defense before the game. They can complete their own encirclement before Wu Huang forms an offense. They practice this set of defensive formation very tacitly.
Wu Huang had tried to pass the basketball to his teammates in the open before his opponent surrounded him, but the Eagles had a good execution ability and did not give him this opportunity in cooperation. He felt that if he could simulate this defense with his teammates more during training in the team, the Eagles might not have such high execution efficiency. He would definitely find flaws, but in the end, the time he could not find a way would be limited.
This time, he used the tricks D'Antoni came up with to crack the Eagles' defense, but the effect was not good. He was not a fool. Naturally, he tested this kind of defensive flaws in training. Long shots are indeed one of the ways to crack defense, but they are just the worst method. Because this long shot is inefficient, the Eagles are still eager for Emperor Wu to do this. They can wait for an opportunity to counterattack at that time, and maybe they can also play a wave of streams to teach Emperor Wu to be a human being.
The Eagles did this. Although Asilau's first defense line is easy to break through, Wu Huang is only planning to take action from a long distance now. If there are fewer defensive choices, it will naturally be easy to defend. Even if Wu Huang can still use his personal ability to get a mobile phone, just as the Eagles expected in advance, his offensive efficiency is not good enough. Unless the touch explodes and continues to hit high-difficulty shots, the Eagles' scoring will definitely be faster than the Knicks.
At 8 minutes and 45 seconds in the second quarter, Wu Huang made 4 shots from the outside in more than three minutes in this quarter, but only hit 1 goal. His number of shots has increased to 9 times and only hit 3 goals. His shooting percentage is very low today, and the result is that the Eagles have turned the score into 30:26, and they are four points ahead of the Knicks.
D'Antoni asked for a timeout again and was about to replace all the main players.
In the past few minutes, the rotation lineup led by Wu Huang has not performed well on the court. Except for not getting a few points by himself, Harrington was also restricted by the Eagles today. The most obvious improvement of this opponent after returning to home is defense.
Emperor Wu was very unhappy. It seemed that the method of long shot was useless. After the Knicks' timeout, Iguodala began to control the ball again.
But this time, the Eagles also made changes. They used the method of dealing with Wu Huang in the previous four games to deal with Iguodala today. Although the second instructor of the Knicks can hold the ball, there are still many differences between him and the serious point guard. For example, his ball protection ability is definitely not as good as the No. 1 position of the 800s. There is no problem in one-on-one, and once you encounter double-team, you will be unable to hold the ball.
Iguodala soon made a pass mistake in the double-team. The first brother was also embarrassed and a little embarrassed at this time because Wu Huang's running position was too erratic. Even if his teammates wanted to pass the ball, they had to take a look first to determine where Wu Huang was going. He couldn't get the ball quickly. The Eagles wanted to catch this time difference. The purpose of their double-team Iguodala was to cut off his pass.
The Eagles put a lot of effort into this game. Under the targeted defense of the Eagles, the Knicks once again fell into a three-minute scoring drought. Even if their own offense was not good, they still opened the 8-point gap after entering the middle of the quarter.
At 5th minute and 16th, Gallinari finally ended the scoring for the Knicks, but this goal was his gain after two consecutive misses. The Italian couldn't score a goal today.
The Eagles' rotation today is very fast and targeted. When setting up a trap for Wu Huang, they paid great attention to stealing the pass route. Then when they double-teamed Iguodala, they also paid great attention to his pass, which made it difficult for Iguodala to pass the ball to Wu Huang. Even if it was passed to other teammates, they would not easily make open shots, because Iguodala could not make the ball as soon as possible under the double-team of the Eagles. This is another difference between him and the Zhengye point guard, the ball is slower.
In the last game, the Knicks players were in good shape, and even if they were not open, they had a good shooting percentage. But today they were completely different in the away game. Gallinari and Harrington did not have the shooting feel, and the difference between home and away games was beyond imagination. Even Wu Huang was not as accurate as at home.
"There must be a way. Kobe is so strong that he can still win here. Wade and James' three-pointers are so bad that he can also defeat the Hawks in Atlanta. I don't know much more accurate than theirs. There is no reason to do it!" Wu Huang looked at the point almost being pulled apart, and he was a little anxious. He forced others to cheer for himself. Only he could do such a thing.
But he didn't think that the team could win here because the team's defense was strong. Just like today's Hawks, they played poorly on the offensive end, but they could widen the gap by one point. The reason was that the Knicks did not defend the Hawks' offense, otherwise the result would be completely different.
The so-called strong team means that even if they can't attack, they can fight with you with the same solid defense! At worst, they can compete with who can score fewer points today. The Celtics and the Cavaliers can still win the game if they don't get 80 points in a game, but not to mention 80 points, it will be difficult for them to win the game even if they don't get 100 points. This is the difference between them and a truly strong team.
The most important thing for the NBA to play away games is not offense but defense. The main reason why they are not favored by the outside world in this important battle of Tianwangshan is that their defense is too bad!
The Knicks' poor away performance is also because they are not good at defense, so the low odds are not unfounded. Fans who like to bet generally understand the ball better than ordinary fans, because once they guess wrong, it is not as simple as going to the forum to talk to others, and the loss is real money.
[The 515 is coming soon. I hope to continue to hit the 515 red envelope list. By May 15th, the red envelope rain can give back to readers and promote works. It is also love, so it will definitely be better!] (To be continued.)
Chapter completed!