Basketball boy, starting to shine from the slam dunk

"Requesting a substitution."

The Spurs made the first substitution and started replacing their main players.

Coach Scott smiled coldly and started to make substitutions, replacing Deron with Zhuang Yu, Anderson, and Nance Jr. Together with Clarkson and Young on the court, they formed an almost "small five" lineup without a center.

Seeing the Lakers' substitution, Coach Popovich narrowed his eyes and shouted to the court: "Defend better, pay attention to delays, and control the rhythm."

At this point the Lakers put on a smaller lineup that was clearly going to play fast.

This is simply giving up the center. After all, in the first quarter, Lopez couldn't keep up with the pace during the offense, so he couldn't keep up when it came to the quick counterattack. So now simply don't use the center, anyway, he can't keep up and won't wait for you.

The game continues...

The Spurs continued to play a positional battle, just like in the first quarter, trying to use up all 24 seconds on each attack.

Swish!

Aldridge made the shot.

The Lakers immediately counterattacked, while the Spurs players followed Popovich's instructions and interfered with and delayed the serve, preventing the Lakers from serving the ball in the first place, in order to delay the Lakers' offense and slow down the Lakers.

However, the person in charge of controlling the ball at this time was not Deron, but Zhuang Yu.

"Throw it forward." Zhuang Yu shouted.

The person in charge of serving the ball was Nance Jr. He often practiced with Zhuang Yu, so they had a good understanding of each other. He immediately understood and threw the ball several meters in front of Zhuang Yu. Zhuang Yu was not asked to jump up to catch it, but to chase the basketball.

But this is the effect Zhuang Yu wants.

At this time, Leonard of the Spurs was still chasing Zhuang Yu. Except for someone delaying the serve at the baseline, Leonard also stayed close to Zhuang Yu and did not return to the backcourt.

Because the Spurs knew very well that the ball could not be given to Zhuang Yu, because Zhuang Yu was too fast and he could reach the frontcourt in the blink of an eye.

Moreover, after reaching the frontcourt, he did not need to adjust or look for teammates, he could just do it directly. His personal ability was there, whether he was attacking the basket or shooting a three-pointer... In short, preventing the Lakers from passing the ball first and preventing Zhuang Yu from receiving the ball first was the key to limiting the Lakers' quick offense and slowing down the pace of the game.

Zhuang Yu naturally knew the Spurs' intentions.

If Zhuang Yu receives the ball in the backcourt, Leonard can only interfere but cannot prevent him from receiving the ball, but there will always be a delay.

So Zhuang Yu asked Nance Jr. to throw the ball forward, and he ran back to the front court.

Zhuang Yu was seen chasing the basketball quickly, and Leonard was chasing behind him. It seemed that both of them were chasing the basketball, but Zhuang Yu was obviously faster. He caught up with the basketball first, and after grabbing the basketball, he had already crossed the center line in one step, leaving Leonard behind.

The Spurs players reacted and immediately pounced on Zhuang Yu.

Zhuang Yu paused slightly, raised his center of gravity, but instead of shooting, he changed direction, switched the ball to his left hand, and then rushed towards the basket.

"Stop him."

"careful......"

Several Spurs players couldn't help but feel a little flustered.

I thought I had time to calmly set up the defense, but the Lakers actually had such a magical operation that they let Zhuang Yu chase the basketball.

The disadvantage is obvious, that is, the ball is not given directly to the player, which is a bit risky and may result in a pass error.

The advantage is that the ball is served immediately and almost directly crosses half of the court, without the speed of attack being delayed due to interference with the serve.

As a result, the Spurs players who were retreating were not able to set up their defense in time, and Zhuang Yu was very decisive when he arrived at the frontcourt and went straight to the basket, making it difficult for the Spurs players not to panic.

The Spurs players who had already retreated subconsciously pounced on Zhuang Yu, and Leonard behind him was also chasing after him. However, Leonard noticed Clarkson on the other side, and couldn't help but secretly say "not good", and he immediately pounced on Clarkson.

Whoosh!

Sure enough, Zhuang Yu did not go up by himself, but attracted all the defensive attention and then passed the ball to Clarkson who had just reached the three-point line on the right.

Only Leonard noticed Zhuang Yu's intention in time, but he was some distance away from Clarkson and it was too late for him to pounce on him.

Clarkson caught the ball, jumped and shot a three-pointer.

With a bang, the ball goes in.

"nice shot!"

In the audience, the home fans stood up one after another. Kobe also stood up, smiled and applauded, and shouted to the court: "Well done, Jordan (Clarkson), well done."

With this three-pointer, the Lakers not only fought back, but also widened the gap by one point.

But in the eyes of Mr. Popovich, the significance of this ball goes far beyond that.

"It seems that it is still difficult to limit the opponent's offensive speed. Zhuang is too fast and his offensive threat is too great. Even so, he can get the ball and rush to the front court in a very short time. The offensive rhythm is not affected at all and is still so fast."

"Also, Clarkson also made a three-pointer. The key to a quick counterattack and a fast-paced offense lies in outside shooting. Once the Lakers can make a three-pointer, their offense will only become more and more fierce, and the tempo will only become faster and faster."

Old man Popovich talked to himself, frowning.

Everyone knows that the Warriors' "small five lineup" is powerful, and that the Warriors' counterattacks are sharp and their three-point shots are terrifying.

Why is the five-small lineup so sharp?

Why do you have to shoot so many three-pointers?

Why......

There is actually a certain thing to do. Although the five players in the "five-small lineup" are small in stature, the advantage is that they can all handle the ball, advance with the ball, and pass the ball in a timely manner, so the ball will circulate very quickly, and their counterattacks will naturally be faster.

As for shooting three-pointers, it is also because of speed.

Firstly, you will be blocked when you rush towards the basket. Secondly, the distance from the backcourt to the three-point line is definitely shorter than the distance from the backcourt to the frontcourt basket. After reaching the frontcourt, instead of playing to the basket, the "five small" players don't have enough height, so they just pass the ball outside the three-point line. The fast transmission speed can also open up space, and you can even shoot after passing the ball once in the frontcourt, so the offensive rhythm will naturally be faster.

In short, this situation on the court is not what Popovich wants to see, and it is also not good for the Spurs.

But old man Popovich didn't have a better solution, unless he assigned more people to defend Zhuang Yu.

For example, this ball just now.

If there is another player defending Zhuang Yu besides Leonard, it will be difficult for Zhuang Yu to receive the ball even if he uses his speed to get rid of Leonard, and it may even be a pass error.

But the problem is that the Spurs simply can't do that.

One player interferes with the serve at the backcourt baseline, one player chases Zhuang Yu, and another player is required to block Zhuang Yu on the other side, which means that there are only two players left who can retreat. In that case, the Lakers don't need to pass the ball to Zhuang Yu at all. Can't they just pass it to Clarkson, Anderson, or Young?

It's just 3 vs. 2.

The Spurs players are not gods. If they only rely on two players to retreat to defense and have 2 defend 3, what's the difference between that and no defense?