Basketball Fanatic: Genius Is on the Left

Oh, maybe Zuo Li's sentence should be prefixed with a prefix, that is, the player who deserves the most credit. There is no doubt that Kawhi Leonard made the Heat suffer in that finals.

However, the Spurs have only one biggest hero from beginning to end, and that is Popovich. There is no doubt that since he entered the league as a coach, the Spurs are Popovich's team, which is unique in the league.

Just like every good coach has its own label, such as Phil Jackson and the triangle offense, Adelman and Princeton, such as Nelson's crazy experiment, D'Antoni's run-and-gun system, Jerry Sloan's pick-and-roll coordination, Larry Brown's egalitarianism...

These have almost covered a large part of the best coaches in NBA history, especially after the 1980s, almost all of them, but only one important name is missing, that is Popovich.

The Spurs are the team with the most consistent record in the entire league in the 21st century. Yes, there is no doubt about this. I believe no fans will question it.

But if you start from the Spurs' first championship, at this moment or someday in the future, when you look back, you will find that your impression of the Spurs may be fragmented.

If you go back a few years, you go to the street and ask a fan, what kind of team is the Spurs? He might tell you it was a dull, slow, even ugly defensive team.

In the 2005 Finals, the Spurs met the defending champion Pistons in a suffocating series between the two defensive teams. The Spurs never scored more than 100 points in seven games in the Finals, and three of them scored less than 81 points.

In the 2007 Finals, the Spurs easily swept the Cavaliers 4-0. The strength gap between the two teams is obvious, but in the four games of the Spurs, except for a score of 103 points, the other three games only scored 85 points, 83 points and 75 points respectively. The Spurs dragged James into a slow positional attack.

The Spurs' 2007-08 offense was slow and sluggish at its peak. That season, the Spurs ranked third in the Western Conference with a 68.3 percent win rate, but they averaged only 95.4 points per game, ranking third in the bottom of the league, only ahead of the Heat and the Western Clippers, which were bottom in the Eastern Conference.

However, in the playoffs that year, the Spurs went all the way to the Western Conference Finals, but lost 1-4 to the Lakers led by the peak Kobe Bryant.

In the era when Zuo Li passed through, the Duncan era, the last glorious era of the Spurs, fans always praised the Spurs for their reasonable offense and smooth cooperation, saying that they were a ball with pleasing and even gorgeous play. team.

Although in the 09-10 season, the Spurs only played 50 wins and 32 losses, which is their worst regular season record in the past 10 years, but looking back, 2010 was also a turning point for the Spurs.

Since 2010, the Spurs' offensive rhythm and average points per game have soared. In just two years, in the 2011-12 season, the Spurs averaged 103.7 points per game and ranked second in the league, second only to the brainless Denver. The track and field team and the Spurs ranked first in the league in three-point shooting percentage of 39.3%, followed by the Warriors who just gathered the Splash Brothers.

So, an amazing fact is that before the Warriors, the Spurs have used their own offense, their own three-pointers, and the rotation after the flank defense (Leonard) won the ball, and entered the finals for two consecutive years. And won the Spurs' fifth championship.

At the time, Steve Kerr was 46 years old, three years before he and Stephen Curry led the Warriors to the top.

The two Spurs in the fans' minds have existed, and their coaches are also Popovich. This may be Popovich's ability. His ability to transform the team is unique. He is the best at it. It's how best to use the players you have, whether you're a Duncan in his prime, an old Duncan, or no Duncan.

Popovich has always been able to integrate his players into the team as a true whole, each with his own unique role.

Although this sounds a little mechanized and lacks creativity, it will curb the real strength of the players to a certain extent, but I have to admit that sometimes machinery is indeed more durable than artificial.

This may be the biggest reason why the Spurs have been able to prosper for more than 20 years, and have really squeezed out all of Duncan's potential, and can once again ascend to the top of the league in an almost incredible way 10 years later.

Well, after so much nonsense, it has nothing to do with tonight's game. Zuo Li just wanted to let everyone know about his future opponent.

The Spurs had just begun to transform at this time, and history was no longer the history he knew, and his presence would change all that.

And this is also the biggest reason why Zuo Li is confident that he can teach Popovich a lesson. He knows too much about the Spurs' weakness this season.

It can be said that this season's Spurs are not as good as before in terms of defense and the offense has not reached the level of the future. Although Jefferson is not bad, it is really not suitable for the Spurs. The Spurs are not suitable for players who do not have the ability to attack independently. , especially outside, Jefferson is really not good.

As for Popovich asking Duncan to defend, Zuo Li can only say...I'm sorry Shifo, tonight~www.readwn.com~ I'll accept it rudely!

Ok? What a weird feeling!

do not care!

After seeing Zuo Li face Duncan directly, there was a burst of cheers in Madison Square. This was the first time Zuo Li faced the No. 1 front on this venue.

However, the sparking collision scene that people imagined did not appear. Zuoli's scoring method was very simple. Didn't Duncan open his arms and wait for Zuoli to rush out, Zuoli directly stepped back with a crossover and stepped out of the three-point line. Throw your hands!

brush!

There is.

"Three-pointer! Zuo Li confidently shot a three-pointer at Duncan. Duncan obviously didn't expect Zuo Li to be so straightforward, so he didn't defend, it was basically an open shot. Of course, this open space is not easy to find. "Kenny Smith said.

Duncan didn't expect the ball, and Popovich didn't expect it either. He asked Duncan to come up to defend, of course, it was a trap. Once he made a breakthrough from the left, Jefferson would flank the defense and come over to cut the ball, and Blair in the inside would also quickly Flanking, this is a defensive tactic he carefully prepared for Zuoli.

In order to stand on the left, Popovich even took out the energy of defending O'Neal in the past. At the beginning, he knew that O'Neal was killing the Quartet, and the Spurs swept the Spurs at the peak, but in fact the Spurs were already the most successful team to limit O'Neal. If you want to see the data, you can go to see the data. When you get out of the west where wolves surround you, OK is indispensable.

So Popovich has the confidence to limit Zuo Li, so he did not hesitate to sacrifice the magic power of poisonous milk, just hope that Zuo Li can continue to attack the inside line and blow Duncan, how tempting.

However, to tempt Zuo Li to eat it, he used a completely different way...

Three points!

Another three!

Zuoli's second offense made another three-pointer!

"Please, I'm also a three-point king after all~!"