Junior Basketball says

Chapter 318 Equalizing
Popovich was at a loss for the Timberwolves' undisciplined rush. He also thought about changing the Spurs to play one big and four small, but he quickly gave up this idea. Changing to a style of play he is not familiar with is tantamount to self-defense. Seeking death.Such a short break between quarters is not enough for Popovich to find a way to deal with it. He can only bite the bullet and stick to the team's original style.

His concerns were correct. In the second quarter, the Timberwolves still did not change their style of play. Five players whizzed past the court, and the Spurs could only follow them with a look of resentment.At this time, the benefits of McHale playing as a lone center slowly emerged. Love and DeAndre Jordan took turns to ensure the Timberwolves' rebounds, and they could both rush.

For a long time, although Popovich did not refuse to use young people like his mentor Larry Brown, he did prefer to use veterans unless the young players could reach the level of Duncan.In Popovich's view, the veteran has rich experience and a strong ability to understand and execute tactics. The Spurs' slow positional warfare does not require them to expend too much energy.

But he didn't expect to meet such a weirdo as the Timberwolves in the first round of this year's playoffs. They looked reckless during the game, always bluffing and running back and forth, but they could always grasp the gap between shots, and then Get the ball into the hoop.For the Timberwolves, their young age is no longer their defect, but their sufficient physical fitness has become their advantage.

The Spurs, who like to play positional battles one by one, suffered. They also tried very hard to score in the second quarter, but the Timberwolves always scored more points than them, and their shooting percentage did not show a significant decline.At the end of the half, the Timberwolves had led the Spurs by 64 points 52 to 12, which made the reporters on the sidelines smash their glasses.

Everyone couldn't help but think of the Spurs being swept by the Suns in the second round of the playoffs in 2010.Under the leadership of Nash, the Suns played run-and-gun tactics. The "seven-second offense" swept the league. The Spurs had no way to fight back. The defense line was smashed to pieces by the opponent's fast-playing whirlwind.

And the current game is somewhat similar to that year, even if it only played the first half for the time being.However, in the eyes of veterans, there is still a big difference between this Timberwolves team and the Suns led by Nash. The Suns' scoring is basically concentrated on Nash, Stoudemire and Richardson, and the others also benefit from the Sun's medical team. Hill still has a little contribution.However, the Timberwolves can be said to be all soldiers. Everyone got a lot of shots and their scores seemed average.

It can be said that if the Spurs had defended either Nash or Stoudemire at the time, they would not have been directly swept away by the Suns, but now they cannot use such a strategy to limit the Timberwolves.It can be seen that the scoring points of the Timberwolves are very scattered, and strangling one or two will have no effect at all, but may give others more opportunities to shoot.

Another point is Xu Hao. It is well known that McHale values ​​him. His physical fitness is also unfathomable. In the first half, he only rested for 3 minutes. It can be said that he is the core figure of the Timberwolves' crazy running and bombing.Although Xu Hao is only a second-year player, it is difficult for the Spurs to restrain him. His physical confrontation ability is far better than Nash, and his shooting is equally accurate. It is difficult for the Spurs to block such a player with personal defense, let alone impossible. Chase and intercept.

At halftime, Popovich was still frowning. He could only go all the way in this game, and continued to let Duncan hold the ball in the paint and play alone.As for outside defense, he can only ask everyone to do their best, preferably through physical confrontation or even fouls to consume the opponent's energy, so that he may be able to take advantage of the opportunity to turn defeat into victory in the fourth quarter.

McHale was still very cautious. He looked around and saw that many players' jerseys were soaked with sweat. It was obvious that they were spending a lot of money. He could only make more frequent substitutions in the second half and try hard to maintain the fast-paced offense and defense.

Then he turned his attention to Xu Hao, who may be the one with the best condition in the team, but he is also the one with the least rest time.McHale felt the pressure that Xu Hao was under. He walked over and asked in a low voice, "Chris, are you still able to bear it? Do you need to rest more in the second half? You are the core of tactics, you can't collapse!"

Xu Hao poured the remaining half bottle of sports drink into his mouth in one breath, and said calmly: "Coach, you don't have to worry about me, I'm fine, other people need rest time more than me, especially a few insiders, they really It was too hard."

Of course, McHale saw the inside problem that Xu Hao said. Although the Timberwolves had a lot of inside players, the first half was basically divided by Love and Jordan, and Milicic also got a point. Not enough.Originally, the physical consumption of big players is greater than that of small players. It seems that more frequent rotations are needed in the second half.

However, in this game, the Timberwolves' players seemed to have been beaten with chicken blood, and their physical fatigue did not drag them down.After the start of the second half, Xu Hao still took the lead and led his teammates to charge forward. Although the shooting percentage from the outside line had declined, Xu Hao made a decisive decision to move Love to a high position to support him. He and others took turns attacking the inside line. , If not, send the ball to Love or simply send it outside, and then do it again according to the previous routine.

The Timberwolves' iron cavalry once again broke the Spurs' defense, and the point difference between the two sides widened to 20 points at the end of the third quarter.Popovich looked dejected, he simply put on a substitute player in the fourth quarter, and surrendered.McHale did not kill them all, and also replaced the main force after playing for 3 minutes in the fourth quarter, and the game was concluded.

The game came to an end in the fourth quarter amid the unspectacular offense and defense of both sides' substitute lineups. The Timberwolves defeated the Spurs 114-100 in the away game, avenging their defeat in the first game. The score was tied at 1-1. .

For the Spurs, losing a series is actually not a big deal. The key is that the Timberwolves have already tasted the sweetness of a small lineup, and they will undoubtedly continue to use it in the next game. It is even more difficult for the Spurs to deal with it.However, there was a three-day interval between the second and third games, which gave Popovich time to think, and it was hard to say whether he could come up with a countermeasure.Moreover, even if Popovich has an idea, there is not much training time left for the Spurs, and the away game is very bad.

(End of this chapter)