Chapter 216 [Tian Ji races horses, those who can work hard]
The time for the NBA Finals has been determined. The first game will be held at the home court of the Chicago Bulls on June 2. The game format is 2-3-2.
The schedule is a bit unfavorable for the Sonics. The Bulls will play two home games in a row, and then the Sonics will play three consecutive home games. If there is no winner in the five games between the two sides, the Bulls will play two more home games in a row.
This arrangement has obvious benefits for the Bulls. The players do not need to fly back and forth, but only need to go to the away game once. If the SuperSonics does not end the battle in five games, the players will need to fly back and forth to Chicago twice. If they win, they will win the away game.
Under this schedule, if a team leads 2-0, the finals will basically be won.
Currently in the history of the NBA, only two teams have completed a comeback after falling behind 0-2 in the Finals, namely the 1969 Celtics and the 1976 Trail Blazers.
To put it simply, if the Sonics want to win the championship, it is best to win in the Bulls' first two home games. Once they fall behind 0-2, the team's morale will suffer a serious blow. The historical data is in front of you, and the players' mentality
It is impossible to remain completely unaffected.
What makes everyone in the SuperSonics depressed is that the Bulls and the SuperSonics have the same regular season record, gaining the home court advantage with the slightest advantage. And this home court advantage is very likely to determine the final outcome.
Before the game, basketball experts analyzed the game and were generally optimistic that the Bulls would win the championship. Only a few believed that the Sonics would create a miracle. Their reason was simple. The Bulls' home record this season was terrible, even worse than the Jazz's home field.
Once the SuperSonics win the championship this year, it will be a very valuable championship, and even the first in history. Because both teams are "Big Three" teams, and they have broken the regular season record at the same time, which is unique in NBA history.
Both teams are actively preparing for the finals, and the SuperSonics players only had one day off and devoted themselves to training.
Before the start of training, George Karl called everyone together for a meeting. In addition to giving some examples to boost morale, he also said that defensive tactics must be adjusted, which is related to whether the Sonics can win the championship.
George Karl said seriously: "Gary, I need you to sacrifice your personal data in the finals to help the team. This is the best strategy that Bob and I came up with after discussing it. If you perform well, our chances of winning the championship will be greatly increased."
promote."
Payton agreed before he heard what it was. "I have no problem. What's the strategy?"
George Karl said: "We want to arrange for you to defend Jordan and focus on the defensive end, with Young and Sean taking charge of the offense. If Young defends Harper and Cole on the defensive end, he can use more energy to score.
Moreover, it is impossible for the Bulls point guard to guard him, and Jordan and Pippen must be the main defenders. He can consume the opponent's star's physical strength."
Payton pondered for a moment and felt that this strategy was reasonable. However, he did have to sacrifice data and reduce the number of shots to reasonably allocate physical strength. How could Jordan be so easy to defend? If the Sonics win in this way, he will definitely miss the FMVP.
.
"Okay, I will try my best to reduce Jordan's shooting percentage." Payton glanced at Yang Jian next to him. "Brother, the offense depends on you and Sean."
Yang Jian stretched out his hand and patted him. "As well as Detrev and you, we will definitely ensure the offensive firepower. You can reduce the offense with the ball, and you can also catch the ball and shoot."
"You're right." Payton agreed without much thought.
He sees it very clearly. The team must win the championship first, and then the players can consider who will win FMVP. If the Sonics cannot win the Bulls, everyone will be a loser, which will be much worse than him sacrificing personal data.
"Selflessness" is the most important quality of a point guard, and it is also the reason why Payton was questioned last season. Many media and fans feel that he takes more shots and passes less, which is not selfless enough.
If he can't even see through this, then why should he be a point guard? He doesn't have to compete for FMVP, at least he can't become a cancer for the team's failure by competing for MVP.
Payton knows very well that his scoring ability is not as good as Yang Jian, and the team expects his defense and organization more. So, he should work hard to prove himself in these two aspects.
The coach asked him to take more shots in the last round of the series because he is taller than Stockton and has a clear physical advantage. If he plays Harper alone, the one with the advantage will be his opponent.
Harper is 198cm tall and is good at interfering with big point guards' shooting. He can also defend against post-ups, and he can also misplace himself to defend the inside after encountering pick-and-rolls. Against Yang Jian, Harper cannot bring out these advantages, and Yang Jian will definitely run without the ball.
Move and compete with him for mobility.
Payton estimates that the Bulls coach will not let Harper guard Yang Jian, and Pippen is not suitable. If Jordan does this job, he will definitely be the most tiring person on both teams.
Yang Jian is very excited now. He puts victory first and was prepared to risk his life against Jordan. If he mainly defends Jordan, it will be much more difficult to win FMVP. If he wins, there is a high probability that Kemp will win. The coaching staff is like this
By arranging defensive tactics, his chances of winning FMVP soared to the first place in the team.
This is the butterfly effect caused by him joining the SuperSonics. In a parallel world, Payton did not guard Jordan in the first three games of the Finals. George Karl used Hersey Hawkins, Vincent Askew, and Schrempf.
Three-person wheel battle.
The result, of course, was that the defense was a mess, and Jordan missed all his shots from beyond the three-point line. In the end, the coaching staff had no choice but to act as a doctor, so Payton went to defend Jordan, and the effect was astonishing, winning two games back.
Payton did not play defense at first because the coaching staff wanted him to keep his energy on the offensive end to ensure offensive firepower. Now that the Sonics have a better offensive point than Payton, Payton does not need to deliberately conserve his energy.
Yang Jian thought of "Sanada's horse racing" in Chinese history, not "Liu Huaqiang's horse racing".
In the movie "Warring States", Liu Huaqiang drove his own carriage and staged the "Is this horse fast?" Warring States version of Fast and Furious. Because Liu Huaqiang was too arrogant, Liangkun was so angry that he ordered his young and Dangerous boys to catch him and dig out his
Two knees, too cruel.
Yang Jian didn't know if George Karl had heard of this allusion, but the tactics he arranged had this flavor. The Bulls had the home field advantage, and in order to make up for the disadvantage, the Sonics used their own strengths to attack the enemy's weaknesses.
George Karl asked: "Yang, do you have any ideas?"
"No, if Harper and Cole are guarding me, I guarantee to average more than 30 points per game. If the Bulls are sending Jordan to guard me, I will run non-stop and have a marathon game with him."
George Karl smiled and said: "Yes, keep running with him and wearing him down."
The coach admires Yang Jian's IQ the most. He has always been very smart in playing. As long as the coach makes arrangements, he can understand the tactical intentions and there is no need to waste words to convince him to accept.
Some players are not good at it and like to compete. If Yang Jian feels that he is more suitable to defend Jordan than Payton and insists on competing against Jordan, that is not impossible, but it will be the same as the regular season playing style.
The Sonics used the same tactics against the Bulls twice in the regular season, so their opponents must have been prepared. Now that the Sonics have changed their defensive tactics, they may catch the Bulls off guard.
Yang Jian doesn't mind what the media says. Maybe some people will say that he doesn't dare to guard Jordan, but that's all nonsense. Even if Yang Jian really can't guard Jordan and gets beaten every time he plays against him, it's not a big deal.
There are so many people he can't guard, and he's not on the best defensive team. He can't guard David Robinson or O'Neal. Who would arrange for him to do that?
Each team will make some adjustments based on the game situation. In a parallel world, Kobe has been selected to the All-Defensive Team consecutively, but he is not a super scorer who always defends his opponents. The same goes for Jordan. Pippen is often the one to defend the opponent's offense.
core.
Payton won the best defensive player. He mainly defended Jordan and used his own strengths, which is reasonable.
At the same time, the Bulls coaching staff is also using their brains to think of tactics.
Phil Jackson really wanted to arrange for Harper to guard Yang Jian, but he couldn't. He knew that Yang Jian was too fast and Harper couldn't guard him. They lost to the Raptors by 1 point in the regular season because Harper couldn't guard the "Little Flying Squirrel"
Stoudemire. The only person on the team who is suitable for guarding Yang Jian is Jordan. Pippen is slower in chasing and covering.
Therefore, the Bulls can only let Jordan work hard on both offense and defense, even if he is a veteran.
Fans will think that Jordan is very brave and a capable man works hard, but this is a helpless choice for the Bulls.
