Min Congda gave a brief instruction during the timeout, asking the players to continue to stick to the style of play just now.
“Tonight, we were an interior team.”
This is what Min Congda said to the players in the locker room before the game started.
As a head coach, Min Congda's style is different from other coaches. He is a competition-oriented coach.
The preparation work is meticulous and highly targeted, and of course the corresponding requirements for players' obedience and tacit understanding are also very high.
The current Clippers just meet his requirements, with good obedience, strong personal ability, and a high degree of tacit understanding.
Players can be used as chess pieces on the court, resolutely carrying out the coach's tactical intentions, and less likely to have their own ideas and choices.
Of course, when necessary, Min Congda will give the players enough autonomy to decide the game.
However, the first quarter is when the tone is set for the entire game. Min Congda asked the players to launch attacks strictly in accordance with the requirements.
The biggest problem with the Warriors' lineup tonight is the lack of Kevin Durant. Durant's absence not only deprives the Warriors of their top scoring point, but also deforms the Warriors' tactical formation.
Originally, they had three strong shooting points on the outside, Durant, Thompson, and Lillard. Facing such a firepower group on the outside, the Clippers must expand their defensive formation enough to give enough defensive attention.
With Durant absent, Cole chose to start Green and let James return to No. 3. In fact, with one senior and four juniors, the Clippers had an advantage in the paint.
Min Congda picked up the twin-tower tactic that had been eliminated long ago. A stationary low-post versatile player, paired with a flexible and tall attacker facing the basket, jointly attacked the Warriors' inside line.
At the same time, on the defensive end, the Clippers resolutely contracted. Min Congda asked Anthony Davis to "desperately pursue and defend" and asked him to focus 80% on protecting the basket inside.
In just a few minutes of the first quarter, Anthony Davis had already blocked two shots and successfully established a no-fly zone in the three-second zone.
As for the breakthroughs and three-pointers of James and Green on the outside, it's up to them. Whether they make it or not depends on God's will.
If Durant were here tonight, the Clippers would never dare to defend like this. Even for half a quarter, the Clippers would have to use one senior and four juniors.
Min Congda knew that Durant was absent, so he formulated such a strategy very specifically. If they meet in the playoffs and Durant returns, Min Congda will definitely have new ways to deal with it in his tactical manual.
In terms of team management, Min Congda manages by doing nothing, but at the specific tactical level, Min Congda has always been proactive.
Especially when the Clippers no longer have an absolute advantage in lineup and hard power, tactical positivity is very necessary.
After the timeout, the players from both sides returned to the court. Lillard held the ball, and James came to pick and roll Lillard - this was a scene that rarely appeared in the past 10 years.
James actually set a pick-and-roll for his teammates? It's incredible.
But this season, James providing screens for defenders in pick-and-rolls has become part of the Warriors' tactics.
Facing the Warriors' pick-and-roll, the Clippers switched defenses. Leonard pressed Lillard, and Lillard immediately distributed the ball to James.
James received the ball and directly hit the Clippers inside with the ball!
Facing Gasol's defense, James rushed for a layup and caused Gasol's foul.
James goes to the free throw line.
Min Congda complained to the referee on the sidelines: "It's time to walk! It's time to walk! You've already walked from Baicao Garden to Sanwei Bookstore, and you still have to call a defensive foul. Mark didn't press down either!"
Although he returned to the head coaching position after a few years, Min Congda has never failed in the business of complaining and spitting with referees and is very skilled.
Anyway, Min Congda didn't see clearly whether James was walking or not. He didn't care, he just yelled a few words to interfere with the referee.
In this way, the next time James really walks, the referee will also think, let's blow it, otherwise Smart will complain again, and I don't want to be bothered by him.
This is a common psychological tactic that puts pressure on the referee and allows the referee to make some decisions that are beneficial to him at critical moments.
In high-level confrontation, sometimes a foul call can change the trend of the entire game.
Min Congda, who has fully stepped into the role of coach, fights for the team's victory in every detail.
James made two free throws. These two points are very important to the Warriors.
The Clippers' strategy is still to focus on the inside. This time the ball was handed to Anthony Davis in the low post, allowing Davis to attack Green with his back.
However, it is not a good choice for Davis to play Green with his back. Even though Green is not tall, his defensive ability in the low post is not bad. He is very stable in the lower plate and has excellent defensive skills.
He knew he couldn't reach Davis, so he pushed the ball with all his strength, making it difficult for Davis to turn around and miss his shot.
James grabbed the backboard and launched a counterattack. Thompson received the pass from James, faked a move, broke through with the ball, and made a pull-up jump shot!
The quick counterattacks of both sides were very crisp and clean. They took action when they should take action, without any ambiguity, and their shots were very hard.
The Clippers are still in the low post. This time, Gasol receives the ball and then passes it to Leonard in the low post. Leonard backs up James.
James can easily pass the ball and transfer it to Harden. Harden breaks through and distributes the ball to Davis, who then distributes the ball to Curry on the outside.
Curry caught the ball and hit a three-pointer!
The Clippers' positional battle is so classic that it makes fans think they are dreaming back to 2002. This inside-out game is played one after another. Are you the Clippers or the Spurs?
Cole slowly came to his senses and understood Min Congda's intention, which was to use the inside advantage to overwhelm the Warriors and use the low post and offensive rebounds to break through the Warriors' defense.
Do the warriors dare to shrink? I don’t dare. If Harden and Curry are on the outside, you will shrink a lot. Isn’t it fatal?
Is this new? It's not new at all, it can even be said to be an old antique in tactics and strategy.
But it's such an old antique that other teams can't use. First, they don't have the resources. Looking at the league now, who has such insider resources?
Second, most teams, including the previous Clippers versus Warriors, will be quickly brought into their rhythm by the Warriors.
This year's Warriors regular season is indeed historically strong, and their record is aiming for 70 wins.
However, the Clippers did not enter the Warriors' rhythm at the start tonight, but quickly seized the advantage.
One of the key tactical points is that the Clippers chose to let Leonard control the ball for half the court, and let Curry and Harden, the two greatest three-point threats, play off the ball from the outside.
This resulted in the Warriors having to allocate a considerable portion of their defensive energy to the weak side, resulting in some tight defensive resources on the strong side.
How dare you let go of two ball-handling three-pointers on the weak side? Relax a little and Curry will make a three-pointer.
Curry's three-point touch was very good tonight. Every time he goes to Oracle Arena, he is in excellent condition.
At this time, the Warriors gradually smoothed up their offense, and the power of pass-and-cut tactics gradually emerged.
James received Green's pass, cut to the basket again, avoided Anthony Davis' block, and succeeded in a left-hand layup.
Although James is criticized for his rough and monotonous skills, his finishing ability at the basket is really strong. His layup after catching the ball is extremely soft and sure. Whether he is rebounding or licking the basket, he is always sure.
So Cole has long decided that it would be a pity for a player like James not to be a pick-and-roll pie-eater.
Previously, he combined all his layup talents with tank thrusts. Although this move is very powerful, it consumes a lot of physical energy and should be reserved for critical moments.
In regular time, James did a very good job in cutting through air and catching the ball after running back to attack the basket.
In fact, it is not impossible if there are smart coaches from the beginning to train James in the direction of an all-round version of Karl Malone.
Min Congda is very relieved to see that James is now playing more diverse games. He has always believed that James is a very malleable player.
With his body, talent, and mind, if he devotes himself wholeheartedly to basketball, he can become Duncan at the small forward position. In 2011 and 2012, he will have an excellent opportunity to lead the team to win the championship and achieve glory.
Unfortunately, he was swayed by capital too early, and his skills, tactics, and playing style became much narrower, limiting the full potential of his abilities.
Although the NBA is a heavily commercialized league, it is also true that the level of competition is extremely high. When experts compete with each other, sometimes it is just the slightest difference that makes the difference.
The two sides entered a tug-of-war between offense and defense. The Clippers adhered to the twin-tower style of play, passing low, inside and outside, rushing for offensive rebounds, and firmly suppressed the Warriors.
As for the Warriors, they haven't thought of a good solution on the defensive end. On the offensive end, James has repeatedly attacked the interior, going head-to-head with the Clippers, trying to knock down Gasol and Anthony Davis.
But what's the use of beating one down?
In the first quarter, personnel rotation began, and Min Congda replaced Zach Randolph.
Randolph paired up with Anthony Davis and continued to work hard in the low post to grab offensive rebounds.
The Warriors are in a big dilemma on the defensive end: Curry and Harden have widened the space, and Thompson, Lillard, and Green have to mark people near the three-point line, resulting in a decrease in backcourt rebound protection capabilities.
After missing several backcourt rebounds in succession, once the perimeter players got stuck in early to grab rebounds, the perimeter was left empty.
Harden seized the opportunity to receive the pass and hit another three-pointer from the outside. The Clippers made 4 of 7 three-pointers in the first quarter, which made Cole feel numb.
If it were another team, the first quarter would have collapsed, but the Warriors relied on the strong personal abilities of their players to score three magic goals after tactical failures and cling to the score.
At the end of the first quarter, the Clippers led the Warriors by 8 points 39:31. The nearly 40-point first quarter score was enough to show the ferocious firepower of the Clippers.
In the strategic confrontation in the first quarter, Cole failed to catch Min Congda's move. Durant's absence was an important reason, but don't forget that Paul George was also sitting on the Clippers bench.
And George will not appear until the playoffs, and the Clippers will always be missing one general.
During the break, Cole's mentality had stabilized and he began to deploy his troops and replaced Speights to deal with the Clippers' double inside line.
Speights is physically strong and can hit the inside. At the same time, he has a very good outside shot and can throw three-pointers. He is a very important inside substitute for the Warriors this year.
After he comes on the court, he can increase the Warriors' inside height and defense, and at the same time pull out Davis as much as possible during the offense.
Davis protects the basket wholeheartedly in the paint, which still gives the Warriors a headache.
However, Min Congda seemed to expect that the Warriors would use Speights, so at the beginning of the second quarter, the Clippers did not continue their twin tower strategy.
Instead, Anthony Davis was used as a single inside center, and PJ Tucker was replaced at the fourth position, creating a small lineup with one senior and four juniors.
Before the start of the second quarter, Min Congda pulled Davis and said to him: "Guard the basket, don't chase and defend, don't defend the big and the small. You have only one task tonight, which is to guard the basket for three seconds." Zone, backcourt rebounds, and other things on defense have nothing to do with you. Even if Stephen is going to be beaten to death, you don't have to worry about it."
Min Congda specifically emphasized this point, because the Warriors often used Curry to attack this point in their offense, and Anthony Davis, as an important defensive point in the system, would wipe Curry's butt.
But tonight, Min Congda repeatedly emphasized before and during the game not to take care of Curry. Protecting the basket is the only thing he has to do.
Anthony Davis nodded, as he had done since the first quarter, focusing on the basket and leaving the rest to his teammates.
As for Curry? Min Congda made it very clear, Curry, you should solve it yourself and don't let yourself become a defensive loophole.
This season, Curry's offensive pressure is not as great as last season. After winning the MVP, he is already satisfied and does not ask for another one.
The team's scoring title was also given to James Harden.
Curry's ankle injury recurred in the middle of the season, and Min Congda immediately asked him to rest until the injury healed.
Therefore, Curry is physically fit enough to allocate a considerable amount of his time to defense.
Min Congda said bluntly: "I don't expect you to help defend, make up for defense, or grab rebounds. As long as you deal with the people you want to defend well, it will be your greatest contribution to the team. Also, I will not always use defensive strategies. Hiding you, although you won the MVP last season, in my heart, you are not the real MVP. A real MVP will not need his teammates to wipe his ass. You should find solutions for your own shortcomings. Boy."
Curry is still the core of the Clippers' tactics and the center of the storm, but Min Congda did not spoil him.
Instead, he is forced to invest more on the defensive end, make himself stronger and tougher, and get rid of some bad habits in defense.
For example, you like to jump up and reach out to interfere. To be honest, with your short hands and jumping ability, what's the use of jumping up to block shots? It's better to stand in your defensive position to prevent being deceived out of position by fake moves, resulting in a defensive formation. Collapse.
Min Congda requires Curry to become a quasi-elite level one defender. As for switching defense against Min Congda, there is no hope.
So, in the second quarter, Cole suddenly discovered that the Clippers' routine had changed again, presenting a new situation.
One senior and four juniors, resolute one-on-one defense, and the Davis-Curry pick-and-roll on the offensive end...
How to do this? There are too many changes and too fast, and it’s hard to wrap your head around it.
(End of chapter)
