The godfather of basketball started from conquering the NBA

"Dude, have you heard? The odds for the finals came out, and guess what, the handicap is all the Heat's championship, and almost no bookmaker is optimistic about us." Josh said with some contempt.

"Isn't this normal? They made it to the finals last year, and they have James, the king of the league's traffic." Westbrook was a little dismissive. This kind of news is the most common for him. After all, he has been in the NBA since he entered the NBA. Not being favored all the way.

Before the finals, the Timberwolves' locker room was relatively relaxed. Facing the mighty Heat, there was no tension or fear at all, even though they were playing the finals for the first time.

"No, I think our lineup is much better than theirs, and it's reasonable. We should be the stronger side." Josh still said a little angry.

"Okay guys, I know everyone may be a little excited, but we have to stay focused, our goal today is very simple, to win.

Let them remember tonight that Minnesota summers are cold too"

Xu Xiao waved the tactical board and was mobilizing the players. Although everyone was used to Xu Xiao's "chicken soup before the war", every time this kind of occasion, he would still be very enthusiastic.

"Josh, remember not to get too entangled with James. The outcome of the two of you is not at this moment. The key is to win the game with this goal. If you can only win the game against James and lose the game , that would be meaningless."

Ever since Josh underwent Xu Xiao's transformation, Josh was like a different person, as if he had even brought Paul's self-discipline with him, and since then, James has become his biggest target.

Xu Xiao is also worried that Josh will be too obsessed with the duel with James, and will fall into the circle of individualism, which will cause problems with the entire team's tactics.

"On the contrary, as long as we can win this game, then you and James have already decided the outcome."

Xu Xiao was still a little worried, and asked again.

"I see, don't worry coach, I will follow our tactics, stay focused, and win this game."

Josh replied confidently.

The "Changhong International Arena" in Minnesota has long been overcrowded. This is the first time the Timberwolves have entered the finals since the team was founded 24 years ago. Local fans have come to the arena early to wait.

As soon as the Timberwolves players appeared on the field, the cheers of the fans started. For these fanatical basketball fans, the Timberwolves players are heroes. The shouts were spared, for fear that the team lost because they cheered and shouted hard enough. .

"These guys are quite enthusiastic, but they are just a little noisy, and they need to be quieted down later." The forcing king Wade looked at these fans with some arrogance, as if to explain how the small place of Minnesota compares with Miami.

"Their substitutes are still a bit strong, and the others are nothing to be afraid of. LeBron, your defense must be fast. I can't stand their rounds of bombing." Bosh also said while warming up for shooting, as if Never put the Timberwolves in their eyes.

"Don't worry, if it's the Spurs or the Lakers, there may be something to be afraid of. Even the Thunder Harden is not easy to deal with, but the Timberwolves can be said to be completely restrained by us. The only point worth paying attention to is Roy. , after being beaten by Ron's elbow, it's like sleepwalking. Now the Timberwolves have nothing to be afraid of, so don't worry, Josh, although he got his head beat by the Timberwolves, he can only be a date in the end. Varied."

James is no longer as nervous as he was with the Celtics. They subconsciously believe that this year's Timberwolves are here to pay their tuition fees, just like they were last year. They will solve the Timberwolves in no more than five games.

And James was right about one thing, that is, after being knocked down by Artest's elbow, Roy's condition did drop a lot. Although Xu Xiao assured him that he would never be injured, the body The pain is real, and the muscles have memory, which caused Roy to be a little timid many times when he was on the field.

Fortunately, jr has been performing well in the past few games. Although the defense is not good, the offensive end has become much more stable, and the convulsive offense is rarely seen.

At this time, all he can count on is that Roy can find his form as soon as possible, and there is jr. After all, he only has one peak card, and Reed is also at the peak of this game. Jimmy Butler, if he can count on this level of competition A first-year rookie at the end of the first round, the Timberwolves can basically surrender directly.

The Timberwolves still have a regular lineup, with Westbrook, Roy, Josh, Ibaka and Oden starting. Although Roy has been out of shape recently, he still has to count on Roy at this time.

The Heat also use regular starters, the Big Three + Duhon and Okafor.

The Timberwolves took the lead to get the ball. In the first round of attacking the Timberwolves, they still chose to open from the inside.

Oden received the ball, and Okafor stood behind him firmly. Okafor's strength is absolutely no problem, but he is not tall enough, so Oden is ready to hold high and hit high.

As a result, as soon as Oden lifted the ball, James' help defense came over in an instant, interfering with Oden's shot. This ball also hit the front and failed to score.

Bosh quickly got the rebound, the Heat started to fight back, Wade stepped up his horse, and Westbrook followed Wade not to be outdone, so the Heat didn't let the Heat form a fast break in the first place.

James followed up and quickly played, but the ball was still defended by the joint efforts of Josh and Ibaka.

James was a little unhappy, still complaining to the referee, there was a foul.

But he didn't know that Xu Xiao had used the Absolute Fairness card long before this match, just to prevent this phenomenon from happening, and the scales of both sides were absolutely uniform.

The first time he attacked the inside, Xu Xiao could roughly see what kind of defensive strategy the Heat used in this game. It was still a zone defense, but this zone defense relied more on James' quick help defense.

"If you don't say that the Heat Zhan is the pinnacle, look at this defense, this is really hard to see in the future." Xu Xiao whispered off the court, but soon he also understood that the Heat coach Spoelstra is the only one who can control the defense. Lao Zhan's coach, and with Riley behind him, he absolutely does not allow anyone not to defend, even James.

With this in mind, there is a solution.

The Timberwolves immediately switched their attack point and changed to Westbrook's main attack with the ball.

Chris Duhon is a good player. His defensive ability and willingness are quite good. In the last round of the series against Rondo, he also played a good performance. His defense made Rondo feel uncomfortable. No wonder it is the old K Protégé.

But he has a fatal point compared with players of Westbrook's level, that is, his physical talent is too poor. Compared with a violent guard like Westbrook, he really has to work hard. Him, then there is nothing he can do.

What's more, this is Westbrook, who has Billups' back-hitting skills.

"It's the greatest disrespect for me to ask you to guard me. You should let LeBron come, at least Dwyane should come."

After Westbrook scored two in a row, when he faced Du Hong again for the third time, he said arrogantly.

I think this was what Chalmers said to Durant back then, but now that the situation has changed, Westbrook returned this sentence.

The Heat didn't allow Westbrook to be so presumptuous, and let Wade defend Westbrook.

The main players of both sides were on the same line, and the score began to get anxious.

"Branton, I know this is difficult for you, but now, I really need you, and you are our spiritual pillar." During the timeout, Xu Xiao continued to give Roy pua.

Xu Xiao also knew that now he was going to target Du Hong and beat him directly.

"Don't worry, coach, I am very confident in myself now, and I am the boss of the Timberwolves." Roy's triangular eyes became sharp.

"The Yellow Mamba is coming back"

In fact, Roy's physical condition has been fine for a long time, and it is more of a psychological problem, but Xu Xiao's words just now seemed to stimulate him. Xu Xiao said that he is the spiritual pillar, but Roy knows that he should be the Timberwolves. The boss, he should not just be a spiritual pillar.

You must know that Roy has witnessed the rise of the Timberwolves, and accompanied the Timberwolves from a lottery champion team all the way to the stage of the finals. In terms of qualifications, there is no one in the entire Timberwolves that can match Roy.

In terms of strength, when I was in the third grade, I was the only All-Star in the country and the best second team. Now, although Westbrook and Josh have risen, my strength is still not bad. It is right to be called the "Yellow Mamba" The best recognition of his strength.

Before being beaten by Artest, Roy had always been the No. [-] scorer. After being beaten by Artest with an elbow, Roy's position seemed to be replaced. Westbrook and Josh also showed their ability to lead the team. Oden also got more opportunities, and even the substitute Bledsoe meant to rise after getting Thomas Jr.'s skill card.

In short, everyone is getting better, only Roy is declining

And what he said to Xu Xiao just now was actually for other people to hear, and he was swearing his own status.

He still values ​​the status of this team, after all, this is not only about dignity but also about his next contract.

What Roy said made Xu Xiao vaguely feel something was wrong, but there was no time to think about it now, the whole crown was the most important thing.

Roy's strength is still no problem. Facing a defender like Chris Duhon, Roy can still punish him in various ways, almost blasting the Heat's zone defense with a single point.

In the end, the Heat had to change the defensive formation again, allowing James and Wei to speed up the rotation and put three points.

This kind of defensive strategy does limit the Timberwolves' rotation and running positions, but it also consumes a lot of defenders. At this time, James is still young, so this kind of consumption can still be sustained, but Wade is a little powerless. .

He alone has to take care of both Westbrook and Roy, and is also responsible for the one-on-one with Westbrook on the offensive end. This made him a little out of breath before finishing the first quarter, and he was about to die up.

"We are young, and youth is capital!"