Faced with the Thunder's pick-and-roll cover tactics, Wang Feng couldn't think of a good way to deal with it for a while. He tried to directly bypass the pick-and-roll to chase Durant, but if he was half a beat behind, Durant could take the lead. One step into the basket to cause damage.
Although he is 2.11 meters tall, Durant's speed is not slow at all. Not to mention his speed and agility, his speed and agility are above 85, which is enough with his long legs.
If you want to guard Durant immediately after the pick-and-roll, you must rely on Curry to help cover the defense.
However, once Curry covers the defense, it is almost impossible for Wang Feng to switch back, because after the pick-and-roll, the Thunder players will cut to the basket immediately. If Wang Feng does not catch up immediately, Durant will immediately choose to pass the ball. .
In an open position, even the Thunder's shooting guard Andre Robertson, who is not good at scoring, can score the ball efficiently.
Relying on this move, the Thunder finally regained a game at their home court and brought the total score back to 2:1.
Durant finally excelled in this game, making 14 of 19 shots, a shooting percentage of 73%, and 9 of 11 free throws, scoring 39 points and 8 rebounds.
As if they had found the answer to victory, in the fourth Western Conference Finals game, the Thunder once again used a large number of pick-and-roll screening tactics to create a better scoring environment for Durant.
However, what they didn't expect was that the Warriors immediately made adjustments after losing the third game.
In the fourth game, the Warriors sent a big center player to the main lineup to guard the basket.
The Warriors' main tactic is a highly mobile death five. In many cases, the tallest player on the court is Draymond Green.
Traditional centers often complete the jump ball at the beginning of the first quarter and are replaced after playing for a few minutes. In most cases, the playing time of the entire game is only ten minutes.
However, in the fourth game, the Warriors allowed the big center to stay on the court for a long time to guard the basket and strengthen the inside's ability to protect the frame, even if the Warriors sacrificed some mobility as a result.
It is a very dangerous behavior to give up your best moves and use less commonly used routines against the Thunder. However, the Warriors' move turned out to be surprisingly effective!
Whether it's Durant who is out of position after covering the pick-and-roll, or guards Westbrook and Robertson who are cutting down after the pick-and-roll, most of the offense must be completed at the basket, especially Westbrook's outside shooting is extremely unstable. The means of scoring is to hit the basket.
When the Warriors had a 2-meter-13 big blue-collar center standing under the basket, the Thunder's pick-and-roll tactics immediately suffered a heavy blow.
Moreover, the height of the blue-collar center also allows the Warriors to do a better job in rebound protection.
As for the impact on the Warriors' offensive rhythm after replacing the big center, the impact is actually not very big, especially after Wang Feng, who spent all his energy on the defensive end in the first three games, also devoted himself to the offensive end.
…
"Wang Feng's tactical vision is so good?"
Looking at the court, the Warriors had completely taken over the initiative, and Steve Kerr just felt incredible.
After the third quarter, Cole thought about countermeasures, but before he could come up with a solution, Wang Feng took the initiative to find him and give him his suggestions.
"Replace the smaller lineup and replace with a blue-collar center to strengthen the ability to protect the frame."
As a head coach, Cole certainly would not listen to Wang Feng's arrangements as a player, but Wang Feng's proposal opened up Cole's horizons and made him start to think from this aspect.
Wang Feng's suggestion was originally derived from Cole's own thoughts when the 73-win Barnes version of the Warriors fell behind the Thunder 1:3 and was in dire straits. Therefore, it is consistent with Cole's thinking and views and can fit seamlessly.
Therefore, after careful consideration, Cole chose to adopt Wang Feng's suggestion, which resulted in the early appearance of the blue-collar center today.
At this moment, Cole was very surprised.
If, despite his outstanding personal abilities, he also possesses a superb tactical and strategic vision, then Wang Feng's future will definitely be limitless.
In this league, there are countless players who rely on their bodies to play, but very few players who rely on their brains to play.
If Wang Feng has the potential to become a point forward like Green and serve as the team's tactical starter, the Warriors will undoubtedly become stronger!
Green is strong, but his weaknesses are too obvious. His deterrence from beyond the three-point line is too low, which makes many sophisticated tactics impossible to implement.
"After this season, no matter how high the offer is for Wang Feng from other teams, they must find a way to keep Wang Feng! He definitely has this value!"
…
"brush!"
Three points into the net!
Curry used the blue-collar center's pick-and-roll screen to rush to the basket, attracting double-teams from his opponents and then passed the ball out to the outside. Wang Feng, who received the ball, quickly made a three-pointer and successfully hit!
"call--!"
Wang Feng took a deep breath and raised the corners of his mouth slightly.
"Sure enough, scoring is still more enjoyable than defending."
In the first three games, although Wang Feng kept an eye on Durant throughout the entire game and made great contributions to the Warriors, the whole game was a bit frustrating, as he was completely beaten and beaten by Durant.
Now in the fourth game, with the big blue-collar center protecting the frame in the paint, Wang Feng's pressure on the defensive end has been reduced a lot, and he has put more experience into offensive scoring, and he immediately feels happy.
Although Wang Feng's defender is tall and long-armed, he can only defend the outside line, especially Durant who relies on his wingspan to defend and shoot well. However, Durant, who focuses most of his energy on offense, does not pay much attention to the defensive end.
.
In addition, Wang Feng barely participated in the offense in the first three games, which caused some misunderstandings for him. He was caught off guard and was beaten by Wang Feng and made three three-pointers from the outside, which made things worse.
"Damn it..."
A sense of powerlessness filled Durant's heart. He wanted to kill the thief but was unable to save himself!
96:88! The Warriors won a victory at the Thunder's home court, rewriting the total score to 3:1 and taking the lead in getting the match point!
Due to the Warriors' lineup change, the pace of this game slowed down, making it the first game in the series in which neither team scored more than 100 points.
Without Wang Feng to stalk him, Durant performed steadily, making 10 of 19 shots and scoring 27 points with a 52% shooting rate.
But Westbrook failed again.
Facing the Warriors' blue-collar center who was protecting the rim, Westbrook's lethality when hitting the rim was greatly weakened, and his outside shooting was never accurate. Another game in which he shot less than 20 points from the field with a 30% shooting rate.
Performance.
After four games, Westbrook only performed normally once in the third game when he used a lot of pick-and-roll tactics to cut to the basket. He scored 24 points, 6 rebounds and 8 assists, shooting 47% from the field. In the other three games, his shooting percentage was 10%.
Only a little over 30, his performance was really disappointing and completely unworthy of being selected for the All-NBA First Team this season.
(I still don’t have time to make up the missing chapter today, so I’ll try my best tomorrow.)