Li Kaiming's two consecutive passes surprised Bulls coach Thibodeau.
The defensive formation he created can deal with almost all kinds of players, but he did not consider the inside players who can pass the ball.
Because throughout the ages, those who can reach double figures in assists have basically been outsiders, especially point guards. Insiders have a shorter time to touch the ball, and the attack area is closer to the basket, making it easier for the opponent to defend them.
Basketball emperor Wilt Chamberlain won the assists title in one season, but his assists title was meaningless because he controlled his desire to take shots as much as possible that season, and then desperately passed the ball to his teammates.
People say that this assist king is a brush.
Or, in addition to the factors of his superior physical talent, many of Chamberlain's records are also largely due to the fact that he himself is very keen on brushing up data.
He prides himself on all kinds of eye-popping statistics.
One of Chamberlain's most famous photos is that in the regular season against the New York Knicks on March 2, 1962, after he scored 100 points on 36 of 63 shots and 28 of 32 free throws, he faced the media holding a piece of paper that said: A blank sheet of 100 was left behind, leaving a precious moment in NBA history.
Looking back now, whether it is 63 shots or 32 free throws, it is almost impossible to happen in modern basketball.
In recent years, NBA teams have only taken 80 or 90 shots in a game. If a core player can take more than 20 shots, it is considered a bit of a scam.
And the insiders almost always rely on the outside to pass the ball to them. Almost no insider can take the ball and start an offense by themselves, let alone pass the ball to drive teammates.
So far, the best passing center in NBA history should be Arvydas Sabonis from Europe. Even so, his average assists per game do not exceed 5.
Former Wolf King Kevin Garnett averaged 20+5+5 per game for several seasons, so he is also called the most versatile player at the power forward position by the media.
But Tom Thibodeau knows that even if the Bulls face Chamberlain, Sabonis and Garnett today, they will not be able to pass such exquisite passes.
At best, these people can only achieve the goal of not being afraid of being double-teamed by two people, but Li Kaiming has reached a new level. He is eager for you to double-team him, so that he can always find teammates who are in the open space, and then directly attack them in a wave. Take you away!
When he discovered that the Wizards' newly selected No. 1 pick showed him such a trick, he immediately asked the players on the court to change their defensive strategies.
Local flank attack, prevent the ball, and quickly return to defense.
The Bulls' offense ended with Derrick Rose's floater. Arenas tried his best to interfere this time and finally let Rose's shot miss the basket.
Li Kaiming got the rebound, and Al Thornton and Nick Young on the outside began to run crazily towards the frontcourt. With Li Kaiming, the Wizards' fast break rhythm has accelerated a lot, and they can even get backcourt rebounds to start a fast break!
Seeing Al Thornton running in front of Rohr, Li Kaiming made a long pass, leading the ball, and it happened to be one step ahead of Thornton.
When Luol Deng saw something bad, he immediately prepared to step forward and foul, but Thornton actually gritted his teeth and accelerated again, and then took three steps before Luol Deng could pull him!
beep!
The referee blew the whistle and Luol Deng committed a shooting foul.
Thornton, who lost his balance, reluctantly threw the ball to the basket, but not everyone is Li Kaiming and can hit such a ball.
In the end, he could only stand on the free throw line.
Two free throws were made, 6 to 7, and the Wizards took the lead!
Upon seeing this, Thibodeau immediately applied for a timeout. The strategy of defending Li Kaiming must be explained to the players. The Bulls players have never seen Li Kaiming's type, so it is normal to be a little confused for a while.
Thibodeau was also confused. Where did this freak come from?
After the timeout passed, and after Thibodeau's guidance, the Bulls players reacted.
You need to defend the No. 0 on the opposite side like the boss of the team!
The first attack after the timeout ended with Rose's close throw.
It has to be said that Rose's breakthrough was really difficult to defend, and Arenas was a little overwhelmed.
The Wizards served, Arenas received a screen from Blatche and faced Noah, then passed the latter with a double change, and hit Zheng Zheng for a layup before the Bulls could cover up.
If he didn't hit another one, the fans would have thought that Arenas had fallen off a cliff!
The point difference was still 1 point after another round. The Bulls attacked. Luol Deng singled out Al Thornton in the mid-range, and turned over and hit Zheng Zheng for a jumper.
Li Kaiming got ready to catch the ball inside, but Gibson started to defend forward and prevent him from catching the ball. Noah and Luol Deng in the corner were also ready to make a move. As long as Arenas passed the ball, they would directly pinch Li Kaiming. die!
In this situation, if you force the ball to pass, there is a high probability that it will be intercepted by the opponent. However, Li Kaiming does not only work in the penalty area. He immediately ran to a position close to the three-point line.
Although Gibson also followed, he didn't go around anymore. He just had a wary look in his eyes and loudly reminded Rose to use the pick-and-roll.
But Li Kaiming didn't come here to pick and roll. He opened his hand, took the ball from Arenas, looked at Gibson who was leaning down to prevent him from breaking through, smiled slightly, and then shot directly from mid-range!
Gibson did not expect that this guy would shoot from the mid-range, because after the opening, Li Kaiming almost never left the penalty area on the offensive end, so he naturally thought that this guy did not shoot, so he subconsciously took a step away.
It was too late to defend now, so he could only look back and watch the basketball fly into the basket.
Li Kaiming's shooting posture is very standard, and his hand shape is also very good-looking, so the ball cannot be blinded!
After seeing this scene, Tom Thibodeau was also a little dumbfounded!
It's not easy to defend now. We can't start to defend from the three-point line!
Moreover, this area is too big and far away from the basket, so it cannot be covered at all.
Facing the basket, Li Kaiming can find an open teammate at any time. This is like putting Thibodeau on the fire!
If a rookie breaks through the defense, where will Thibodeau's reputation as a defensive coach go?
But the question is, will Li Kaiming give him this face?
…
Ever since Li Kaiming showed his mid-range shooting skills, the Bulls players on the field were directly helpless.
Therefore, the final way to defend Li Kaiming was to return to the classic man-to-man marking, allowing Li Kaiming to single out Gibson to prevent him from driving his teammates.
Thibodeau was also feeling miserable. Who knew he would encounter a freak like Li Kaiming in a preseason game.
So now he can only comfort himself in his heart. Americans believe that the source of basketball defensive strategy is one-on-one defense.
Are you on guard? If guard against...
Now that Thibodeau has used the ultimate defensive secret, it's okay if Li Kaiming doesn't respond. He still has to give him the face he deserves.
Otherwise, others would think he is on the same level as Taj Gibson!
So, in the next ten minutes, Li Kaiming completely transformed into a stick-up singles devil, combining throws, passes and sudden attacks, making Gibson miserable!
Before the game, Gibson thought he could teach the new No. 1 pick a lesson. Unexpectedly, on the court, the hunter turned into the prey, and he was beaten stupidly by Li Kaiming...
At halftime, the Wizards led the Bulls by 6 points 56-50.
Li Kaiming played 15 minutes and scored 16 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists on 7-of-10 shooting. This half-time data was better than most players' full-time data.
Arenas' three-point touch was relatively poor tonight, but he chose to attack the basket more when the three-point difference was poor.
Noah's frame protection is very strong, so Arenas' efficiency can only be average. He scored 8 points and 2 assists in 13 minutes in the half.
Nick Young had a good three-point touch and scored 9 points with 3 three-pointers in the half.
As expected, Rose scored the highest score of the Bulls with 15 points and 3 assists. Gibson was beaten dizzy by Li Kaiming and only scored 2 points in the half. He got it by stealing the chicken under the basket after Li Kaiming came off the court.
Noah's scoring ability is not good, he scored 5 points in the half, but he got 8 rebounds, which was the same as Li Kaiming, which shows his strong defensive ability.
