Chapter 508 LeBron, be like Frye

James is coming menacingly, but the Sonics' defensive arrangements are extremely adequate.

This is thanks to Tim Grgulic, an old assistant coach who has followed George Karl for many years.

Although today's James has made great progress in shooting than in the past, his favorite thing is still to make breakthroughs.

Because even if his pure shooting percentage reaches the league's top 40%, it still cannot compare to his ability to finish at the basket in the penalty area, which is comparable to that of the inside.

Therefore, Grgulic's defensive suggestion for restricting James is to ensure that there is a long man standing guard at the basket at all times, so that the penalty area cannot be completely emptied by the Lakers' shooters.

This won't be difficult for the Sonics.

The starters Brown and Bosh both have the ability to protect the rim, and DeAndre Jordan is sitting off the court. In addition, Yu Fei and Durant are also forwards with the ability to protect the rim. It can be said that the SuperSonics' defensive ability in the penalty area is like The Lakers' space is the same, it's all full.

However, in order to maintain someone protecting the basket at all times, it is necessary to let go of one of the Lakers' space points.

The Sonics chose to let go of Marc Gasol at the fifth position.

Although the Spaniard's shooting threat is not as good as the others, he still has a 36% three-point shooting rate from the top of the arc. It is not safe to let him go.

However, this is the ultimate showdown.

In order to limit the opponent's arrows, additional resources must be used.

The vacancy of Kawhi was right in front of him, but James opened his hand and let people pull him away. This was not a triangle offense.

The ball movement stalled.

Neither the strong triangle on the strong side nor the weak triangle on the weak side got the ball. Facing the opponent, James started directly to challenge.

I saw James dribbling to the left like a tiger. The speed and instantaneous explosive power were unstoppable. Yu Fei also took a step slower. By the time he caught up, the opponent had stopped suddenly.

Fortunately, James is not as good at utilizing his physical talents in technical connection as he is in breakthrough.

From Yu Fei's point of view, there is a frame-stuck phenomenon in his emergency stop jump shot. That indescribable sense of disharmony rarely appears in super giants of this level, but his breakthrough style is too rigid and he has not been honed more in college. With his basic skills, he became the boss of the team as soon as he entered the league. Such a smooth life has laid hidden dangers for many of James' skills.

This card basically ruined the advantage that Yu Fei had established just now.

When James took action, Yu Fei's block was already in front of him.

"Bang!"

James was forced to increase the arc and immediately hit the iron.

Bosh grabbed the defensive rebound and threw it to Yu Fei.

James retreated quickly, but Yu Fei had no intention of counterattacking with the ball. Instead, he threw the ball forward like a shot put.

In front, Anthony Morrow, who was walking quickly, caught the ball and made a layup like an imp.

"Oh my God, Frye passed the ball...!"

The commentator kept exclamating, but Yu Fei just gave a high-five to Moreau who ran back, and then it was the next round.

James's weakness is his inner sensitivity, which often makes him shaken. However, his advantage is his absolute rationality.

Once frustrated, he instinctively calculates the gains and losses.

He had already lost a game against Yu Fei just now. If he continues to fight like this, he will not get any benefits, and he will be labeled as a ball tyrant by some people with ulterior motives. The Lakers cannot be chaotic, and he must be steady.

James, who looked like he was about to face off with Yu Fei in the last round, returned to rationality.

Why can the Sonics always put a long man under the basket? That's because they ignored Kawhi's three-pointer.

Then give the ball to Xiaojia, he is open anyway.

The Lakers used the Spaniard as a breaking point. Marciano not only showed his instability, but also showed the qualities that a space-based fifth position should have.

He missed his first two shots, but hit his third shot.

This looks like a sign that Xiaojia is starting to find his touch.

Bosh and others looked at Tyronn Lue, wondering whether to change their formation.

But in the eyes of Coach Lu, there is only one insider in the league who cannot shoot, and that is the unique Nowitzki.

Others cannot be killed.

Therefore, Lue made up his mind to let Kawhi shoot, and further restricted Cojan's defense.

For James, you can shoot whenever you want, but do you want to break through and show off the emperor's prestige? That's delusional.

Lu also has tricks against Kobe.

Maybe Lu knew Kobe too well.

Like Jordan, Kobe also played the second position and became the low-post axis of the triangle offensive system. Compared with Jordan, Kobe's post-up position is far less powerful than the former. Jordan can always get a position in the three-second zone like an inside line, while Kobe often has to get a position outside the three-second zone. From an offensive point of view, this is an extension of the attack distance. Being farther away from the basket has a significant impact on offensive efficiency. .

However, Morrow, the Sonics' starting No. 2 position, happens to be a chicken who can be bullied by Kobe. Therefore, Lu does not expect Morrow to squeeze Kobe out of the three-second zone. His main task is to put pressure on him. The key is Double-teamed by teammates.

This task fell to Yu Fei and Durant.

Both of these two are tall wings with a combination of size, wingspan and speed. They can double-team Kobe while also blocking passing routes with their long arms.

Their task is to double-team the one who is closer as long as Kobe completes his position and catches the ball.

In order to achieve this goal, both James and Hamilton can be let go.

In this case, since Kobe does not have the vision of a point guard, does not have the so-called overall view, and is also restricted in height, he will be more inclined to pass the ball to the inside at close range, rather than to a wide range like Yu Fei and James. Transfer the ball to the outside to break the game.

However, the Lakers' personnel distribution is destined to pull their insides outwards. Therefore, it is not easy to find teammates at close range.

At this time, Kobe will try to pass the ball in a wide range.

And under the influence of Yu and Du, a standard second-position player, it is difficult to judge whether the passing route is risky.

There are multiple layers of games here. Director Lu didn't think too much when he arranged this, but the players have their own creativity.

After a round of offense, the Lakers found that if they didn't force the big man under the basket, they had to let Kojan play in isolation. If not, then the way to break the game was to let Gasgoo continue to hit three-pointers.

This is something the Lakers don't want to try, because Marc is a player with a decent shooting percentage but low three-point production.

Is his low output because he doesn’t want to invest? That's because he can only guarantee a hitting rate with this output.

This is a statistical scam.

Without looking at the output, everything is meaningless.

However, once the output increases, the defensive pressure, pertinence, and personal load on the shooter itself will increase again, and it is impossible to maintain the same efficiency.

This is the key to the success of the one-star four-shooter model. The same marksman may lose his divinity in a different environment and a different pressure. Once the shooter cannot create space to feed back the big core, the resulting space blockage will backfire on the big core itself.

Phil Jackson saw the deep meaning behind the SuperSonics' superficial tactics. Although he didn't know how Lu designed this, he had to say that it was very insidious.

So Jackson requested a timeout before the situation worsened.

Supersonics

Coach Lu had no idea that his random arrangement would receive high praise from Jackson.

"Just playing like this, their offense is out of touch!" As long as the current tactics work well, Lu will not make changes. "Fry, link up with KD, Kobe and LeBron can't do anything to you!"

Yu Fei responded softly.

Durant seemed to be in high spirits. In the first few minutes, he didn't have much possession of the ball, but he was not in a hurry at all.

Yu Fei thought to himself, if Adu sleepwalked tonight and they lost due to lack of firepower, would Scarlett be blamed?

At this moment, the Lakers made a surprising change.

They replaced James with Big Z, and then replaced Jamison with Artest.

As a result, the nominal five outsiders are gone, and Big Z's shooting range is at most near the free throw line.

Yu Fei guessed that they would make a fuss in the middle distance.

Director Lu's reaction was a beat slower, and he was still trying to figure out Jackson's intention.

Each layout targets a different system. Once your opponent changes, your own changes must also keep up.

Coach Lu is still in the rookie camp, and has stumbled through the regular season. In the playoffs, thanks to his overall strength, he has not been put under pressure so far.

In the past, Popovich failed to order food, which gave him the illusion that "it seems that I also have the talent to become a Hall of Fame coach." However, this illusion was quickly broken by Jackson, who is not good at making quick adjustments. When Garfield is on the court, the Lakers' triangle offense is orthodox. Fans of the Bulls and OK Lakers who have watched Jordan can find traces of the past in it, but once Garbage comes off the court, they will no longer play the orthodox triangle offense. .

The kind of equal-opportunity offensive basketball where everyone has a chance has disappeared.

This is the compromise Phil Jackson made to James.

Without Garfield, the pivot becomes James. He can't dominate in the high post like Kobe, nor can he work in the low post like Kobe. He won't change anything. His style of play is like this, or it can be said that he will continue to play in the low post. The style of Big Ball always remains the same.

It's all about me.

Therefore, the Lakers' triangle offense became an inverted triangle under James' control.

James, this strategic protrusion, does not pose much of a threat on the outside, but the presence of Kobe and others is enough to disrupt the situation within the three-point line.

Big Z pick-and-roll, Kobe cuts out, catches the ball and shoots.

The Lakers returned to their tradition from an ultimate three-point + speed ultimate small ball play, focusing on the mid-range and liberating the free throw line space, which made the Sonics' previous defensive arrangement meaningless.

Before Coach Lu could react, the Lakers' other hand appeared.

Artest faced Yu Fei, but as long as Yu Fei held the ball across half court or caught the ball in the frontcourt, one of James and Kobe would step forward to double-team.

Yu Fei is the only ruler of the SuperSonics and the only reason why the current system of the SuperSonics can maintain operation. Once he is blocked regardless of the consequences, the remaining people can only shoot at random.

So far in his career, Yu Fei has never suffered from a coach.

Although the first year in the Wizards was unpleasant, Doug Collins was a genius at adapting. Although his off-court work looked like shit, his on-the-spot command was the best among the coaches Yu Fei had ever seen.

Needless to say about Karl, Yu Fei, as the core ball-handler, is half a coach. Karl did everything he should do, and the rest can't go wrong.

Therefore, when Yu Fei encounters such a target from the Lakers, he will want to try it himself first, and if it doesn't work, he will wait for the coaching staff to pause and then adjust.

However, all rookie coaches with non-professional backgrounds will make the mistake of overestimating their capabilities.

They think coaching is a battle of wits between coaches. The other side gives a question. If he can't solve it, is it useful to call a timeout? But calling a timeout to interrupt the opponent's rhythm is an important part of the game. Countless rookie coaches ignore the basket. This is especially true for Director Lu, who has zero coaching foundation.

Eight minutes into the game, the SuperSonics fell into a scoring drought. Although the mid-range Lakers were not very efficient, they could at least score points, while the SuperSonics were in chaos when Yu Fei was attacked by a large number of flankers.

At this time, they were already 7 points behind.

Yu Fei finally couldn't help but shouted to Lu: "Stop the game!"

Director Lu reacted and quickly ran over to call a timeout.

19 to 12

After eight and a half minutes of fierce fighting, the SuperSonics trailed the Lakers by 7 points.

Coach Lu held the tactical board and looked at the assistant coach with big eyes and small eyes.

Their problem is very simple. The Lakers double-teamed Yu Fei like crazy, but they couldn't seize the open space when the ball was passed. Because when they double-teamed Yu Fei, others would also take turns. In the end, the person who was left empty was because there was no offense outside the three-second zone. The threatening Kwame Brown.

"Let Jermaine replace Kwame."

Adrian Dantley was about to make a suggestion, but heard Yu Fei say: "No, I'm going to play the fourth position and let Sean (Livingston) come up."

Brown still had to leave the game, but Yu flew to the fourth position to face Artest, and then let Livingston take over the responsibility of the first position.

Before, Yu Fei had always been the absolute core, but now Yu Fei is asked to play the fourth position and Livingston is allowed to control the ball. Lu is a little uneasy.

"Is it feasible?"

He asked not only Yu Fei, but also other assistant coaches.

"It's feasible." Yu Fei said, "As long as I get the ball in the low post, their double teams won't be effective."

Lu will soon understand what this means.

"The Sonics replaced Kwame Brown and replaced him with Shaun Livingston. Wait, Frye plays the four position?"

ESPN's Mike Breen looked at Jeff Van Gundy, "Jeff, what is the Sonics' intention in doing this?"

"The Lakers had a lot of early double attacks tonight. This can not only reduce Frye's effective ball possession time, but also use their rotational defensive speed to allow Sonics players who lack offensive threats to get open. However, if Frye is in the fourth position "Get the ball." Van Gundy said mysteriously, "Double-teaming in advance may not be useful."

Bosh pulled outside and gave up the inside line to Yu Fei.

Yu Fei wants to get the position fiercely, and even a ruthless person like Artest can't stop Yu Fei from getting the position now.

In the three-second zone, Yu Fei caught the ball.

Before the Lakers' double-teamers were in place, Yu Fei had already turned around, jumped up, and shot.

This is the result of a deep enough position. When the body has the advantage, there is no need for extra movements, just attack directly.

"Whoosh!"

"Where are you on defense?" Yu Feixiao asked Artest, "Are you infected by LeBron?"

Artest said angrily: "Wait and see!"

An angry Artest tried to counterattack, but was blocked by Yu Fei.

Subsequently, the Lakers tried to double-team Yu Fei in the low post as before, but the difficulty in double-teaming in the low post was that they could not get into position in advance. They have to wait until they fly the ball, and before that, they have to follow the opponent closely, which means after flying the ball, they quickly break away from the opponent to double-team.

However, once Yu Fei catches the ball, even if double-teams come from all directions, there is only one Big Z higher than him on the Lakers court, and no one can block his view.

In the crowd, Yu Fei found Durant.

Durant, who had been watching the situation for a long time, broke out at this moment and dunked, releasing the defensive pressure on Yu Fei.

From here on, the game began to escape the Lakers' control.

They want to beat the Sonics.

They want to prove that their players are better than the Sonics, and their coaching staff is even more so.

Director Lu is indeed not as good as Jackson, but he is like Yu Fei's hands and feet, he can be driven at will. From this point of view, the SuperSonics players and coaching staff are of the same mind, but the Lakers still have various calculations when facing a powerful enemy.

James remained rational, but Kobe hadn't let go yet. Jackson gave various instructions, and the advantage gained for most of the quarter was destroyed by the Sonics' seemingly ordinary arrangement of letting Yu Fei play the fourth position.

Yu Fei in the fourth position is still the core player with the ball.

Once Durant entered the fray, his offensive impact on the game was immediate.

After one quarter, the SuperSonics tied the score, and entering the second quarter, the Lakers replaced Kobe Bryant and took a rest, allowing James to continue playing with four shooters including Kawhi.

The SuperSonics replaced Yu Fei and took a rest, while Durant and Bosh led the second team.

Without Yu Fei, the Sonics' second team does not have a stable system. They rely on stars to drive, while the Lakers can play an authentic one-star four-shooter.

The sense of mutual tension in the first quarter disappeared and was replaced by temptation.

Both sides want to test the strength of each other's second lineup in the Western Conference Finals.

The results of the test will determine the rotation order and number of players in subsequent games.

What caused a headache for the Lakers was that the SuperSonics identified Garfield and resolutely let him go. DeAndre Jordan, who partnered with Bosh, was much better at protecting the basket in the paint than Brown. He stepped to the basket and attacked the restricted area and became James again. problem.

The game returns to the starting point, James needs to let Marcia hit a three-pointer.

But this is another false proposition. Xiaojia can hit three-pointers, but he cannot hit a large number of three-pointers.

James' second-team offense was unfavorable, and his four-star shooting failed to come into play. Instead, the SuperSonics led by Durant and Bosh took the lead.

Jackson called timeout again.

"LeBron, do you want a personal victory or a team victory?" Jackson's deep voice came to him, "If you want a team victory, give the ball to Mark, believe in your teammates, great There’s not just one way, you can be like Fry!”

The biggest contradiction in James is that he desires to take charge of the overall situation, but does not want to be regarded as a domineering monarch. He wants to be all-powerful, but he has a moral burden about being a ball tyrant. This ambivalence originated from his enlightenment coach when he was a ball boy. The enlightenment coach taught him to actively pass the ball on the court because everyone likes people who can pass the ball.

The deepest psychology of this contradiction is that he does not want to bear the reputation of being selfish.

Therefore, when Phil Jackson held high the banner of the team and asked him to compromise for the current situation, give the ball to Gasgoo and let the Spaniard take control of the situation, he had already lost.

Jackson can't solve the problem of Kawhi's output on the outside, but it can solve the problem of James' excessive ball rights.

It's very simple, give the ball to Marc and let him be the pivot, and you, LeBron James, can't you be like Frye and beat Bosh or Durant in the low post?

How pleasant does such a thing sound?

At that moment, James seemed to realize the nature of Frye's hell.

No matter how many times he expresses that he doesn't want to be Fry, no matter how he proves that he just wants to be his unique self, no matter what he says, does, or makes excuses for his behavior, he ultimately cannot escape Yu Fei's responsibility for everything. Demonic barriers set up by the pursuers of the same era.

LeBron, be like Frye.

PS: I wish all the senior high school students good luck in their college entrance exams.

(End of chapter)