Chapter 80 Still anxious

Author: Tiamo the Withered

Chapter 80 Still anxious

After Li Chengming came on the court, the Pacers immediately fell into a dilemma.

The Magic's tactics are actually very different whether Li Chengming is present or not.

In order to ensure his space when playing in low singles, Maurice Evans, who performed well today, also came on early to replace Nelson. Turkoglu dribbled to the top of the arc and directly lobbed it to Li Chengming, and then cleared this side

.

Li Chengming was alone on the weak side, carrying Foster, who was a head taller than him, in the low post. After catching the ball, he immediately turned around and faced the frame to test his steps. Sweat was dripping from Foster's forehead, his lips were a little white, and he was a little nervous.

He was the one who faced Li Chengming the most times in the first half. As a result, Li Chengming frequently scored points on him, and he couldn't respond even if he wanted to.

Even though he also scored 5 points, they were all open shots and misses under the basket. His offensive ability in one-on-one situations is not worth mentioning.

They are all men who want to save face. No one can bear to be beaten like this. What's more, Li Chengming's state this time is to score high scores. Does this make his one-on-one defense coach think too highly of him?

But there was nothing that could be done. Xiao Ou didn't dare to let go of Howard. The opponent was waiting to rush over at any time. We couldn't count on Li Chengming not passing the ball.

Then he saw Li Chengming suddenly switch his left hand and take a step in. Foster immediately moved sideways to block, but he didn't expect that Li Chengming pulled the ball to the right and stepped back to shoot a jumper. He even leaned back. Foster seemed to be on the receiving end.

He stayed where he was, watching helplessly as Li Chengming's ball passed over his head, forming a rainbow arc.

brush!

"Beautiful! Li Chengming scored a goal immediately after he came up. With his size, he can actually make such skillful movements of pulling the ball and retreating. He is worthy of being called the 'NBA Hong Jinbao'..."

If Li Chengming heard this nickname, his mouth would probably twitch all the time.

I guess the only thing he has in common with Hong Jinbao is that he is fat and has the nickname "Fatty Fat Man", right?

And I don’t know which domestic media first called this nickname, and I don’t know if it has been passed on to the real owner...

Director Zhang chuckled and said: "It still depends on Li Chengming. Today, my teammates are more or less out of shape, including Howard, who made too many mistakes. This gives the Pacers too many opportunities. This is the point of Coach Van Gundy.

Well, he is stubborn, unlike his younger brother..."

Jeff Van Gundy, who was only dismissed during the offseason, has been complained by Houston fans during his tenure, and also by domestic commentators. After all, after three consecutive first-round trips in the playoffs, no matter what players are replaced, they are not effective.

There is definitely something wrong with this.

Especially this season, Rick Adelman has just taken office. Although the preseason performance was not good, Houston has started well in the regular season and is currently in the top four in the Western Conference.

Naturally, it is inevitable that Jeff will be "whipped to death" by domestic fans and commentators, and now there is another Magic team's Van Gundy, who also brings Chinese players and also has physical problems. Let's see how they arrange Li Chengming.

?

Next, Zhang directed Bala to talk about a bunch of topics that had nothing to do with the Magic. Magic fans decisively chose to mute.

Ah, the world is peaceful!

The scores between the Pacers and Magic were still rising alternately on the court. The Magic maintained a slight advantage but could not open up.

O'Neal Jr. seems to have recovered after adjusting in the midfield. He no longer pursues matchups with Howard and plays more pick-and-roll cooperation with Tinsley. The latter has sent assists many times, either to O'Neal down the line or passing to the end.

Horned Granger.

As a scorer, Granger has a prominent weakness in that his personal dribbling is relatively weak, but unlike Miller and Ray Allen, they are lighter and can avoid defenders through flexible movement, so there are many

Sometimes the shot is taken around the screen or after passing the ball through the screen hand, and the other is the baseline or the cut after passing the screen.

This is why, as the core of the Pacers, he averages less than 3 assists per game even though he has a lot of ball rights.

Of course, if it's just a breakthrough after catching the ball, he can still do it well, and after attracting help, the ball will become more and more smooth. This is all practiced slowly.

But the Magic have a prominent flaw on the defensive end, which is the lack of an elite defensive player on the front line. Therefore, when they played against the Celtics before, Pierce was allowed to score high points, and both James of the Cavaliers and Marion of the Suns could also do it.

A decent performance.

It was the same when facing Granger today. He frequently cut to the basket or got opportunities to shoot from outside the three-point line.

And Turkoglu has been following Granger, which is also an important reason that affects his own touch. In the third quarter, he still failed to recover. He missed all four shots including one attempt from beyond the three-point line. If not for the support of Li Chengming and Howard,

Come on, the Pacers might have already taken the lead.

Today, Howard's lethality in the paint was huge, and his free throw percentage was also good, which prevented the Pacers from using foul tactics without authorization.

But he also made many mistakes, especially when he played the ball after being double-teamed. The Pacers clearly made targeted arrangements to prevent his passing routes.

And even if he was allowed to pass the ball out, the Pacers' defensive rotation was in place in a timely manner, so several of the Magic's three-point shots from outside were missed due to interference. It was impossible for Howard to grab offensive rebounds every time.

Gave the Pacers a chance to counterattack.

The Pacers themselves have a tradition of defensive team building, even if they have a new coach this season.

Jim O'Brien has been an ESPN commentator for the past two years, but last season Carlisle led the Pacers to fail to enter the playoffs. The two parties terminated the contract at the end of the season, and the Pacers hired Jim as the team's new coach.

.

They are committed to reaching the playoffs this season. Jim has trained the team's new core Granger well, and at the same time created opportunities for Dunleavy on the offensive end to make outside shots. This has allowed Dunleavy to achieve the highest shooting and three-point shooting percentages.

A new career high.

However, facing the Magic's defense today, Dunleavy's chances of taking shots were not very good, and he was trapped by fouls, so he was restricted.

Even though one of the team's important scorers was restricted, he was still able to have a tough fight with the Magic. In fact, it relied on his tenacity on the defensive end.

Of course, this is not inconsistent with their inability to guard against Li Chengming and Howard. After all, it is good to be able to restrain others.

Three minutes later, Li Chengming got his second shot. He wanted the ball very deep, almost to the basket. Howard mentioned the paint area as a screen for Evans, and O'Neal Jr. stepped forward to double-team.

, Li Chengming pretended to pass the ball and deceived them all.

The advantage of his wingspan and big hands allowed him to easily imitate the one-handed ball-holding technique of Gang Leader Qiao, but he didn't look that cool. After deceiving both opponents with a fake move, Li Chengming directly turned around with a top and made a fadeaway jumper.

A solid hit!

"Li Chengming! Li Chengming has scored 25 points. Starting from the second quarter, he has made every shot."

"Another reason why Li Chengming's shots are difficult to defend is that his shots are very fast, so even if you can predict when he is going to make a shot, you may not be able to keep up with the interference."

"Yes, actually shooting the ball like the one just now is not very reasonable. It would be better to go to the other side to wipe the basket, but it can be scored!"

Director Zhang smiled as he spoke, feeling very pleased that a junior Chinese player like Li Chengming would have someone to succeed him.

Director Sun is not an athlete, so he doesn't have the same emotion as him, but he also knows the meaning of Li Chengming's performance.

If Li Chengming can maintain this state, or even improve, then the men's basketball medal dream they have always hoped for in next year's Olympics will no longer be just a dream.

"There is still one and a half quarters left before the end of the game. If Li Chengming continues to play like this, he will be chasing 40+. The Pacers should find a way to target it, but the Magic team is not only Li Chengming. This

It's going to be a hard trade-off for them."

Jim O'Brien, who looked like a college professor, really couldn't sit still at this time. He walked to the sidelines and emphasized not to let Li Chengming catch the ball so easily again.

They don't dare to double-team easily, but they can still restrict Li Chengming from catching the ball by going around the front and strangling his shots from the source.

Of course, forward defense is not a panacea. If the Magic team is more aggressive and lobs the ball directly to the basket, then Li Chengming can directly catch the ball and get up. However, this is more risky and requires higher requirements for the passer.

The other way, of course, is to break through. It just so happens that Nelson and Arroyo on the Magic team are both good at breaking through. Turkoglu can also break through the basket by using the rhythm after using the pick and roll. At this time, passing inside is also a common practice of the Magic.

This is a trick, because Howard has been targeted in front of him many times.

Li Chengming can take advantage of the situation and get stuck in position, which is equivalent to opening a breakthrough path for his teammates. It's a bit like Spain's variant of the pick-and-roll breakthrough at the back position.

Turkoglu's condition today is indeed worrying, and he also has a bit of luck. The layup that was very close to him actually slipped along the basket and came out. Li Chengming got stuck in position and got the rebound and immediately passed it out.

At this time, the two teams under the basket were crowded with people, and they were afraid of making mistakes while busy, so they still passed the ball out. The 24 seconds of the second attack were enough for them to organize another attack.

Lewis received the ball from outside the three-point line, feinted and hit a three-pointer. Li Chengming added an assist.

"Li Chengming grabbed an offensive rebound and assisted Lewis in hitting a three-pointer. The Magic still led by 7 points. The Pacers did play very tenaciously. With Li Chengming's performance, they were able to hold on to the score."

"The Pacers' offensive efficiency today mainly lies in their better performance from the three-point line than the Magic, and they also use the Magic's mistakes to score. The other data of the two teams are quite similar, but in terms of assists and turnovers, the Pacers are better than the Magic."

Those who clearly have to do better.”

Looking back, the Pacers received a pass from Troy Murphy and hit a three-pointer from the outside. Who can withstand the 211 anti-aircraft cannon?

Then Evans on the Magic team made a dribbling error, and the ball hit his foot and went straight out of bounds, handing over the ball.

In the Pacers' position, Daniels used a screen to break through the basket, causing Li Chengming to foul and made one of two free throws.

At 8 minutes and 15 seconds of the third quarter, 79:82, the Magic temporarily led by 3 points.
Chapter completed!