play for it

Chapter 42

After an athlete encounters something specific to him, he will often activate the potential deep in his body, burst out with amazing strength within a certain period of time, or make people dream of returning to the peak for a while, and Billups is currently This is the case.

On the coaching bench off the field, I fully saw how Billups suddenly burst into wireless and approached his peak speed, and Popovich, who caught up with Yang Ke, saw Yang Ke facing Billups' defense at this time, He couldn't help shaking his head: "Why did Billups explode, Yang's attack may be difficult even to make a shot."

As soon as the words fell, Yang Ke and Billups entangled for a while, then took a step back, facing the raised hands of Billups who jumped up, and shot a jumper.

It's a pity that the line of sight and angle were disturbed after all, the basketball bounced out of the frame, and Jordan, who was stuck in his seat by the inside line, jumped up lightly and hugged him firmly in his arms.

There is no problem with Yang Ke's shot selection this time. There is indeed a slight chance, but the chance is not big in front of Billups who is now breaking out.

Seeing Popovich being slapped in the face, Borrego couldn't help sighing: "Coach, it seems that Yang's offensive progress is beyond our expectations!"

"really."

Looking at Yang Ke who quickly returned to defense on the field, Popovich frowned. He clearly remembered that Yang Ke used to only have a soft shot, and his offensive ability with the ball was not good. Now it seems that it is completely enough.

"It seems that you let him start training from his own defense, and it worked."

Borrego said with a smile, as a coach with great potential, he has long seen why Popovich asked Yang Ke and Leonard to start training from defense.

Familiarize yourself with various offensive methods through defense, and when you think of ways to target various offensive methods, you will inadvertently fully understand those offensive methods.

In other words, the body has learned those offensive methods, and then it depends on when you realize and use them.

call!What a mess!

Yang Ke quickly retreated to the defensive half, bent over and let out a breath. Billups wrapped his defense against him, which reminded him of his friend Leonard, relying on his body and fighting hard enough.

It's just that Lupus put more pressure on him. If his speed and reaction were not really faster, he really couldn't find a chance to make a shot just now.

It was the Clippers' turn to attack. This time, Billups took the initiative to take the ball from Jordan, and he slowly pushed it across the half court. Paul, who was in charge, was just stunned for a moment, and then ran to the court. frontcourt.

The whole person feels different!
Yang Ke nervously stood in front of Billups. The distance between the two was only one step away. Facing Billups who was calmly dribbling, he could feel the energy coming from him every second. pressure.

Make room!

With a crotch dribble, the basketball came to his left hand. Billups hadn't felt so calm and relaxed for a long time. He slowly raised his right hand and gestured towards his teammates.

Yang Ke narrowed his eyes slightly, took a deep breath, and forcibly suppressed the tension in his heart. The gesture of opening the space is common throughout the alliance, so he knew very well what he was going to do next. What are you facing.

When his teammates opened up the space enough, Billups made two tentative moves, but Yang Ke, who had been paying attention to his body's center of gravity, was not deceived.

Seeing that Yang Ke did not lose his position so easily, Billups nodded in satisfaction, accelerated towards the three-point line, dribbled the ball twice with Yang Ke on his shoulders, touched the ground with both feet at the same time, and took aim. Behind Yang Ke, whose eyes were close to each other, he chose his left foot as the pivot foot.

Billups proficiently kicked the ground with his right foot and combined with the torque of his waist to the left, he jumped with his right foot on the ground, and quickly threw the person to the left with his waist, and the whole set of movements was done in one go.

Leaping up high, leaning on Yang Ke, he turned over and shot a jumper!The basketball was hollow into the net, and the sound from the net was so piercing in Yang Ke's ears.

Biting his mouth, Yang Ke crossed his hips and looked weakly at Billups who was defending back. In this time of defense, he didn't react at all, just watching Billups succeed in singles. .

"Yang, how about we change?"

Ginobili walked to Yang Ke's side and asked, as he once faced Billups, he knew very well how powerful Billups' post-up singles are when this state explodes. fear.

Not to mention Yang Ke and Ginobili himself, even Billups, who once defended No.1 Bowen with the Spurs, will be beaten badly in such a state.

"No, I want to try."

Yang Ke shook his head, looked at Billups' back, his eyes became firm, and he started defensively in the Spurs.Now facing a strong enemy, if he retreats and switches defenses like this, then what is it that he has been practicing so hard?Irony to yourself?
Seeing that Yang Ke was so determined, Ginobili didn't persuade him anymore. He patted him on the shoulder, and then walked inside to receive Splitter's serve. In this lineup, he is the point guard, and the Spurs' offense still needs Ginobili's organization.

In the next game, Billups exploded, just like Duncan taught Jordan, post-up singles, three-pointers, forced shots, precise passes, in short, use all his offensive methods that he is good at. Ke's body narrowed the score gap for the Clippers to his heart's content.

In this way, the Clippers finally ended the first quarter at 22:26, ​​only 4 points behind the Spurs, which is a very small point difference.

"Coach, are you not going to make a substitution?"

During the break after the first quarter, Borrego stood in front of the coach's seat and saw Popovich with his hands behind his back, watching the performance of the home team's cheerleaders with relish, without any intention of changing players, so he couldn't help asking.

"Why do we need to make substitutions? We are still ahead, and it's not yet time for regular substitutions."

Popovich didn't look back, he was still looking at the cheerleaders on the field, but his eyes were not in focus, obviously he wasn't watching the cheerleading performance, but was thinking about something.

"However, Young has already been beaten by Billups. Even if he doesn't change players, he should change his defensive tactics. For example, let Manu or Leonard defend him."

Seeing Popovich, he was not in a hurry at all, and he planned to follow the previous arrangement. He didn't even arrange a tactic, so he became anxious at once, and said quickly: "Once the opponent overtakes the score, the morale of the Clippers will be greatly reduced." Together, this game will not be easy to play."

"You, do you know why you can only be an assistant coach?"

Walking out of his thoughts, Popovich turned his head to look at Borrego. He has a wealth of tactical knowledge and experience in teaching European leagues, but he still can only start as an assistant coach in the Spurs. for a certain reason.

"Switching other people to defend, will we be able to do better? And replacing Yang at this time will be a blow to his self-confidence. This is not what we want."

Popovich paused as he spoke, and looked sideways at the bench. Sitting on the edge of the bench, drinking Gatorade, and adjusting his breathing quickly, Yang Ke raised his mouth slightly, and then said: "And didn't you notice? Although Yang Ke has committed three fouls and Billups is still in top form, his offense has become more and more difficult..."

(End of this chapter)