The Way of the Center - Chapter 801
“When did Ann come here!?”
“Nice cover, my God! Now even if you are outside the three-second zone, you can’t escape Ann’s catch!”
“Wonderful! I am not talking about Irving’s excellence, but Ann’s volleyball hat!”
For a time, the focus of the world once again changed from “Uncle Drew” to the Dark Knight of Portland.
After landing, Owen looked in front of him with a little astonishment. Behind him, Paul George has picked up the basketball and completed the fast break.
The Celtics were very careful, and eventually they were turned into a conversion offense by the Trail Blazers. And what caused the Celtics to lose points was not a mistake, but Anjie’s terrifying defensive coverage.
People are still thinking about how An Jie suddenly appeared and completed the cover. Celtics young coach Brad Stevens has already discovered some clues. It seems that the switch defense between Anjie and Morris is not a coincidence.
Failure is not terrible, you must get up from where you fall. After being blocked by An Jie, Owen was not discouraged. He did not believe that An Jie could rush to the middle distance position in time to complete the defense every time.
While Irving was advancing with the ball, Brad Stevens looked at Anjie’s defensive position. Sure enough, this guy still formed a dislocation with Marcus Morris. In this way, An Jie is closer to the middle distance, and Horford, who is under the basket, is defended by Andrew Morris.
In this way, the change of defense between Anjie and Morris is a defensive strategy that Ricard has set long ago! Ricard’s purpose is not to strengthen the inside defense, but to strengthen the defense of Irving!
Really deserve to be an old world, really deserves to be the winner of the two best coaches. Ricard seems to be making changes to the inside, but he is actually making arrangements for Irving. Stevens has to admire that, in addition to the players, his opponent, the marshal, is also very tough.
However, Stevens saw that Ricard’s arrangement was useless, and it was necessary for Irving to also see the clues. Before Stevens had time to remind, Irving broke through again with a basketball.
This time, Irving’s jumper is still wonderful, and Anjie’s defense is as fast as ever.
After being mentally prepared, Irving was not directly blocked by Anjie, but in order to escape the bad luck of being blocked, Irving had to increase his shooting arc.
The result of this is that the basketball that Owen shot slammed on the neck of the basket and failed to make a hit!
“Did you see it? An Jie’s defense once again brought Irving’s offense to a deadlock! Coach Ricard’s tactics were very successful. He used an unreasonable method to solve Irving’s problem. We should say, because An Jie is An unreasonable player, coach Ricard’s unreasonable method will work.” Mike Brin’s analysis is very vivid, if it weren’t for Angel, Ricard’s bold arrangement would not have been successful.
After stopping the Celtics offense again, Lillard assisted Paul. George hit a three-pointer. The point difference was opened in an instant, and Brad Stevens had to call a timeout first.
“Did you see Carey, Ann’s position is different from in the first quarter! The transition between him and Morris is not for the inside, but for you! So, Marcus, I need You press into a deeper position later, take An Jie away, and make room for Carey’s shooting! Also, Hayward, you must be more active. To help Carey share the scoring pressure, I need everyone to play more. Flowering performance!” Stevens took the time to draw the tactical board, and now the Celtics have fallen behind by 7 points. If the points difference is continued to expand, it will be a very dangerous thing for the Celtics.
He knows that the Trail Blazers are the most difficult team in the league. Want to change the trend, after all, react as soon as possible!
“Next, Brad Brad will definitely let Marcus Morris back pressure, or directly substitute. But Ann, I want you to continue to estimate the position of the middle distance! In the three-second zone, hand it over to the “big bull”. Deal with it!” Ricard knew that Stevens had already seen his strategy, but he didn’t want to be led by the nose by his opponent.
Continue to target Irving, as long as continue to target Irving, the Celtics will lose their way.
The timeout ended soon, and the players from both sides reappeared. At this critical moment, the coaches of the two teams did not make substitution adjustments. They are still using the strongest lineup to fight each other.
Marcus Morris, a savvy shooting power forward, gave up his range advantage and was stunned near the three-second zone. In order to make room for Owen, Al Horford also pressed as deep as possible.
In this way, Anjie and Morris will be attracted to the basket. So what is left to Owen and Hayward will be a gap for blockbuster movies!
What both Stevens and Owen didn’t expect was that Angel did not cling to Marcus Morris, but was two steps away from Morris. In this way, Anjie seems to want to continue to defend against the mid-range.
“Just put Morris in the basket!?” Stevens was dumbfounded when he saw such a defensive position. Shouldn’t An Jie make such a low-level mistake?
Owen naturally saw the problem with Anjie’s defensive position, so he hit the ground and the basketball jumped over the palms of Lillard and Anjie and bounced back into the hands of Marcus Morris.
In the Celtics’ starting lineup, Marcus Morris is likely to be the last attack option. But at this moment, Morris won’t be polite!
After he received the basketball, he directly took off and shot. This kind of close-range jump shot from the hoop, Morris will definitely not miss, unless…
Marcus just raised the basketball over his head, but another Morris wearing a white home jersey suddenly appeared and jumped high. An Jie’s light may completely cover up the “big bull”, but don’t forget, this guy is also one of the league’s top defenders!
Both Marcus and Horford were very close to the basket, which instead gave Morris a chance to defend both at once.
In the end, Marcus Morris’ shot was severely rejected by the “big bull”.
In the past, as long as Anjie’s defense was bypassed, it was often equivalent to bypassing the last line of defense of the Blazers. But now, the line of defense for the Trail Blazers is more than just An Jie.
Such an opportunity that was destined to score was completely wiped out by the “big bull”. The appearance of a cover is enough to make Paul George and Damien Lillard run wild.
In the absence of speed and height, the Celtics once again scored a goal by the Blazers switching offense.
But now, Stevens knows it. The real scary thing about the Trail Blazers is not their lightning-fast conversion offense, but the indestructible defense!
An Jie is already a headache on the defensive end. Now, with the addition of Andrew Morris, other teams have nothing to do.
After that, Irving began to seek opportunities in Hayward. Although Haywood’s running is indeed to toss the aging Iguodala enough, although Hayward’s two three-pointers have ignited the hopes of Celtics fans.
But the performance of this handsome white forward was not enough to turn the Celtics around.
After being restrained on the defensive end, the young coach Stevens tried many ways, but in the end nothing came up.
In the past, people have focused on the horrible offensive ability of the Trail Blazers to start the Five Tigers. But in today’s game, Anjie and his teammates undoubtedly told the whole league. Defense is also one of the strengths of this trailblazer team!
After the first half of the game, the Celtics still did not escape the misfortune of being stretched to the point.
44 to 55. Although Irving scored 15 points at halftime, Hayward also scored 13 points. But the Celtics’ shooting rate of only 32% is the best explanation for why they are behind.
In the second half of the game, the Celtics had Horford the main point of attack for a period of time. In this way, Morris can no longer care about Marcus, but he can eat Horford to death.
When Morris was left unattended, Anjie had to withdraw from the middle distance. After a round, Stevens finally gave Owen a chance again.
But at this moment, Lillard, who has been annoyed, is no longer so easy to break through…
Irving’s performance is picking up again, but it is only picking up, rather than breaking out completely.
Hayward is still working hard, but with Iguodala’s defense, Hayward’s opportunities are getting less and less.
Under the chain defense of the Trail Blazers, the Celtics were almost suffocated. In turn, the Celtics defense did not cause much trouble to the Trail Blazers.
Anjie and Paul George came to stand in their arms, and the water came to cover them. No matter how you defend, these two super scorers can tear a gap from it.
In the end, when the game was about to end with 1 and a half minutes left~www.mtlnovel.com~ Brad Stevens won the unwilling Irving.
As the last starter in the game, the moment Irving left the field, it also represented that this nationally broadcast game officially entered garbage time.
Mike Brin was a little disappointed. He thought this game would be very exciting, but he didn’t know that this situation lasted only one and a half.
But at the same time, Mike Brin was a little excited. He didn’t expect that the Blazers’ defense would be as good as their offense.
Maybe, this Trail Blazers team will become this powerful NBA team in history?
Able to attack and defend, fast and slow, run and jump… Such an all-around team, Mike Brin really can’t figure out what opponents can surpass it.
“You know what, buddy, I think an unprecedented strong team is about to be born.” Finally, Mike Brin and Jeff Van Gundy shared the experience of this excitement.
For the City of Torn, this is destined to be an extraordinary season!