msmithbooks Chapter 325 The first round of G1
Chapter 325 The first round of G1
Chapter 325 The first round of G1
On April 4, the first game of the first round of the Western Conference playoffs - Spurs VS Grizzlies, will be held at the AT&T Center Arena, home of the Spurs.
这座可以容纳18418人的球馆今天已经是座无虚席了。奇数年的马刺是很可怕的，他们过去夺得的4个总冠军，都是在奇数年拿到的（1999、2003、2005、2007）。
And this year, which is also an odd-numbered year, the Spurs have the No. [-] record in the Western Conference and will have home court advantage in all playoff series except the finals (if the Bulls do not make it to the finals, they will have all home courts in the playoffs Advantage).
Both Duncan and Manu are injured, but neither is the kind of injury that will be reimbursed for the season.Fans believe that the team can allow them to advance while recovering from their injuries, and then win the O'Brien Cup together.
Players on both sides began to warm up and prepare for the game.
The fans who had already arrived at the scene began to boo. The fans of the Spurs felt very contemptuous of the Grizzlies deliberately losing the game and picking their opponents.They felt that the home team was underestimated, so the unknown fire in their hearts began to burn.
A team with 12 consecutive losses in the playoffs, want to black eight?Stop dreaming!
In this game, Yaodao will miss due to injury.The Spurs also want to protect him. This game is a home game, so it shouldn't be a big problem for the team to win.You must know that the team's home record this season is quite good. It doesn't matter if you play a non-top team like the Grizzlies.
And the Grizzlies are not all healthy. Their starting small forward Rudy Gay has been reimbursed for the season, so the Spurs can let Yaodao comfortably recover from his injuries.
In this game, the starting lineup of the Spurs at home is: center-Tim Duncan, power forward-Antonio McDyess, small forward-Richard Jefferson, shooting guard-George Hill, point guard -- Tony Parker.
George Hill's starting replacement is Yaodao. Although he is only 191cm tall, he has a wingspan close to 210cm. He is a point guard with excellent defensive skills and size. It is not physical for him to match the opponent's backcourt. at a disadvantage.
George Hill was the guard with the 2008th pick in the first round in 26, and Xie Kai, who was the 28th pick in the first round, was a rookie in the same class.
Popovich likes to use two big men inside. His defensive strategy is in the same line as Larry Brown, but there are still many things that are different.For example, the defensive end of the Pistons advocated fierce pressure back then, while the Spurs have always put less pressure on outside ball holders.
The defensive philosophy of Popovich's Spurs is this: use the perimeter defense or expand the defense to limit the opponent's speed, strictly block the breakthrough in the middle, and force the opponent to go to the side.Allow the opponent to break through the side or the bottom line, and then cover the weak side to control the penalty area.
This defensive idea is to prevent the opponent from attacking the basket, and it can also prevent the opponent from passing the ball nearby, forcing the opponent to make an emergency stop in the middle distance or pass the ball in a wide range.
Under this defensive thinking, fixed-point shooters and breakthrough players will be more uncomfortable, and the Spurs' own defensive rebounds are also very solid, and they can also do a good job in penalty area protection and 3-point defense.The disadvantage is that they are afraid of ball-holding mid-range players (such as Kobe, Nuo Tianwang) and teams with multiple punctures.
This is also one of the reasons why Zhuge Weiqi likes to use two big men, because to protect the penalty area, the protection of the basket will be relatively poor when playing one big and four small, and it is not conducive to the protection of backcourt rebounds.
Duncan is the core of the Spurs' defense and has been used for more than a dozen seasons.Because of his age, his weight on the offensive end has dropped, but on the defensive end, he is still the team's defensive core and the guardian of the penalty area.Because of his presence, Popovich can use this defensive system.
Demon knife Ginobili will not play in this game. Strictly speaking, the impact on the Spurs' defense is not that great. The biggest impact is on the offensive end.George Hill's defense is very good, but the offensive end does not have the spirituality and organizational ability of Yaodao.
In this game, the starting lineup of the Grizzlies in the away game is: center-Marc Gasol, power forward-Zach Randolph, small forward-Tony Allen, shooting guard-Xie Kai , Point guard - Mike Conley.
The starting lineup of the Grizzlies has been used since Rudy Gay was injured, and the plus-minus value is very high.It didn't hurt the team's offense because of Gay's absence, but the defense was improved to a higher level.The defensive efficiency of these five players on the court at the same time ranked first in the league during the same period, which is unbelievable. The 5cm Tony Allen was not overwhelmed by the dislocation of opponents with more than 193 meters at the small forward position. Instead, he deflated star flanks one after another and defended his reputation as a product of the Green Army.
The problem with this lineup of the Grizzlies is that when they enter the playoffs and encounter a defense at the level of the Western Conference's No. [-] Spurs, whether their offensive efficiency can still be as good as the regular season.
Over the AT&T Center arena, 4 championship banners were hoisted.For a team in a small market like the Spurs, it is really not easy to achieve such outstanding results in the past 10 years. GDP is produced by the Spurs themselves, and they do not have any particularly big-name free agents to join, so it is conceivable how difficult it is to achieve such results.
Seeing the championship banner and the Western Conference championship banner above the court, Xie Kai felt a surge of heat in his heart.Building a career is the goal of every competitive player, and he is no exception.
If you can help the Grizzlies hang one or even multiple banners of the Western Conference and championships over the FedEx Arena, what a meaningful and happy thing it would be!
And there is an opportunity in front of him. Although the outside world is not optimistic about them, he believes that any miracle is created by people. Although the possibility of black eight is very low, someone has done it before, and now we can do the same.
After the appearance ceremony, the starting players of both sides will prepare for their upcoming appearance.
The Grizzlies are wearing their blue away jerseys today, while the Spurs are wearing their traditional home white jerseys.
The commentators for the game were Mike Fratello and Charles Barkley.
Xie Kai took off his training clothes, adjusted his breathing and body, and prepared to play.This is the first playoff game of his NBA career. He attaches great importance to it deep in his heart, hoping to have a good start and lay a good foundation for his future career.
The two sides shook hands and hugged friendly, but no smiles could be seen on the faces of the Spurs players.Obviously, they are still very upset that the Grizzlies deliberately dropped to No. 8 to beat them.No one wants to be underestimated, especially the underestimation of a team whose record is so much worse than their own is naturally even more unacceptable.
(End of this chapter)