Soul of the Golden State

Chapter 567 Bull Defense
The pre-match activities finally came to an end. The players gathered around the coach on the sidelines and listened to the coach's final instructions.

Unlike the Bulls, on the Warriors side, it is not the head coach Nelson who is talking at this time, but Moses Malone, who has not appeared on the court for a long time
Due to his back injury, Malone cannot sit for a long time, so compared with Mullin this season, he seldom appears on the sidelines to watch Warriors games.

But with the recovery of the injury, although he has not yet met the requirements for playing, sitting on the sidelines and cheering for the team is already something that can be done.

And tonight, he was wearing a gray suit that didn't match his style. At this time, he replaced Nelson and made the final mobilization for the team.

"I'm 35 years old, how long I can play, no one knows, but I hope I can continue to play, I regret that I can't fight with you, but I hope you can beat your opponents without me , winning this championship is not only for me, but also for yourselves..."

Malone himself is not good at words. It is unrealistic to let him speak like a politician. However, Malone's words are full of affection, so that every Warriors player can feel his inner unwillingness. Champion's yearning.

Therefore, after listening to Ma Long's words, every member of this group wants to contribute to Ma Long. It can be said that often the most provocative words are expressed in the simplest words.

Soon, players from both sides stepped onto the court one by one, and the game was about to start.

Seeing the players of the two teams enter the field, warm cheers broke out at the scene. Payton, Kidd, Barack, etc., like all the fans at this time, welcome their fighters to the battlefield.

The starting lineups of the two teams are both regular lineups. The biggest change for the Warriors is that Mullin has returned to the starting lineup after nearly a season. This also makes many people worry that Mullin has adjusted his state.

The starting lineup is: Li Weisi, Richmond, Mullin, Rodman and Duckworth.

The starting lineup for the Bulls is: Mark Price, Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Horace Grant and Bill Cartwright.

It can be said that both teams put the strongest lineup on the field.

As the basketball flew into the sky from the referee's hands, Duckworth and Cartwright jumped at the same time, and the game officially began.

Cartwright, who Jordan called "the medicine jar", is taller than Duckworth, but considering his almost 33-year-old age and his physical fitness, the jump ball of the two is obviously better than the duck.

Duckworth's jump ball was successful, which meant that the Warriors got the first chance to attack in the game.

Rodman received Duckworth's jump ball and immediately turned around and handed it to Li Weisi. Unlike his usual funny pass, tonight his pass was very simple and unpretentious.

Obviously, he could distinguish the occasion clearly and knew the priority of the matter, so he focused all his attention on the field.

Li Weisi, who got the ball, originally thought about whether to start a wave of fast breaks, but he didn't expect the Bulls' defense to be in place very quickly. As soon as he got the ball, Jordan was already in front of him. Speed, and the rest of the Bulls, have also fallen into position.

In fact, the Bulls' defense has been underrated this season.

During the regular season, the Bulls' defensive efficiency is basically in the middle of the league, ranking around 10th in the league, which is at the same level as the Warriors.

But in the playoffs, the Bulls' defensive efficiency quickly reached 98.4, second only to the Pistons, and ranked second among the playoff teams.

Moreover, the Bulls' entire defensive execution is extremely strong, without the slightest sloppiness. In Li Weisi's view, the entire defensive process even has a sense of beauty.

Of course, now is not the time for emotion.

The defensive pressure brought by Jordan is as strong as ever. Although he is the team's top scorer, Jordan will never be lazy in defense, let alone defend with his hips.

Although now, with Pippen's growth, Jordan no longer needs to defend the opponent's top scorer in many cases, but facing the Warriors today, Jordan decided to defend Li Weisi.

After all, Mark Price, who is 183cm tall, can be said to be the only weakness in the Bulls' defense. Asking him to defend Li Weisi is simply a gift.

And Pippen is much taller than Li Weisi, so it would be too costly for him to chase Li Weisi, not to mention that the Warriors have three outsiders, each of whom has strong offensive firepower, and Jordan is eager to directly match Li Weisi, so, The defensive strategy of the Bulls tonight is that Jordan single-handedly defends against Li Weisi.

Although Jordan's defense is very good, it is impossible to expect Jordan to prevent Li Weisi from dribbling the ball. Soon, under Jordan's defense, Li Weisi brought the ball to the frontcourt.

Although Jordan failed to snatch the ball from Li Weisi's hands, it effectively prevented Li Weisi from launching a fast break. When Li Weisi came to the frontcourt, the Bulls had been waiting for a long time.

In this regard, Li Weisi was not surprised at all. Before the start of the game, he had already guessed that the Bulls would have such a defensive performance, so he was very peaceful in his heart. After scanning around, he took the initiative to hand the ball to Mullin.

Mullin played badly in the last game, but this does not affect the Bulls' attention to him. For Mullin, the Bulls directly use Pippen to defend, but Richmond, who has performed well this season, is Price was on defense.

In fact, for Li Weisi to give the ball to Mullin first, and Mullin to launch the offense, it was still somewhat beyond the Bulls' expectations.

Because in their view, Richmond obviously had better offensive opportunities, but Li Weisi did the opposite and let Mullin fight.

Is this to let Mullin regain his touch, or is it just a trial?

Pippen doesn't know it at all. He only knows now that no matter what it is, he must first defend against Mullin's goal.

After a simple three-threat, Mullin made a breakthrough decisively. However, Pippen had already guarded against Mullin's breakthrough, and quickly retreated diagonally to the rear, blocking Mullin's offensive route.

It is so painful for a player who can't shoot well to play with three threats, because in the eyes of the opponent, one of your three threats is obviously not a threat.

Of course, Mullin's shooting can't be bad. It's only because of his inaccurate play that Pippen guessed that Mullin's first goal would start from a breakthrough.

However, Pippen guessed the first but not the second. Mullin's breakthrough was just a cover. After attracting Pippen's defense, he immediately took a step back and escaped Pippen's defense. One step inside the point line, a long two-pointer was shot.

"Shua!" The basketball and the Nets played the melodious friction sound together, which showed that Mullin never lost confidence in his shooting!
(End of this chapter)