"Dunn, congratulations on becoming the boss of the Chicago Bulls. I hope you can achieve good results in the Eastern Conference!"
As early as the warm-up session, Reggie Miller, who was still recovering from his injury, took the initiative to come to Duen and congratulated him.
In fact, Reggie Miller had called Duane a few months ago.
However, this time Dunn led the Bulls players to the Conseco Arena for the first time, and Reggie Miller also hoped to be a landlord.
By the way, I also want to deepen the impression of Dunn as the "successor of Reggie Miller" in front of the media.
After all, players like Reggie Miller are rare in this day and age.
In the past two seasons, it was hard to find a successor, but suddenly he became the new successor to Jordan. Who the hell are you looking for to reason with?
Jordan does not lack Duen as his successor, but Reggie Miller is retiring soon and is in urgent need of riding on Duen's popularity.
"Haha, I also hope you can recover soon.
I hope you can get what you want in the next few seasons.
Otherwise I will lead my team to rise in the Eastern Conference! "
Duane hooked up with Reggie Miller and appeared very close to the media and Pacers fans.
"With your blessing, I'm going to rest, so I won't disturb you to warm up."
Reggie Miller quickly returned to the audience. He is still recovering from his injury and will need a month or two to recover before he can play again.
Because of this, the pressure on Duan tonight was not too great.
The only three stars the Pacers can play are O'Neal Jr., Artest and Warriors Jackson.
Among them, Wu Sheng Jackson is new and has not yet fully integrated into the Pacers.
The next battle can be said to be Du En's battle to clear his name.
McGrady became famous in the playoffs when he singled out three Bucks Musketeers.
Although it is only a preseason game now, if Du En can compete with Lu Bu against the three heroes and rival the Pacers' forward group, his reputation will undoubtedly be further enhanced.
At least in a short period of time, he can take off his hat of the third championship and become the real boss of a strong team.
"This is my ball!"
With Tyson Chandler roaring, the game begins.
With Tyson Chandler's hard work, the Bulls won the first offensive ball. As soon as Duan got the ball and passed halftime, the Pacers' forward group surrounded him.
The Pacers deployed a 131 zone defense, and Artest mainly focused on Duan.
Jamal Tinsley, Wu Sheng Jackson, and Austin Crohill formed an iron chain, constantly trying to step forward and flank Duan, restricting Duan's dribbling speed and passing routes.
Duane could only pass the ball to Ben Gordon, who was not pressed by Jamal Tinsley.
But Wu Sheng Jackson and Austin Crohill both pulled to the three-point line to help defend. They may intercept Ben Gordon's pass at any time, and save Ben Gordon's shot.
However, the Pacers have deployed so many defenses on the outside, and the inside is too empty. Basically, only O'Neal is in charge.
If the Bulls have a master without the ball, it will actually be a very good opportunity to pass and cut.
Duan knew that Ben Gordon's passing ability was a bit poor, and other rookies didn't know how to make quick cuts and score simple points by passing and cutting.
So he directed Ben Gordon to hand over the ball, cut to the basket, and mobilize the Pacers' defense.
At the same time, Diaw and Tyson Chandler were given high-post double coverage, and then the defensive players were taken away.
Facing the Pacers' zone defense, Duen was still prepared to open up the situation with a few singles.
When the Pacers saw Duen using a screen to break through, they naturally switched defenses immediately to delay Duen's breakthrough and prevent Duen from attacking their weaker basket.
However, Dunn used Diaw to block Artest, and facing Austin Crosier, who had just switched defenses, he raised his hand and shot.
The half-open position was also open. Since there was an opportunity to cover the screen, Duen naturally shot without hesitation.
Besides, the Pacers' four players moved to the outside, and their rebounding protection was just that.
The Bulls players are also taller, and they are younger and more energetic. They are not afraid of competing with the Pacers for rebounds.
This time, Du En shot a little hastily and hit a three-pointer.
When the Pacers players shrink to the basket and rush for rebounds, the Pacers' defense becomes chaotic.
Luol Deng grabbed the rebound and immediately rushed to the basket. He found that there were too many people under the basket and it was difficult to take a shot, so he distributed the ball to Duan on the outside.
Artest and Warrior Jackson immediately pounced on Duen, but Duen just feinted, moved, took a step away, and then shot a three-pointer.
brush--
Both times were open three-pointers. If Duan fails to make another shot, it can only be said that Kobe is possessed tonight and his hands are rusty.
Fortunately, Du En is no longer playing for the Lakers, and he is still very lucky now.
3-0, although Duan hit a three-pointer, players on both sides quickly started running.
The Pacers' small and large four, except for Jamal Tinsley, are all forward players between 2 meters and 2 meters 1. The flexibility of this lineup is still very good.
In terms of defensive counterattack, the Pacers' advancement speed is not slow either.
Fortunately, the Bulls focus on small ball this season, and no one is afraid of speed.
The Pacers failed to start a fast break, so they had to stay in position and give the ball to Artest first to see if they could beat Duane alone.
"Damn it, why are you so strong and tall?"
Artest's always invincible back-up blows seemed like he hit a wall when he faced Duen.
Looking up, he found that Du En was actually half a head taller than him.
It’s not like Artest didn’t fight Duen last season, but in Artest’s impression, Duen wasn’t that difficult to deal with, right?
"Growing taller again?" Artest suddenly realized the problem.
It has to be said that Duen, who is now 2.02 meters tall naked, is 2.05 meters tall with shoes, and he can play power forward.
The height advantage not only allows Duen to play from position one to position four, but also increases the defensive range and defensive deterrence on the defensive end.
Duen is inherently powerful and strong in confrontation.
Artest couldn't rely on his physical fitness to defeat Duan, so he could only pass the ball to Warrior Jackson.
"Rookie, let me teach you how to play the ball correctly!"
Wusheng Jackson is also very ambitious. He was a role player championship with the Spurs before. This time he came to the Pacers and wanted to win the third championship.
When encountering lottery picks like Luol Deng and grassroots stars like Wu Sheng who are slowly becoming famous as second-round picks, they have never been convinced and want to bully the lottery picks before they grow up.
When Luol Deng heard that someone was underestimating him, he immediately adopted the attitude of defending Du En.
"Do you have two more brushes?"
Martial Saint Jackson was having a hard time being blocked by Luol Deng, and then he realized that he was in trouble.
Who would have thought that Luo Er Deng, who had been trained by Du En for nearly three months, relied on his physical confrontation, lateral speed and wingspan talents to advance his single defense ability to a level close to that of a defensive formation.
Wu Sheng Jackson is a second-round pick after all, and because he likes boxing, his physical fitness is only slightly better than that of ordinary strikers. At most, he is more flexible in his footsteps and stronger in physical confrontation.
He found that using his body could not give Luol Deng any advantage, so he could only pass the ball out again.
However, Artest and Warrior Jackson successively tried singles, but neither made a move, and a lot of offensive time was wasted.
In order to be able to attack effectively in this round, Jamal Tinsley signaled other teammates to pull away. He was going to throw the ball to O'Neal and let O'Neal complete the single in the low post.
When O'Neal Jr. got the ball, he saw that only Tyson Chandler was guarding him, and he was a little unhappy at first.
"I have so much space and no one double-teams me? Are you looking down on me?"
After all, O'Neal ranked third in the regular season MVP last season. Taking the ball in the low post and being double-teamed is the most basic treatment, right?
O'Neal Jr. is used to taking action after being double-teamed, but now that no one is double-teaming him, he is a little uncomfortable with it.
However, after hitting Tyson Chandler from behind, I realized that he was invincible.
In order not to waste the offensive opportunity, O'Neal decisively turned around and slipped to the bottom of the basket. After deceiving Tyson Chandler to the basket, he pulled back at the emergency stop and shot a fadeaway jumper.
Tyson Chandler is indeed inexperienced and was played in the mid-range by O'Neal Jr.
However, after the basketball fell into the net, Tyson Chandler immediately took the ball and slipped out of the baseline and passed long into the frontcourt.
Because there were many people around Duan, Tyson Chandler passed the ball to Diaw. Although the pass was average, he still caught it.
After getting the ball, Diaw took the ball directly to the basket without hesitation.
The Pacers don't know that Diaw is used to rushing to the basket to attract defenses and create offensive opportunities for his teammates.
Normally when you see someone rushing to the basket, it must be the blue sky.
Ever since, after the defense was mobilized, Diaw passed the ball to Duan, who had only Artest in front of him.
Duen turned around with his back and passed Artest directly.
Then he rushed to the basket and completed a dunk in the defense of Wu Sheng Jackson and Austin Crohill.
Duan hit the ball very hard, but the Pacers players were not intimidated.
The Pacers immediately grabbed the baseline ball and counterattacked, but the Bulls were still able to quickly defend.
Once the Bulls got into position, Carlisle's flow offense couldn't get going.
Flow offense, literally translated as smooth offense, mainly refers to people who move the ball and are more confident in passing the ball.
In fact, it is a variant of the Princeton system, but the Flow offense pays more attention to movement and rhythm, so it is particularly effective in defensive counterattacks.
Carlisle himself is good at building a defensive system. Nearly half of the Pacers' scores rely on Flow offense and defensive counterattacks.
However, once a team can match their rhythm and have sufficient defensive resources inside and outside, the Flow offense will be difficult to work and will eventually have to turn into a situation where the stars take turns playing in isolation.
It can be regarded as a blind cat meeting a dead mouse. The Bulls' overall defense is not good, but their individual defense is okay.
When the Pacers play positional battles, they mainly rely on O'Neal and Artest to score points. The new martial artist Jackson is not qualified.
As Artest was restricted by Duane, the number of shots was forced to decrease, and the Pacers could only hand over the offensive responsibility to O'Neal.
Josh Smith saw that Tyson Chandler couldn't keep up with O'Neal, so he took the initiative to help defend and help Tyson Chandler share some of the defensive pressure.
Although O'Neal Jr. got his wish and was double-teamed, his offensive efficiency will inevitably decline.
When the situation in the first three quarters of the game was very different, Carlisle usually chose to trust the players and would not call timeout at will.
This also gives the Bulls the opportunity to gradually widen the point difference. It is also a defensive counterattack. The Bulls know better how to play team basketball.
And Du En will also take the lead in the charge, fully demonstrating his athletic talent in sports battles.
Seeing Duen flying on the field and escaping to the ground, Reggie Miller was a little embarrassed to say that Duen was his successor.
28 to 24, led by Duan's 13 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists in a single quarter, the Bulls led the Pacers by 4 points in the first quarter.
Reggie Miller thought this was Duane's limit, but he didn't expect something even more beastly was to come.
After the start of the second quarter, Duan continued to start.
Because he consumed a lot of energy in the first quarter, Duen no longer held the ball, but ran low to help open up space.
Pacers fans also basically believe that Duan will only smoke in the bottom corner in the first half of the second quarter.
Who would have thought that Chris Duhon would lob the ball to Duan in the low post as soon as he came up.
"Is there any mistake? You want to fight me alone? Farke, are you serious?"
Artest is a little unbelievable. Duan runs in the low post not to rest, but to get closer to the basket in the low post and score more efficiently in singles.
Realizing that he had been underestimated by Duen, Artest also used all his strength.
However, Du En relied solely on strength and used only an iron mountain support to knock away his center of gravity.
More importantly, Du En's body did not sway or lose the ball in his hand, but he naturally connected the movements of dribbling under the crotch and turning with his back.
By the time Artest controlled his center of gravity and was about to chase Duen, Duen had already shaken him off and headed toward the basket.
O'Neal's ability to help defend is very good. When Duen turned around to break through, O'Neal was already in action.
The problem is, Duen's drive to the basket isn't just for attacking the basket.
As Duan combined a sudden pass and shot under the basket, he used a fake move to send O'Neal flying. Duan caught up with Artest before he retreated to the basket and created a two-plus-one for O'Neal.
Seeing Duan hit a layup, O'Neal could only subconsciously wipe the sweat from his head.
Because of his good defensive awareness, O'Neal felt that there was someone behind him before he took off.
In O'Neal's view, if he didn't jump to block the shot, Duan would definitely throw the ball into the sky, and then Tyson Chandler would dunk him from behind.
So even if he pays a foul and lets Duan stand on the free throw line, it is still worth it.
Who knew that Du En would have the ability to score the ball after a physical confrontation with him.
"I'm a 6-foot-11 (2.11), 265-pound (240-pound) big man!"
O'Neal Jr. instinctively felt that as Duan was a swingman, it was impossible for him to gain a little weight during the offseason. The inside players who played the center were competing for strength and confrontation.
Who knew that Duen could not only run, jump, pass and shoot, but also had such excellent core strength and body control.
And Reggie Miller off the court also started to curse: "Farke, how can you be like that old gangster and even be able to easily score against an inside player like Jermaine?"
(End of chapter)
