Min Congda rarely comes to the Clippers locker room during halftime to understand the situation.
Either he didn't care about winning or losing in the past, and I don't care how you arrange it.
Either the Clippers are now stronger, leading at halftime in most games, and can defeat their opponents in the third quarter.
The Clippers players and coaches themselves know how to adjust the midfield.
In most NBA games, except for key games in the playoffs and finals, the first half is usually used for warm-up.
The players need some shots, some running, and finding their groove, especially the pitchers.
Therefore, it often happens that the first half is difficult to separate, the third quarter establishes the advantage, and the fourth quarter takes away the situation.
The stronger the team, the more they will grasp the difference in physical fitness, tactics, and shot distribution between the first and second halves, adjust the game state, and win in one fell swoop.
It's like running a long-distance race. In theory, if I sprint hard at the beginning and jog slowly at the end, the finishing time can be the same as if I jog slowly at the beginning and sprint hard at the end.
But the actual situation is that unless the strength is two levels higher than the opponent, no one will be stupid enough to sprint from the beginning, because people are not machines. People need to warm up, need to be in shape, and need to use strategies while running at a constant speed to keep up with the opponent. , reserve physical strength and decide the outcome at the last moment.
As a team that has won two championships, the Clippers have absolutely no problem with this kind of game rhythm and feeling, but tonight the Thunder did not follow the routine, and the Clippers' response was not very good.
The Thunder relied on their physical strength to rush forward. The Clippers were a little unprepared and did not respond well. They became more and more chaotic while keeping up with the rhythm, and fell into a disadvantageous situation.
When everyone saw Min Congda coming to the locker room, they knew that Mr. Smart must be dissatisfied with everyone's performance.
This year's Mr. Smart is obviously different from the past. In the past, he didn't care about the team's victory or defeat. He was encouraged when he lost, but made a bad face when he won.
Perhaps the temptation to win three consecutive championships this year is too great, and Mr. Smart has become more interested in winning. He often participates in the team's decision-making, giving advice and making suggestions.
But every time what he said was right, his strategies and tactics were always on point, but it was a little difficult to execute them perfectly.
If it weren't for a team like the Clippers, where everyone is at a high level and has strong cohesion, many of Min Congda's strategies would not be able to be implemented.
Of course, since Mr. Smart started participating in AAU amateur competitions, his energy may have been affected, and his gesticulation has decreased significantly.
Occasionally he made a few suggestions, but they were all directional and rarely made detailed arrangements. He was willing to believe in the players' ability to solve problems on the court.
Tonight against the Thunder, the team was missing Harden, missing a corner on the offensive end, and struggled a bit.
Mike Malone was distracted in the first half and did not arrange the defense properly, which resulted in the team falling behind and being suppressed from behind.
Malone wanted to make up for it in the midfield, writing on the whiteboard and demanding changes in the team's defensive strategy. At the beginning of the third quarter, he used a pressing defense to steal the ball.
This kind of change is very common in NBA games. The so-called making up for the situation is to heal the headache and heal the pain. I didn't defend well in the first half, but I improved in the second half.
If the strategy didn't work in the first half, I would change my strategy in the second half, or if I couldn't do anything tactically, I would focus on intensity.
These can be regarded as some of the old prescriptions of NBA coaches. Regardless of whether this prescription is old or not, people have always used it, which shows that it is effective.
The Clippers players increased their defensive intensity, concentrated their attention, and suppressed the Thunder's offense. This is the right direction.
But Min Congda is not too satisfied with Mike Malone's adjustment method. The defensive adjustment is still passive, and the offensive attack is the king.
So he interrupted and said: "Mike, instead of strengthening defense, I think it is better to do more on offense. We are already passive in the situation. If we emphasize defense, we will only fall into deeper passivity. We still have two quarters and 24 minutes to compete with our opponents. Can you maintain high-intensity man-to-man and double-team defense for 24 minutes?"
"able."
"..."
The Clippers players almost said in unison, because they really can.
The physical condition of several main players, plus the substitutes, is at its peak. This is the time when the young man is not too tired.
What's so great about high-intensity defense in the half, gritting one's teeth and high-intensity for 48 minutes in a game is not a problem.
The scene was awkward for a while, and Mike Malone hurriedly came out to smooth things over, saying: "Uh... I think strengthening the offense is indeed the key to turning the situation around. We have to be more efficient in 24 minutes. I think, uh... uh... we need to Make good use of mismatches and use small ones to attack big ones to solve problems. Maybe we can try a smaller lineup. Do you think it’s Tyrannosaurus?"
Malone was thinking about that article today. He suddenly thought of the essence of the article, which was about the small-to-big game after dislocation in tactics.
NBA offensive tactics have developed to this day, and the ultimate purpose of tactical routines is to create a good scoring environment for players.
The most perfect tactical result is naturally open space. Among them, the big open space under the basket is the best and the most difficult to appear.
The presence of vacancies in mid-range and three-pointers is also a good tactical result, and the players' shooting percentage will be much higher.
But as NBA players get taller and faster, and the attack time becomes more and more compressed, it becomes more and more difficult to get open through tactics.
So sometimes, if a player can get a chance to take a shot, this tactical routine is considered successful. Whether or not he can make a shot depends on the player's personal ability.
Later, some tactics no longer pursued openings, but pursued opportunities for players to get one-on-one duels. After all, for some strong players, one-on-ones are equivalent to openings.
For example, the famous triangle offense is one of the leaders. Now the triangle offense has been integrated into most tactical systems and has become the basic routine framework.
There is another category that goes one step further on the basis of one-on-one singles, and that is to create mismatches. For example, through confusing movements and continuous screens, the small guard has to defend the center.
In this case, the center is definitely sure to score goals easily, and the tactical results are also very good, which is relatively perfect.
If you can get mismatches every time you attack, then the offensive efficiency can be said to be very high. This can be said to be the optimal solution for offense in the current NBA situation.
And the mismatch is not just about big vs. small, it is the mismatch in the past when the inside was king. In the current league, with the cancellation of handcheck, the walking rules have been relaxed, and the players' shooting ability has been greatly enhanced. Small vs. big is also a kind of mismatch. This is Greatly enriched the extension of dislocation.
The most basic tactical coordination such as the pick-and-roll is essentially to create mismatches, allowing the small man to use his speed to overtake the big man, or for the big man to face the small man after getting the ball.
In addition, the space on the court is becoming larger and larger, the positions are becoming blurred, and the offensive and defensive speeds are getting faster. An inadvertent change may cause problems in the defensive matchup.
Like in the past when the positions were relatively dense and misaligned, the two people could quickly swap defensive positions and return to the correct matchup.
Now that the space is so open and the ball holder's shooting ability is so strong, once the position is misaligned, you can only make mistakes. Small defense will be big, big defense will be small. Let it be fate and leave it to the players' personal abilities.
This is an absolute benefit for a team with strong personal abilities and strong shooting ability. If they can make good use of this current characteristic and constantly create mismatch opportunities, the offensive efficiency will become quite terrifying.
Of course, in order to complete this system, a lot of training is required. Players must be familiar with various small coordination skills, develop good tacit understanding, and have outstanding personal abilities.
The more Mike Malone thinks about it, the more excited he becomes. If the Clippers' lineup can add the "infinite dislocation" offensive effect mentioned in this article, the result will be wonderful.
This tactical system is an "indiscriminate attack", and the opponent can only target it based on the lineup and personal ability. In other words, you must have strong individual defense capabilities, large defense and small defense capabilities, and small defense capabilities at each position in order to deal with it. With the "infinite misalignment" approach, otherwise the software will not be able to resist with just some tactical targeting, and it can only be defeated by the hardware.
Looking at the league, is there any team that can handle infinite mismatches like this?
There is only one, and that is the Clippers themselves.
Precisely because he thought too much and too deeply, Mike Malone was absent-minded and left behind the work of command and adjustment.
And Mike Malone's words just hit Min Congda's heart. He hopes that the Clippers players can make good use of mismatches.
So after hearing Malone's words, Tyronn Lue was still in a daze. What do you mean? Why can't I understand?
Min Congda responded: "I think Mike is right. His idea is very good. However, it may be difficult to execute in a game. Everyone plays slowly and tries their best. After all, winning this game is not our ultimate goal. , champions, and more champions.”
Tyronn Lue reacted now and said hurriedly: "Yes, I think so too."
Everyone looked at Director Lu, thinking that you know what we are talking about, so you are right.
But it doesn't matter. From player to coach, Tyronn Lue has never been regarded as the real head coach, but as the team leader and a good partner.
Not to mention, this kind of "virtual king" head coaching system is really quite stable. Tyronn Lue's coaching position will be extremely stable for a long time to come.
He is equivalent to the emperor among coaches. He has little power and little ability, but he has a strong spiritual role. There is a shogun below to help him take care of things. If the team's performance is not good or it needs to change direction, there is no need to change the head coach and replace the shogun. -Just change the first assistant coach.
This ensures that the overall atmosphere of the Clippers is stable. In theory, the manager with the highest power is always the same person, and the assistant coach who performs specific tasks can be changed, but it will not affect the team's style.
At the end of the intermission, the regrouped Clippers players returned to the court.
The Thunder fans at the scene were quite crazy. The Thunder vowed to win this game tonight.
Brooks asked the players to work hard and not slack off just because they had an advantage in the first half.
In the third quarter, they must continue to maintain a high-impact offense and maintain their advantage to the end.
The Clippers' powerful Thunder players know it in their hearts and are full of tenacity. They must not take it lightly until the last minute.
As soon as the third quarter started, Durant held the ball and continuously hit the basket, attacking Gasol, with the intention of further expanding the lead.
This season, Durant is trying to make himself more comprehensive, like LeBron James, doing everything on the offensive end and getting data from all directions.
His assists per game have risen to a career-high 5.5, and he wants to make himself a great, all-around star.
But Durant didn't know that what he did was just letting him live in James' shadow.
Durant is Durant, and James is James. He can definitely walk his own legendary path, but because he stared at James' back for too long and followed James too closely, he derailed his own path.
His so-called assists are not because of his strong organizational skills, but because his offense is too strong. After attracting the defense, some openings will naturally leak out, and passing the ball to his teammates will naturally form an assist.
His unparalleled offense has always been his greatest weapon. To pursue omnipotence is undoubtedly to sacrifice the good for the weak.
But Durant didn't think too much tonight. He just wanted to win and win a game against Curry.
He scored 33 points in the first half and 21 points in a single quarter. With this performance, the whole game was undoubtedly aiming for 50 points.
Durant scored consecutively, but on the Clippers' side, Curry counterattacked and hit a three-pointer. Then Gasol received the ball in the low post and cooperated with Leonard hand-in-hand to cover Leonard.
Leonard came around, and Perkins had to follow the ball, otherwise no one in front of Leonard would shoot it directly.
As a result, when Perkins came, Leonard still shot directly. With Perkins' speed, you couldn't interfere with me at all.
A 45-degree mid-range jump shot was hit. Perkins tried his best to block the shot, but it didn't reach it.
Westbrook's CPU was burning, so Durant rushed towards him, but he rushed to the basket and was interfered with for a layup.
Curry hit another three-pointer in the counterattack. With consecutive three-pointers, the Clippers closed the point difference to 4 points.
Brooks called a timeout.
The offense and defense of both sides gradually entered a tug-of-war in the third quarter.
The Clippers' defense gradually tightened, and their offensive efficiency gradually increased.
The Thunder are in hot form tonight, and Durant is going for 50 points.
However, the Thunder always held down the Clippers and maintained a lead of about 4 to 5 points.
At the end of the third quarter, the Thunder were 99:94, leading the Clippers by 5 points. The scores on both sides reached an exaggerated level.
Durant scored 11 points in the third quarter and before the start of the fourth quarter, he had already scored 44 points.
If it were an ordinary team, facing the firepower of the Thunder and Durant, it would definitely be settled in three quarters.
But Curry used 30 points in three quarters, coupled with the performance of his teammates, to withstand the Thunder's hot state tonight and still maintain a single-digit point difference.
When the game started in the fourth quarter and entered the final sprint, the Thunder's offensive efficiency finally began to decline, and the players' physical fitness was somewhat unable to withstand it.
However, the Clippers did not take the lead. Without Harden, the Clippers' substitute offense lacked a sharp knife, and the Clippers' pursuit of points was very slow.
The competition between the offensive and defensive sides reached a fever pitch. In order to compete for the ball, both sides tried their best to fly out of the baseline, rush out of the sideline, and fall to the ground to fight for the ball.
The scoring speed of both sides has slowed down, but the Clippers can always seize the opportunity to score the ball in one or two position battles.
In this way, the Clippers bit back the score little by little. With 40 seconds left before the end of the game, the Clippers were 115:113, 2 points behind the Thunder.
At this time, the ball is in the hands of the Clippers, and Curry has the ball. He has the opportunity to launch a fatal blow and completely reverse the situation of the game.
But his three-pointer after a single block did not hit, but George grabbed an offensive rebound and the Clippers still had a chance.
As a result, three Thunder players surrounded the ball, the ball hit the ground, and several people scrambled together. Durant got the ball in the chaos, and the Thunder counterattacked!
If this goal is scored, the Thunder will have a chance to win. Durant passes a long pass to Westbrook who is rushing at the front.
Westbrook caught the ball and turned around, one step away from the basket, but he chose a layup and was blocked by a big block from Leonard who rushed up from behind!
Westbrook, who had been dunking tonight, chose a layup for some reason at the critical moment, giving Leonard a chance to cover and block the shot.
Curry followed up from behind, retrieved the ball before it flew out of the baseline, and passed it back to Gasol who followed up.
At the critical moment, Gasol controlled the ball for half the court, completely opening up the space. The Clippers did not call a timeout, but left the game to the players to decide.
Curry came over to catch the ball, Gasol took the screen hand-to-hand, the Thunder switched defenses, Ibaka faced Curry, Leonard came over to cover again, and then switched defenses.
In this case, the Thunder chose to switch defense resolutely, not giving Curry a chance to get inside. If you have the ability, you can shoot a three-pointer, but Curry's three-pointer is not accurate at the critical moment!
At this time, Curry is facing Durant, who is mismatched in defense. This is a Cavaliers showdown between the two tonight, which will determine the final outcome of the game.
The entire audience stood up. This was the time to test the players' personal abilities. Curry stood near the center circle and dribbled the ball. Durant stretched far away, spreading his long arms, like a spider waiting for prey to enter his body. in the net.
However, Curry did not move towards the cobweb, did not try to break through the cobweb, but suddenly took a shot three steps away from the three-point line!
A super long-distance three-pointer, the ball pierced the sky, struck suddenly, made a very high arc, and then accurately hit the center of the basket!
Durant didn't even have time to open his hand because he didn't expect Curry to suddenly take action from this distance.
The ball went in, the three-pointer was hit, and the Clippers took the lead 115:116!
Only 1.2 seconds were left for the Thunder to make a final attempt to make a miracle happen.
Curry opened his arms and asked for warm silence from the 20,000 spectators.
(End of chapter)
