During the break between the third and fourth quarters, Cole had a chance to make adjustments.
He hesitated for about 10 seconds before deciding not to reveal the team's final trump card for the time being.
After all, this is a regular season, and we must save a hand for the playoffs. If we use targeted methods to deal with the Clippers early, with Smart's acumen, he will definitely come up with a way to deal with it in the playoffs. .
However, Cole didn't want to give up easily in this game. The playoffs were approaching, and losing such a strong dialogue would hurt morale.
If they can reverse in the last quarter, it will be a big blow to the Clippers.
Kerr thought for a while and started using a small point-chasing lineup of Ezeli, Green, Thompson, Barbosa and Lillard in the fourth quarter.
Barbosa and Lillard have very strong offensive abilities with the ball, but of course their defense is not very good.
Cole is trying to fight for his life.
But Min Congda was not moved at all. No matter what lineup and style of play you use, the Clippers will still focus on me.
I can fight however I want and follow the established strategy.
The Warriors had one senior and four juniors, and the Clippers also had one senior and four juniors. Anthony Davis took Butler and others on the court to attack the Warriors.
With a 10-point lead, the most important thing for the Clippers is to score steadily.
Jimmy Butler continuously broke through with the ball and reached the basket to challenge Ezeli.
He succeeded in a breakthrough dunk, caused a foul on Ezeli, went to the free throw line, and made both free throws.
The Warriors relied on speed and three-pointers. Barbosa and Lillard hit consecutive three-pointers, narrowing the point difference to 8 points.
But Anthony Davis is still squatting in the three-second zone, determined not to come out. The Clippers are loose outside and tight inside. If you have the ability, Warriors, your three-pointers will always be accurate.
Any other team would not dare to let the Warriors shoot three-pointers like this. The Warriors shot quite well from three-pointers tonight.
But the Clippers dare, because even if the Warriors perform well in three-pointers, in terms of offensive efficiency, they are still not as good as the Clippers who combine inside and outside.
"The inside line is very small, and the outside of the three-point line is very large. To weigh the two, it is better to guard the three-second zone than to block the long three-point line."
Min Congda looked at the situation on the field and gave his thoughts and answers about the game in his heart.
A few years ago, he took the lead in proposing the importance of space and ball possession, ushering in the three-point era.
Now, when the three-point era is about to come, he has started to think about the meaning of the inside again.
“A three-pointer is one more point than a two-pointer, and the further away from the basket, the more efficient it is.”
“The closer you are to the basket, the higher your scoring success rate.”
This is a wonderful set of contradictions on the basketball court. It can be said that the introduction of the three-point line in the NBA in 1980 had a huge impact on basketball.
It has transformed basketball from a purely giant sport with centers and insiders as its core to a three-dimensional, dialectical game-like sport.
And in the middle of this set of contradictions, there is another one: "The mid-range is the least efficient, but it is the most deadly at critical moments."
The combination of these three forms a wonderful cycle in the selection of offensive and defensive tactics.
As a coach, Min Congda realized that how to handle the relationship between the three in offense will largely determine the tactical rationality of a team.
A tactic that is irrational and relies only on intuition and experience will probably not be able to achieve excellent results in the future NBA.
The game between the two sides continued, and the scene became more and more intense. However, both teams controlled their tempers well, and no conflicts broke out.
The Warriors are getting faster and faster, with more offensive rounds and more decisive outside three-point shooting. This seems to be the Warriors' method of chasing points in the fourth quarter.
Simple, crude, and seemingly unorganized.
As for the Clippers, it was still me who beat me. With one senior and four juniors, Gasol and Randolph came on the scene and continued to play from the inside.
The connection between high and low posts, offensive rebounds, cooperation between the inside, and the containment of Curry and Harden on the outside.
The Warriors cannot solve these problems. They hope to use a powerful three-pointer to smooth the gap between the two sides.
Min Congda frowned, especially in the middle of the fourth quarter, when LeBron James came on the scene.
For a while, the Warriors' style of play felt like that of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
They began to move around James, allowing James to control the ball on the outside for a long time. James would either break through, or try to catch the ball in the low post and attack, while others would pull away, run, and cut...
Everything seems to be replicating what James has done in the past 10 seasons, which has been proven to be effective, but cannot win the championship.
Will Kerr make these the Warriors' trump card? Min Congda knew very well that Cole was hiding, hiding his backhand and killer moves until they met in the playoffs.
James indeed led the Warriors to an offensive climax, and James' personal performance was extremely brave. He continuously drove to the basket and attacked the basket. He also shot with great touch and hit consecutive mid-range shots.
The Warriors once narrowed the point difference to only 4 points. Min Congda called a timeout and replaced Davis, Curry and Butler on the court.
In the final stage, the Clippers used a defensive lineup of Gasol, Davis, Curry, Butler and Leonard.
Curry finally stepped forward to catch the ball and take over the game.
Curry, who walked without the ball for more than three quarters with his arms akimbo, is extremely energetic at the moment.
After returning from the timeout, he hit a three-point shot from the outside after a single block, helping the Clippers stabilize the situation.
If James still wants to break out at this time, he must consider his physical fitness.
As strong as he is, it is impossible to rush forward with the ball from beginning to end. He must coordinate with the offense of his teammates.
If Durant is here and the two of them work together, you play for a while and I play for a while, it will be perfect.
Without Durant, the Warriors' combat effectiveness at critical moments has dropped by at least 60%. They are not the strongest Warriors.
Lillard was still a bit naive in front of the Clippers' defense. Butler and Leonard came on the stage at the same time and began to perform pressing defense against the small man holding the ball.
In any pick-and-roll, you must press and force Lillard to take the ball, without giving him room to adjust his dribbling or force a shot.
The quality of Lillard's ball play is not high, because the Clippers' defensive pressure is very strong. Once the first pass is not done well, half of the attack will be basically wasted.
The Warriors' offensive efficiency plummeted, and they missed three consecutive attacks. Instead, after the Clippers' Curry hit a three-pointer, he used the screen to get to the basket and succeeded in an easy throw.
The point difference widened to 9 points again, and Cole called a timeout. He knew that James's set of tricks in the Cavaliers would not be able to beat the Clippers.
You can explode, but there is no stamina. This is one of the reasons why James was never able to reach the top. He really needed a top offensive teammate to match him.
If Irving could unite with James, or come to the Cavaliers earlier, the Cavaliers might have this chance, or they might not meet the Los Angeles Clippers.
During the timeout, Cole couldn't think of any more brilliant strategies. He could only hope that the players' performance on the court would create miracles.
But looking at James sitting on the bench panting, Cole knew that the chance of a miracle was not particularly great.
James has scored 40 points tonight and his performance is quite good, but the Clippers' advantage is overall.
No one on the Clippers scored more than 20 points, but 7 people scored in double figures, which can be said to be in full bloom.
In the last two minutes after the timeout, James tried a three-pointer but failed to hit.
Under the basket, Gasol firmly controlled the backboard. If the ball missed, the Warriors basically lost the chance to come back.
Curry accelerated his breakthrough and reached the basket. Facing James' block and dodging, he successfully picked up the basket and scored two points, which also caused James' defensive foul.
Curry fell heavily off the baseline, and his teammates stepped forward to pull him up. After scoring, Curry clenched his fists in excitement and hit the extra free throw. The Clippers sealed the victory.
125:117, in the end, the Clippers defeated the Warriors at Oracle Arena with an 8-point advantage. Min Congda won his first win as the head coach and the seventh regular season victory in his coaching career.
At the end of the game, Min Congda came to the middle of the field and shook hands with Cole. Cole looked a little nervous. He didn't know what Min Congda was going to say.
As a result, Min Congda didn't say anything. He just patted Cole on the shoulder, said "good luck to you", and then turned around and left to be interviewed by reporters.
Cole actually felt relieved, and then returned to the locker room, feeling a little disappointed. This was a complete loss, very complete.
From beginning to end, the Warriors never had any chance, never even took the lead, and were suppressed from the first quarter.
Although without Durant, they lack the strongest scoring ability, but with the current lineup of the Warriors, they will not be beaten like this by the Clippers.
Cole was in no mood to attend the post-game press conference. He went to the press conference room with James, answered a few questions hastily, then left and got off work.
On the way back, James said to Cole: "I don't want to lose to the Clippers again this season. Why don't we use that trick in the final stage?"
Kerr said: "Not until then, this is just the regular season, and Kevin is not here, we will teach them a lesson in the playoffs."
"are you sure?"
"I'm sure, of course I'm sure!"
"It's best this way, I really don't want to lose to the Clippers again."
"I know! No one wants to lose! Don't be afraid, LeBron."
"I'm not scared! Who said I was scared! I...fuck the Clippers and Smart."
James uttered a rare curse word, and he lost control of his emotions slightly.
Cole knows that James rarely does this. James is a very calm person both on and off the court.
This is incompatible with his rough appearance and playing style. He is a person with a rather complicated personality.
Cole has been getting along with James for a while and coached him for two seasons. To be honest, Cole thinks it is difficult for him to see through this person, just like he can't see through Smart.
LeBron is very different from players like Jordan and Kobe. Jordan and Kobe are very pure people, both good and bad. Everything about them is superficial.
As players, for the sake of championship and victory, they constantly make themselves stronger and make their teammates and the team stronger. They are not pure and flawless saints. They have a lot of bullshit and are not even good people in terms of character.
If a writer writes a biography for them, their image will be very clear. Even if their secrets are dug out for the public to see, the result will be very clear, and the good and bad will be clear at a glance.
LeBron is different. He seems to be hiding in a fog. He seems to have two images, two completely different and even contradictory images.
There are few NBA stars who are as deeply divided as LeBron. Just like Smart Min, if someone wrote a book about them, the author might not know how to set the tone for the book. What is the theme?
Half angel and half devil? That describes Maradona.
These two guys are even difficult to describe as angels and devils.
I don't know why, but their relationship should have been very good originally.
But starting from last season, they collapsed before.
After the game, James, Curry, Leonard and others hugged and shook hands one by one, but Min Congda was ignored.
Min Congda also glanced at James, but James didn't even look at him, just lowered his head and left.
After winning the Warriors, the Clippers team rushed back to Los Angeles to face the point-giving Timberwolves at home in their next game.
Even facing an opponent like the Timberwolves, Min Congda prepared carefully before the game.
However, his preparation is not to defeat the Timberwolves, but to hope that the win will be meaningful.
Therefore, Min Congda let Jokic start this game, and Dragic and Bazemore entered the rotation.
Jokic didn't play a minute in the last game against the Warriors, and he was still a little dissatisfied. Why shouldn't I be allowed to play in such a major game and a key matchup?
Is there no way I can become a reliable backup center for the team? Obviously the team's strategy is to focus on the inside.
Jokic even had a little temper with Min Congda during the pre-match training. After practicing shooting, he sat on the sidelines and drank Coke in front of Min Congda.
Min Congda frowned and said, "Fat man, can you quit this high-sugar thing? It's not good for your health."
Jokic shrugged indifferently and said: "If you don't let me drink Coke, why will I play in the NBA? What's the point?"
Min Congda did not argue with the fat man. He knew that this kid had always been indifferent, and American stimulation and encouragement were of no use to him.
Basically any inspirational plot that appears in American sports blockbusters will not have any effect on Jokic.
So when the game started, Min Congda started Jokic, played the entire first quarter, and continued to let him play on the court in the second quarter.
Until the middle and late stages of the second quarter, Min Congda still had no idea of letting Jokic take a rest.
At this time, the Clippers led the Timberwolves by 11 points and basically had the situation firmly under control.
When the official timeout came, Jokic finally couldn't hold on anymore and said to Min Congda: "Coach, I don't want to play basketball anymore."
Min Congda said: "You drank too much coke today, I want you to run more and lose weight."
(End of chapter)
