Basketball boy, starting to shine from the slam dunk

Bang!

With a loud bang, Lopez made an alley-oop dunk.

"nice shot."

“That was a great dunk.”

The home fans cheered excitedly.

Coach Stotts' face darkened.

This attack made it very easy for the Lakers to play, and they executed the tactic very simply. It was obvious that their defense was still not good enough. There was no problem with Layman switching defense, but he was too easily fooled.

If he hadn't rushed forward so hastily, and if Zhuang Yu hadn't passed him by changing direction...

However, this was just Coach Stotts' wishful thinking. Even if Layman was not passed by a change of direction, Zhuang Yu had other ways, such as a pull-up shot towards Layman, or... In short, Zhuang Yu was tired of the Trail Blazers' defensive strategy.

From the NCAA to the NBA, there are teams using this defensive strategy to deal with him.

I've done this so many times, how can I not get tired of it?

For a while afterwards, the Trail Blazers played well on the offensive end. Although the Lakers' defense was strong, the Trail Blazers' offense was not weak either. After all, the "backcourt duo" is not called that for nothing, and Lillard and McCollum are still very strong.

McCollum can't beat Zhuang Yu in a one-on-one situation, but he can still play well after switching defense.

As for Lillard, he was not in a hurry to attack at the beginning. He always relied on pick-and-rolls and then encountered siege, and then passed the ball. However, after a few rounds, Lillard gradually adapted to the Lakers' defense and began to exert his strength on the offensive end. He first broke through and scored a layup, and then hit a three-pointer.

Driven by Lillard's 5 consecutive points, the Trail Blazers established a 6-point lead.

The lead was not huge, but it was enough to make the Trail Blazers coach smile again. He clapped his hands and shouted to the court: "That's it. Come on."

Despite some problems, Lillard and McCollum quickly found their form and played like a "backcourt duo" should.

That's good.

Look, we are already 6 points ahead.

A group of Trail Blazers players were also in high spirits and full of fighting spirit. So what if they were the defending champions? It was just like this.

Last season, the Trail Blazers finished fourth in the Western Conference regular season. Although they didn't go far in the playoffs, they were not willing to lose.

They made a comeback this season, and naturally they were unwilling to just be eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. Their goal was to go further, to win the Western Conference Championship, and even...

A young team, a group of young people, what they lack the least is drive and ambition.

And today, this game, is just the beginning.

This was the first regular season game of the new season, and the team against the defending champion Lakers was indeed emotionally affected by the award ceremony at the beginning, but now with the widening of the score gap, they regained their confidence and morale.

They have to stay ahead and beat the Lakers!

A group of high-spirited young people rushed around the court and played their best game. The Trail Blazers maintained their lead until halfway through the first quarter.

"Pick and roll."

Lillard called for a pick-and-roll, then broke through decisively, attacked the basket, jumped up against Lopez's defense, found a confrontation in the air, and then twisted his body to shoot the ball.

The ball did not go in, but the referee blew the whistle, calling a defensive foul on Lopez and signaling Lillard to take two free throws.

When Lillard stepped onto the free throw line and made both free throws, the difference between the two sides became 8 points.

"Requesting a timeout."

The Lakers called a timeout.

Although they were 8 points behind at the time, Coach Scott did not look nervous and he remained calm.

As the defending champions, they have seen all kinds of scenes and encountered all kinds of situations. It’s nothing to be behind by only 8 points.

Zhuang Yu and others came to the sidelines.

"Switch in a minute. Holiday off, Clarkson on, Korver off, Kuznets." Coach Scott made the substitutions first, then spread out the tactical board, "We need to do a good job of defending Lillard, and we need to help him in time, and don't give him easy opportunities to play alone."

"Zhuang, you go guard Lillard later."

"Clarkson guards McCollum."

"As for the attack..."

"Kyle (Anderson), you play the 3rd position and you are responsible for organizing the game. Zhuang Yu will play without the ball outside the three-point line. Clarkson and Kyle will play more pick-and-roll. But don't break through too deep. With Lopez in the interior and Zhuang Yu on the outside, there will always be opportunities."

Finally, Coach Scott clapped his hands and said, “Go ahead.”

After some arrangements, Zhuang Yu and his companions returned to the field.

At this time, the lineup became Zhuang Yu, Clarkson, Anderson, Kuzma, and Lopez, a lineup that was rarely used in the past, but no one thought it was strange because Coach Scott had tried many different lineup combinations during this period.

This is one of them.

......

Lakers offense.

Zhuang Yu got the ball in the backcourt.

When they saw that it was Zhuang Yu advancing with the ball in the backcourt, several Trail Blazers players exchanged glances. In their opinion, it was obvious that Zhuang Yu was playing at the No. 1 position and was responsible for organizing the offense.

At this time, the Trail Blazers also made a substitution, replacing Nurkic with the second-year player, 213cm tall young center Zach Collins.

Compared to a heavy center like Nurkic, Collins has much stronger agility while having the height of a center. He can run and jump, and is good at catching the ball under the basket. He also has the ability to catch the ball and shoot at a fixed point. He can occasionally play at the No. 4 position and create space for his teammates.

With Lillard and McCollum playing well, the Trail Blazers naturally have to unleash the firepower of the "backcourt duo" as much as possible, so they need to open up space.

"Pick and roll."

After Zhuang Yu arrived at the frontcourt, he called for a pick-and-roll. Lopez went to the line and Zhuang Yu moved to the left. The Trail Blazers quickly switched defense, and it was still the forwards who delayed the defense.

Aminu came up to delay the game, raised one hand to interfere with Zhuang Yu's shot, but he didn't rush to save the ball and defended very well.

Lehmann’s delaying effect was not very good before, as he was too easily fooled by Zhuang Yu’s fake moves.

Seeing this, Zhuang Yu was not in a hurry. Instead of playing himself, he passed the ball to Anderson.

If there is a chance to shoot a three-pointer directly after the pick-and-roll, Zhuang Yu will naturally shoot it. But if not, then he will play according to the coach's arrangement and let Anderson organize it.

After the ball was given to Anderson, Zhuang Yu began to move quickly, first making a circle along the inside line, and then returning to the three-point line. Anderson moved across from Clarkson, made a hand-to-hand pass, and covered for Clarkson.

Clarkson got rid of McCollum with the help of this screen, and then quickly broke through. Collins subconsciously rushed to make up for the defense. Clarkson did not go straight to the basket, but paused for a moment, looking at Zhuang Yu, making people think that he wanted to pass the ball to Zhuang Yu outside the three-point line, but in fact it was a ground pass, and the basketball bounced from Collins' feet.